City of Denver fines business for not cleaning up drug needles and homeless people's poop

A Denver business owner is fighting a fine from the city. The violation? Not cleaning up the feces, trash, and hypodermic needles of prostitutes, drug addicts, and the homeless.

 

What are the details?

Jawaid Bazyar received a citation from the city after he and his staff stopped cleaning up the hazardous messes left behind near his business.
Bazyar's business is located in Denver's Five Points neighborhood, and he says it's common to see drug deals and more happening near his own storefront.
"There's food, trash, drug deals," Bazyar said. "In the alley, we get the defecation, drug needles."
Bazyar — who is president and an owner of communications company Forethought.net — said that he and his staff will no longer clean up what he refers to as a public health hazard.
"If the city's not going to enforce laws against trespassing, or camping, or public defecation, and just make me bear the cost of these problems, that's just not right," he said.
The city of Denver, however, does not agree with Bazyar's appraisal of the matter, and says that if the hazardous materials are on his property, then it's his responsibility to dispose of them. The city also pointed out that Bazyar can hire someone to clean up the messes, but Bazyar says that he doesn't believe it's fair he should have to foot the bill.
Bazyar has a hearing scheduled for Dec. 18, and he says he will fight the citation.
“I'm going to go to court and do my best to argue that the City's treatment of this unfair," he said. "This is a public crime issue and a public health issue and the city is the organization that's responsible for that."