Towson, MD - After a drawn out and acrimonious legal battle, a recently expanded Maryland Chabad House may soon be demolished for having violated a setback requirement that had been imposed on the property, unbeknownst to its owners.
Now, noted religious rights attorneys, Nathan Lewin, joined the case on behalf of Friends of Lubavitch and believes that Chabad has a strong claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, known as RLUIPA.
“There is no question that from the very outset, when Rabbi Rivkin went around looking for a property that it was being bought for a Chabad house, where shluchim could host students,” Lewin told VIN News.
“It was clear from 2008 and never concealed. Whether it is technically called a residence, a parsonage or a synagogue, in terms of using the property for religious purposes which is the standard that the court of appeals and the district courts are focused on, it was very clear that they were buying it for religious purposes.”
According to court filings, Chabad emissaries Rabbi Mendy and Sheina Rivkin moved into the approximately 2200 square foot, three bedroom home at 14 Aigburth Road in Towson purchased by Friends of Lubavitch in 2008, hoping to do outreach with local Jewish students at nearby Towson University and Goucher College.
Six years later, the Rivkins held a ceremonial groundbreaking for an addition which would allow them to better serve the many visitors who flocked to their home and applied for a permit for an over 4,400 square foot expansion that they classified as “parsonage” designation.
That permit was ultimately denied and Friends of Lubavitch submitted virtually identical plans in 2016, this time referring to the proposed construction as a residential addition to accommodate the couple’s growing family.
Concerned neighbors who feared that the expansion would be used as a community center and not for personal use protested the plans, citing decreased property values and existing problems including parking problems and large amounts of trash at the Chabad House which would only be exacerbated if the project were approved.
Despite those worries, a Baltimore County administrative law judge green lighted the expansion, warning that the addition was to be used for residential purposes only and if its decision were to be reversed for any reason, Friends of Lubavitch would be responsible to “return the subject property to its original condition.”
Construction began in May 2016. The Aigburth Manor Association, which represents residents’ interests, appealed the judge’s decision claiming that the three story extension which would be located in front of the Rivkin’s house and a covered breezeway would connect the two. But Friends of Lubavitch continued moving ahead.
The 4,400 square foot expansion would be used to accommodate over 40 to 80 guests for some Jewish holidays and would include five bathrooms, five wet bars (two are washing stations, a Pesach kitchen, two sinks in the bedroom areas), a mikvah with two additional bathrooms, a meat kitchen, a dining room with seating for 50 people.
Just weeks later, an area resident discovered the original 1950 deed for 14 Aigburth Road which included a setback covenant requiring any structure on the property to be located at least 115 feet from the street.
Next door neighbor Robin Zoll, the driving force behind the opposition to the the expansion, and the Aigburth Manor Association notified the county of the restriction and advised them to issue a stop work order since the addition was located less than 60 feet from the curb.
When the county refused, Zoll and the Aigburth Manor Association sued Friends of Lubavitch for violating the covenant. The court also refused to issue a restraining order and stop the construction however in April 2017 the court ruled that the completed expansion had caused Zoll’s property value to decrease by $17,075.
The judgment discounted Rabbi Rivkin’s testimony about potential financial losses that would result if the property were demolished saying that his statements about identifying donors were “evasive and not credible,” ordering the expansion to be removed by March 1, 2018.
The legal wrangling has continued, with Friends of Lubavitch proposing a resolution where the entire structure would be moved back 62 feet on the property in order to be in compliance with the setback covenant as reported by The Baltimore Sun (https://bsun.md/2AgFxiq).
But according to Dovid Firestone, who built the expansion’s mikvah, those efforts and a proposed generous financial settlement have both been rebuffed.
Firestone said that a 45 day demolition order was signed on the house on November 2nd with demolition crews already arriving at the house to prepare for the upcoming razing.
Hoping to raise both funds and public awareness while also saving the Chabad House from destruction, Firestone got involved with a which has already raised more than $75,000 for Chabad of Towson.
Lewin said that the title search performed on the property when Friends of Lubavitch bought the house never turned up any mention of a covenant on that property.
“Even the adjoining neighbors didn’t even know about it,” said Lewin. “Under Maryland law, I surmise that no court would say that under those circumstance you would have to take the building down. That is totally unreasonable.”
“Tearing down a million-dollar-plus structure because of $17,000 in damages doesn’t add up and is just ridiculous,” said Firestone. “People should be outraged. It makes no sense. Where is the justice?”
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