The planned demolition of the Uptown Kingston’s Pike Plan canopies is on hold again after an state appellate panel upheld a lower court injunction barring removal of the structures pending the outcome of a lawsuit that seeks to save the 1970s-era portico that covers portions of Wall and North Front streets. The ruling is expected to delay the demolition project at least until August.

The unanimous decision by a five-judge panel of the of the Third Judicial District is the latest development in a legal action that began last year when William Gottlieb Real Estate — which owns five buildings abutting the canopies — filed a petition to halt their removal. Attorneys for the company claim that the canopies are a “fixture” of the buildings they abut and the city cannot remove them. The petition also alleges that the city deliberately allowed the structures to deteriorate to create a pretext for their removal. The city claims that the canopies are a city-owned structure that it can remove at will.

Mayor Steve Noble has been working to demolish the canopies since last spring when he told city lawmakers that the structure had reached the end of its useful life and is now a threat to public safety. Noble added that the only alternative to the demolition plan was to entirely rebuild the structures at an estimated cost of $10 million. Noble has said that if the city does rebuild the canopies, owners of abutting properties will be on the hook for construction and maintenance of the structures — costs currently paid by the city — adding thousands of dollars to their tax bills.

In a statement issued Tuesday following the appellate panel decision, Noble reiterated the potential fiscal liability for Pike Plan property owners.

“This latest appeal from [William Gottlieb Real Estate] claims that the canopies have become a ‘fixture’ for the properties they abut, which would be a huge burden for all the property owners who don’t have unlimited resources and the deep pockets of [company owner] Neil Bender,” said Noble. “If the canopies onus were to fall to the adjoining property owners, the care and maintenance responsibilities would far outweigh any perceived benefits.”

The legal action by William Gottlieb Real Estate is one of more than two-dozen the company has filed against the city since 2020. The lawsuits, virtually all of which have been rejected by judges, targeted the approval process for the Kingstonian mixed-use project, the city’s affordable housing mandate and other actions by city government. Prior petitions regarding the Pike Plan include a challenge to the decision by the city’s Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission that the canopies should be preserved and a recently filed petition alleging that the Kingston Common Council’s decision to authorize spending $1.2 million to remove the canopies and restore the underlying façades is invalid on procedural grounds.

Later Tuesday, attorneys for the company filed yet another legal action claiming that the city had not fulfilled its contractual obligation to maintain the canopies leading to property damage.

The litigation by the real estate company has successfully pushed back the timeline for the demolition, which was initially slated to take place in January. Despite the setback, in his statement Noble said that the city would continue to prepare a “request for proposals” seeking a contractor to carry out the demolition. Noble added that in the interest of public safety, the city would continue to monitor and make emergency repairs to the canopies while awaiting a decision in the case expected in August.

“As we have stated many times, the Pike Plan canopies have come to the end of their useful life and will only deteriorate further while we are tied up in this frustrating legal battle,” Noble said. “The Common Council has voted that the city-owned structure must be removed, and we believe this is yet another ploy to exhaust our resources, cost the Kingston taxpayers money and impede city operations.”