LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — People living near 6th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood are pushing to clean up a growing homeless encampment site.
They say they have been dealing with the problem for years.
“I’ve been living in this neighborhood for a little over 35 years,” said Brett Charbonneau.
In that time, Charbonneau has seen a lot of changes.
“The ones that’s going on now is not good,” he said.
He’s talking about the homeless encampment that is located near his neighborhood.
“They’re tagging this property over here that wasn’t here two weeks ago,” he said. “You can see that they moved in and it’s growing every day.”
He says more and more tents have been spotted. Some are placed near trees where he says fires have been started.
“They have set fires to the trees and if it gets started, homes are going to go down,” he said. “I don’t know what it’s going to take. Somebody’s home burning down, or multiple homes.”
Earlier Wednesday afternoon FOX31 crews saw homeless navigators along with officers with Lakewood Police Department’s Community Action Team trying to connect those living in the camp to resources.
“We’ve had needles show up in our neighbors’ backyards which is concerning because that’s dangerous,” said Charbonneau. “The amount of trash that’s generated from these homeless camps — obviously concerning. There is a waterway that dumps into the Platte River, so you know they are using it as a bathroom and who knows what else.”
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Brett Charbonneau took this picture of a hypodermic needle near an encampment that is close to his home. (Courtesy Brett Charbonneau) -
An encampment near 6th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard was visited by homeless navigators along with officers with Lakewood Police Department’s Community Action Team on Wednesday. (KDVR) -
An encampment near 6th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard was visited by homeless navigators along with officers with Lakewood Police Department’s Community Action Team on Wednesday. (KDVR)
He says he along with several neighbors have reached out to city officials about the problem.
“I’ve gotten a hold of them maybe 10 times,” he said.
A spokesperson with the city of Lakewood sent a statement that reads in part:
“The city has received many complaints about this, and both our homeless outreach team and the Lakewood Police Department have contacted the Colorado Department of Transportation about this issue because the camp is on state property. Given that, any enforcement or cleanup ultimately rests with the state.”
“Nobody wants to deal with it,” said Charbonneau.
CDOT sent a statement, saying the department “regularly works with Lakewood’s Community Action Team on addressing homeless encampments. We are working to resolve the situation.”
Charbonneau hopes the situation can be resolved sooner rather than later.
“The longer they let it go on, the more folks show up,” he said. “I understand homelessness is a problem. I don’t have any ill will towards them but just the trash they generate and the needle use and going to the bathroom in this river is not good.”
As of now, there is no timeline as to when the area could be cleared.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
