The Lakewood City Council unanimously approved the land-swap project between the city and the Action Center after an injunction pushed the move back a week.

Three key ordinances in the deal between the city and the nonprofit organization were approved Monday evening during a special meeting, hours after the corresponding trial in a Jefferson County Court ended.

The three ordinances all passed 11-0. The meeting only lasted 20 minutes.

The elaborate plan goes as follows: the city will buy the Action Center’s current location at 8745 and 8755 W. 14 Ave. for $4 million. The nonprofit provides services, free food and clothing to those in need.

The city will then sell 10 acres of the Emory Elementary School property at 1275 S. Teller St. to the Action Center for $1 million. This includes the school itself.

The city will keep the rest of the property’s seven acres to itself. It will also lease the Action Center’s current building back to the nonprofit until it can finish renovating the school.

The process was halted by a lawsuit, though, with Anita Springsteen — an attorney and former Lakewood councilmember — filing a complaint last November claiming that the council discussions and executive sessions behind the sales violated Colorado’s Open Meetings Law.

Springsteen argued that the council held an executive session regarding “negotiations” on Sept. 19, 2024, while only giving a “general description of the matter it intended to discuss in the Executive Session which merely
mirrored the authorizing statutory language,” according to the complaint.

The legal battle was about the public notifications involving executive sessions, not about the specific land transactions.

The ordinances were supposed to be voted upon last month, but Jefferson County Judge Meegan Miloud placed an injunction on the voting until after the trial on Monday.

The trial ended and the injunction was lifted.

“The city disagreed with the propriety of the injunction, but we honored the separation of powers that are granted each branch of government and awaited resolution of the judicial process,” the city said in a statement Wednesday. “This process has been transparent and inclusive. Lakewood held and energetically promoted at least five publicly noticed meetings on this proposal over the past year, and The Action Center hosted and promoted at least two more.”

The Action Center plans to convert the former school into a comprehensive community hub, partnering with groups such as Jefferson County Public Health, Skyhawks Sports Academy and Red Rocks Community College. The facility would offer educational programs, youth recreation, food and clothing assistance, and health services — all within one location.

The proposal does not include overnight shelter space for homeless people and would have on-site security. However, concerns about the potential impact of the center were a key issue for some residents during the April vote. The goal, organizers say, is to provide support that helps prevent homelessness in the first place.

In the wake of the approval, Action Center CEO Pam Brier told The Denver Gazette that the Action Center is extremely gratified by the votes and the public approval.

“This represents a significant milestone in our vision to create a collaborative community-centered campus that strengthens our ability to serve the region’s residents in need,” she said.

Some residents have questioned the school district selling a property to the city for less than its valued.

During a meeting on Oct. 27, Planning Director Travis Parker assured the public that the assessments of the properties are legitimate and the sale of the school for cheap is normal.

“Public dollars were already used to purchase this school. It had a lot of life left in it,” Councilmember Jeslin Shahrezaei said, adding that the reclamation of the former school building will be a positive in the wake of the negative of it shutting down.

“This adds and allows us to give a very significantly sized service to our community members who need these services the most,” Mayor Wendi Strom said.

The Jeffco Public School Board still needs to approve the sale, which it plans on doing later this month.