DENVER — Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is making some last-minute changes to a proposed micro-community site in the southwest part of the city.
The mayor is reducing the number of people who will initially live at a site in the Overland neighborhood after neighbors expressed their concerns.
Current plans call for 120 people to move to the site starting next month. Neighbors like Heather Barnes said that would be a problem.
“Only 111 residents live in this quadrant of Overland, so it would outnumber the existing residents here,” said Barnes.
She and other neighbors urged the city to reduce the number of people who would move to the site to 60.
“There needs to be a balance there. It needs to be a community decision, not the city just telling people what is going to happen in their neighborhood,” said Barnes.
District 7 City Council Member Flor Alvidrez, who oversees the Overland neighborhood, shares the concerns.
“It was a slap in the face that we see in the news the last three weeks, this site gets completely nixed in a wealthier community. That site gets completely mixed in a wealthier community,” said Alvidrez. “That's my concern. Why is my community not getting listened to the same way other communities are?”
Alvidrez is referring to locations at 1380 Birch Street, 5500 Yale Avenue, and 1151 Bannock, which were removed from consideration to be micro-community sites.
The city said the Birch site was removed due to a combination of logistical and operational challenges. The Bannock site was removed due to cost concerns, according to officials. The Yale site was removed due to “economic viability, projected site yield, and consideration of other viable options," the city said.
People who live near the Yale location organized a campaign against the site and raised money to hire attorneys, if it became necessary.
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Barnes, Alvidrez and others suggested the wealth of surrounding neighborhoods also played a role in the Birch, Yale and Bannock sites being removed from consideration, which the city denies.
"No, sites were not removed from our list because those neighborhoods are more economically affluent. In fact, although some of the sites have changed, nine sites are in neighborhoods where residents make above the annual average household income for the City of Denver," said Jose Salas, deputy director of communications for Johnston.
Despite that disagreement, Overland residents' messages seemed to get through to the city.
During a council committee meeting Wednesday, where council members were considering contracts with service providers, the mayor’s homelessness advisor, Cole Chandler, announced Johnston had decided to reduce the number of people who will move into the Santa Fe site to 60, as neighbors had requested.
“Then there would be a 30-day pause period before we would even contemplate future expansion,” said Chandler. “That is the commitment that the mayor has made.”
But what exactly happens after that is unclear. A lot would depend on feedback from stakeholders, including nearby residents.
Residents in Overland said they have had bad experiences with previous encampments, including incidents involving drugs and crime. Chandler pushed back on suggestions from Alvidrez that the Johnston administration wasn’t listening to Overland residents’ concerns.
“I want to push on the notion that we're not negotiating here,” said Chandler. “We have been negotiating.”
Chandler said the original plans for the site called for 155 people to live at the site. That was reduced to 120. Now the mayor has committed to reducing it to 60.
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Because of the last-minute changes, the council decided to delay a vote on a $3.8 million contract with Colorado Village Collaborative (CVC), which was chosen to run the Santa Fe micro-community. CVC, where Chandler previously served as executive director, currently runs two tiny home villages and three safe outdoor spaces in Denver.
Residents of those sites appeared at the council meeting Wednesday and praised how the sites are run. One resident said he felt “very safe” at the site where he lived. Another man described his site as “a godsend.” They also said the staff at their sites cared about residents and their struggles.
Most council members weren't aware of the mayor's changes at the Santa Fe site before Chandler announced them during the meeting.
“This is happening too, too fast,” said Denver City Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer. “If all of these things are happening at the last second, it needs to slow down.”
Sawyer also told Chandler and the partners he’s working with not to read too much into the council’s criticizing aspects of the mayor’s plans.
“Councilmember Alvidrez is doing her job as an advocate of the community,” said Sawyer. “This is not about you. This is not undercutting the value that you have offered to our community.”
Sawyer moved to delay a vote on the contract with CVS, with amended language reflecting the changes the mayor made, to Nov. 29. The council advanced contracts with two other service providers.
Bayaud Enterprises was chosen to operate the micro-community site at the Stay Inn at 12033 E. 38th, which will include 54 pallet shelters. Their contract totals $2.3 million.
The Gathering Place was chosen to operate the micro-community for adult women, transgender and non-binary people at 1375 N. Elati. Their contract totals $1.4 million.
The micro-communities are one part of Johnston’s goal to house 1,000 people by the end of the year.
