Telephone Hill eviction cases delayed until Friday as occupants seek merger with lawsuit challenging ouster
- Mark Sabbatini
- 9 hours ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 5 minutes ago
Residents say evictions unnecessary if lawsuit to halt redevelopment of neighborhood succeeds; city says residents’ arguments don’t show the evictions were done illegally
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Three people occupying two homes on Telephone Hill that were supposed to be vacated on Nov. 1 will now be able to stay at least until Friday after a judge on Wednesday morning postponed eviction cases against them to review a legal challenge to the validity of the evictions.
However, it’s possible — if perhaps not likely — the residents could be locked out of those homes by Friday afternoon. Two of them said Wednesday they need more time than that to move out, even though the evictions were approved several months ago.
Eviction cases against John Ingalls and Rachel Beck at one residence, and against Joseph Karson at the other home, were filed Nov. 5 by the City and Borough of Juneau, which took over ownership of the Telephone Hill area from the state in 2022. The Juneau Assembly earlier this year approved the first steps toward a long-discussed redevelopment plan that includes four new midrise apartments with 155 residences.
Among those actions was eviction orders for 13 residences in seven structures approved in June of this year that originally were supposed to occur by Oct. 1, but were delayed until Nov. 1 when the notices weren’t properly served.
"The defendants have been on notice for years — months at the very least," Clinton Mitchell, an assistant city attorney, told District Court Judge Kirsten Swanson during Wednesday’s hearing at the Dimond Courthouse.
A separate lawsuit to halt the evictions and stop the redevelopment plan was filed Oct. 31 by Karson, Ingalls and neighboring resident Robert Sylvester. Among the claims in the lawsuit are the city is using an "illegally phased decision process" and violating historic preservation laws. CBJ officials have stated their actions in the evictions and redevelopment process have been legal, and have published a memo and an FAQ addressing many of the issues raised by Telephone Hill residents in recent months.
A motion to consolidate the two eviction cases and the lawsuit against the city was filed Tuesday by Fred Triem, an attorney representing the Telephone Hill residents.
"The plaintiffs are asking the court to stop the demolition and destruction of the historic buildings in which they’re residing," Triem told Swanson. "If the plaintiffs are successful in (that) case we do not need to evict them in (the city’s) cases."
Mitchell said he doesn’t oppose merging the two eviction cases, but objected to also merging the lawsuit against the city. He said the issues raised in that lawsuit could have been filed months ago — and aren’t directly related to whether the city has properly followed the process for evicting tenants from a rental property under state law.
"I don’t think the defense has raised any legal defense to these proceedings," Mitchell said, referring to the eviction cases.
He called the motion filed by Triem "a delay tactic to prevent these (eviction) cases from moving forward." However, Swanson said "I would like to read the motion before I make a decision…and I’m assuming you might want to respond," and set a new hearing for 8:15 a.m. on Friday.
The judge also told the people in the courtroom — which included participants in a separate eviction case between private parties — that "there's not a lot of defenses to an eviction hearing." As a result, she said, it’s often advisable for tenants to try to resolve matters with the property owner since they "can come to an agreement that is outside the scope I have as a judge."
The city has reached an agreement to postpone an eviction at one other Telephone Hill residence not included in Wednesday’s proceedings, CBJ Attorney Emily Wright said in an interview after the courtroom hearing. Maureen Conerton and her husband, Jeff Brown, who has Parkinson's disease, have until Nov. 24 to move out of the Edward Webster House — the oldest residence in Juneau — due to complications related to his medical condition.
"That was the date they requested," Wright said, noting the couple also provided specifics indicating they have a feasible plan to move by that date.
However, "the city is not willing to give more time to the three people" named in the two complaints, Wright said. She said if the judge issues a Judgment of Possession effective immediately on Friday morning the city could, with the help of law enforcement, change the locks of the residences by that afternoon and then officials would work with the former occupants on claiming belongings that remained inside.
Wright also noted that "most times the judge will listen to all sides" and if the tenants being evicted offer a reasonable move-out plan that will be considered.
Ingalls, after the court hearing, said it will likely take about a week to remove the remaining items from his home, which also served as a flute-making workshop. But he questioned the need for the city to seek evictions now since officials have said demolition isn’t expected to occur for months — and there’s no certainty a developer for the apartments will be found afterward.
"I could see this project not happening and the whole thing could be an ugly mess for the next 10 years," he said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
