After businesses and public facilities close, the homeless who sleep in hidden spots along Boulder Creek are opting in certain cases to relieve themselves outdoors, to the chagrin of public officials and many visitors to the area.
Yvette Bowden, director of Boulder Parks and Recreation, said last week in response to complaints about the human waste visible along the creek path and particularly common at and east of the Civic Area, “I’m not here to make excuses. We are, like all of you, dealing with the impacts of conditions that we wish were not so.”
The conditions — feces and used toilet paper, in addition to heaps of litter and homeless property — are not only off-putting, but have prompted concerns about sanitation in one of the city’s premier spots for outdoor recreation.
In early fall, the City Council directed police to begin re-enforcing the urban camping ban, after a roughly five-month unofficial moratorium. Since then, records show, cops have issued 47 citations for violation of the ban.
Even in winter, though, dozens and sometimes hundreds of homeless people still find places to sleep outdoors in Boulder, and the woods and underpasses along the creek path on the fringe of downtown remain popular options.
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