SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CHILD JESUS d/b/a OAK KNOLL SCHOOL v. CITY OF SUMMIT
A-1126-09T3 2-17-11
Plaintiff is a non-profit entity affiliated with the Holy Roman Catholic Church and operates the Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child, a Catholic institution that provides an education for both boys and girls from kindergarten through the sixth grade, and for girls from the seventh through twelfth grades. Plaintiff owns property adjacent to the school which it utilizes for school purposes, including the offices of the facilities director. The property had been exempt from taxation pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6, and it undisputed that the property, as used, continues to qualify for exemption under that statute.
Pursuant to Summit's zoning ordinance, however, educational institutions are not permitted uses in the zone, although they are recognized as permitted conditional uses. Plaintiff, however, had never sought a variance from certain standards applicable to conditional uses. In 2005, Summit revoked the tax exemption on the property.
In a reported decision, Soc'y of the Holy Child Jesus v. Summit City, 23 N.J. Tax 528, 530 (Tax 2007), the tax court judge analogized the situation to that presented in a number of reported decisions dealing with favorable tax treatment pursuant to the Farmland Assessment Act, N.J.S.A. 54:4-23.1 to -23.23. Those cases essentially concluded that a taxpayer may be denied a reduction in taxes if the property is in violation of the municipal zoning ordinance. See, e.g., Cheyenne Corp. v. Twp. of Byram, 248 N.J. Super. 588, 595 (App. Div. 1991), certif. denied, 137 N.J. 312 (1994).
We reversed. We concluded that the exemption provided by N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6 does not require, as a prerequisite, compliance with the municipal zoning ordinance.
