At the corner of Kipling.
And I-70 in Wheat Ridge.
There's a collection of
motels that people call home.
This is a place we gotta be
right now we can afford it.
Teresa and Mike Chateauneuf have
been living in the best Interstate
in for more than two years.
My lungs get worse, my hearts getting worse.
Health problems forced.
This longtime Army veteran
to live at the end of a tube.
This one. Will pump up to 6
liters of oxygen. In my system.
They also live at the end of their means and
we ended up with a $37,000.
Bill Hospital Bill that
I'm still trying to pay off
Theresa works full time, but they
still can't afford an apartment
and it's not just this hotel,
it's a hotel across the highway.
The hotel down the street,
you know all these people
that rent are renting.
And they're kind of like stuck
because this is the only
place they can afford to rent.
Put this collection of motels.
Has been a problem for Wheat Ridge police.
Basically disturbances, assaults,
thefts. You know you, you name it,
it's there was a lot of a lot
of activity going on there.
Jim Lawrence is division
chief of patrol operations.
If Wheat Ridge is like a house,
Lawrence says this area
is like a broken window,
attracting drug activity
and people who are homeless.
If there's a broken window in the
neighborhood and somebody doesn't fix it,
then things can get worse.
Then you see graffiti,
then you, then you see crime
to put it in perspective.
Last year this town had 14,000 homes,
4000 businesses and nine hotels or motels.
Lawrence says those nine
locations were the source of.
10% of all police calls for
service to most at Super 8
Motel 6 and the American Motel
that's taxing. That's
taxing our resources. So
the City Council passed an ordinance
requiring strict guidelines.
They have to get a license to operate
the hotel, and there are several
criteria that they have to agree to
to maintain that license. First,
clean things up and reduce the calls
for service. Second, for motels
who want to allow extended stays.
They must meet a long list of requirements.
I wash dishes in here and everything so and
then we store our food and stuff up here.
Teresa and Mikes say they have all they need.
This is a water purifier,
but the city says they must have a kitchen
in their room and a business center,
fitness area and swimming pool on the
property. I want to live.
A normal, comfortable
life civilian life.
Lawrence believes improving living
conditions will cut down on crime.
If you fix things like that broken window,
then it looks like the people care
in that neighborhood. They take
better care of their their property.
The problem is motels don't
want to make those changes and
they don't have to if they want to
focus solely on short term rentals.
As of June 30th, we can't live here.
So extended stay rentals
like Teresa and Mike,
I don't think. They really care, will
be forced out.
We're gonna be living in a tent
forced to live on the streets.
I am worried because he's got
all this medical equipment.
And if he doesn't have it,
he's going to die. They
throw us back out on the street.
And say sink or swim baby.
If I go there I'm gonna die.
I can't stay here where I go
next am I gonna die there too?
The conundrum is they don't really want to
be here but they don't really want to leave
and we're not the ones causing the problem.
They feel like victims of the law.
I think the city.
You should kind of reconsider.
What they're actually doing too.
People like us.
I understand it can be difficult
to understand. Some people have
been there for years and years.
We just discovered that there's a person
living in a hotel for for 19 years.
The city will work with residents
who are displaced to help
them find housing through its
homeless navigator program.
Lawrence says the pain now
justifies the end. Later
change happens and that
is unfortunate sometimes,
but sometimes it's also.
Sometimes it's good.
Change comes with a cost.
It's like they don't care.
Two more people are homeless on the street.
They don't care if he's sick.
At Wheat Ridge, I'll do
what I have to do to survive. Nelson
Garcia. 9 news.
We reached out to all the
hotels and motels in town.
No one wanted to comment
under this licensing program.
Each of those businesses will
have to develop a security plan
in conjunction with police.
They can be suspended or shut down
if they're not in compliance.