ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - A complicated struggle to balance a response to homelessness, public safety and compassion is playing out in Englewood.
"Starting in September, the city started to receive quite a few comments, emails, phone calls, people stopping by with concerns related to cleanliness and safety and a variety of issues," said Interim City Manger, Tim Dodd.
That community feedback prompted the city to launch the so-called Safe and Clean Englewood Initiative. It's a multifaceted plan to address public safety and homelessness.
An update on the plan and additional community feedback was given to Englewood City Council in a recent study session.
"We talked about a couple things. One was about enforcement of regulations," said Dodd.
Specifically, the current regulations state that there is no overnight camping allowed in parks and no obstructing of public rights-of-way.
Several council members pushed back on increased enforcement of those rules, citing a lack of overnight-specific resources available in the city.
"I understand the challenges of seeing visible reminders of poverty in our city, and that's very uncomfortable, and the challenges to our business and residents, but I want us to have a clear understanding of what we're talking about," said Council Member Aaron Martinez during the October 12 study session after learning there likely would be nowhere permissible in city limits for someone to go at night if they were caught camping in a public park or space.
"I don't want to create a situation where people have no legal place to exist," Council Member Tena Prange added during the study session.
The council member comments caught some neighbors by surprise.
"[I] was somewhat shocked by some of the responses," said Englewood resident Michael Jones.
He said during his time living in Englewood, he hasn't seen much enforcement of either of those restrictions, which have made beloved public spaces feel unsafe to enjoy.
"It seems like they're giving more rights to the unhoused than they are to the actual citizens who pay for these parks, who pay for the streets and the public areas that we'd like to use," Jones said.
Dodd said Englewood Police enforce the rules when they respond to emergency calls for service and when they do patrols early in the morning or late at night at some parks; but he acknowledges due to staffing, those patrols don't happen at every park, every day.
Jones said he is not calling for a full camping ban, but he would like to see the current restrictions enforced and more resources in place for those who need them.
"Are [city council members] actively going and trying to figure out what the issue is and what the current solutions are? And if there are gaps, then identify those gaps and and see how we can manage closing the gaps," Jones said.
Denver7's South Metro Reporter Danielle Kreutter took those concerns to Dodd who said the city's response is multi-faceted.
"We have something in Englewood called a Navigation Center, where people experiencing homelessness can come to basically get navigated into services. We also partner with non-profits to provide sheltering on specific nights when there's severe weather," Dodd said. He explained the city is an active member of Tri-Cities Homelessness Initiative which offers a variety of resources.
When asked about long term solutions, he pointed to the Safe and Clean Englewood Initiative that is also collecting public feedback and reports about what needs attention in the city.
"The whole Safe and Clean Initiative really isn't focused on someone's status or where they're living. It's really focused on, two things: respectful enforcement of our regulations, while also connecting people to the services that are available," he said.
By Friday, Englewood Police Officers and businesses will be provided cards that will share information about what resources are available and how people can access those.
"Housing first really is is the focus, right? And so, in tandem with our work with Tri-Cities, we're also building out a long-range affordable housing plan," said Dodd, "We're working right now on doing heavy community engagement. We've done surveys, we've done focus groups, and we're really close. This fall we'll be going to council with a proposed draft plan for their consideration."
