PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (AP) — A Philadelphia Boy Scout council said it is on the verge of adopting an antidiscrimination policy that it hopes will satisfy city officials who have threatened to stop allowing the Scouts to use city-owned land rent-free.

The Cradle of Liberty Council, which represents 87,000 youths in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties, attempted earlier this year to put in place a policy of nondiscrimination with respect to gays and atheists. The council rescinded the policy in June after the Boy Scouts of America, which bans gays from the Scouts, threatened to revoke its charter and replace the board.

That led some charitable groups to withdraw funding from the council, and the city of Philadelphia said the council’s stance on gays conflicted with its fair-practices ordinance. The city asked its lawyers to look into an existing arrangement in which Cradle of Liberty used city-owned land for free.

Now, Cradle of Liberty officials say they have crafted a proposed policy modeled after one adopted by the Greater New York Councils last year. That policy states, in part, that members must “respect all people and defend the rights of others” and that “prejudice, intolerance, and unlawful discrimination in any form are unacceptable.”

“That’s the model,” said Cradle of Liberty executive director William T. Dwyer III, who would not release a copy of the forthcoming proposal. “Until the city is satisfied, we can’t let anything out, until things are officially ironed out.”