City Council Approves Contract for New Safe Outdoor Spaces
By Robert Davis
In a contentious vote, Denver City Council approved a nearly $900,000 contract that will allow two temporary safe outdoor spaces to operate through the end of the year.
One site will be at Denver Community Church, while the other location has yet to be determined. Like their predecessors, both campsites will accommodate up to 100 households and provide full access to housing, rehabilitation, and labor services. Colorado Village Collaborative (CVC) is responsible for operating both sites and finding the land to accommodate them.
“We need these spaces all around town so we can connect people to services, said Cole Chandler, CVC’s executive director. “However, right now all the outreach efforts and services people need are concentrated downtown.”
Chandler said the current safe outdoor spaces focused their outreach efforts within a four-block radius of both camps. The reason was to reduce the impact of the sites on the surrounding Capitol Hill neighborhood.
According to Chandler, within minutes of the campsite opening, campers in an encampment across the street moved in and filled up the outdoor space. The other camp has since dispersed, and those staying there have not returned.
Photo by Giles Clasen
The contract approval passed by a 10-1 vote with District 5 Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer voting against it.
Sawyer took issue with the fact that Denver is actively funding a campsite that violates city ordinances while also paying legal fees to defend enforcing its camping ban in court. She added that over 80 percent of Denverites voted against campsites in 2019 when Initiative 300 was on the municipal ballot.
“It’s really causing confusion for our most vulnerable residents,” Sawyer said. “And, frankly, they deserve better. They deserve a warm home with a roof and a door. But, right now we have about 2,000 people sleeping on the streets, in addition to those in our shelters and couch surfing. We can do better.”
Chandler replied that the safe outdoor spaces are very different from the unregulated camping that I300 would have allowed. CVC holds a permit with the City and is under contract with the Department of Housing Stability.
Outside of regulation, Chandler says the sites are also achieving their aims: to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and connect people with housing and services.
Since the campsites opened, five people have been placed in the Beloved Tiny Home Village, and two others were connected with a case manager who helped them with housing vouchers. Another eight residents were connected with services. Both campsites currently house 80 people.
Meanwhile, the camps have experienced a zero percent transmission rate, Chandler said.
At-large Councilwoman Robin Kniech said she hasn’t heard the same complaints about the campsite even though her office has done extensive informal and scientific polling on the issue.
Kneich’s primary concern is that the city’s approach to solving homelessness is too focused on long-term solutions when emergency fixes are needed right now. Without the temporary safe outdoor space, Kniech wondered how many more of Denver’s unhoused could have succumbed to hypothermia or worse, hopelessness.
Kniech said supporting the outdoor space makes sense right now but urged her colleagues and the Hancock administration to keep thinking creatively about solutions.
“We have a long road ahead of us. If this is our destination, then we are in big trouble,” Kniech said.