Denver City Wire

Denver City Council voted to codify these sites as a temporary use, ensuring they can continue beyond December 2023 

Denver, CO – On June 5, Denver City Council voted to ensure Safe Outdoor Spaces can continue to meet a critical temporary housing need beyond December 2023. The measure, sponsored by Councilmembers Robin Kniech and Chris Hinds and in partnership with Denver’s Department of Community Planning and Development and Department of Housing Stability, allows Safe Outdoor Spaces and Safe Parking Areas to be codified and regulated as a temporary use in the zoning code instead of the unlisted use they occupied previously, which expires at the end of December. 

"Safe Outdoor Spaces and safe parking sites have provided critical shelter to over 515 people who would have otherwise been sleeping on our streets or in unsafe and unhealthy encampments,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock said. “The stability of these spaces have helped people obtain and keep jobs, and over 180 people have already moved into more permanent housing. After seeing their success during the pandemic, it's clear these supportive environments should continue and be regulated under the same rules that govern other temporary housing.”   

Safe Outdoor Spaces and Safe Parking Areas connect individuals experiencing homelessness with lifesaving shelter, services and support, and have been shown to help people transition into long-term housing. These flexible and temporary sites can also be set up quickly in times of emergency and disasters. With 24/7 staffing and supervision, these sites ensure that people have access to sanitation and a safe, personal place to sleep off the streets. They primarily serve people for whom traditional congregate shelters are not an option, such as couples, people with pets, and people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. 

To date, Safe Outdoor Spaces have been permitted through December 2023 as an "unlisted use" in the Denver Zoning Code. After testing these sites during the pandemic and seeing their ability to successfully meet a need for unhoused residents in Denver, the city proposed to move the rules for these temporary spaces into the same section of the zoning code that governs temporary tiny home villages, as these “Temporary Managed Communities” all operate similarly.  

“This simple change to the Denver Zoning Code will have an outsized impact on Denver’s unhoused residents, providing a necessary temporary shelter option that meets people where they are,” said Denver’s Community Planning and Development Executive Director Laura E. Aldrete. “The update also removes regulatory uncertainty around these sites and incorporates lessons learned from other successful temporary uses, such as temporary tiny home villages.” 

“Tonight Council ensured continued access to a necessary and effective alternative for couples, people with pets, those with disabilities, our LGBTQ community and others who might otherwise experience homelessness unsheltered, a proven managed community approach that provides services and pathways into housing" said Denver City Councilwoman Robin Kniech, who will be termed out from the At-large seat in July after sponsoring many initiatives to expand affordable housing and reduce homelessness and co-sponsored this bill as her final piece of legislation. "But thanks to two permanent funds supported by our entire community, Denver will also continue to invest in rapid rehousing, supportive housing and other housing solutions that prioritize permanent housing and resolve homelessness for thousands of residents each year.” 

“District 10 is proud to be at the forefront of creating a better future for our community,” said Denver City Councilmember Chris Hinds. “After representing the first two Safe Outdoor Spaces in Denver, we are now hosting a Safe Parking Space. I am proud to sponsor legislation to make Temporary Managed Communities a permanent part of our wonderful city.” 

“Temporary managed communities were an innovative approach utilized during the pandemic to support public health and proved to be a successful strategy in stabilizing people on their path toward resolving an experience of homelessness,” said Laura Brudzynski, Chief Housing Officer and Executive Director of the Department of Housing Stability (HOST). “We are so grateful to Councilmembers Kniech and Hinds and our partners at CPD for being responsive to the shifting landscape of homelessness in our community and providing the tools beyond the pandemic to support people with autonomy, dignity, and privacy toward housed outcomes.” 

Safe Outdoor Spaces are just one strategy the city uses to help individuals experiencing homelessness. The city supports these on-the-ground measures while also continuing to invest in additional sheltering and longer-term housing options: 

• Over 1,200 affordable units (income-restricted) receiving city financing are currently under construction at 26 sites across Denver, with over 750 more in stages of planning. 
• Since July 2011, Denver has created 8,700 new affordable homes.

Original source can be found here