Greenwood Village has paid $550,000 in a legal settlement that also requires the city to lift its 29-day stay limit on a Motel 6 that provides temporary housing to people without shelter.
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The settlement, which was finalized in August, ends a yearslong legal battle between the southern suburb and Neza Bharucha, whose husband owns the Motel 6 at 9201 E. Arapahoe Road.
Bharucha for years has provided rooms for hundreds of families — many including people with disabilities — referred to the motel by human services agencies and nonprofits like the Community Economic Defense Project.
Greenwood Village claimed she was violating the city’s 29-day limit on motel stays and that the property was generating a disproportionate number of police calls. The city served Bharucha with a criminal summons in 2023 — a charge that was later dropped.
She sued the city the following year, claiming its 29-day limit violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. She said in an interview Friday that she was “excited” by the settlement.
“Rich or poor (people), including those with mental health challenges, should have the ability to stay in Greenwood Village if they want,” Bharucha said. “A city cannot exclude a certain group from staying within its boundaries.”
Greenwood Village spokeswoman Megan Copenhaver on Friday said the city was “pleased” to have resolved the lawsuit.
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“The parties were able to reach a compromise as to the safe and appropriate use of the hotel,” Copenhaver said in a statement. “… The City looks forward to a continued and productive relationship with Ms. Bharucha, her husband and the staff of Motel 6, and the continued use of appropriate bridge housing through sponsoring nonprofits.”
The terms of the settlement are fairly narrow. The Motel 6 will be allowed to house guests for more than 29 days as long as their stay is paid for by a nonprofit organization that provides bridge, or temporary, housing to those awaiting a more permanent housing arrangement.
The motel is not allowed to host regularly scheduled group meetings of extended stay patrons, nor may it permit group treatment or therapy on the premises. A maximum stay is now set at 90 days and is limited to no more than 25 of the motel’s 129 rooms.
The city’s $550,000 payment went to Bharucha and her legal team. Bharucha’s attorney, David Lane, called the case “hard-fought litigation.”
“Any municipality that tries to discriminate against people and their disabilities is going to face a long road of litigation,” he said.
He praised Bharucha for helping those “who are most in need.”
“That is who she is,” Lane said.
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