The long battle over the city Urban Redevelopment Authority's efforts to take possession of an X-rated movie theater on the North Side has just gotten a little longer.

The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal filed by the owner of the Garden Theatre on West North Avenue. The property owner, George Androtsakis of New York City, claims the URA's use of eminent domain to acquire the property violated his free speech rights.

He and his attorney claim that, because of zoning restrictions on adult entertainment venues, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the theater to relocate in the city.

Commonwealth Court, in a 2-1 decision issued last year, rejected that argument. It affirmed an April 2002 ruling by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Alan Penkower, who concluded that the URA acted properly when it used eminent domain power against the theater.

Attorney Joel Aaronson, who is handling the case for the URA, said the agency is disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision to take the case to the extent that it further delays efforts to complete the $45 million Federal North redevelopment, a three-block area of the North Side. The case has dragged on for more than six years and cost the URA more than $500,000 in legal fees.

Aaronson said the theater was never targeted because it was an adult movie venue.

"We don't believe there's any free speech issue here at all," he said. "We took the theater as part of a larger redevelopment project. We would have taken it regardless of what the use was."

Peter Georgiades, an attorney for Androtsakis, said he was "very pleased" with the court's decision to hear the case. He said the case not only involves free speech but "serious eminent domain" issues as well.

He believes the Supreme Court has a chance to rectify a Commonwealth Court ruling that he said was "abjectly wrong."