City attorneys urged a federal judge this week to require the Boy Scouts to post an $80,000 bond while the city attempts to evict them from a city-owned building.
During a 90-minute hearing, U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter heard testimony that the beaux-arts structure has a leaky roof, water in its basement and plaster falling from its ceilings.
The Scouts refuse to pay fair-market rent, and won’t permit openly gay participants, while the building continues to deteriorate, said David Smith, an attorney for the city.
The city wants to gain possession of the building as soon as possible to lessen, or avoid, future losses, Smith said.
The city is attempting to evict the Cradle of Liberty Council from a city-owned building, maintaining the organization is in violation of the city’s anti-bias law, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in accommodations.
The bond would cover the period from November 2009, when Buckwalter issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Scouts’ eviction, through May 2010, the earliest feasible date for the Scouts to vacate the premises.
If the Scouts continue to occupy the building after next month, they should post an additional bond of $13,333 for each succeeding month, Smith said.
To buttress the city’s case, appraiser Reaves C. Lukens took the witness stand and placed the potential annual fair-market rent of the property at $160,000.
If the building cannot be demolished and replaced with a more efficient structure, the annual fair-market rent would be reduced to $112,500, Lukens testified.
But the Scouts called appraiser John E. Doyle to the stand. He placed the annual fair-market rent at $59,000, noting the building has a large atrium that doesn’t lend itself to office use.
Doyle also pointed out the building doesn’t have an elevator, and he estimated that it would cost about $150,000 to have one installed.
The lack of an elevator within the three-story building at 231-251 N. 22nd St. has raised questions about the Scouts’ sensitivity to disabled individuals.
After the hearing, Scouts attorney Jason P. Gosselin said he’s not a disability-law specialist and couldn’t comment on whether the Scouts had a legal obligation to install an elevator.
A jury trial on the Scouts’ eviction case is scheduled to begin April 21.
But at the March 30 hearing, Buckwalter said he doesn’t expect a trial, because both sides have filed summary-judgment motions — and he thinks the case will be disposed of through his summary-judgment rulings.
The Scouts want Buckwalter to dissolve the preliminary injunction and replace it with a permanent one, allowing them to remain in the building in perpetuity, without paying any rent or allowing openly gay participants, according to the Scouts’ motion.
City attorneys want Buckwalter to order the immediate eviction of the Scouts, since the group hasn’t proven its eviction would be unconstitutional, and the city has cited ample law to justify the eviction, according to the city’s motion.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Buckwalter told both sides he would consider their points carefully before announcing his decision on the monetary value of the bond.
The Scouts refuse to sign a lease with comprehensive anti-bias language covering gays and other protected categories — which has been a major stumbling block in resolving the dispute.
However, the Scouts have pointed out that several city tenants haven’t signed such comprehensive leases, yet those tenants still are permitted to occupy city buildings for little or no rent.
In a related matter, Buckwalter said he’s permitted friend-of-the-court briefs to be filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc., Mazzoni Center and a coalition of other groups and individuals.
The briefs back the city’s position in the dispute.
Tim Cwiek can be reached at (215) 625-8501 ext. 208.