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Residents raise gunshot, code-enforcement and nuisance concerns during Commerce City public comment
Summary
Multiple residents told the council about gunfire, recurring code and nuisance problems at specific properties, and asked for follow-up. Council and staff promised to investigate and return with responses; several speakers also asked for better neighborhood outreach and code-enforcement consistency.
Several residents used the council's public-comment period to report neighborhood safety and code-enforcement concerns, including repeated gunfire, nuisance activity at a single property and complaints about alleged overreach during code-enforcement inspections.
Addressing gunfire and safety, Doreen Armelon of 5817 Newport Street said she heard a gunshot at about 9:22 a.m. and that residents regularly hear gunfire in the neighborhood. "You knew it was a gunshot. We hear them all the time," Armelon said, and asked whether the city's detection systems were working and whether the police were being notified.
Lacria Dixon described a property at 58100 Newport she said is being used like an unpermitted short-term rental with regular emergency medical responses, youth moving through the property and debris spilling onto adjacent streets near an elementary school. She asked, "What can we do to keep our children and the community and the neighborhood safe?"
Robert Toews and another speaker described clashes with code enforcement. Toews said a code officer called demanding a search of his property after social-media posts allegedly advertised a camper for rent; he said prior enforcement actions had raised civil-rights concerns and asked for the city attorney and code staff to meet privately with him.
How staff responded: City leaders and staff told callers they would follow up. The mayor and the city clerk repeatedly said staff would pass specific reports to the city manager and that staff would investigate and contact the callers with follow-up. In one exchange, the mayor told a caller, "I'll pass this on to our city manager here, and then we'll look into it and get back with you with the follow-up." South Adams County Fire and Commerce City Police also noted they would follow up on specific gunshot and emergency calls.
Why this matters: Repeated reports of property-based disorder, ambulance responses, gunfire and unclear enforcement procedures can indicate public-safety and public-health problems and often require multi-departmental response (police, code enforcement, public health, social services). Callers asked for clearer enforcement outcomes and improved transparency when code officials inspect private property.
What residents asked the council to do: Callers asked staff to investigate the specific properties (addresses were provided in comment), report back to them, and to ensure that enforcement follows legal procedures. Several asked for more visible outreach and community engagement by council members and by code and public-safety staff.
Next steps: Council directed staff to follow up individually with the callers. The city manager said staff would investigate the reported properties and that police and code-enforcement divisions would coordinate follow-up. Several council members asked staff to report results to council by standard follow-up channels.
Ending note: The public-comment portion of the meeting highlighted neighborhood-level safety and enforcement concerns that council members said would be passed to staff for investigation and response.
