Montgomery Burns was the richest man in Springfield. He died on January 1, 2000, leaving all of

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Question:

Montgomery Burns was the richest man in Springfield. He died on January 1, 2000, leaving all of his property to his son, Roddy Burns. Roddy wanted to make as much money as possible off of the property he received.

Montgomery left (and Roddy now owns), a 50-acre parcel of undeveloped land in the heart of Springfield. Roddy planned to develop the 50-acre parcel as a 4 Lot subdivision called "Heavenly Estates" ("Go to heaven without leaving home.") To publicize his development, Roddy had brochures and other advertisements printed stating the following:

"Come live in a subdivision that is heaven on earth. And you don't have to worry
because Heavenly Estates will only allow single-family houses. No devilish apartments here! Also, those demonic minions (kids) will also be prohibited - no one under 25 years old will be allowed to live in Heavenly Estates."

To pay for the advertising costs, Roddy took out a loan for $50,000.

For each lot sold, Roddy prepared a deed that satisfies the statute of frauds and includes the following language:

"Roddy Burns hereby conveys to [Grantee] (name included) the following described
property. Grantee agrees on behalf of her heirs and assigns the following: (1) that the
property will only be used for residential purposes; and (2) that the property will not
be conveyed or devised to anyone with children younger than 25 years old and no one younger than 25 years old will be allowed to live permanently on the property. Grantor and Grantee intend these restrictions to run with the land."
"Heavenly Estates"
Lot 1
Roddy entered into a contract to sell Lot 1 to Reverend Lovejoy for $100,000. Lovejoy was excited. He planned to build a church on the lot. The contract satisfies the statute of frauds, but is silent with regard to the obligation to provide marketable title. The contract provides that the closing is to take place on December 1, 2000. After signing the contract, Lovejoy discovers that the Springfield zoning
ordinance restricts the use of property to single family housing. Lovejoy is not interested in building housing on the property. He sends the following letter to Roddy:

"Dear Roddy,

Having researched the zoning ordinances governing the property, I have discovered that I cannot build a church on Lot 1. As I am sure you understand, the property is useless to me if I cannot build a church. Please accept this as a surrender of the contract. I wish you all the best in finding a new purchaser.

God bless,

Reverend Lovejoy"

Roddy was distraught when he received the letter because he needed the money to pay off the loans he took out to market Heavenly Estates. The day that Roddy received the letter from Lovejoy, the fair market value of the property was $90,000. On January 1, 2001, Bart sold Lot 1 to Agnes Skinner for $90,000.

ISSUE: DOES RODDY HAVE A CLAIM AGAINST REVEREND LOVEJOY FOR NOT GOING THROUGH WITH THE TRANSACTION? WHY OR WHY NOT? WHAT IS THE LIKELY OUTCOME OF THE SUIT?