U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement or ICE got a warning shot across the bow Tuesday night, April 28, from the Glenwood Springs Planning Commission, which voted 5-1 to revoke a special use permit for the detention facility on Midland Avenue. The P and Z held a public hearing to discuss the permit. About 160 people attended, spilling out into an overflow room and into the hallway of Glenwood Springs City Hall.
The original permit for the facility was issued in 2003 to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), a sort of real estate agent for the federal government. The GSA got the permit for ICE to set up a temporary holding facility in a commercial building on the west side of town.The federal government leases the space from a Florida based property owner.
A Colorado Open Records Act request filed in February of this year found that a final certificate of occupancy (CO) was never issued to Suites 110 and 210 after the building was completed more than 20 years ago. Those units are leased to ICE.
This revelation fueled a firestorm of comments to the city and further investigations into the permit.
In a March press release, the city said that due to the length of occupancy and insufficient records from two decades ago, staff was not sure why there was no final certificate of occupancy and pointed to administrative oversight. Trent Hyatt, director of economic and community development for the city, said Tuesday that the city inspected the building earlier this year and found a few needed corrections, like updating or replacing exit and emergency lights, patching holes in the garage ceiling and providing an evacuation plan for the temporary holding area. “However, the city was not going to issue a CO for that use until these life safety issues were addressed by the applicant,” he said.
Then came more records request findings about ICE. “On March 6th, 2026, the city received information from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showing that the Condition Number One details related to the 12-hour maximum hold time had been exceeded on at least eleven occurrences, both in September and August of 2025,” explained Hyatt at the meeting.
On March 25th, the city issued a notice of violation to both the property owner and the tenants of the building. “On April 1st, 2026, an additional FOIA request was obtained by the city that showed additional exceedances of the 12-hour hold time,” continued Hyatt. “We are also aware of media reports with dates of hold times going back to 2012 that have shown additional exceedances of the 12-hour maximum hold time.”
Hyatt added that the Midland Avenue units have since been inspected and a certificate of occupancy issued.
City Attorney Karl Hanlon said that the federal government is not obliged to comply with local codes, and the Supremacy Clause, dating back to 1789, gives the federal government permission to override state and local laws. “Essentially, meaning that they can ignore us,” said Hanlon. “And so I don't want anybody's expectations to be that this facility will cease to operate tomorrow, depending on what you do tonight. Or that we have a judicial remedy to force that to occur.”
A memo issued last June by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE allows for 72-hour temporary holds instead of twelve. Hanlon warned that, even though the city has enough evidence to revoke, “For me, as the attorney for the City of Glenwood Springs, I have almost no options to enforce that outcome,” he explained. “And I just don't want there to be any confusion about that.”
Against these odds, meeting attendees challenged the commission to take the high road.
“Your children are watching. Someday, you will look back at tonight and you will know whether you had the courage you needed when it mattered. Revoke this permit.”
“The choice is clear. The answer is to revoke. They need to go.”
“This is about making sure that you hold the line, that we draw the line tonight, that people in this community, no matter what race or what background or where they come from, matter.”
“I urge you not to cooperate with a rogue lawless agency, but to revoke their permit. Take a step to protect your citizens and residents, and then let it be on the record to this community that our federal government makes up its own rules and flaunts the rule of law.”
Commissioner Amy Connerton introduced the motion. “Our role really isn't to make decisions about immigration,” she said. “But, I move to revoke the special use permit.” Commissioner Patrick Corcoran cast the sole dissenting vote. Others said ICE's presence does not align with the city's comprehensive plan to maintain public health and safety, and that the decision shows that Glenwood Springs is a safe and fair place to do business. Representatives of Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not show up for the meeting.
Hanlon told KDNK that notice of the Planning and Zoning's decision now goes to ICE, the GSA, and the property owner. They then have a week to file a notice of appeal to the city council. If that happens, a hearing will be scheduled. If they don't file a notice of appeal, the Planning and Zoning decision becomes final.
