A packed house greeted the Glenwood Springs City Council at its Aug. 6 regular meeting, as citizen activists lined up demanding, again, that the City take enforcement action against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in West Glenwood.
Council ultimately voted 6-1 to file suit in Colorado District Court against ICE’s private landlord, JG Housing Solutions, LLC, for allowing the detention operation to continue, despite an April 28 Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission decision to revoke a special-use permit over repeated violations of a 12-hour hold limit.
The decision came at the recommendation of City Attorney Karl Hanlon to pursue action in the state courts against the landlord, rather than going after the U.S. government in federal court — a move he maintained would be swiftly met with a motion to dismiss because the federal government is immune from local land-use codes.
That’s not true of private property owners, he advised. JG Housing owns units 110 and 210 at the Midland Center, located at 100 Midland Avenue, where the ICE offices and detention facility are located.
Hanlon said the impetus for finally enforcing the P&Z decision came July 24, when Glenwood Springs Emergency Medical Services got an ambulance call to the ICE facility.
“At that time, it was confirmed that it was still being used as a temporary hold facility” in violation of the permit revocation, Hanlon advised City Council during the meeting. “This made it a ripe claim to bring back before you.”
From a land-use and zoning code perspective, Hanlon compared it to a bank. If a decision were made to revoke a special-use permit for a drive-through facility that’s part of the bank, the bank itself could continue to operate, just not the drive-through facility.
The same goes for a holding facility that’s part of the larger ICE operation in the Midland Center, he said in support of pursuing the action.
“Your job is to decide if you’re going to enforce your land-use code,” Hanlon told the council.
After nearly an hour of public comments encouraging them to do so, and offering support in the legal effort, the council voted in favor of filing suit against the landlord.
“Just because it appears we’re sitting here not doing anything, doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything,” Mayor Marco Dehm said of the length of time it took to get to an enforcement decision. “We just flat out had to wait for the right path forward, and the path presented itself on July 24.”
Dehm said he feels “somewhat comfortable” moving forward against the landlord in state court over what amounts to a land-use violation.
He said he does worry about “waking the bear,” and how the feds might respond.
“If the buses show up with ICE agents, then we’ve made the wrong decision,” Dehm said.
Councilman Ray Schmahl cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he can’t support Hanlon’s cost estimate of up to $500,000 to take the case through trial.
“I find my definition of courageous local leadership is to not waste money, and I’m not willing to give an open checkbook for a futile effort,” Schmahl said.
Hanlon did advise that the case enters “uncharted territory,” and the law isn’t necessarily on the City’s side when it comes to matters involving the federal government. How that might come into play remains to be seen, he said.
The City will initially seek injunctive relief to have the detention facility shut down immediately while the case is being litigated. If that motion is not granted, the facility would be allowed to continue operating for the estimated 18 months to two years that it would take to get to trial, Hanlon said.
In other news …
In other matters that came before the council at the Aug. 6 meeting, resident Laurie Chase expressed concerns about e-bikes and e-moto bikes on trails, especially when younger riders are at the controls.
“I would like to see the City consider stronger education and reasonable regulations,” she said.
Councilman Steve Smith said the Transportation Commission, for which he serves as the council liaison, is taking up the issue of trail conflicts and possible restrictions.
Council also heard an appeal from Glenwood Park resident Cindy Svatos, whose renewal for a short-term rental permit was recently denied by P&Z.
On a 6-1 vote, the council agreed with P&Z that the unit in question was not being actively rented, and thus was not generating any lodging tax revenues for the City. Because Glenwood Springs does not allow short-term rentals to be permitted within 250 feet of each other, the inactive permit was preventing another nearby applicant from qualifying for a permit, the council determined.
Additionally, the council passed, 7-0, a resolution supporting the recently introduced Glenwood Hot Springs Protection Act in Congress, which would prevent the Rocky Mountain Industrials limestone quarry from expanding; passed, 5-2, an inter-governmental agreement with the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority regarding the planned crossing of the Rio Grande Trail/railroad corridor for the planned South Bridge project; and approved 7-0 a $250,000 proposal to replace the climbing wall at the Glenwood Community Center. The work is to take place during the facility’s scheduled maintenance closure at the end of August.