Motel Owners Sue Greenwood Village Over Ordinance That Limits Homeless Motel Stays
August 5, 2024
By: Bennito L Kelty
In March 2020, John Jackson, the Greenwood Village city manager, sent Bharucha a letter warning that she was violating the ordinance because her motel isn’t a medical facility, according to the lawsuit. Jackson also called on then-Denver Mayor Michael Hancock to cancel the partnership with CCH, “and the partnership was canceled,” the lawsuit notes.
A month later, Bharucha formed a new partnership with SAFER, an initiative supported by Mental Health Colorado, to offer 23 rooms at her motel for two years as a temporary shelter for people suffering from mental health problems or drug addiction.
Greenwood Village tried to stop that partnership in April 2021, when City Attorney Tonya Haas Davidson sent a letter to Bharucha saying that her hotel couldn’t be used for “rehabilitation or counseling services.”
Read the full article in Westward
