517 Ocean House LLC. v. Town of Cape Elizabeth

CourtSuperior Court of Maine
DecidedMay 10, 2016
DocketCUMap-15-22
StatusUnpublished

This text of 517 Ocean House LLC. v. Town of Cape Elizabeth (517 Ocean House LLC. v. Town of Cape Elizabeth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
517 Ocean House LLC. v. Town of Cape Elizabeth, (Me. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERJOR COURT CUMBERLAND, SS. CIVIL ACTION Docket No. AP-15-22

517 OCEAN HOUSE LLC, STATE OF MAINE Plaintiff Cumberland . !;S Cl8rl<'s Office

v. MAY 1 1 2015 ORDER

TOWN OF CAPE ELIZABETH, et al, RECEIVED Defendants

Before the court is a Rule 808 appeal by 517 Ocean House LLC from a May 19, 2015

decision of the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board approving a site plan application by parties in

interest 541 Ocean House Road LLC, Nick Tammaro, Jennifer Feeney, and Sheldon Goldman

(collectively, 541 Ocean House).

541 Ocean House sought site plan approval for a pizza restaurant, retail space, and a

landscaping business on Ocean House Road in Cape Elizabeth near the intersection of Ocean

House Road and Two Lights Road. Plaintiff 51 7 Ocean House LLC is the owner and operator of

a restaurant (Rudy's on the Cape) located a short distance north on Ocean House Road. For the

sake of clarity, plaintiff 517 Ocean House will be referred to as Rudy's in this order.

Standard of Review

Review of a municipal decision under Rule 808 is for the purpose of determining

whether there was an abuse of discretion, an error of law, or findings not supported by

substantial evidence. E.g. , Camp v. Town ofShapleigh, 2008 ME 53 19, 943 A.2d 595 . 1

I In contrast, where an appeal from a municipal decision turns on the meaning of statutes, regulations , or municipal ordinances, the interpretation by municipal officials is subject to de nova judicial review . Coker v. City ofLewiston , 1998 ME 93 ~ 6, 710 A.2d 909; Isis Development LLC v. Town of Wells, 2003 ME 149 ~ 3 n.4, 836 A.2d 1285. Substantial evidence is evidence that a reasonable mind would accept as sufficient to form a

conclusion even if the evidence would also support a contrary conclusion. Sproul v. Town of

Boothbay Harbor , 2000 ME 30 ,r 8, 746 A.2d 368 .

This case largely turns on the issue of whether the Planning Board made sufficient

findings to conclude that site plan approval should be granted. The Law Court has ruled on a

number of occasions that municipal planning boards are required to make the necessary findings

and that meaningful judicial review is not possible without findings of fact sufficient to apprise

the court of the basis of a planning board decision. E.g. , Comeau v. Town ofKittery, 2007 ME 76

,r 12, 926 A.2d 129; Chapel Road Associates v. Town of Wells, 2001 ME 178 ,r 10, 787 A.2d

13 7. The Law Court has also stated as recently as 2012, however, that in an appropriate case a

court may conclude that, if there is sufficient evidence in the record, a planning board's decision

may be deemed to be supported by "implicit findings ." Town of Minot v. Starbird, 2012 ME 25

,r11 n. 4, 39 A.3d 897; York v. Town of Ogunquit, 2001 ME 53 ,r 14, 769 A.2d 172.

In this case the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board made a general finding that subject to

certain express conditions, the site plan application submitted by 542 Ocean House substantially

complied with the site plan provisions in the Cape Elizabeth Zoning Ordinance. See R. Tab 12

Finding 3. It did not, however, make findings with respect to each of the individual approval

standards in the Ordinance.

In some cases the Law Court has remanded for express findings with respect to specific

standards set forth in the zoning ordinance. See Sawyer v. Town of Cape Elizabeth, 2004 ME 71

,r 25, 852 A.2d 58. In other cases the Law Court has concluded that a remand is not necessary

where a general finding has been made and the subsidiary findings are obvious or easily inferred

from the record. Wells v. Portland Yacht Club, 2001 ME 20 ,r,r 10-11, 771 A.2d 371. In the

absence of express findings, whether a case should be remanded for further findings depends on

2 whether the determinations made by the Planning Board and the basis for those determinations

are sufficiently clear so that there can be meaningful judicial review. See Chapel Road

Associates v. Town of Wells, 2001 ME 178 ~ 12.

Discussion

The site at issue in this case contains four buildings and three greenhouses. Tammaro

Landscaping currently uses three of the buildings and the greenhouses. At the time of the

application the front building (closest to Ocean House Road) contained three retail businesses,

and 541 Ocean House proposes to replace one of the retail uses in the front building with a 30

seat restaurant, leaving the other two retail uses essentially unchanged. R. Tab 1 at 1-2. 541

Ocean House also proposes to modify the existing parking by removing approximately 7000 sq.

ft. of pavement and creating a patio and landscaped area in front of the restaurant. R. Tab. 1 at 1.

Tammaro Landscaping will continue to use the remaining three buildings on the site but

two of the greenhouses will be removed. The 541 Ocean House application does not propose the

expansion of any of the existing buildings. R. Tab 1 at 2.

Motivated by what Rudy's perceives as a major difference in the treatment that 541

Ocean House received compared to the treatment that Rudy's received when it applied for site

plan approval in 2012-14, 2 Rudy's takes issue with the approval of the 541 Ocean House

application in 11 respects.

The challenges made by Rudy's involve certain of the submission requirements for site

plan applications in section 19-9-4(C) of the Cape Elizabeth Zoning Ordinance, certain of the

standards for the approval of site plan applications in section 19-9-5 of the ordinance, and certain

of the design requirements in section 19-6-5 of the ordinance.

2 See Rule 80B Brief of Appellant 517 Ocean House LLC dated November 19, 2015 at 32-35.

3 1. Right, Title and Interest

Rudy ' s argues that 541 Ocean House failed to meet the submission requirement that the

applicant must show evidence of right, title, and interest in the site of the proposed project.

Ordinance § 19-9-4(C)(l). However, 541 Ocean House submitted a copy of its deed to the

property. R. Tab 1 at 11 -13. Moreover, although a portion of the property (the area in the front

building where 541 Ocean House proposed to place a restaurant) was subject to a lease to the

retail store "Something's Fishy" at the time the application was filed, the undisputed evidence in

the record demonstrates that the lease was to expire in March 2016. R.Tab. 16 at 5.

Rudy ' s challenge on this issue is without merit.

2. Financial Capability

Rudy's argues that 541 Ocean House failed to meet the submission requirement of

showing financial capability. Ordinance § 19-9-4(C)(l 6). The record showed that Nick

Tammaro is the sole owner of 541 Ocean House Road LLC, R. Tab . 11 at 2. The record also

contains a letter from the Town Manager stating that he had reviewed the finances of Mr.

Tammaro and had determined that he had the financial capability to undertake the project. R.

Tab 7. Finally, the ordinance expressly contemplates that the Town Manager will make a

recommendation to the Planning Board on the issue of financial capability. Ordinance § 19-9­

4(C)(l 6).

Rudy's challenge on this issue is without merit.

3. Water Supply

One of the standards for approval of a site plan application is a finding that there is an

adequate supply of drinking water. Ordinance § 19-9-5(F). Specifically, this standard requires

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Related

Tapalian v. Town of Seekonk
377 F.3d 1 (First Circuit, 2004)
Coker v. City of Lewiston
1998 ME 93 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1998)
Bausch v. District of Columbia Police & Firefighters' Retirement & Relief Board
926 A.2d 125 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 2007)
Wells v. Portland Yacht Club
2001 ME 20 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2001)
Sawyer v. Town of Cape Elizabeth
2004 ME 71 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2004)
Sproul v. Town of Boothbay Harbor
2000 ME 30 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2000)
TOWN OF MINOT v. Starbird
2012 ME 25 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2012)
York v. Town of Ogunquit
2001 ME 53 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2001)
Chapel Road Associates, L.L.C. v. Town of Wells
2001 ME 178 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2001)
Isis Development, LLC v. Town of Wells
2003 ME 149 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2003)
Tarason v. Town of South Berwick
2005 ME 30 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2005)
Gerald Marshall v. Town of Dexter
2015 ME 135 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2015)
Comeau v. Town of Kittery
2007 ME 76 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2007)
Camp v. Town of Shapleigh
2008 ME 53 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2008)

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