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By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Neighbors and nearby business owners along Yale Boulevard near the airport will get their say on an overnight drug treatment shelter after city officials accidentally allowed it to open without a required permit. The Albuquerque City Council rejected a recommendation that would have allowed the shelter to move forward with more time to complete required improvements.
During Monday’s meeting, councilors voted 7-1 to reject a Land Use Hearing Officer’s recommendations to allow the Empower Health Service shelter to remain at 2300 Yale Blvd. SE, the former Ramada by Wyndham Albuquerque Airport. The facility retroactively applied for and received conditional use approval from the city’s Zoning Hearing Examiner on May 6, but appeals from the Yale Village Neighborhood Association and the nearby Waffle House owner put the final permit on hold. The hearing officer recommended dismissing the appeals while giving the shelter more time to complete required security and lighting improvements. Councilor Nichole Rogers successfully moved to reject those recommendations, sending the dispute to a full public hearing.
The shelter opened in November 2025 without the required permit, according to the hearing officer’s report, which said it began operating based on “incorrect advice from unknown city staff.” Planning Department spokesperson Tim Walsh told The Paper. that a Jan. 8 inspection found multiple zoning, building safety and housing code violations. He said the city issued a formal notice to the property owner, who is working on repairs, but a final walkthrough to clear the violations is still pending.
The council’s vote means the hearing officer’s recommendations will not take effect. Instead, the shelter’s conditional use permit will go through a full public hearing Sept. 9, when the council takes final action. Community members can submit public comments or sign up to speak at the meeting.
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