The nonprofit Step Forward and builder Richmond Road Partners—represented free-of-charge by the Beacon Center of Tennessee—asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review their case, which challenges the ongoing issue of arbitrary delays and denials in the permitting process.
Richmond Road planned to build classrooms, a playground, and administrative offices in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, to lease to Step Forward for a Head Start preschool serving disadvantaged children. Although the site was already zoned to allow a school, Warrensville Heights denied the permit, claiming the area was unsuitable for a school.
About a year later, a court ordered the city to grant the permit after finding that its denial was arbitrary and unreasonable, but the lease had already fallen through. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit refused the plaintiffs’ request for compensation because they have not endured an “extraordinary delay” of many years.
Richmond Road and Step Forward are urging the Supreme Court to clarify the “extraordinary delay” test and make it easier for property owners to seek compensation when their plans to build are stifled by excessive red tape. Bureaucratic delays are a growing problem nationwide, including in Tennessee. As Governor Bill Lee emphasized in his 2024 State of the State address, “building delays drive up the cost of homes and businesses for all Tennesseans.”
Housing affordability is one of the biggest challenges facing Americans today. The only way out of the mess is to let builders build more housing, and that’s why it’s crucial for the Supreme Court to take this case.
The case is docketed as Richmond Road Partners, LLC, et al. v. City of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, et al.