HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 8/25/2020 - Memorandum From Marcy Yoder Re: Library Park Neighborhood Updates
Planning, Development & Transportation
Community Development & Neighborhood Services
281 N. College Ave.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.416.2350
970.224.6134 FAX
www.fcgov.com
MEMORANDUM
DATE: August 19, 2020
TO: Mayor Troxell and City Council Members
THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Kelly DiMartino, Deputy City Manager
Caryn Champine, PDT Director
Paul Sizemore, Interim CDNS Director
FROM: Marcy Yoder, Neighborhood Services Manager
RE: Library Park Neighborhood Updates
Purpose: This memo will provide a bi-weekly summary to reflect the work of the
internal city task force formed to share updates and advance strategies to
compassionately manage and address issues impacting the Library Park neighborhood.
The memo will provide an update on trends/incidences of note,
communications/outreach and success stories. We also prepared and included a
“Frequently Asked Questions” document for reference. The following is a summary of
trends and activities to date:
Police, Code Compliance, and Outreach Fort Collins are all reporting a reduced number
of people experiencing homelessness gathering in the Library Park neighborhood.
They are also reporting a decrease in camping and gathering during daytime hours.
Photos from recent daytime patrols are attached to this memo.
Staff is continuing to foster dialogue between neighbors by sharing information
on a regular basis.
Outreach Fort Collins has been talking to individuals experiencing homelessness
to ensure people know where resources are and how to access them. Outreach
Fort Collins has also developed relationships with people from Mennonite
Fellowship that are working with the individuals on their property.
o One good news item here is that one of the individuals experiencing
chronic homelessness that was typically in Library Park has secured
housing.
o Additional expectations for utilizing the Mennonite Fellowship property are
posted on the building’s windows.
Council member Gutowsky is meeting with several stakeholders in the upcoming
week.
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Background:
A group of city leadership and subject matter experts recently convened to form a City
task force. As described above, the purpose of this group is to coordinate across
departments to share updates and advance strategies to compassionately manage and
address issues impacting the Library Park neighborhood. The task force includes staff
from Police Services, Neighborhood Services/Code Compliance, Social Sustainability,
City Attorney’s Office and the City Manager’s Office. The team also includes Outreach
Fort Collins, a community partner offering support for people experiencing
homelessness.
This team meets twice a month and will provide regular updates to Council and
concerned residents until further notice.
There are many ways the City is involved in addressing the current challenges,
but there are some limits on the role of local government. Please
see the FAQs below for specific concerns and responses.
Some of the challenges facing neighbors in and around the Library Park
neighborhood stem from disruptive behaviors of people experiencing
homelessness. The City recognizes that there are unmet shelter needs in the
community and remains committed to continuing to work with partners to increase
shelter beds and create pathways to housing. Social Sustainability continues to lead the
City’s efforts in this area.
FAQ’s:
There are people loitering on the property during the day. Can the City make them
leave?
There are no violations in allowing people to congregate on private property. Police
officers monitor the area and respond when contacted to address disruptive
behaviors. Citations may be issued and several people with warrants for their
arrest have been detained in the neighborhood.
Are people allowed to camp in the park overnight?
Overnight camping is against the municipal code. Police Services has increased nightly
patrols in and around Library Park at night to enforce the camping ordinance. Police
Services is also working with other City departments to find more effective solutions
than issuing tickets. Outreach Fort Collins engages with neighbors daily to help with this
situation.
What is the role of Outreach Fort Collins?
Outreach Fort Collins is an outreach program working to maintain our downtown as a
safe and welcoming place while connecting our community’s most vulnerable to the
services and supportive networks they need. This “on-the-street” team of professional
staff builds relationships with community members, service providers, businesses, and
City services to address and deescalate disruptive behaviors downtown. Outreach Fort
Collins conducts daily proactive engagements with individuals in the Library Park
neighborhood. These engagements center around behaviors and connecting people
experiencing homelessness with other services available in the community.
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When someone observes trash, debris, and people’s belongings spread out
everywhere who should be notified?
Please contact Neighborhood Services at 970-224-6046 or
neighborhoodservices@fcgov.com. Reports can also be made on Access Fort Collins.
An inspector will confirm any violations and take appropriate actions. People and their
belongings are not a violation. Abandoned items may be classified as rubbish and
would be a violation if not removed.
At what point would disruptive activities around Library Park qualify as a public
nuisance?
The current activities do not fit the Public Nuisance Ordinance. No citations have been
written for the activities covered by the Public Nuisance Ordinance.
The Public Nuisance Ordinance (PNO) was originally created to remedy chronic
problem residential properties. A typical situation is a house described as creating an
eyesore or, in some cases, disturbing the peace of others who live nearby. The PNO
can be utilized as an additional tool when three or more “separate citations” have
occurred within a twelve month period, when two or more separate citations of the same
section are issued within a six month period, or five or more within a twenty-four month
period, and a violation notice is then sent to the property owner after each separate
violation. Then the property owner can be required to submit an abatement plan and
correct the violations or a PNO citation will be issued. Citations that can constitute a
public nuisance generally all include violations under Chapter 4 (i.e. animal criminal and
civil infraction violations), Chapter 17 (i.e. nuisance gathering, unreasonable noise and
rioting), and Chapter 20 (i.e. weeds/grasses, rubbish, outdoor storage, and inoperable
vehicles).
Code violations only count towards the determination that a property is a public
nuisance in three instances: (1) the conduct of the people involved is such to annoy or
disturb the peace of the residents in the vicinity of the parcel or of passerby on the
public streets, sidewalks and rights-of-way in the vicinity of the parcel, or (2) the
violation constitutes a public nuisance under Chapter 20 (almost all the provisions of
Chapter pertain to residential properties), (3) or the condition of the parcel upon which
the violation occurred was, at the time of the violation, injurious or harmful to the health,
safety or welfare of the occupants, neighbors thereof, or citizens of the City.
Are people allowed to sleep overnight at the churches in Library Park?
Yes. Community of Christ is one of the sites approved as a Seasonal Overflow Shelter.
Women have been sheltered there during the winter season for the past few years.
Mennonite Fellowship is considered a temporary Community Based Shelter under the
City’s land use code and is currently working with Building Services and PFA to ensure
all public safety measures are met.
Is there somewhere else people experiencing homelessness can go?
Yes, the current community shelters at Catholic Charities and Fort Collins Rescue
Mission are operating overnight shelter, and the Murphy Center is providing day shelter.
The emergency shelters in Fort Collins did not always have enough capacity to serve
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the homeless population before COVID-19 and now, with social distancing requirements
in place, shelter capacity has been reduced further. City staff is working with partners to
pursue both short- and long-term solutions for the scarcity of shelter beds in our
community.
CC: Honore Depew, Senior Project Manager
Beth Sowder, Social Sustainability Director
Tim Doran, Police Assistant Chief
Jerry Schiager, Police Lieutenant
Ingrid Decker, Senior Assistant City Attorney
Nick Verni-Lau, Outreach Fort Collins Program Director
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