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In a case members deliberated throughout the summer, the board found that the organization is operating as a school and does not qualify for an extension of the church's special exception as a religious use in a residential zone. The group had argued that its Christian-based instruction is a form of religious expression.
It also does not qualify for a special exception as an educational use, the board said, because it is neither a state certified or accredited school, as required by township code.
Academy co-founder Dr. Forrest Anthony, who received notice of the decision last week, said the organization he refers to as a "homeschooling cooperative" is considering an appeal to the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
Lower Merion Zoning Officer Michael Wylie said if the decision is under active appeal, the township would allow the group to continue meeting at the church, pending a court decision.
But Anthony said the group is small and has limited means to cover the expenses of what could be a lengthy legal process. For now, he said, "We are telling parents there are zoning difficulties, but we will try to appeal and stay there." Meanwhile, Anthony said he remains "puzzled why this should be such a big deal."
"We are shocked that zoning officials can prohibit a peaceful meeting of a few Christians at an existing church, because such activity is not 'religious' enough," he wrote in an e-mail.
"It's a chilling commentary on the status of First Amendment rights in a rather affluent township," he added in an interview.
The matter came to township officials' attention last fall after a neighbor complained that the group had begun operating a school at the church without notice or township approval.
Anthony said he and his wife, Lee, founded the American Academy about 10 years ago to give families an alternative to public and private schools. Students are registered with the state as homeschoolers. The group met at a church in Wayne, and then at Lower Merion Baptist Church in Bryn Mawr for several years, before moving to Gladwyne last September. In testimony during two hearings last spring, Anthony and the church's pastor, the Rev. Charlene Gaspar, said the arrangement was a benefit to both groups. The academy paid no rent, but helped the small, older congregation by contributing toward utility costs, while the church, with no young families, saw the activity as an "outreach ministry."
When Wylie visited the site, however, he found some 33 students taking part in classes with the academy's four or five paid tutors. Sessions were being held five days a week during normal school hours. Students studied a curriculum designed to meet state requirements. They wore uniforms to class. Anthony acknowledged that parents paid tuition of $6,600 per year.
Anthony argued that, because all instruction is presented "from a Christian world view," the academy is more like a Sunday school, an extension of the church's religious use.
In its 23-page order, the zoning board found, to the contrary, that the academy's primary function is secular education. After a history of dealing with a variety of educational programs, the township in 1998 amended the zoning code to restrict educational uses in residential zones to certified or accredited schools. Non-certified, non-accredited schools are permitted in commercial zones. Likewise, the board said it could not make too broad an interpretation of the term "religious use."
Even if instruction is Christian-oriented, as Anthony said, "if that were the standard for determining whether a use is 'religious,' ... every use operated by a religious organization would have to be considered a 'religious use.'
A Catholic hospital and a kosher restaurant, for example, would have to be permitted in residential districts if their owners testified that the work done there is part of their religious ministries. Even a slaughterhouse would have to be permitted if a religious group used it for animal sacrifices."
The township is not infringing on academy members' rights to religious expression, the board said, because its activities are permitted in other districts. Instead, "Making a religious group exempt from having to obtain special permits that other users must obtain would actually be favoring religion, which is prohibited by the First Amendment's Establishment Clause."
Anthony said he still wonders, "What are we doing that harms the community?" Finding another location "will be tough," he said. "If we don't have a place to meet, it's a catastrophic end to a 10-year ministry."
"We hope there will be other church leaders who will be interested in such a precedent," he added.
