Englewood advisory committee finalizes letter to council about chronic nuisance at 2831, votes to send it

The Englewood City Code Enforcement Advisory Committee on Feb. 2 finalized edits to a letter to the Englewood City Council urging action on a chronic nuisance reported at 2831 and voted to send the letter to council.

The committee met in a special session to finish a draft that members said arose from complaints and prior discussion. Chair (Speaker 1) said the committee had an urgency to complete the letter before its next regular meeting and that the addressee had been corrected to the Englewood City Council and the Englewood mayor.

Why it matters: Committee members said the case involved repeated police documentation and posed a continuing safety concern for the resident identified in discussion as Mr. Ben David and his family. Members debated whether the letter should explicitly link the complaint to pending municipal-code changes such as the chronic nuisance ordinance and decided to remove or soften language that could be read as pressuring council on broader code revisions.

During the meeting members found and corrected an incorrect street number in the draft; the committee confirmed the correct address is 2831. Speaker 4 recommended the letter cite the available police-report history to support describing the situation as chronic, saying the committee “has been made aware of a chronic and escalating situation.” The committee agreed to streamline the wording to focus on the immediate risk to the resident and neighborhood.

Discussion focused on tone and jurisdiction. Speaker 5 cautioned against conflating code-enforcement work with police responsibilities and opposed language that could be seen as applying pressure on council or implying the committee was advocating for specific code changes in the body of this individual-case letter. Other members said referencing that the issue was chronic was appropriate; they agreed the committee’s broader recommendations on municipal code could be pursued separately through the established ordinance process.

Formal actions: The committee moved to accept the amendments to the draft letter and held a recorded vote on those edits. The transcript shows a recorded “aye” from Speaker 6 and an abstention from Speaker 5 during the motion to accept amendments. The committee then moved to send the letter to the Englewood City Council; the motion was seconded and carried, with members recorded as voting in favor in the transcript and no recorded nays. Speaker 7 said Rita would present the letter to council, though she noted she would need a hard copy to do so that evening.

What the letter will say: As finalized, the letter addresses the mayor and members of the Englewood City Council, notes that the committee has been made aware of a chronic situation at 2831 that poses danger to the resident and neighborhood, and asks council to ensure the matter is resolved to protect safety and peace. The committee removed language that explicitly tied this specific letter to pending municipal-code changes.

The committee adjourned after confirming there was no further business.