Greenwood Village has agreed to pay $550,000 to end a bitter, years-long legal fight with the owners of a Motel 6 that had been housing hundreds of families in transition, including people with disabilities, in defiance of the city’s 29-day stay limit. The settlement, finalized in August, also rewrites the rules for how long guests referred by nonprofits and human services agencies can stay at the motel on East Arapahoe Road.
A Rule Born in 2014 Collides With a Housing Crisis
The dispute traced back to a Greenwood Village ordinance that limited any motel guest’s stay to 29 days within a consecutive 60-day period, according to the Denver Gazette. Neza Bharucha, who is married to the owner of the 129-room Motel 6 at 9201 East Arapahoe Road, sued the city in 2024, according to seed reporting from The Denver Post. She had provided rooms to hundreds of families, including people with disabilities referred by human services agencies and nonprofits, among them the Community Economic Defense Project, which partnered with the motel in February 2024 to provide temporary housing to vulnerable people, according to a federal court order reproduced by law.justia.com.
Greenwood Village had claimed Bharucha violated the 29-day limit and that the motel generated a disproportionate number of police calls, per the Post’s reporting. The city served her with a criminal summons on May 18, 2023, over the alleged violation, according to the same court order. Those criminal charges were eventually dropped after being issued, in part because the ordinance was not a criminal statute, the court record states.
A Family’s Two Weeks at the Motel
Among the families living at the motel was Andrea Fuenmayor, who had migrated from Venezuela with her family and had lived there for two weeks as of August 2024. Her four-year-old daughter, Alexa, was seen playing on a bed in their room while Andrea tidied up, the Post’s reporting shows. Bharucha argued the city’s 29-day limit violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and said a city cannot exclude a certain group of people from staying within its boundaries.
“I was excited by the settlement,” Bharucha said, according to the Post, adding that people, including those facing mental health challenges, should be able to stay in Greenwood Village. Her attorney, David Lane, called the case hard-fought litigation and said municipalities that discriminate against people because of their disabilities will face prolonged litigation. Lane also praised Bharucha for helping people most in need, per the Post’s account.
What the New Rules Actually Allow
Under the settlement, extended-stay guests at the Motel 6 may now stay up to 90 days rather than 29, the Denver Gazette reported. Anyone staying beyond 29 days must have their bill covered by a charitable organization that is helping them secure long-term housing, and that nonprofit must be providing bridge or temporary housing to people awaiting a more permanent arrangement. The motel may use no more than 25 of its rooms for these qualifying extended stays, according to the court record cited by the Post…