Borough Seeks Injunction Against CADES

Swarthmore Borough filed an injunction in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday, April 14, seeking to stop CADES (Children and Adult Education and Disability Services) from housing COVID-19-positive clients in the Rutgers Avenue school, according to a press release from the borough.

Swarthmore learned this week that some CADES clients, who were residents of the organization’s group homes and had tested positive for the coronavirus, were being housed in the building at 401 Rutgers Ave. Borough Council, Mayor Marty Spiegel, borough staff, and first responders have “serious health and safety concerns about the use of this building for this purpose.”

Housing COVID-19-positive patients in the school violates the borough’s zoning code, Borough Manager Jane Billings said. The Rutgers Avenue School is located in the borough’s IN-B Institutional District. Permitted uses include “Non-residential elementary and secondary school buildings.” By housing COVID-19-positive patients there, CADES is essentially using the building as a medical facility, according to Swarthmore Borough Solicitor Robert Scott, which is not a permitted use under the code.