EASTON, Pa. — Relations between the city and Rock Church over the ownership of the historic Hooper House may be reaching a boiling point and headed to court.
Church officials said representatives from each organization may be coming together to hash out a deal as soon as Thursday, but the fate of the 18th century building city administrators have described as “blighted” remains uncertain.
Mayor Sal Panto Jr. stated he was unaware of any meeting with the church as of Thursday morning.
Panto said he was waiting on a response from the church regarding the eminent domain case and a potential court hearing set for February.
"So we ended up taking it by eminent domain, and they would rather negotiate with the media than with the city."Easton Mayor Sal Panto
Panto said the upcoming court meeting is just the latest in a four-decade-long dispute between the property owners and the city.
“We tried to buy it outright," Panto said. "They didn't even get back to us when we retained a lawyer to buy the property two years ago, and they never even got back to the attorney.
"We offered a quarter of a million dollars for the Hooper House, and they never got back to them. So we ended up taking it by eminent domain, and they would rather negotiate with the media than with the city."
Preserving history
The city in July approved the takeover of the building, which was owned by Col. Robert Lettis Hooper Jr., an officer in the Revolutionary War, and dates to 1761.
Since 1982, Rock Church of Easton has owned Hooper’s former headquarters. Since April 4, 2012, the city has deemed the property blighted.
"It's been vacant for four years. It's time to do something with it. It's on the main corridor of the city."Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr.
“It's the last 18th century building left in the city that's not restored," Panto said. "It's blighted. It's vacant. It's been vacant for four years. It's time to do something with it. It's on the main corridor of the city.
"They don't have the money or the wherewithal to rehabilitate and restore it, so the city is going to do it, but the city's needs to own it before you can spend any money on it.”
Easton assistant solicitor Jeremy Clark, who is working on the case with the city, said the matter involves “a pretty obscure area of the law.”
The city filed a declaration of taking, “which is the terminology for eminent domain cases,” and the church responded with a preliminary objection filed between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Clark said.
'City had one way they wanted to go'
The preliminary objection must make at least one of a few potential allegations, Clark said.
That's usually either a technical issue with the filing — including failing to file appropriate property descriptions, not providing a notice to all owners or arguing the taking is excessive — or arguing the motion was made in bad faith.
“The Rock Church has filed their primary argument, as I read in their brief, that the taking is excessive and done in bad faith, because they believe that there was some sort of an agreement between the city of Easton the Rock Church regarding maintenance of the Hooper House,” Clark said.
"The city had one way they wanted to go. The church seemed to have a very different way they wanted to go, and we could never really find that common ground.”
In addition, the church argues that the city should not have to take the entire parcel on which the building sits, which includes “depending upon how you look at it, either two or three structures,” as Clark describes it.
The Hooper House, the building that faces Northampton Street, is the main historical feature of the property, Clark said.
A stucco attachment to the Hooper House is sometimes described as a second building, though Clark said, “I actually think it’s more appropriately characterized as an addition to the Hooper House that is also very, very old.”
Lastly, there is the Timothy House, “a typical row home that you would see anywhere else in Easton,” Clark said.
'The city is always open'
City officials said they discovered the need to demolish the Timothy House after investigating the property with a goal to potentially partition it.
“But the city thinks that the taking of the Timothy House at this point is necessary because of an order to properly restore the Hooper House, and kind of bring it to its appropriate glory, for lack of a better term,” Clark said.
“We’ve got to remove the Timothy House to expose that entire rear façade so that we can ensure that it’s stable and it’s property restored.”
"The city's primary interest is owning the property outright so it can ensure that the building is restored and preserved properly."Easton assistant solicitor Jeremy Clark
Clark said he is preparing a response to the preliminary objection, which should be filed by Jan. 24.
Depending upon the judge, the next step would be setting a schedule for an argument or an evidentiary hearing.
“The city is always open to discussing the matter with the church," Clark said. "We have been from the start.
"But the city's primary interest is owning the property outright so it can ensure that the building is restored and preserved properly."
'Much more to the story'
In an email statement, Rock Church Associate Pastor Samuel Santos said his organization “does not have the monetary funds to fight this issue against a larger government entity.”
“We believe the truth of this story needs to be heard against government corruption," Santos said in the email.
"We are facing acts of targeting, government corruption at the highest level and illegal actions taken against us.”
Santos said that a little over a year ago, church officials held a “good faith meeting” with the mayor’s office, which started as a conversation to help in the restoration of the Hooper House.
But it only devolved into “a fight to not lose two other church properties,” Santos said.
Santos said there is “much more to the story.” He said “the city has turned their back on the project without any cause to do so.
“The city has taken unscrupulous measures to ensure the taking of multiple properties, even behind closed doors by changing the deed of one building into the city’s name even before any court proceedings have started and we the church are still the properties rightful owner.
“This is an illegal action taken by a local government. They have deemed one property as condemned and structurally unsound in an effort to forcibly remove anyone from the property even though last year the city's own code enforcement passed the property except for two items, not structural in nature.”
'Illegal bullying of a non-profit'
Furthermore, Santos said the city accused the church of not having a certificate of occupancy, which Santos said was not true — according to contacts in Harrisburg, he said, “we do have a CO for the property.”
“I do not understand this, as if the city does not have records of this," Santos's email says. "Essentially we feel they are trying any means necessary to get these buildings."
"This is not just a fight to keep a building, this is illegal bullying of a non-profit religious organization."Rock Church Associate Pastor Samuel Santos, in an email
Santos also suggested city council has “shrugged us as we have emailed and called for a plea for representation on this matter.”
“We were willing to let them take the Hooper House to avoid conflict, but we won’t be bullied into accepting the city's forcible demands of taking another property that the Mayor of Easton Sal Panto wants to tear down anyway, lying saying the building is unfit for habitation," Santos's email reads.
"Easton is subject to one voice and now we are being targeted, attacked and we are asking for help.
"This is not just a fight to keep a building, this is illegal bullying of a non-profit religious organization. And if it is done to us it will be repeated to others.”
