DocketNumber: No. CV97 034 54 04 S
Citation Numbers: 2001 Conn. Super. Ct. 15238
Judges: BRENNAN, JUDGE.
Filed Date: 11/9/2001
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/17/2021
The commission acted pursuant to §
The alternate plan provided for the deeding of a portion of the property to the town so that a so called "hammerhead turn-around" could be created, which would add frontage to the lot containing insufficient frontage. (ROR, Item 3, p. 2.) At the hearing, the alternate plan was presented in its entirety to the commission, but at the request of the neighboring property owners the public hearing was continued to June 18, 1997, to allow them the opportunity to present expert testimony concerning the application. (ROR, Item 3, pp. 20-21.) On June 7, 1997, the commission published the first notice of the continued hearing in a local newspaper, and on June 13, 1997, it published the second notice of the continued hearing. (ROR, Item 7.) The notices read: "97-17) Resubdivision Lot A, (and Alternate version with 2 Lots) Map No. 5 Cedar Hill Estates, 45 Cal drive, Trumbull, CT, prepared for Bonnie Bieder and Linda McCarthy, 2 Lots S/S Cal Drive, 300' West of Haviland Dr., HEARING CONT'D FROM MAY 21, 1997." (ROR, Item 7, Certificates of Publication.) On June 18, 1997, the public hearing before the commission continued. That same day, the commission voted to approve the alternate resubdivision plan with conditions. (ROR, Item 10, p. 1; Item 11.) Earlier that day, the zoning board of appeals had approved the application for a variance for the required road frontage for one of the lots. (ROR, Item 8, p. 1; Item 9, p. 331.)1 During both the May 21 and the June 18 hearings, strong CT Page 15240 objections were voiced by the neighbors concerning the commission's consideration of the alternate plan. (ROR, Item 3, pp. 7-13, 17, 18; Item 8, pp. 12-16.) The plaintiff now appeals claiming that, in approving the alternate resubdivision plan, the commission acted illegally, arbitrarily, and in abuse of the discretion vested in it.
A. Aggrievement
"The plaintiff can demonstrate statutory aggrievement pursuant to Section
In the accompanying file pocket No. 345401) there is evidence in the form of a deed that the plaintiff has record title to the property which she claims abuts the subject premises. The evidence does not establish, however, that her property abuts the subject premises. The evidence in the record shows that Cal Drive runs between the plaintiff's property and the subject premises. (ROR, Items 1a, 1b, 1c, 3a, 3b, 8g, 8h) Therefore, the properties do not abut. See Muller v. Town Plan Zoning Commission,
B. Timeliness of the Appeal and Service of Process
An appeal shall be commenced by service of process within fifteen days from the date that the commission's notice of decision is published. See General Statutes §
In the present case, notice of the decision was published on July 1, 1997. (ROR Item 11.) On July 15, 1997, the plaintiff served Joan Gruce, planning and zoning administrator and clerk, and Linda Lungi, Town Clerk. (Sheriff's Return.) The appeal was commenced in a timely fashion by service of process on the proper parties.
"The . . . trial court [has] to decide whether the board correctly interpreted [the regulations] and applied [them] with reasonable discretion to the facts." Irwin v. Planning Zoning Commission,
"Upon appeal, the trial court reviews the record before the board to determine whether it has acted fairly or with proper motives or upon valid reasons. . . . The burden of proof to demonstrate that the board acted improperly is upon the plaintiffs." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Bloom v. Zoning Board of Appeals,
The record reveals that the town engineer, Brian Smith, was present at these hearings, and there is no evidence that there was any disagreement with, or dispute regarding, the above quoted statements.3 The record indicates that the town's engineering department and the commission intended to require a turn-around at the end of Cal Drive for the purposes of enabling plows and other types of vehicles to make a turn without using the driveway of any of the houses, and for snow to be stacked out of the way.
A. Whether the Commission Violated the Procedures Set Forth in Chapter IVCT Page 15243 of the Trumbull Land Subdivision Regulations by Accepting the Alternate Plan at the May 21, 1997 Hearing
Chapter IV of the regulations provides for the procedure to be followed in submitting an application for a subdivision. It includes, inter alia, provisions regulating the form of the application (section 1),4 the notice of a public hearing (section 6),5 and the approval or disapproval of a plan (section 7).6
The plaintiff argues that because notice to the public of the May 21, 1997 hearing contemplated only the original plan and application for resubdivision, consideration of the alternate plan at that hearing constituted a procedural violation.7 The plaintiff also argues that she and other neighbors were not afforded proper and appropriate notice of the subject matter of the hearing before the commission on May 21, 1997, and were therefore unable to prepare comments directed to the alternate plan prior to the meeting.8 Finally, the plaintiff argues that by accepting the second application at that hearing, the commission violated the requirements of chapter IV, section 1(b) of the Trumbull land subdivision regulations. The plaintiff premises these arguments on her assumption that the alternate plan constituted a second, and wholly new, application. The defendant has not briefed these issues.
In Lauver v. Planning and Zoning Commission,
It is submitted that, in the present case, the submission of the alternate plan did not constitute the submission of a separate and distinct application. The description of the subject premises remained unchanged, and the subdivision still related to the same subject premises. (ROR, Items 1, 2, 7.) The record further provides that the original application was on the agenda for both the May 21 and the June 18 hearings, (ROR, Items 2, 4, 7, 9.), and that the commission did taken action on the original application. (ROR Items 5, 6.)
In support of her contention that the commission's consideration of the alternate plan at the May 21, 1997 hearing constituted a procedural violation, the plaintiff argues that the subdivision plans originally CT Page 15244 submitted were not scrutinized by the commission at that hearing. She argues further that any work by the town engineer in analyzing those plans was worthless as a result of the consideration of the alternate plan at that hearing.9 The transcript of the May 21 hearing reveals, however, that the commission considered all issues that had arisen in the context of the original resubdivision application, and that it did not only consider the new issues raised by the addition of a hammerhead turn-around at the end of Cal Drive. (ROR, Item 3.)10 Furthermore, the alternate plan did not provide for any alteration of the lot lines, nor the location of the house to be built, or the location of the proposed new septic area and well. (ROR, Item 1c, 8g and 8h.) Therefore, the analysis of the town engineer was still applicable and not worthless.
The only change which the alternate plan introduced was the hammerhead turn-around at the end of Cal Drive. As mentioned previously, the town's engineering department and the commission suggested a turn-around for the purposes of enabling plows and other types of vehicles to make a turn without using the driveway of any of the houses, and for snow to be stacked out of the way. "Section
Because the court finds that the alternate plan did not introduce a separate and distinct application, the court also finds that the plaintiff and her neighbors were afforded proper notice of the subject matter before the commission on May 21, 1997. Accordingly, the commission's consideration of the alternate plan at that hearing did not constitute a procedural violation. The plaintiff's concern that she was unable to prepare comments directed to the alternate plan prior to the May 21, 1997 hearing was addressed by the continuance of that hearing to June 18, 1997, at the request of the neighbors.11 (ROR, Item 3, pp. 11-12, 20.)
The plaintiff also argues that General Statutes §
Accordingly, the court will not sustain the appeal on the grounds raised and discussed above.
B. Whether At the June 18, 1997 Hearing, the Commission Considered the Alternate Plan, and Rendered a Decision Thereon, Without Proper Notice to Neighbors and Others
The plaintiff argues that the commission improperly considered and approved the alternate plan because it gave the plaintiff and other neighbors no indication that the alternative plan would be the subject matter of the June 18, 1997 hearing. The defendant argues that it published a clear and explicit notice of the evidence it would consider and the actions it might take.
The legal notice of the continued hearing on June 18, 1997, provided: "97-17) Resubdivision Lot A, (and Alternate version with 2 Lots) Map No. 5 Cedar Hill Estates, 45 Cal Drive, Trumbull, CT, prepared for Bonnie Bieder and Linda McCarthy, 2 lots S/S Cal Drive, 300' West of Haviland Dr., HEARING CONT'D FROM MAY 21, 1997. . . . Plans for the above-listed applications are on file in the office of the Planning and Zoning Commission for public inspection." (ROR, Item 7, Certificates of Publication.)13
"Whether failure to give notice affects subject matter jurisdiction depends on who is to be notified. . . . When the notice required . . . is constructive notice to the general public by means of legal advertisement, failure to issue such notice properly is a defect implicating subject matter jurisdiction." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Koskoff v. Planning Zoning Commission,
The plaintiff also argues that the entire meeting of June 18, 1997 concerned the alternate resubdivision plan. A careful reading of the transcript of that hearing reveals, however, that the commission considered all issues that had arisen in the context of the original resubdivision application, and that it did not only consider the issues raised by adding a hammerhead turnaround at the end of Cal Drive. (ROR, Item 8.) Thus, for example, issues that were discussed include wetlands soil types, the location of the well and septic systems, percolation test results, the steepness of the slopes on Lot 2, drainage and run-off issues, and the requirement of a bond.
Accordingly, the court will not sustain the appeal on this ground either.
C. Whether the Alternate Plan Violates Chapter VII, Section 1(c) of the Trumbull Land Subdivision Regulations
The plaintiff argues that the alternate plan violates chapter VII, section 1(c) of the land subdivision regulations,14 because the portion of Cal Drive adjacent to resubdivided Lot A has a street gradient exceeding 12%. The commission did not make any express findings on, nor has it briefed, this particular issue.
Subsection 1(c) of chapter VII provides that the maximum gradient for any street in residential zones shall not exceed 12%. The concept of "grade" or "gradient" is defined as "[t]he number of feet rise in one hundred feet of horizontal distance expressed as percent." (ROR, Item 13, Chapter II, Section 2(f).) The court must therefore consult the maps in the record, measure out a distance of one hundred feet horizontally adjacent to lot one, and then read from the existing contour line on the map what the difference in elevation is over that distance.
From the map that displays the alternate grading plan; (ROR, Item 8g); the court is able to measure a horizontal distance of 100 feet at various elevations. A distance of approximately 100 feet is found from an elevation of 440 feet to an elevation of 450 feet. This yields a gradient of 10 percent. A distance of approximately 100 feet is found from an elevation of 442 feet to an elevation of 452 feet. This also yields a gradient of 10 percent. A distance of approximately 100 feet is found from an elevation of 456.4 feet to an elevation of 444.8 feet. This yields a gradient of 11.6 percent. Finally, a distance of approximately 80 feet is found from an elevation of 450 to an elevation of 460 feet. This yields a gradient of 12.5 percent. CT Page 15247
Thus, only one result yields a percentage above the permissible 12 percent. The measurements for this gradient, however, would have been the same under the original plan of the subdivision application, and represent, in fact, the situation as it has existed for many years on Cal Drive. Furthermore, the alternate plan deals with this problem by proposing a change in the existing contour lines above the elevation of circa 455 feet. The new contour lines will yield a gradient that complies with subsection 1(c) of Chapter VII. (ROR, Item 8g.)
Accordingly, the court will not sustain the appeal on this ground either.
D. Whether the Trumbull Land Subdivision Regulations Permit or Provide for a Hammerhead Turn-around on Dead End Streets
The plaintiff asserts that the Trumbull land subdivision regulations do not permit or provide for a hammerhead turn-around, and that nowhere in the regulations is the phrase "hammerhead" found. (ROR, Item 13.) She argues that chapter V, section 4 of the regulations, which governs dead end streets, clearly provides that a dead end turn-around is to be circular, and not in the shape of a hammerhead.15 The plaintiff further argues that such a hammerhead turn-around fails to meet the minimum radius requirements set forth in chapter V, section 4.
The alternate plan introduced a hammerhead shaped turn-around at the end of Cal Drive. Cal Drive is a dead-end-street because it has no outlet at one end. Chapter II, section 2, of the Trumbull land subdivision regulations, which defines the terms used in the regulations, does not contain a definition of the word "hammerhead," and the regulations do not contain any provision which uses that term. The term "cul-de-sac" is defined in the regulations as "a turnaround on a dead-end-street."16
"Our rules of statutory construction apply to administrative regulations." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Vitti v. Allstate Ins.Co.,
Although the court finds that a non-circular turn-around is permitted by section 4 of chapter V, that section also provides that all dead-end streets "shall be equipped with a turn-around roadway at the closed end with minimum radius of 50 feet from the center to the outside edge of the right-of-way." The use of the term "minimum radius" suggests that, to determine the distance from the center of the turn-around to the right-of way, a circle must be drawn such that its arc touches the right-of-way that is nearest to the center. The distance from the center to the nearest right-of-way is the radius, and this must be at least 50 feet. The plaintiff argues that even if a hammerhead turn-around is permitted under the regulations, the turn-around in this case fails to meet the minimum radius requirements set forth in chapter V, section 4.
The court has closely inspected the maps in the record which depict the hammerhead turn-around at the end of Cal Drive. (ROR, Items 3b, 8g, 8h.) From the center of the regular polygon that forms the hammerhead turn-around to the nearest right-of-way is 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch. (ROR Items 3b, 8g.) The scales of maps 3b and 8g provide that one inch equals forty feet on those maps. This makes the distance from the center to the nearest right-of-way, the radius, about twenty to twenty-five feet. Therefore, the turn-around does not meet the minimum radius requirement of fifty feet contained in section 4 of chapter V of the land subdivision regulations. Thus, the court must sustain the appeal on this ground.
However, the appeal is sustained on the ground that the turn-around does not meet the minimum radius requirement of fifty feet contained in section 4 of chapter V of the land subdivision regulations.
BRENNAN, JR., J.