A Denver District Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit designed to block the establishment of a safe-camping site in the parking lot of the Park Hill United Methodist Church.
"That was the best thing we could've hoped for," says Cole Chandler, director of the Colorado Village Collaborative, which is planning to set up the safe-camping site for people experiencing homelessness later this month and have it operational by mid-June.
Judge A. Bruce Jones dismissed the case on May 19, ruling that the five Park Hill residents who'd filed the lawsuit on May 6 — Kurt Monigle, Dave Rodman, Jean-Baptiste Varnier, Justin Lovac and Blair Taylor — had not exhausted all possible administrative remedies regarding their issues with the safe-camping site plan. Before filing suit, the judge determined, the five should have filed an appeal with the Denver Board of Adjustment for Zoning Appeals; they can take that route now.