PRRAC — Connecting Research to Advocacy

Poverty & Race Research Action Council

You are here: Home / Browse PRRAC's Issue Areas / Amicus Brief: redT Homes LLC v. City & County of Denver (June 24, 2026)

Amicus Brief: redT Homes LLC v. City & County of Denver (June 24, 2026)

by

Link to the full brief pdf

Appellate Case: 26-1085 Document: 24 Date Filed: 06/24/2026

No. 26-1085
_____________
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT
_____________
redT Homes, LLC, and
redT Capital Partners, LLC,

Plaintiffs-Appellants

v.

City of and County of Denver,

Defendant-Appellee

_____________

BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE THE LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW AND THE POVERTY AND RACE ACTION COUNCIL IN SUPPORT OF APPELLEES

_____________

Dariely Rodriguez*
Brook Hill
Kelechi Agbakwuru
LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE FOR
CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW
1500 K Street, NW 900
Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 662-8600
drodriguez@lawyerscommittee.org
*Admitted in the Tenth Circuit

Thomas Silverstein
Audrey Martin
THE POVERTY AND RACE
RESEARCH ACTION COUNCIL
740 15TH Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20005

June 24, 2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES………………………………………………………………………….. 3

INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ……………………………………………………………………. 6

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ………………………………………………………………………. 7

ARGUMENT ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 9

I. Inclusionary Zoning Policies Do Not Constitute Physical Takings or Otherwise Implicate the Takings Clause. ……………………………………………………… 9

A. The Mandatory Affordable Housing Ordinance Does Not Effectuate a Physical Taking. …………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

B. The Right to Sell or Lease One’s Property at a Particular Price Is Not a Core Component of Property Ownership. ………………………………………………..10

C. Appellants Have Voluntarily Subjected Themselves to Regulation of the Terms on Which They May Sell Their Property. ……………………………………….13

D. Courts That Have Applied the Correct Takings Clause Framework to Inclusionary Zoning Policies Have Consistently Upheld Them. ………………….14

II. Denver Has an Acute Housing Affordability Crisis That Disproportionately Harms Black Households and Households of Color. …………17

III. Inclusionary Zoning Alleviates the Housing Affordability Crisis While Furthering Fair Housing. …………………………………………………………………………..20

CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………………………..23

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases

2910 Georgia Ave. LLC v. District of Columbia, 234 F. Supp. 3d 281 (D.D.C. 2017) …..16

616 Croft Ave., LLC v. City of West Hollywood, 583 U.S. 958 (2017) ………………..16

AbbVie, Inc. v. Brown, 809 F. Supp. 3d 1341 (D. Utah 2025) ……………………………12

Block v. Hirsh, 256 U.S. 135 (1921) ……………………………………………………………… 11

Bowles v. Willingham, 321 U.S. 503 (1944) …………………………………………………… 11

California Bldg. Indus. Ass’n v. City of San Jose, 61 Cal. 4th 435 (2015) …… 15, 16

California. Bldg. Indus. Ass’n v. City of San Jose, 577 U.S. 1179 (2016) …………..16

Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, 594 U.S. 139 (2021) ……………………………. 9, 12, 14

Cherk v. County of Marin, 589 U.S. 1102 (2019) …………………………………………….16

Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994) ………………………………………………….13

Edgar A. Levy Leasing Co. v. Siegel, 258 U.S. 242 (1922) ………………………………. 11

Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, 379 U.S. 241 (1964) ……….. 10, 13, 14

Home Builders Ass’n of Greater Chicago v. City of Chicago, 213 F. Supp. 3d 1019

(N.D. Ill. 2016) ………………………………………………………………………………………..16

Home Bldg. & Loan Ass’n v. Blaisdell, 290 U. S. 398 (1934) …………………………… 11

Horne v. Dep’t of Agriculture, 576 U.S. 350 (2015) ………………………………………….. 9

Kaiser Aetna v. U.S., 444 U.S. 164 (1979) ……………………………………………………..13

Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., 544 U.S. 528 (2005) …………………………………………14

Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp., 458 U.S. 419 (1982) ……….. 10, 12

Nollan v. California Coastal Comm’n, 483 U.S. 825 (1987) …………………………….13

Penn Cent. Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104 (1978) ………………………..15

Pennell v. San Jose, 485 U.S. 1 (1988) ………………………………………………………….. 11

Permian Basin Area Rate Cases, 390 U.S. 747 (1968) ……………………………………. 11

PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U. S. 74 (1980) ……………………………..14

Queenside Hills Realty Co. v. Saxl, 328 U. S. 80 (1946) ………………………………….. 11

Tahoe-Sierra Pres. Council, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Plan. Agency, 535 U.S. 302

(2002) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..15

Yee v. City of Escondido, 503 U.S. 519 (1992) ………………………………………….. 11, 14

Statutes

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-904(1)(c) (2025) ………………………………………………………21

Local Ordinances

Denver, Colo., Rev. Municipal Code § 27-151 (2026) ……………………………………..17

Other Authorities

Affordable Housing Prioritization Policy, City and County of Denver,
https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Department-of-Housing-Stability/About-Housing-Stability/Operations-Impact/Affordable-Housing-Prioritization-Policy (last visited June 24, 2026) ………………………………………….17

Ann Hollingshead, Do Inclusionary Housing Policies Promote Housing Affordability? Evidence from the Palmer Decision in California, Lincoln Inst. Land Pol’y (Dec. 2015), https://www.lincolninst.edu/app/uploads/legacyfiles/pubfiles/hollingshead-wp15ah1.pdf …………………………………………………….22

Christina Plerhoples Stacy, et al., Inclusionary Zoning: How Different IZ Policies Affect Tenant, Landlord, and Developer Behaviors, Urb. Inst. (July 30, 2021), https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2023-

08/Inclusionary%20Zoning%20How%20Different%20IZ%20Policies%20Affect%20Tenant%2C%20Landlord%2C%20and%20Developer%20Behaviors.pdf…23

Colorado Civil Rights Division announces that, as of January 1, 2021, discrimination based on source of income is prohibited by law, Colorado Dep’t of Regul. Agencies (Jan. 5, 2021), https://dora.colorado.gov/press-releasesource-of-income ……………………………………………………………………………………..20

Colorado Rankings, U.S. News & World Report …………………………………………….16

Drew DeSilver, The state of affordable housing in the US, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (Oct. 25, 2024) https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/10/25/a-look-at-the-stateof-affordable-housing-in-the-us/ ………………………………………………………………..16

Efren Garcia, Colorado Housing Primer 2025, Bell Pol’y Ctr. (Mar. 14, 2025),
https://bellpolicy.org/colorado-housing-primer-2025/ …………………………………..18

Expanding Housing Affordability – Public Review Draft Summary, City and Cnty. of Denver (Mar. 9, 2022),

https://www.denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/2/community-planning-anddevelopment/documents/zoning/text-amendments/housing-affordability/eha_legislative_reviewdraft_summary_march2022.pdf ……………..20

Fair Share Hous. Ctr., Dismantling Exclusionary Zoning: New Jersey’s Blueprint for Overcoming Segregation (Apr. 2023), https://www.fairsharehousing.org/wpcontent/uploads/2025/06/Dismantling-Exclusionary-Zoning_New-Jerseys-Blueprint-for-Overcoming-Segregation.pdf………………22

Mateo Parsons, Colorado’s Racial Wealth Gap: Homeownership & Credit, Bell Pol’y Ctr. (Dec. 2019), https://www.bellpolicy.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/12/Racial-Wealth-Gap-Homeownership-Credit.pdf. ……..18

Mead & Hunt, Nuestras Historias: Mexican American/Chicano/Latino Histories in Denver, City of Denver (Feb. 2022), https://denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/2/community-planning-anddevelopment/documents/landmark-preservation/historiccontext/nuestrashistoriascontext_en.pdf ……………………19

Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, State of Homelessness 2023 (2024), https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fea50c73853910bc4679c13/t/65a97b759426763893db64c3/1705606013237/MDHI+State+of+Homelessness+Report+2023.pdf ……………..17

Michelle Rich, “Change will occur, for whose benefit?”: Gentrification in Five Points, 1975 – 1984, Hist. Stud. J. (May 2, 2026), https://cudenverhistoryjournal.org/2024-volume-41/change-will-occur-forwhose-benefit-gentrification-in-five-points-1975-1984/ ………..18

Robin Kniech, The Promise of Inclusionary Housing: A Case Study Putting Denver’s Early Implementation Into Context, Bell Pol’y Ctr. (Nov. 2024), https://www.bellpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/FINAL-Inclusionary-Housing-Robin-Kniech-11-2024.pdf …………………. 19, 20

INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE1

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (“Lawyers’ Committee”) is a nonpartisan, non-profit civil rights organization founded in 1963, to secure equal justice for all through the rule of law, targeting the inequities confronting Black Americans and other people of color. The Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. The Lawyers’ Committee has worked extensively with local governments, private fair housing nonprofits, and community organizing groups to advance inclusionary zoning as a model policy for fostering inclusive, integrated communities that are free from discrimination and provide access for all residents, including Black families that have been subjected to discrimination. A decision in favor of Appellant would make it significantly more difficult and cost-intensive for state and local governments to promote affordable housing development through legislatively imposed impact or linkage fees and could deter the adoption of inclusionary zoning.

1 Amici hereby certify that no party’s counsel authored the brief in whole or in part, no party or party’s counsel contributed money intended to fund preparation or submission of this brief, and no person other than amici or their counsel contributed money intended to fund preparation or submission of the brief. All parties have consented to the filing of this amicus brief.