Updated, camp cleared out.
“Jerr-E-ville†stands — and falls — as a symbol of Denver’s homeless struggle
https://www.denverpost.com/2019/05/02/initiative-300-camping-ban-jerreville/May 2, 2019
...Jerry Burton’s camp had housed up to 20 people in tents along sidewalks in Curtis Park and Five Points. It went largely undisturbed for months, thanks in part to its relatively orderly appearance, despite the city’s urban camping ban....
...But Burton and his fellow residents were caught up last month in the city’s efforts to clear areas around Denver Rescue Mission and Curtis Park.
First, workers closed the sidewalk near Denver Rescue Mission following public health complaints about human waste, rodents and discarded drug paraphernalia. Displaced people then moved into residential neighborhoods, especially Curtis Park, where Jerr-E-ville stood for months.
“Rather than accessing the support we can provide to those living without a home, unfortunately, some folks moved and set up camps in the Curtis Park neighborhood,†wrote city spokesperson Julie Smith in an email.
Burton, a former enlisted U.S. Marine, had kept his camp in order, asking that residents refrain from hard drugs, conceal alcohol use and clean up after themselves. But the newcomers were more upsetting, said Ryan Cox, a resident of Curtis Park.
“It turned out to be quite a few folks that ended up in our neighborhood,†Cox said, estimating that 100 to 200 people moved onto Curtis Park streets last month. He said that he saw drugs, violence and a machete. Burton himself seemed upset by the change, Cox said, and Denver Homeless Out Loud faulted the city for “forcing two communities on top of each other.â€
Jerr-E-ville moved several blocks to escape the chaos, and then moved again under threat of enforcement, eventually going to Commerce City before dispersing earlier this week. Burton was ticketed Monday for a camping ban violation in Denver. It’s the “most intense†enforcement that Howard has seen....