Pasted here in case they are removed from the news sites in the future.
Is DIA A Slumlord?Homes For Rent Shown With Piling Garbage, MoldNovember 2005
http://www.thedenv...270259/detail.html DENVER -- An isolated subdivision with more than 40 houses are available for rent near Denver International Airport. But when 7NEWS cameras went inside, it was a shocking scene, considering it costs $1,200 a month to move in, and considering that the city of Denver owns the property.
If you own a house in Denver and keep trash in your yard, let underbrush and shrubs grow out of control or fail to keep your house up to safety codes. You may find yourself paying a hefty fine and forced to clean up. But what if it's the city of Denver that owns the property and is trying rent it out?
"When we pulled up there was garbage everywhere. There was like, ran-over grills, propane tanks, transmissions, on the barn -- the barn door was ready to fall off," said a potential tenant named Luke, who did not want his last name released.
When Luke and his wife, Luanne, were looking to rent a home with plenty of space and safe surroundings for their 4-year-old, they thought they'd found the perfect neighborhood.
"We went inside and it looked like they just threw the people out the night before," said Luke. "When we walked into the kitchen, right in the kitchen was a good-sized three pound watermelon and it was never cut open or nothing and it was old enough where it just started decaying. It was all moldy and black."
Luke and Luanne were stunned because this subdivision near DIA, called Stonehouse Farms, is owned and rented out to tenants by the city of Denver through the airport.
"When you hear that something's owned by the city you think it's going to be an up kept house -- up to codes, up to health standards. Really, there wouldn't be anything to worry about," said Luke.
To find out just how Denver city officials are maintaining this property, which is paid for with public money, 7NEWS took a hidden camera along to tour the properties two weeks after Luke and Luanne were there.
Even the city official in charge of the properties couldn't stand the odor of the house when he was showing it to 7NEWS producers.
"Good grief! That refrigerator! I've got to get somebody in here," the property manager said on the hidden camera.
There was molding food in the refrigerator and molding food on the counter.
"It stunk. It stunk like mold. It stunk like rotten food. It stunk like cigarette butts and beer bottles," said Luanne.
The city official in charge of the properties admitted that the tenants in the house had been out for more than a month, yet no one had been in to clean up or repair damage.
"There was cracked outlet plates, and my 4-year old stuck his hand into it, and they were live outlets because you could turn the lights on and off," said Luke.
Outside, the surrounding yard was overgrown and full of trash. It wasn't a much better environment, especially for kids.
"If you hit that door just right it's going to fall down," said Luanne.
"I don't repair any building outside ... whatever happens with the house is my problem," said the Denver official showing the house.
At another house, even the DIA property manager was embarrassed by the mounting trash in the front yard. Again, he said tenants had moved out two months ago and the property is owned by the city of Denver.
Inside, the stairway was an obvious safety hazard for kids. The covers for electrical outlets seemed to be in short supply.
At a third house, the walls told the story.
"There was water damage, fresh water damage where the paint's bubbling up and peeling off the walls. Up on the ceiling, there was mold in the basement around the base frames," said Luke.
But clearly, the city's property manager doesn't necessarily believe he has to clean the houses before potential tenants move in.
"What I do is give people a rent break for people to clean the house. I give people a month of free rent. They clean the house and then they move in," said the property manager.
"Don't rent out a house that's full of garbage and tell them, 'I'll give you a deal if you'll clean it. I'll give you a deal.' How do I know what I'll find in there? They could've had heroin users in there that had AIDS and I get stuck with a needle," Luanne said.
"I share her concern. I wouldn't touch somebody else's trash," said city councilman Doug Linkhart, who is on the committee overseeing the airport.
"I wouldn't go into a place like this that could be drug-infested, rat-infested, and taken on that job of cleaning it up and taking on that job of the electricals and things like that. That would be crazy," he said.
"If I were another landlord looking in to see how they do business, I would call them a slumlord," said Linkhart. "DIA is part of the city. They should be not only living up to our standards but setting an example."
"There probably are some liability issues and that is one of the reasons we want to address this problem as quickly as we can," said Steve Snyder, spokesman for Denver's Department of Aviation. "Obviously, you brought some issues to our attention that need to be addressed. We need to go in there and we need to make some changes. One of the things we are going to make sure is that we don't show any of these units anymore until they are up to code, until they are essentially able to be occupied."
Linkhart said the city council can hold up leases on the property until it is assured the problems are fixed.
DIA officials say they will have the properties examined by county inspectors and an independent consultant to make sure they are corrected.
7NEWS has learned that the house with all the garbage and mold has now been rented to a family of hurricane evacuees from Louisiana. The city knocked off a month's rent and some utilities and put a Dumpster out front so the family can clean it up.
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DIA Tenants Told To Pack UpAirport-Owned Subdivision In Disrepair, According To DIA Spokesman June 2007
http://www.thedenv...549094/detail.html ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. -- A landlord has given tenants until the end of August to move out of a 40-house subdivision, and many of them said they can't figure out why.
It's happening at a subdivision called Stonehouse Farms just north of Denver International Airport.
In this case, the airport is the landlord. DIA owns an estimated 40 homes in the subdivision. It rents them to tenants for around $1,000 to $1,300 per month.
An airport spokesman said many of the homes are in disrepair and the airport hasn't decided whether to fix them up or tear them down. The spokesman said the airport wants all the tenants out before making a decision. It sent all remaining tenants a certified letter and "notice to vacate" by Aug. 31.
Many of the tenants have lived there for years and said they would like to stay.
"So we're all stressed from having to try and find a new place to live and places for our animals when we thought everything was fine and nice. Because we love it out here," said Darlena Anders, who has lived at the subdivision with her husband and their two horses for about 10 years.
The tenants also received a second letter regarding the oil company, which owns the mineral rights to the land. That letter states the company would like to start drilling on the land within the next month.
"It's quite a big heartache. And I don't know how much more my horses can take. Especially if it involves another move," said Dawn Atkins, who has lived at Stonehouse Farms for about eight years.
"It's hard because we're in a scramble right now working with realtors. My husband works all day and then we spend most nights looking for houses," said Atkins.
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Deadline Looms For Tenants In DIA-Owned SubdivisionEveryone At Stonehouse Farms Must Be Out By Aug. 31August 2007
http://www.thedenv...007565/detail.html DENVER -- Residents in a subdivision owned by Denver International Airport now have just two days to pack up their belongings and move out.
The airport has set an Aug. 31 deadline for tenants at Stonehouse Farms.
The airport owns about 44 homes in the subdivision and told tenants in June they must vacate because the company that owns the mineral rights is going to start drilling for oil.
For some residents, two months' notice has not been enough time to find another place to live.
"I mean, everybody's on edge. We're using all our spare time to look, but we have horses and we don't want to board them. Searching for a new place to live is an all-day, all-night thing pretty much," said Stonehouse Farms renter Dawn Atkins.
DIA spokesman Chuck Cannon said the airport is not sure what it will do with the homes once they are empty. Cannon indicated many of the homes are in need of major repairs, and the airport would just as soon get out of the "landlord business" than try to fix them up.
City and airport officials are giving some tenants move-out extensions based on personal circumstances.
One family runs a wholesale flower supply company from their home at Stonehouse Farms. They use hot houses to grow flowers that are not indigenous to this area. The family's primary harvest season starts in mid-September. That family and a few others have been given extensions.
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Wind farm weighed on airport propertyFebruary 2008
http://www.denverp...adlines/ci_8133713 Denver International Airport plans to monitor wind levels for a year to determine whether it should locate a wind farm on its property in Adams County.DIA owns property far north of the airport, and "we're trying to assess what to do with the property, and one of the possibilities we're assessing is putting a wind farm up there," said Patrick Heck, DIA's deputy manager for revenue and business development.
DIA officials inked a contract with Air Sciences Inc. in Golden for about $75,000 to do the monitoring and are seeking approval from Adams County to put up a wind-monitoring pole.
The property DIA plans to use is between East 132nd and East 136th avenues and was the location of the Stonehouse Farms subdivision. The houses got into a "state of disrepair," Heck said, and DIA decided not to invest the money to improve them. Renters were asked to leave, and the subdivision is now vacant.
Other options airport officials are considering for the property include industrial facilities, a sod farm or other farming.
DIA plans to start the wind monitoring this year and next year will analyze the data to determine whether it should put a wind farm there.
"If it works, it fits right into Denver's Greenprint and goals," Heck said. Greenprint Denver is Mayor John Hickenlooper's conservation initiative.
"This would just be another example of a way that we can help push the green goals," along with a solar-power system planned to go up at DIA, Heck said.
If DIA does decide on a wind farm, the company that would operate it might sell the wind power into the power grid, Heck said.
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