Three longtime residents of Telephone Hill filed a lawsuit against the city on Friday, seeking to reverse the eviction of residents and halt demolition of homes on the hill.
The City and Borough of Juneau directed residents of Telephone Hill’s seven houses to move out by November 1 as part of a plan to demolish and redevelop the neighborhood for higher-density housing. The lawsuit plaintiffs have not yet moved.
The lawsuit alleges the city’s actions were improper in several ways, claiming illegal evictions, improper phasing of the redevelopment and failure to comply with federal and state historic preservation acts.
Municipal Attorney Emily Wright said that the City and Borough of Juneau is still reviewing the lawsuit, but that the city’s initial reaction is that it is “without factual or legal support.”
“The City has complied with all laws and requirements, there has been extensive public process, and the tenants have had ample notice of the termination of their tenancy,” Wright wrote in an email. She said that the city plans to file a response within the next one or two weeks.
As night fell on Telephone Hill Wednesday, only a few houses remained lit.
Rachel Beck and her partner John Ingalls are among the few people who have not yet left their house on the hill. Ingalls is one of the three plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the city. Beck decided not to join, concerned about facing a negative reaction from the city.
Beck said that for her, staying past November 1 is not an act of defiance but a necessity.
“We’ve gotten a lot of stuff moved out but we’ve been here nearly 50 years,” Beck said. “There’s just so much stuff.”
The city discussed Telephone Hill at the Assembly meeting on Monday, but did not reference the lawsuit. The day before the lawsuit was filed, the city released an FAQ addressing many of the same points raised in the suit.
“Telephone Hill really does represent some of the most developable property, well-located in our community. It’s been really hard to struggle with those decisions,” City Manager Katie Koester said at the meeting.
In June, the Assembly approved an allocation of $5.5 million toward demolition — part of a projected $9 million first-phase budget. The city has not yet signed a developer for the project.
Koester echoed a sentiment shared at meetings in recent months: the project is “risky, for sure, but it’s also bold.”
Fred Triem, attorney for the plaintiffs, said he took issue with that description.
“Well, we should not take risks with people’s property and history,” Triem said. “We would not pay $10 million and let the city manager go to Las Vegas with it to gamble. And this is a risk that’s analogous to that.”
But the property does not belong to the residents. The state acquired the site in 1984 for a proposed new Capitol building. The land was formally transferred to the city in March 2023, soon followed by the start of the Telephone Hill Redevelopment Project.
Much of the opposition to the project stems from the neighborhood’s historical significance. As the lawsuit cites, at stake in the demolition is the Webster House, Alaska’s oldest continually occupied house and the site of a telephone switchboard used in the late 1800s.
Opponents have also questioned why the city decided to start redeveloping Telephone Hill instead of other CBJ property, such as 2nd and Franklin or 450 Whittier. City officials say Telephone Hill is uniquely positioned — central, large and accessible enough to meaningfully address Juneau’s housing shortage.
Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said at Monday’s Assembly meeting that development should not be an either-or choice when it comes to property.
“In order to really dig our way out of the level of crisis we’re at, we’ll need to develop all of those, because of the magnitude of housing we need is that much,” she said.
A sign for a “Rally to Save Telephone Hill” in August remains posted on Telephone Hill on Wednesday Nov. 5, 2025. (Mari Kanagy/Juneau Empire)
