Between North Philadelphia's jagged rows of townhouses, cramped bodegas and abandoned warehouses lie a handful of freshly cut lawns enclosed by tiny wooden fences. Amidst it all, at 1839 N. Eighth St., sits a lone brick home, a long picnic bench, an old grill and some trash. Posted on the window is a sign that reads, "eminent domain abuse." The words are in a circle with a red line running through. The house and the sign belong to Veronica Howard, who has been fighting since November 2003 to halt the city's condemnation of her family's home.

The legal battle, which will return to a city courtroom on Monday, is more than a typical eminent-domain case. This one delves into the tricky issue of church-state separation. Howard's home was slated for demolition to give way for Hope Partnership for Education (HPE), a self-described "independent middle school and adult education center" based on "Judeo-Christian values [and] a strong sense of community within the one family of God." Entering its second year for fifth to eighth grades, the tuition-free school currently operates out of two rented rooms down the street from Howard's place. It's looking to open a new location with more classrooms for a middle school and adult education classes. Enter Howard's property.

While the project was endorsed by an active community development corporation, the Association of Puerto Ricans on the March, both Howard and eminent-domain foe Rosemary Cubas felt alienated and unable to comment on projects underway in their neighborhood. So they took it to court and challenged the condemnation on several counts, the strongest of which — according to their attorney, Robert Sugarman — is the alleged violation of the U.S. Constitution's mandated separation between church and state. In his appeal to the Common Pleas Court following an appellate court dismissal, Sugarman cited a recent Supreme Court decision in which the placement of the Ten Commandments on public buildings was prohibited. That precedent, he claims, "reinforces the appellants' position that the condemnation is illegal."

"You simply can't put government resources behind a religious institution," says Sugarman. "We could find no case where the government could put up the bricks and mortar on a religious institution."

Sister Rose Martin, the school's executive director, would not comment on specifics of the legal case but insisted that HPE, whose 14 students were all non-Catholics in the last academic year (this year there are 30 students), does not proselytize. Rather, it is "faith-based."

HPE cannot produce evidence of funding. ("We don't have the total amount," Martin says. "We're working on that.") Sugarman says moving to take Howard's property without a finalized plan is "reprehensible."

Sugarman is also challenging the city's offer for "just compensation." Law requires that one be both owner and resident to receive more than "fair market value," which, in this case, was below $12,000. (The home is owned by Howard's mother, who lives a few blocks away so she can receive full-time medical care). Condos just blocks from the Howard family start at $300,000.

Sugarman remains "optimistic" about Howard's chances going into the Sept. 12 hearing, at which the condemnation's legality will be contested. The city, however, has a different story to tell.

"You can't let one case define a body of work," says Herb Wetzel, director of the Redevelopment Authority, the agency responsible for carrying out all blight-related condemnations in the city. "And this body of work is very good."

Howard's condemnation order came in a wave of others, each authorized under the city's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. Since April 2001, 5,507 low-income residences have been built or renovated while 13,962 grants and low-interest loans have been given to homeowners — more than twice the original goal.

Early on, NTI came under intense scrutiny, much of it centered on residents of North Philadelphia's Bodine Street, who claimed they were victimized by people playing fast and loose with eminent-domain law [Cover, "Neighborhood Transformation Investigated," Dec. 11, 2003].

"The goal of NTI was to change the way the city does business, particularly the way it relates to the neighborhoods," says NTI Executive Director Eva Gladstein. "The process is better than it was in the days of Bodine Street."

But Cubas, who was thrust into the debate when the Bodine residents came to her for help, says the battle persists.

"This is private greed," she says, "and government-sanctioned theft."