School Negotiations, Shelter Purchase, Low-income Housing and more Crime Ignored
Lakewood Purchased Navigation Center Property
Lakewood closed on purchasing the Navigation Center property on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. Travis Parker, Chief of the Sustainability and Community Development Department, made the announcement on Monday, Sept 16, during the budget presentation. He added that Lakewood is working on an Intergovernmental Agreement to fund operations, which may include Arvada’s new navigation center as well. Such an agreement would allow other cities to contribute some funds while Lakewood takes on the long-term burden of caring for the unhoused. Lakewood will begin property renovations as soon as possible. The property has never been granted a shelter permit, which is the only opportunity for public input. Instead, it has operated for years on an emergency basis. The increased crime surrounding the area has been ignored by the city, as has the increase in homeless in Lakewood. City officials seem intent on providing more free to low-income housing despite these problems. Lakewood is also looking for properties to host transitional housing, like pallet homes, particularly along Colfax. Lakewood donated $500,000 to affordable housing projects this year.
Metro West Receives Grant for the Whippoorwill Development
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs published a press release regarding the development going in near Whippoorwill Dr, to showcase the positive impact of this housing funding locally. As a follow up, Lakewood Informer asked if DOLA was aware of the resident concerns or the dangerous interestion involved. There has been no response at this time.
Williams Pointe: Housing Authority of the City of Lakewood, Colorado dba Metro West Housing Solutions (MWHS), was awarded a DOH loan of $4.4 million and a grant for $2.2 million to assist with new construction of Williams Pointe, a 44-unit apartment building in Lakewood.
Read the full press release here:
Land Taken by Eminent Domain Plagued by Crime – Ignored
The owners of Lakewood affordable housing are plagued by crime that is ruining their business and driving residents away. A piece of their property was taken by Lakewood in 2022 through eminent domain to be used as a bike path. Now that bike path, along RTD tracks, is home to so much illegal activity that the people living nearby are leaving their affordable housing to go elsewhere. Property owners made another plea to City Council on August 26 asking for police enforcement. Property owners met with RTD on September 9 and city representatives accepted the invitation to attend. However, no new actions or greater enforcement was promised. Property owners were urged to keep calling but their calls will remain a low priority since Lakewood does not prioritize drug use or vagrancy.
Yes, Lakewood IS Negotiating For School Property
An untested process caused misunderstandings and hiccups resulting in delays to Lakewood purchasing shuttered Jeffco schools. Lakewood is now negotiating to buy 3 acres of Vivian Elementary School. They are also still asking about acquiring Emory Elementary for use by the Action Center. At a meeting on September 13, 2024, City Councilors and Jeffco School Board Members were able to get a lot of their positions stated for the record; however, this remains a closed process with both managers negotiating on a staff level. There has been no presentation to the public of a plan for school properties. School district documents show that the district must approve the use designation. That means that Lakewood must have presented their plans for the Action Center months ago, during the same time Lakewood Mayor and City Manager were calling the stories “misinformation”.
