Lynsie Buteyn noticed a city letter posted to the door of 1556 Emerson St. in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood.
For the past year, the Jesus Discipleship Center had operated in the 104-year-old house just a block north of Colfax. It opens around 7 a.m. and serves free breakfast for the homeless, accompanied by prayer, until 10 a.m.
Its neighbors, meanwhile, say it’s been a magnet for crime and vagrancy in the alleyway behind the building.
The notice, posted June 18 — nine days after BusinessDen reported on the center and its impacts — ordered the center to obtain the proper zoning permit. Buteyn was confused by the wording.
“Is the city just trying to quietly rezone it?” she said.
“There should be a neighborhood meeting, we should have a chance to speak, all of that, if they’re going to be rezoning,” she added.
The letter included the words “Cease and Desist.” But Courtney Ronner, a spokeswoman for Denver’s Community Planning and Development department, said the center did not have to shut down and can remain open while it applies for the proper zoning.
“The last use permit issued for this address was in 1956 when it served as a rehabilitation center,” Ronner said in an email. “The current operation does not fit within that use. Based on what we saw during our inspection, a new use permit must be issued for how it is currently operating.”
Denver wants the center to apply for zoning approval as a “community center,” which city zoning code defines as “a building or open land … used to provide social, recreational, cultural, educational, health care and/or food services, which is not operated for profit.”
No public hearing is required for the permit, Ronner said.
The president of the small nearby homeowners association, Alex Walser, sent an email to the city Sunday evening demanding that no rezoning or land use approval be granted without a full public hearing.
“The proposed ‘Community Center’ classification is factually inaccurate,” he wrote. “Under DZC § 11.2.2.1, a community center requires social or educational programming. JDC operates as a high-volume, short-duration food distribution site, which is the functional equivalent of a Commercial Food Service/Eating Place — a use not permitted in the G-RO-3 zone district.”
The Jesus Discipleship Center is complying with the city’s notice, according to building owner Carmen Galante.
“We’re working with the city to figure out exactly what they need,” Galante said.
The center’s main hub is in a patio behind the home, connected to a large room in the rear of the building. Homeless people mill in and out throughout the morning hours.
“It’s ruining the neighborhood,” nearby resident Bart Rhein said flatly.
When a BusinessDen reporter visited the alleyway last week, there were no security guards, though building owner Galante said he’s in talks to hire a private firm to do that work.
“I think things have been good, I was there with the councilman. … There was not a person around. It was 11 a.m. and it was as quiet as can be,” he added.
Residents disagree, saying they’ve seen open drug use, public urination, defecation and littering by the users of the center. A BusinessDen reporter previously witnessed a used crack pipe exchanged for coins on its back patio.
Eric Duncan, who owns property nearby along the alley, said the situation hasn’t improved since BusinessDen’s June 9 story.
“As far as the number of people in the alley and all that, it seems real similar.”
His neighbor Rhein said someone hopped into his dumpster recently and threw trash out onto the street.
“We’re still having issues,” he added.
The woman who runs the center, Camille Curry, says she’s heard the concerns.
“We have 39 homeless that went to a 6 month rehab,” she texted a BusinessDen reporter. “We have more homeless helping out cleaning and really wanting the center to stay open and adhering to being a good neighbor.”
