WHS Realty Co. v. Town of Morristown
New Jersey Superior Court
733 A.2d 1206 (1999)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
The Town of Morristown (defendant) adopted an ordinance that provided garbage-collection services for free to residential buildings with three or fewer units and to condominium complexes with individually owned units. The ordinance did not provide garbage-collection services to multi-family buildings with four or more units. Largely, the ordinance’s impact was to distinguish between owned residences and rented residences. Indeed, one of the stated goals of the ordinance was to foster homeownership. WHS Realty Company (WHS) (plaintiff) owned an apartment complex that did not receive town garbage collection due to this ordinance. WHS sued the town, claiming that the ordinance denied it equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment. The trial court invalidated the ordinance, finding that the ordinance was not rationally related to the legitimate governmental goal of fostering homeownership. The town appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Havey, J.)
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