Niemann v. Vaughn Community Church

• Court: Washington Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: BRIDGEWATER, J.
• Citation: Niemann v. Vaughn Community Church, 77 P.3d 1208, 118 Wash.App. 824 (Wash. App. 2003)
• Decision Date: 21 October 2003
• Docket Number: No. 29049-9-II.
• Parties: Joyce NIEMANN, Appellant, v. VAUGHN COMMUNITY CHURCH, a Washington non-profit corporation, Respondent.

77 P.3d 1208

118 Wash. App. 824

Joyce NIEMANN, Appellant, v. VAUGHN COMMUNITY CHURCH, a Washington non-profit corporation, Respondent.

No. 29049-9-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

October 21, 2003.

Thomas Francis Peterson, Betts, Patterson & Mines PS, Seattle, WA, Craig A. Robertson, Robertson & Associates, Gainesville, FL, for Respondent.

Douglas Vincent Alling, Attorney at Law, Michael E. Mcaleenan, Attorney at Law, Tacoma, WA, for Appellant.

BRIDGEWATER, J.

Vaughn Community Church (VCC) has an existing church building and would like to sell it to construct a larger, more modern church nearby; but the trust controlling the property appears to prohibit the sale. When Joyce Niemann sought to enforce the trust language, VCC sought equitable remedies to enable the sale. Niemann appeals the trial court's ruling that the language in the deed that VCC is to "Hold said property for the perpetual use of the Protestant Evangelical Churches of the Community of Vaughn, Washington" is an unreasonable and discriminatory restraint on alienation and void under RCW 49.60.224. Exhibit 10. Further, Niemann contests the trial court's use of the doctrine of cy pres and equitable deviation to reform the language of the trust in accordance with the intent of the donor to permit the sale of the existing church to build the new church within some four to five miles of the existing church. We affirm.

FACTS

VCC owns the property on which its church building sits. The church building is about 100 years old and currently has a 185-seat sanctuary, some offices and classrooms, a foyer, and a fellowship hall. It was last remodeled in the 1970-80s. In relevant part, VCC's deed reads as follows:

WHEREAS, on April 5, 1949, the Board of Trustees of the [Emmanuel Congregational Church of Vaughn] met in regular session and passed a resolution ... as follows, resolved that

"The Emmanuel Congregational Church of Vaughn transfer (the) church property to the Vaughn Community Church of Christ, with the stipulation that said property shall forever remain for the perpetual use of Protestant Evangelical Churches of the Community of Vaughn",

....

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises [Emmanuel] does, by these presents, convey and quit claim to [VCC] all its interest in the following described real estate ... to-wit:

[Legal description of property]

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD said property for the perpetual use of Protestant Evangelical Churches of the Community of Vaughn, Washington.

Dated this 22nd day of February, 1956.

Exhibit 10.

That deed reflects the history that the two churches joined in 1949, but the new entity did not actually need legal title until 1956. At that time, VCC sought a bank loan to remodel the church because its congregation was expanding. In the 1960s and 1970s, VCC's congregation expanded, and another remodeling took place that lasted into the 1980s.

In 1991, VCC commissioned a feasibility study to explore options for expanding capacity at the site. The final report found the existing building inadequate and difficult to remodel further. In the late 1990s, the congregation held informational meetings to explore options for accommodating growth and, in March 1999, the overwhelming majority of those present at the congregational meeting voted in favor of selling the church facility. Their efforts to sell the property to another evangelical church were unsuccessful.

VCC would now like to sell the property on the open market and build new facilities that would be a 5- to 15-minute drive from the current location, some 4.3 miles away. One example of the proposed new facilities showed a 450-seat sanctuary; a multiuse facility (a gym, some offices, and "day care, preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, and feeding ministries"); and a skill center (teaching car repair and cooking). Niemann, a long-time VCC member, sought to enjoin the sale by enforcing the deed language.

The trial court found that VCC holds the property "in a charitable trust in accordance with the deed." Clerk's Papers at 363. VCC is the trust's primary beneficiary but not the only one. And Niemann has standing to enforce it.

I. RCW 49.60.224

On its face, RCW 49.60.224 invalidates restrictions like the one here. In relevant part, that statute states: "Every provision in a written instrument relating to real property which purports to forbid or restrict the conveyance... thereof to individuals of a specified... creed ... is void." RCW 49.60.224.¹ The deed containing the language at issue is a written instrument, relates to real property, and seems to filter sales by creed by forbidding sale to anyone other than "Protestant Evangelical Churches of the Community of Vaughn." Exhibit 10.

Niemann presents constitutional challenges and statutory interpretation questions. We review her challenges, both questions of law, de novo. Isla Verde Int'l Holdings, Inc. v. City of Camas, 146 Wash.2d 740, 751, 49 P.3d 867 (2002); Shoop v. Kittitas County, 149 Wash.2d 29, 33, 65 P.3d 1194 (2003).

A. Burden on Freedom of Religion

Niemann first asserts that article I, section 11 of the Washington Constitution and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protect "a charitable gift of property by a church to the Protestant Evangelical Churches of a particular community." Br. of Appellant at 40. However, VCC properly points out that while Niemann has standing as someone with a special interest in the enforcement of the trust, this issue deals with the gift-giver's rights. While a successful claim here might have the effect of enforcing the trust, that does not enable her to assert the trust settlor's constitutional right to freedom of religion regarding restraining the future sale of the property.

Niemann finds personal harm in the court's allowance of a possible move of her church outside of her community: she asserts that it will chill her right to "freely exercise her religion ... within the comfort of the community set up by the original granting language." Reply Br. of Appellant at 23-24. Niemann cites no authority for the proposition that she has a right to expect her church to stay in one place and not move a few miles away. Even assuming such an attenuated harm is recognizable here, Niemann's claim still fails.

To show an unconstitutional burden on freedom of religion, Niemann must show a coercive effect in the practice of her religion. First Covenant Church of Seattle v. City of Seattle, 120 Wash.2d 203, 218, 840 P.2d 174 (1992). After that showing, the court subjects the statute to strict scrutiny: there must be a compelling State interest, enabled by the least restrictive means. First Covenant Church of Seattle, 120 Wash.2d at 218, 840 P.2d 174.² The means chosen here, invalidating specific discriminatory restraints on alienation, are narrowly tailored to the stated goal of removing discriminatory land sales and appear to go no further. Thus, RCW 49.60.224 passes constitutional muster as not being a burden on freedom of religion.

B. 14th Amendment Equal Protection

Niemann also assigns error to the trial court's finding that principals of equal protection prohibit a court from enforcing a discriminatory restraint on alienation. Niemann argues that there is no right to be a beneficiary of a trust; thus, there can be no equal protection conflict in enforcing religiously discriminatory trusts. She contends that because the benefits run to worshipers and the service is not offered to the public at large, there should be no standing to complain of exclusion from a non-public service. Even if the church services were private, Niemann misses the point. VCC wants to sell the property, not substitute another beneficiary. That is, the discrimination would be against real estate purchasers, not would-be trust beneficiaries.

Niemann responds that VCC does not have standing here. VCC raised equal protection as an additional means of voiding the discriminatory restraint on alienation. See Br. of Resp't at 37 (citing Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1, 68 S.Ct. 836, 92 L.Ed. 1161 (1948)). While VCC may assert a lack of buyers qualified under the deed language, VCC has not asserted any problem with VCC's equal protection under the law. However, though VCC does not have standing here, the equal protection argument is in addition to, and separate from, the application of RCW 49.60.224. So, the equal protection argument is superfluous and its removal does not weaken the judgment below.

C. Deed Predates Statute

Niemann argues that the statute, enacted in 1969, should not modify the 1956 deed because statutes typically proscribe only future behavior, especially where contract obligations are involved. But, a more complete statement of the rule reads: "The presumption is that a statute will only apply prospectively, unless (1) there is legislative intent to apply the law retroactively, or (2) the statute is remedial and retroactive application would further its remedial purpose." City of Ferndale v. Friberg, 107 Wash.2d 602, 605, 732 P.2d 143 (1987).

Chapter 49.60 RCW is a remedial statute. Bennett v. Hardy, 113 Wash.2d 912, 927, 784 P.2d 1258 (1990). Moreover, by its terms, it specifically applies to preexisting written instruments. RCW 49.60.227 (gives courts in rem jurisdiction to strike terms prohibited by RCW 49.60.224 upon proof by an owner or occupant). Thus, Niemann's timing argument lacks merit.

D. "Individual"

Niemann apparently concedes that RCW 49.60.224 prohibits restricting the sale of land to people of one faith or church. Riste v. E. Wash. Bible Camp, Inc., 25 Wash.App. 299, 605 P.2d 1294 (1980) (RCW 49.60.224 held to invalidate term restricting sales to people who "conduct themselves [in conformity with] the general practises [sic] and principles" of a certain church). Riste, 25 Wash.App. at 300, 605 P.2d 1294. But she contends that a Protestant evangelical church is not an "individual" under RCW 49.60.227....