Barton v. Zoning Board of Appeals
Barton v. Zoning Board of Appeals
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
The plaintiff
This appeal arises from the approval by the defendant zoning board of appeals of the town of Watertown (board) of a variance to the Watertown zoning regulations. The defendant C.A.D.S., LLC (C.A.D.S.), owns property at 29 State Street, Watertown. It sought permission to sell and recondition used cars and to prepare new cars on the subject property. The zoning regulations permit the preparation of new cars on the subject property, but prohibit used car dealerships.
After a public hearing on the application, the board approved the variance. The plaintiff, pursuant to General Statutes § 8-8 (b),
“The standard of review of a motion to dismiss is . . . well established. In ruling upon whether a complaint survives a motion to dismiss, a court must take the facts to be those alleged in the complaint, including those facts necessarily implied from the allegations, construing them in a manner most favorable to the pleader.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Brook-ridge District Assn. v. Planning & Zoning Commission, 259 Conn. 607, 610-11, 793 A.2d 215 (2002). “If a party is found to lack standing, the court is without subject matter jurisdiction to determine the cause. . . . A determination regarding a trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law. When . . . the trial court draws conclusions of law, our review is plenary and we must decide whether its conclusions are legally and logically correct and find support in the facts that appear in the record.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Fort Trumbull Conservancy, LLC v. New London, 265 Conn. 423, 429, 829 A.2d 801 (2003).
In Dupuis v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 152 Conn. 308, 310, 206 A.2d 422 (1965), our Supreme Court, considering both classical and statutory aggrievement, concluded that the latter satisfies the issue of standing and permits a plaintiff building inspector to pursue an appeal under § 8-8. “[T]o be [classically aggrieved] within the meaning of . . . [what is now General Statutes § 8-8] . . . one must be found to have been specially and injuriously affected in his property or other
The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings in accordance with law.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
Although the planning and zoning commission of the town of Watertown is a party to this action, it never filed an appeal. Accordingly, in deciding this appeal, we consider Mary G. Barton to be the sole appellant.
Because we agree with the plaintiffs argument as to her first claim, we do not reach the merits of the second claim.
C.A.D.S. owns and operates a new and used car dealership on nearby property, which is not a subject of this case.
General Statutes § 8-8 (b) provides in relevant part that “any person aggrieved by any decision of a board . . . may take an appeal to the superior court for the judicial district in which the municipality is located. . . .”
General Statutes § 8-8 (a) (1) provides in relevantpart: “ ‘Aggrievedperson’ means a person aggrieved by a decision of a board and includes any officer,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.