NEWS

Neighborhood Happy Hour on February 18th
 

Please join us on Thursday, February 18th at the Vine Street Pub at 17th and Vine for a neighborhood happy hour.    Bring your neighbors and friends and come enjoy a beverage and hors'derves.   Kate McDonald has been spearheading an effort to look at alternate approaches to the Emerson Street problems and we will have some information to share at the happy hour.   Thursday, February 18th starting at 5:00pm Vine Street Pub 17th Avenue and Vine Street Look for the Blue Balloons

Join Randle Loeb in Supporting the MS Society's Life Bike 2010

Many of you know Randle Loeb who is active advocate for the homeless, is a CHUN delegate and has been active in Uptown Alliance's efforts since the beginning.    Randle is riding in this year's Multiple Sclerosis Society's Life Bike Colorado Ride 2010.   On June 27-28, 2009 he will be cycling in the 24th Annual Colorado Bike MS Ride. This event attracts over 3000 riders for a memorable and challenging weekend ride from the Denver area to Ft. Collins and back.   Please consider Supporting Randle and this wonderful cause.
 

Meeting with Emerson Place Management

On January 21st, a small neighborhood working group met with Officer Todd Ondrak, our Neighborhood Police Officer and John Gomez, the property manager for Emerson Place Apartments at 1746 Emerson.  Mark and Debbie Yoder were unable to attend.   Notes from the meeting follow:

• The neighbors were pleased with the fence that Granite installed to prevent traffic on the side of the building and curb drug dealing. The group thanked the Yoders for installing the fence.
   
• The number one neighborhood concern is the disturbances caused by residents that congregate on the front porch during warm weather, drink and become intoxicated, crank up their “boom box” stereos, talk loudly, and yell at people walking down the street. This problem intensifies during the warmer months and was identified as the single most serious issue for Granite Realty to address. John agreed to take this as an action item and work with Mark and Debbie Yoder to resolve this problem and report back at the next meeting.
   
• Emerson Place does not have any type of intercom system at the front door for guests to contact residents. If a resident doesn’t have a cell phone, the only option is for guests to yell and throw rocks at windows. This is disturbing to neighbors.
   
• Suspected drug dealing continues to be another top concern. Several neighbors have identified a maroon sedan, in particular, that is routinely seen pulling up both in front of and in the alley behind 1746 Emerson and exchanging packages. Neighbors also complained that people have been seen walking out the front door smoking marijuana. John mentioned that they are aware that their residents are sometimes targets for street people who will follow them back to their rooms and “smoke crack” and prey on them.
   
• Officer Ondrak and the neighbors at the meeting asked for a copy of the “house rules” and a copy of the  “No Criminal Activity” addendum to the lease. There was a consensus that we are not seeing enough enforcement of the rules, particularly with drug use and loud, intoxicated residents on the porch. John denied any responsibility to control the residents in terms of their public drunkenness and disturbing the neighbors. He also admitted that financial considerations were one of their factors in not enforcing the rules, noting that if they did, “the building would be empty.”
   
• John mentioned that they have an onsite night guard named Wayne and offered to provide us with his phone number. Neighbors questioned his effectiveness. The group again suggested that Granite hire either an off-duty police officer or a professional security guard.
   
• We identified a resident that had four police calls for disturbances, theft, and assaults from September through November. Mark Yoder has previously promised us that they would take action and evict people that create problems. They have not done so in this case and John told us that they do not intend to do so in this case. We also discussed another problem resident that they report frequently calls the police.
  
  Action Items for Next Meeting:
  1. John to work with Mark & Debbie Yoder to look for a resolution to the neighborhood disturbances caused by residents congregating on the porch.
  2. Granite to provide copies of the house rules and “No Criminal Activity” lease addendum
  3. Provide Wayne’s phone number and invite him to the next meeting
  Our next meeting is March 25th at 7:00pm, location TBD.   We have set the fourth Thursday of every other month at 7pm as the ongoing meeting time.

Client Creates a Disturbance at Senior Support Services

Early Saturday afternoon a man was arrested after kicking in three plate glass windows at Senior Support Services at 18th Avenue and Emerson Streets.  Officers arrived within 2 minutes of the call and took the male, reported to be in his fifties, into custody.  A staff member told us that he recognized the man as a past client. Senior Support Services was established in 1976 and provides assistance to low-income and homeless seniors with day shelter, coffee, one hot meal per day and case management services to assist them in obtaining benefits and finding affordable housing. The center is typically closed on Saturdays. Neighbors have expressed concerns with loitering, noise and possible drug-related activities created by the center's clients.

Call 911!

Please remember that the answer to cleaning up the problems in our neighborhood is probably in your purse or pocket.   Any and every time you see someone suspicious call 911 or the police non-emergency number 720-913-2000 (program it in your cell phone).   The police share our goals to keep the neighborhood safe and don't be afraid to call on them and keep calling.    If the police sometimes don't seem friendly or as enthusiastic as we are, please don't become discouraged.   They might be having a bad day or have a dozen calls waiting.   Keep calling and reporting suspicious activity or potential drug activity.   And also email us so we can keep track and follow-up with the property owner.
 

Community Association Institute (CAI) Meeting to Look at Options

On February 4th, a small group will meet with Jerry Boswell from the Community Association Institute to look at other options to help improve our neighborhood.   Jerry has worked with many associations over the years and we appreciate him taking the time to offer his advice.

City Council Approves Medical Marijuana Restricting Residential Locations

On January 11th Denver City Council approved an ordinance regulating dispensaries in Denver.  The bill sets a 1000 foot distance requirement from schools and other dispensaries, limits certain felons from operating dispensaries, bars onsite consumption of marijuana, and sets fees and security measures for the businesses.   The bill does not allow dispensaries in residential zoning districts.   The dispensary at 1719 Emerson is zoned R4 and will be forced to close by March 1st.   Eileen Charles Hyatt (the property owner) spoke against the ordinance citing the desire to rent the property on Emerson.   A large number of others also spoke mostly against the measure. Given the safety concerns created by dispensaries we are pleased with the outcome of the City Council vote.  The Rocky Mountain Farmacy is opening two new locations and offers a mobile 24 hour delivery service.

Rocky Mountain Farmacy “Wellness Center” is Not Quite As Advertised

On November 19^th we held a neighborhood meeting with Ken Weaver and Michelle Piwonski, the owners of the Rocky Mountain Farmacy, and Eileen Hyatt the property owner.   As we have mentioned before, we appreciate them giving the neighborhood an opportunity to learn about their business, ask questions, and express concerns.   Most neighbors were not opposed to medical marijuana but were concerned for neighborhood safety in an area that already has drug related problems. Rocky Mountain Farmacy opened shortly thereafter on or about November 24th.  Since then neighbors have observed the following:

• Two of the owners or employees have concealed carry permits and have firearms onsite.  On December 16th someone walked in the back door of the dispensary in the early afternoon and stole a handgun that was unsecured.   Anyone with a concealed carry permit should reasonably be expected to have control of their weapon at all times in a public place.  This raises some additional concerns that they are arming themselves for a gun battle in our neighborhood and these dispensaries are showing a disturbing trend towards violence.  A shooting during a drug deal is precisely what brought us all together almost a year ago.
  
• The proprietors and the property owner, Eileen Hyatt, told the neighborhood that they would be opening a “Wellness Center” (and not just a marijuana dispensary) with an onsite doctor and other wellness services including massages.    There is no evidence that any of these other services have been implemented.   Their website makes no mention of anything besides marijuana sales.
  
• Customers must ring the doorbell and then pass their identification and prescription through the bars of a locked security door before the guard will unlock the door and let them inside.   We have noticed increased loitering outside the business and suspect that they may ask their customers to wait outside for their turn.  
  
• The owners promised to install exterior surveillance cameras as a security measure. None have been installed.
  
• The owners told us that they would be replacing the temporary banners with more permanent, inconspicuous signs which have never materialized.
  
• Parking has not been impacted significantly at Briargate or Emerson Uptown Lofts to the best of our knowledge.  We have received a couple complaints about customers or service vehicles parking in the Briargate driveway and in reserved spots.
  
• Although, we haven’t studied their clientele in much depth, from what we have seen a significant portion appear to be males in their twenties.
  
• They are opening two other locations and are prominently advertising a 24 hour/day mobile marijuana delivery service called “The Bud Guy”.  
   

At this point it looks like the neighborhood concern may soon be answered.   If City Council approves the ordinance that is under consideration then this dispensary at 1719 Emerson will be forced to close by March 1^st, 2010.   The proposed ordinance which was first read at last night’s council meeting prohibits dispensaries in a residentially zoned areas (see section 24-407(b)1.

Read the full text of the proposed ordinance here

Correction Note: The business owner responded and advised that they have had a doctor onsite for 10 days since they have opened to issue prescriptions.  They also told us the average age of their patients is 43 years old.  Regarding the gun, they responded, “If you recall during our meeting we specifically pointed out that we would be providing armed guards at this location to insure safety.  You may not be aware but our guards have escorted several people down Emerson to their cars in the evening hours that were not patrons of Rocky Mountain Farmacy again this was done to honor our commitment made during our meeting to help improve neighborhood safety.  I'm puzzled by the fact that you make the statement that we seem to be arming ourselves, the old saying that ounces of prevention are worth a pounds of cure is entirely appropriate in this case.  To my knowledge no dispensary in Denver that has went to the expense of securing armed guards has been robbed yet in December alone 17 banks in Denver have been robbed yet I don't see any outcry from groups indicating that Banks should be removed from neighborhoods.” 

CFS Statistics at 1746 Emerson are Down

The Call for Service (CFS) statistics for 1746 Emerson are down and have showed improvement for the latter half of 2009.   CFS statistics represent the number of calls the Denver Police Dept receives for response to a specific address and are one way to measure the level of problems a property may be contributing to a neighborhood.    

In April, we observed an all time high of twenty seven (27) calls for service, or about one per day.  In August through November, the calls dropped to an average of about seven (7) per month.  However, their severity continues to be alarming.   In the same time period, we observed:

• 7 Disturbances and 1 Intoxicated Person.
• 2 Narcotics Calls
• 2 Assaults
• 1 Threat
• 1 Weapons Related Call
• 1 Suicidal Person

This data doesn’t necessarily represent the whole picture but is a useful metric.  For example, some calls are unfounded and in other cases the problems show up in a call several door down at the location of the caller (or may be reported in terms of an intersection) rather than at the specific address.   But the CFS data is useful in that it gives us one way to measure change over time.

At the November 19^th meeting neighbors were loud and clear that the problems still exist and most fear for their safety.   We are continuing to meet with Granite Realty & Ofc. Todd Ondrak and will keep you informed about our progress.   Granite recently installed a new fence to help alleviate some of the drug dealing problems.   Kate McDonald is organizing a meeting to explore other options to help alleviate these problems.   She expects to put together a meeting of the leaders of the neighboring HOA's within the coming two weeks.

Graffiti Continues to Plague Neighborhoods

We have received more emails about graffiti concerns than all other topics combined this fall.   It is a problem that has been affecting more properties than any other.   The unusually cold weather has seemed to curb the problem to some extent.   The Perrenoud was hit particularly hard earlier this fall.  We have shared your concerns with the Denver Partner’s Against Graffiti (DPAG) and DPD.  We have learned that DPD has recently tried some more innovative techniques such as installing cameras disguised as electrical boxes in problem areas but it remains a difficult problem to solve. 

The City of Denver and DPAG will remove graffiti on private property at no charge.  To get started, obtain a DPAG Consent & Release form and return it to their office prior to using the service.  Then anytime you are tagged follow these simple steps as soon as possible:

1. Call 311 and Report the Exact Location of the Graffiti within 24 hours or complete the online reporting form
2. Fill out an Online Police Report (this important step helps the Police know where the problem is at its worst and help focus their resources). 

DPAG also provides a useful guide to removing and preventing graffiti.

Drugs Recovered from Front Yard

A homeowner in the 1700 block of Emerson was raking leaves in November and found a bag filled with smaller bags of what the responding officer believed was crack cocaine that someone had hidden in a hole in the front yard and covered over with leaves.
 

Theft from Motor Vehicle Kid Caught

You may remember the video of the kid breaking into a vehicle from our late October email.   The DPD used this as a public service announcement that aired on all the major Denver TV stations along with video of the same kid breaking into a vehicle at the Woodhouse Spa.   A DPD gang detective identified the 14 year old and they were able to make an arrest.   Amazingly, not a single tip was received from the public after airing the videos.

Burglary at Briargate on October 7th

Just after midnight, a black or Hispanic male in his late twenties or early thirties with a blue or black messenger bag broke into Briargate.   He damaged several doors trying to gain entry and was finally able to follow a female resident into the underground garage and hide until she left.   He then stole a garage door opener from one vehicle and smashed the window of another with a fire extinguisher and took a GPS unit.   Many of the neighboring buildings have similar garage setups and we encourage you to remind your residents to sure nobody follows them into the garage.   We are disturbed by how skilled and determined this guy was to get into the building.  He is certainly a professional criminal and we have no doubt he would hurt someone that got in his way.   The Briargate HOA has turned over this extensive surveillance video of the suspect to the Denver Police (see below) and we remain hopeful this will help them make an arrest.   If you recognize the suspect, please call Detective Jim Davis at 720-913-2822.

Theft from Motor Vehicles

Here is another shocking video.   Watch as a kid no older than 10-12 years old uses some type of pry tool to smash a car window in the alley behind Briargate and take an iPhone.   The Denver Police sent out an advisory late in the summer about how Thefts from Motor Vehicles are up sharply.   YTD Theft from Motor Vehicles crimes have risen 33% to 4893 (as of August 2009). TFMV is the largest single offense category in the city. Because TFMV crimes are crimes of opportunity (thieves are taking valuables left in the cars such as laptops, GPS devices, wallets, purses, etc.), DPD is working to persuade citizens to remove their valuables from their parked cars. Be sure to keep any valuables out of sight.   If you recognize this kid, please call District 6 investigations at 720-913-6742 and reference case 09-591360.

Neighborhood BBQ this Past Summer

Thanks for Joining us for Neighborhood BBQ to Celebrate the 26^th Annual National Night Out Against Crime
 

We had a great turn out and it was nice to meet everyone.   NATIONAL NIGHT OUT is designed to:

• Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
• Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships;
• Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs; and
• Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

We will have more information at the BBQ about things that have been happening since the meeting to improve the 1700 Block of Emerson and the next steps!  

Thank you to everyone that joined us for the neighborhood meeting on July 7^th.  We had a great turnout with over 100 people who showed up to express their concerns and to look for a solution to the growing violence in our neighborhood.  The large turnout on a nice summer night speaks loudly to the urgency of these issues.

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