TIMOTHY ELLIS VS. HILTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, ET AL. (L-6083-15, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-0793-16T3)
In this appeal, the court was asked to determine whether sidewalk liability applies to an owner of a vacant church because in Gray v. Caldwell Wood Products, Inc., 425 N.J. Super. 496 (App. Div. 2012), we imposed liability on the owner of a vacant, boarded-up building that had been used for commercial purposes. For the reasons that follow, we hold that a vacant church maintains its status as a noncommercial property, not subject to a commercial property's sidewalk liability. We reject any reading of Gray that imposes liability on owners of vacant residential or noncommercial properties that have not been put to any commercial use.
