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Downtown Clean Safe Pilot Program

At a glance

  • What: The Downtown Partnership's Clean and Safe pilot program: supplemental security, ambassadors, outreach to people experiencing homelessness, cleaning and landscaping in the downtown core. Presented to Council as an informational update (file 26-242); no vote.
  • Key numbers: nineteen-month pilot ending December 2026; total cost 1.8 million dollars, of which the City provided 700,000 dollars; the Business Improvement District allocates 400,000 dollars to cleaning and landscaping; a four percent management fee; launch costs about thirty percent of the program, expected to fall to four percent; a business and visitor survey drew seventy responses.
  • Next step: Organizers intend to fund the ongoing program from Business Improvement District resources after the pilot ends.

Detail

  • Chelsea Gondeck, CEO of the Downtown Partnership, presented the program overview, survey responses, budget, successes, challenges, opportunities and business perspectives. Pat Rigdon, Director of Downtown Environment, covered supplemental security impact, interactions with security officers, ambassadors and outreach services.
  • Steve Wyant of Homeward Pikes Peak said 221 people experiencing homelessness are in the downtown area (a figure that fluctuates), with about 100 consistently there; he said the reporting app has worked very well. Rigdon said twenty-five to thirty people sleep in doorways at night.
  • Donelson asked about funding and whether sleeping in doorways is illegal (Rigdon confirmed it is); he said the City should do more to arrest people breaking the law. City Attorney Stefanie Boster said it depends on when someone is cited and how long they can be held before seeing a judge, and she would research the maximum penalty. He also asked whether calls for service to the police have dropped; Rigdon will provide that.
  • Henjum asked about costs versus returns, what else Council could do (Rigdon: locking dumpsters would immensely help; business owner Luke Travens suggested best practices from Cherry Creek, Colorado and Scottsdale, Arizona) and how people with mental health issues are kept from jail; Aimee Cox described coordination with police, fire and community providers and a planned behavioral health summit.
  • Leinweber asked about people who do not sleep at the Springs Rescue Mission; its president and chief executive officer, Travis Williams, described how the mission works with the Downtown Partnership.
  • Rainey asked when the pilot ends and whether business would invest (answer: December 2026; Business Improvement District funding) and about better trash cans; Casey asked how much of the cleaning is in the budget. Williams suggested partnering with high school metal shops to build locking trash cans; Williams and Risley thanked the organizers.

Sources

Log

2026-08-10 - City Council Work Session

Pilot results presented under General Information; no action.