Turf War

A judge rules against NoLibs gardeners in "squatter's rights" fight.

by Deborah Scoblionkov

cityspace

UPROOTED: Linda Conley Soffer recalls the garden as "a wonderful place" that brought diverse groups together to pursue common interests. Photo By: Kass Mencher (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Of Northern Liberties' many charms, the presence of open green space has been one of the most appealing. But in recent years, little by little, many of the pocket paradises, including award-winning community gardens, have been swallowed up by a raging residential real-estate market that has sent property values soaring.

A number of urban oases have been replaced with three-bedroom brick and stucco townhouses, so when a group of gardeners were threatened with the prospect of seeing their plots plowed under to build more townhouses, they decided to fight back in court.

The lots in question � seven slivers straddling the 900 blocks of North Lawrence and Leithgow streets � were abandoned for as long as most old-timers could remember. They were trash-strewn, rat-infested dumping grounds where drug and sexual activities occurred. Many were tax-delinquent, their owners nowhere to be found.

The genesis of the garden came in 1984, when George Atkins' wife didn't want to live next to a dump and ordered him to clean up the lots adjacent to their home, which he did. The city hauled away rusted cars, and a used-appliance dealer removed refrigerators, washers and dryers. Then, Atkins brought in mulch to regenerate the soil and planted tomatoes, cabbage and flowers.

The next spring, Herta Graham recalls, neighbors got together, fired up a grill, threw some beer on ice and communally cleaned up the adjoining lots, planting vegetables, flowers and ornamental shrubs. Over the years, the gardens were divided up and tended to by a stream of neighbors. Linda Conley Soffer, a neighbor who joined the gardeners in 2001, recalls the scene in idyllic terms.

"It was a wonderful place. The garden culture was a melting pot where people from different socioeconomic groups and backgrounds all came together. People were sharing flowers, herbs and vegetables they'd grown," says Soffer, an artist and art therapist who recalls the night when she and the other gardeners met in her living room. "We wondered if we had any legal options. We considered public easements and then we looked at adverse possession."

Adverse possession, also known as "squatters' rights," is a legal process to convey ownership to parties who have continuously, exclusively and notoriously occupied land or property for at least 21 years without the owners' permission.

"It gave us some hope, but we didn't go into this lightly," explains Soffer. "We had to grapple with the idea of taking property from people who'd paid for it. We realized that it was a really serious thing."

The gardeners formed a nonprofit, "Keep it Green," hired a lawyer and, on April 18, filed a lawsuit to "quiet title." The plaintiffs are three longtime residents, Herta and Bonnie Graham and George Atkins who vowed to transfer title to the Neighborhood Gardens Association, a Philadelphia land trust that will preserve the land as a public garden in perpetuity.

But the garden has since become something of a battlefield. The owners of record erected fences and posted "No Trespassing" signs to keep gardeners out. In early June, the title owners of one property brought a 40-yard Dumpster and attempted to put it on top of plants. The property had been purchased in June 2006 by Silver Realty LP, a company owned by local developers Steve and Barbara Silver, who also live in Northern Liberties and have been constructing new townhouses nearby. Neighbors locked arms and blocked the pathway and the police were called, but the Dumpster was placed on the garden plot and plants were killed. The gardeners filed for an emergency injunction and a temporary restraining order to prevent further destruction of the garden; the Silvers filed a counterclaim in Common Pleas Court. A hearing was held last Thursday, and Judge Gary S. Glazer ruled against the gardeners on Monday, noting that they didn't prove their case.

After getting word of the decision, the Silvers' attorney, Kenneth Fetterman, said, "We proved that we have the right to develop the property in peace and without interference or tresspassing."

For Atkins, however, "It comes down to this: One man's trash is another man's treasure. It was our treasure and their trash � no one wanted the property. Now it's their treasure and they trashed our garden."

(editorial@citypaper.net)

Editor's note: The author of this article is vice president of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association, which has not taken a stance on the garden issue.