Before this year, Kent Argow was a beloved neighbor. He had been living at the same house on Emerson Street for thirteen years and was close friends with many nearby residents. But when Argow’s wife got pregnant, the couple decided to find a home with a more child-friendly layout and put theirs on the rental market.

Nearly a year later, some neighbors are unhappy with Argow’s new tenant, a sober-living facility for recovering addicts called Emerson House that opened in February.

When Argow notified his neighbors of his plans to rent the home to Emerson House operator Brice Hancock, his relationship with many of them soured. Some felt that he was putting the integrity of the neighborhood at risk.

“It broke my heart to have this happen with Kent. Everybody was tremendously disappointed,” says Jim Wiseman, a friend of Argow’s who has lived in the neighborhood for 41 years.

Argow and Hancock maintain that they are doing a good thing by helping recovering addicts. Still, residents of the San Rafael Historic District, which is in Five Points, have been fighting to overturn Hancock’s zoning application. They cite safety concerns, both for neighbors and tenants, and argue that the home will hurt property values; they also note that there are a number of similar facilities nearby, including other residential-care facilities and a hospital, and say that Emerson House contributes to the “institutionalization” of the neighborhood.

Denver Community Planning and Development didn’t find merit in the neighbors’ arguments against the home, however. On July 30, Steve Elkins, an associate city planner for the city’s zoning administrator, issued a seven-page document that explained the city’s reasons for accepting Hancock’s application for a small residential care facility and contested the neighbors’ arguments, including the point that a nearby liquor store should be considered when issuing Hancock’s permit. Elkins added that decades of research disprove the neighbors’ claim that property values will suffer because of the sober-living facility.

But some neighbors aren’t convinced. A hearing considering their appeal of Hancock’s permit will take place in front of the Board of Adjustment for Zoning in December. Four out of the five boardmembers would have to side with the appeal for it to succeed.

Although the city disagrees with neighbors, it’s this kind of dispute that underscores the reason it created an advisory committee in March to update Denver’s zoning code as it relates to group living, which the committee defines as “residential uses where a group of people larger than a typical household occupy a structure, often with common eating and restroom facilities.” That can include sober-living facilities, artist co-op spaces, homeless shelters and halfway houses.

Emerson House Anthony Camera

Argow was set to rent his single-family home on Emerson Street to a group of four people, but they backed out at the last minute. It was January 2018, and the housing market was not particularly lively because of the typically slow winter real estate season.

Argow says he was left scrambling to find a new renter when he received an application from Hancock, who was offering $800 above the asking price. Argow accepted his application.

Hancock operates five sober-living homes in Denver, including Emerson House, under the auspices of Mile High Sober Living. Residents pay $1,250 per month, for shelter as well as access to spiritual advisers and meditation sessions.

In order to house the number of residents he wanted, Hancock had to apply for a zoning permit for a residential care facility. Hancock had not applied for special zoning permits for his other residences; it wasn't until the complaints came in from neighbors about the Emerson House that Hancock applied for special zoning permits for all of his facilities.The process to get the special permit for the Emerson House approved took several months, so Hancock found a temporary solution: He got a boarding permit in mid-March that allowed him to house four people.

The zoning permit for a residential care facility was granted at the end of July, allowing him to increase the home’s residents to eight under the condition that Hancock satisfy the building and fire code requirements needed for housing so many people in a residential care facility. Hancock still has not reached out for the city to come in to the home and perform its fire safety review, nor does he plan on it, arguing that the Fair Housing Act protects him from this step. But by housing eight people without having the building inspected for fire safety, Hancock is violating city laws, according to zoning administrator Tina Axelrad, zoning administrator for the City and County of Denver.

Hancock does not accept people who are court-ordered to live in a sober home, nor does he accept sex offenders or violent felons. Residents must take two drug and alcohol tests per week; a failed test is grounds for expulsion.

Hancock himself has been in recovery since 2013 and considers his work to be his God-given purpose. But at least 42 people disagree. That’s how many emailed Denver Community Planning and Development to oppose the facility during the public-comment period of Hancock’s permit application process, which lasted from the end of May to the beginning of June.

Some complained that too many cars owned by tenants and their visitors were parked on the street. Others worried that the short-term nature of the leases would prevent tenants from investing in the neighborhood.