Just came across this one, although it came out on July 26 in the Morris Township, New Jersey Daily Record:
"Jehovah's Witnesses building ban upheld
Judge cites 1891 deed restricting Morris Twp. area to home only" by Peggy Wright
"A congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses cannot build a Kingdom Hall off Columbia Road in Morris Township, a judge ruled Thursday in upholding deed restrictions set in 1891 that allow only homes in the exclusive area.
"We are sincerely and bitterly disappointed in the outcome," said attorney Jeffery D. Ullman, who represented the Morristown Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses at a trial in April before Superior Court Judge Kenneth C. MacKenzie.
"In a 14-page decision released Thursday, MacKenzie upheld restrictive covenants contained in deeds to about 70 properties on 87 acres off Columbia and Normandy Heights roads. The covenants that call for the land to strictly be used for residences were first included in deeds in 1891 by a developer, The Morristown Land and Improvement Company, which sold off tracts to some of the area's glitterati, including the Frelinghuysen family and jurist Wheeler Peckham.
"The area which the judge called 'unquestionably exclusive to well-off, if not wealth residents,' is commonly referred to as either the Woodruff Tract or Normandy Heights.
"The congregation sought to extinguish the covenants and pave the way for its proposed construction of a 4,200 square-foot Kingdom Hall when it sued 32 families in the area, including Preston and Michelle Davis. The Davises bought their French Normandy-style home for $660,000 in 1994 with the understanding that their neighborhood would stricltly be comprised of homes.
"The congregation, which bought two vacant parcels next to the Davis family in 1998, argued in its lawsuit that the neighborhood scheme was abandoned decades ago by the conversion of the former Frelinghuysen mansion into the Morris Museum and a Georgian mansion into the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship Hall.
"Ironically, landowner John Begovich, who sold the home to the Davis couple, assured them of the covenants and then turned around and sold two adjacent parcels to the Jehovah's Witnesses, who knew they could not build unless the restrictions were voided by a court.
"Ullman had originally argued, but the judge threw the count out of the lawsuit, that the covenants violated the Federal Religion Land use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. The judge's reasoning was that the act pertained to governmental action, such as zoning, that discriminates against a religion and was not applicable to a private covenant. Ullman said he does not know whether the congregation will appeal, but that it could raise the issue of the federal act if it chooses to.
"Attorney Martin Newmark, who represented the Davis couple, said he sympathized with the congregation but that the case had nothing to do with discrimination against the faith. His clients, who could not be reached Thursday, had said allowing a Kingdom Hall to be constructed could be the first step to strip malls, banks and office buildings wanting to move into the neighborhood.
"Resident Carmine Fornaro said a Kingdom Hall would only have increased traffic congestion in an area that already has too many accidents.
"I really would have been ill at ease with children and people crossing a high traffic road,' Fornaro said of Columbia Road.
"Both the museum and the fellowship hall on the restricted tract have expanded their facilities since the 1970s and 1980s. But MacKenzie found that these uses and the additions to them do not consitute an abandonment of the neighborhood scheme and are not 'pervasive' violations of the covenants in proportion to the number of homes that conform to the deed restrictions.
"These mansions (the museum and fellowship hall) add value and exclusivity to the Normandy Heights neighborhood. They are icons of the rich history of the neighborhood,' the judge said.
"The impressive mansions of the museum and the fellowship hall continue to add to the charm and value of the neighborhood. The proposed Kingdom Hall may be aesthetically pleasing for a house of worship, but it has no resemblance to a residence or an historic mansion,' the judge wrote.
"MacKenzie opined that traffic would increase if the covenants were lifted and that the area would be opened to other usages permitted in residential zones, including schools, grain silos, golf clubs and libraries. The judge concluded that the congregation might actually benefit by the enforcement of the covenant, in that it could potentially sell its two parcels at a profit to a buyer interested in an area restricted to homes."