A District Court judge has dismissed the eviction cases against three tenants refusing to vacate their rentals in the historic Telephone Hill neighborhood in downtown Juneau.
Instead, a Superior Court judge presiding over a lawsuit filed by tenants against the city late last month will decide the outcome. The lawsuit seeks to stop the city’s demolition of the historic neighborhood and stop the evictions. The city plans to demolish the houses on the hill later this winter to make way for newer, denser housing to combat the city’s housing crunch.
The court hasn’t yet scheduled any hearings for that lawsuit.
City Attorney Emily Wright said it’s unclear if or how the dismissals may impact the city’s plan to move forward with demolition of the homes this winter. She said the city is disappointed in the District Court judge’s ruling and plans to ask that the lawsuit in Superior Court be expedited.
“We’ll work with the tenants and their attorney in the other superior court case to look at the best options for them and for the city. But once you’ve moved into court, it can be a very long process to get a resolution,” she said.
The tenants’ lawsuit, which has three plaintiffs, claims that the city improperly evicted people on the hill, illegally phased the redevelopment and that the project fails to comply with federal and state historic preservation acts. The city denies these claims.
Joe Karson called the eviction dismissals a win. Karson, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and one of the tenants who hasn’t vacated, said he plans to continue to live in his apartment on the hill as long as possible.
“I want to stay in my home, of course,” Karson said. “Just because you rent doesn’t mean that it’s not your home, and that’s my home.”
Fred Triem, the tenants’ attorney, said the tenants continuing to live in the old homes as the weather gets colder helps preserve them.
“Our ultimate goal is to preserve the old buildings, especially the telephone switchboard and that building constructed in 1882,” he said. “That’s the short of it — historic preservation.”
Under the Alaska Uniform Residential Landlord & Tenant Act, the city cannot take retaliatory action against the tenants, like turning off the utilities, while they wait for the outcome of the lawsuit.
