Chabad of Towson, Ordered to be Demolished

Chabad of Towson seemed to be coming together. A new building being built, and a receptive Jewish community. But a sudden legal challenge, looks to topple everything when a Judge orders the Chabad House demolished.

Just as their new million dollar building got underway, a neighbor with an anti Semitic agenda challenged the legality of the construction. Using zoning laws, and a legal convent in an attempt to halt the construction.

What followed was a legal maze and bureaucratic nightmare which dogged them throughout the construction. Now, following the completion of the new Chabad House, a Judge has ordered the building demolished.

No settlement has been reached, and Chabad of Townson has turned to the public to help.

For a full Legal Timeline of Events: Click Here

To donate to Chabad of Towson: Click Here

4 Comments

  • David

    I am a member of the Chabad community. It is unfortunate that this has occured. The city and county are responsible for building code enforcement. They are not responsible for researching individual deed restrictions between neighbors. Those restrictions are a matter of public record. It is obvious this is anti semitism, however we have no legal ground to stand on. It was the responsibility of the property owner to do his research before building. We can sugar coat this any way we want. “The beautiful building” ” The loving environment” None of this has standing in court. The buck stops with the property owners. Somewhere in the deed or courthouse, these restrictions are spelled out.

  • The Kangaroo

    The Chabad knew that they were violating this dudes rights.Chabad should have paid attention to it.A honest Judge will not allow this

  • Anonymous

    The legal opinion by the judge explains how the Jewish homeowner had a title policy with an exception which spelled out the covenant on property setbacks years before construction started. Additionally, when the “anti-Semitic” neighbor provided “notice” of the legal setback (how far the front of the house is from property line), the Jewish neighbor kept on building, and running the risk, he was building illegally.

    Furthermore, at trial, in a difficult case for the Jewish guy, his lawyers messed up. There was no evidence of construction costs submitted, or even estimated construction costs, so the case was weakened by….what I would call …legal malpractice.

    While the work that the Rabbi is doing for the Jewish community is admirable, lets not call it anti-Semitism when the neighbor has a right to not have a property built which is not built to code. She claimed it blocked her sunlight, and was not in conformity to legal setbacks.

    Moral of the story, do things legally, and you don’t waste your donors money. Someone donated a lot of gelt which may get wasted, because of not following the law, especially, when you were put on notice prior to. Sad story for a nice guy.