Action alert!
Letters needed to Board of Zoning Adjustment
Deadline Monday, 4/4, 8 a.m.
Our neighbors in Lincoln Park need our support. A Safe Outdoor Space (SOS), permitting 50 residents, was placed in a parking lot at 780 N. Elati in November 2022. The permit expires December 2023.
Fifty-five (55) neighbors appealed the permit. This homeless camp is within 1,000 ft of several schools and adjacent to residential homes! The appeal hearing is Tuesday, April 5, 9 a.m.
We know these sanctioned camps are not safe. The contractor, Colorado Village Collaborative, uses harm reduction and low barrier housing policies. There has been at least one drug overdose death in an SOS camp.
- Harm reduction = services include syringes, sharps containers, tourniquets, cookers, Narcan; privacy for drug use in individual tents
- Low barrier = no drug test, no breathalyzer, no treatment or sobriety required
- 7 out of 10 homeless people suffer from addiction to drugs/alcohol and/or mental illness
- Camp residents are offered services, but not required to use services
Precedent is set when permits are not appealed. Public comment for appeals is very important!
Denver's Zoning Administrator -- an employee of Community Planning and Development -- has sole authority to permit SOS camps. Under the Group Living Amendment (GLA), she has additional authority to suspend and expand the rules. City Council and the Mayor have stated they want SOS camps in every Denver neighborhood.
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Send letters now
- Email a letter to the Board of Adjustment by Monday, 4/4/2022, 8 a.m.
- Support the parents and children of Lincoln Park and email your letter TODAY!
- Read the appeal and related documents HERE.
Can I watch the hearing?
Yes. The Board of Adjustment meets via Zoom on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, 9 a.m. Link HERE.
COPY & PASTE INTO A NEW EMAIL
MUST BE EMAILED NO LATER THAN 8 A.M. MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2022
TO: <boacontact@denvergov.org>
CC: <permanentplacesdenver@gmail.com>
SUBJECT: Statement in Support of BOA Appeal at 780 Elati St. | Case 6-2022
To the Board of Adjustment of Zoning Appeals:
I support the appeal of the Lincoln Park SOS permit at 780 Elati St.
I object to the placement of a harm reduction/low barrier SOS camp near residential homes and schools, including this one in Lincoln Park.
- Colorado Village Collaborative's (CVC) operational plan does not include adequate measures to properly address impacts of drug use near homes (especially homes with children) and schools. As stated in the operational plan, if a camp resident is caught with drugs, they are simply sent to their tent.
- The site utilizes a harm reduction method which means clean needles and syringe disposal is supplied, Narcan is kept on-site, and privacy is provided for drug use in individual tents. CVC's policy condones drug use while claiming to be a drug free site. It violates law and reasonable policy to allow drug use -- and inevitable drug distribution -- within 1,000 feet of schools. There are several schools within 1,000+ ft of the camp.
- This site utilizes a low barrier housing policy which means no background check, no drug test, no breathalyzer, no treatment or sobriety required as a condition of residency.
- CVC's screening does not protect children. It allows sex offenders in the camp. Sex offenders were prohibited from residing at the Park Hill SOS and this neighborhood should not receive less protection than the Park Hill neighborhood.
Mayor Hancock called the camps "an experiment." Why are our neighborhoods being used as an experiment? I support sustainable, effective strategies, not temporary, destabilizing, and inadequate efforts.
I urge you to please use common sense and vote FOR the appeal.
Sincerely,
[insert name here]
[insert council district or neighborhood here]
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