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• Conservation
• Smart Growth
• Social
Justice
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 Social
Justice
INS Gets Deported by Town of Carbondale
In a classic example of poor planning, the INS in 2000 rented
a vacant bank building near downtown Carbondale for a proposed
federal detention facility for its Quick
Response Team ("QRT") serving
the Western Slope of Colorado. Hardly an "office", this conversion
of the old Columbia Savings & Loan structure would produce a fortress.
Ccomplete with jail cells, an ammo room, terrorist-resistant windows
and doors, and 24/7 lighted and razor-wire fenced sallyport, the facility
was for the processing and detention of apprehended immigrants before
delivery to the main facility in Denver.
Public Counsel
was contacted by Latinos Unidos and the Stepstone Center for Social
Justice which had staged protests and collected over 1,000
petition signatures, fearing harassment of Latinos -- illegal
or not -- who were a burgeoning part of the Carbondale community.
On behalf of these groups as well as neighborhood residential
groups, Public Counsel realized that the Town's land use regulations
could block the change in use and retained Aspen attorney
Tom Smith, a former Pitkin County attorney and a respected
regional expert in land use.
At the public
hearing before the Carbondale Board of Adjustment, over 200 local residents
appeared, roughly half Latino. The Board was sitting to determine if
the issuance of the Building Permit should be rescinded, so as to prohibit
the retrofit of the bank to meet INS specifications. Mr. Smith called
a series of critical witnesses to demonstrate that the federal agency
could not convert the bank building "by right", beginning with prominent
architect Michael Hassig, then on the town's Planning Commission and
now its Mayor. Under the Carbondale land use code, a super-majority
of the Board of Adjustment was required to overturn the Chief Building
Official's decision -- not just 3, but 4 of the 5 votes.
After hearing
5 hours of testimony, the Board 4
to 1 to rescind the building permit and send the INS packing.
With Public Counsel's assistance, an obscure municipal
zoning board was empowered to prevent an enormous federal agency from
pursuing its plans. Within less than a year, the INS found an
appropriate location on an I-70 interchange in Western Colorado.
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