Cottone v. Cedar Lake, LLC

19 Mass. L. Rptr. 206
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedApril 1, 2005
DocketNo. 022064B
StatusPublished

This text of 19 Mass. L. Rptr. 206 (Cottone v. Cedar Lake, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cottone v. Cedar Lake, LLC, 19 Mass. L. Rptr. 206 (Mass. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

McCann, J.

This is an appeal pursuant to G.L.c. 40A, §17, in which the plaintiffs, Robert and Denise Cottone (“Cottones”), seek to overturn a decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Sturbridge (“ZBA”), ordering the Cottones to take preliminary steps to bring their property in compliance with the Town of Sturbridge Zoning By-law. In addition to their Chapter 40A appeal, the Cottones also seek a judgment declaring the number of persons who may properly sit on the Town ZBA and the quantum of vote required for those individuals to overturn a decision of the Building Inspector. This case is currently before the Court on cross motions for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth below, this Court finds that (1) Cedar Lake, LLC (“Cedar Lake”) had standing to appeal the Building Inspector’s decision; (2) the ZBA may properly consist of seven members; (3) a five-person majority was a sufficient quantum of vote for the ZBA to overturn a decision of the Building Inspector; and (4) the ZBA did not exceed its authority in its September 11, 2002 decision. Accordingly, the defendants’ motions for summary judgment are ALLOWED and the plaintiffs’ cross motion is DENIED.

BACKGROUND

The undisputed facts viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, as revealed by the summary judgment record, are as follows.

The Cottones reside at 53 Caron Road in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Cedar Lake is the record owner of an abutting parcel of land located at 21 and 31 Caron Road. Cedar Lake is a Limited Liability Corporation, duly organized under the laws of Connecticut and comprised of four principals: Joann Caron-Prescott, Suzanne B. Caron, David A. Caron, and Christopher Caron. The company is not registered to do business in the Commonwealth.

On or about June 5, 1997, the Cottones applied to Mark Lev (“Lev"), the Town Building Inspector, for a permit to build a garage on their property. In the application, the Cottones represented, through a tape survey and sketch, that the newly constructed garage would comply with the setback requirements of the Town Zoning By-law. The By-law requires that all accessory buildings be located at least fifteen feet from the rear and side property lines. Lev issued the building permit on that same day and the Cottones erected the garage and a connecting deck sometime thereafter.

Not long after the garage was constructed, Joann Caron-Prescott hired Jalbert Engineering to perform a perimeter survey of the Cedar Lake parcel. The survey revealed that the Cottones’ garage was approximately four feet from the rear boundary line and that the attached deck encroached over that boundary line on to Cedar Lake’s property. Based on the results of this survey, Suzanne Caron made two formal complaints to Lev. In a letter dated May 1,2002, Ms. Caron notified Lev that the Cottones’ garage violated the Town’s fifteen-foot setback requirement and that the attached deck encroached upon Cedar Lake’s property. In a subsequent letter, dated May 30, 2002, Ms. Caron requested that Lev enforce the Zoning By-law. On May 10, 2002, Lev responded by letter to Cedar Lake’s request. In that letter and subsequent correspondence, Lev declined to take enforcement action in regard to either the setback violation or the encroachment issue.

On July 3,2002, Suzanne Caron and Joann Caron-Prescott, as principals for Cedar Lake, filed an Appeal of a Decision of the Building Inspector with the Town ZBA. In its appeal, Cedar Lake sought to enforce the setback violation and remedy the encroachment by the Cottones’ deck.3 On or about August 14, 2002, the ZBA held a public hearing on the matter. The ZBA subsequently issued its findings and decision on September 11, 2002. In that decision, five of the seven members of the ZBA voted to grant the relief requested by Cedar Lake. On October 1, 2002, the Cottones filed a two-count complaint in this Court appealing the decision of the ZBA. In Count I, the Cottones assert several different theories, all alleging that the ZBA exceeded its authority in its September 11, 2002 decision and order. In Count II, the Cottones request a declaratory judgment determining whether the seven-member ZBA was properly constituted, and if so, what quantum of vote was required for it to reverse the decision of the Building Inspector.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

Summary Judgment shall be granted where there are no genuine issues as to any material fact and where the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Mass.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Cassesso v. Commissioner of Correction, 390 Mass. 419, 422 (1983); Community Nat’l Bank v. Dawes, 369 Mass. 550, 553 (1976). The moving party bears the burden of demonstrating affirmatively the absence of a triable issue, and that the summary judgment record entitles the moving party to judgment as a matter of law. Pederson v. Time, Inc., 404 Mass. 14, 16-17 (1989). A party moving for summary judgment who does not bear the burden of proof at trial may demonstrate the absence of a triable issue by showing that the nonmoving party has no reasonable expectation of proving an essential element of its case at trial. Flesner v. Technical Communications Corp., 410 Mass. 805, 809 (1991); Kourouvacilis v. General Motors Corp., 410 Mass. 706, 716 (1991). Once the party establishes the absence of a triable issue, the party opposing the motion must respond and allege specific facts establishing the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Pederson, 404 Mass. at 17.

[208]*208II. Standing

As a preliminary matter, this Court inquires into whether Cedar Lake had standing to bring an enforcement action to the ZBA. The Cortones contend that Cedar Lake lacked standing to bring the appeal because it failed to register, as required by G.L.c. 156C, §54, with the Secretary of State as a foreign limited liability company doing business in the Commonwealth.4 Section 54 provides, in relevant part, that when a foreign limited liability company fails to register with the Secretary of State, “no action shall be maintained or recovery had by the foreign limited liability company in any of the courts of the commonwealth as long as such failure continues.” The Cortones derive essentially two different standing arguments from this prohibition. First, they argue that Section 54 is applicable not only to actions maintained in the courts of the Commonwealth, but also to administrative proceedings which are a prerequisite to obtaining judicial review. Second, the Cortones argue that even if Section 54 is inapplicable to administrative hearings, it would still preclude Cedar Lake from obtaining judicial review of an adverse decision of the ZBA. The Cortones then conclude that if Section 54, and the prohibitory effect thereof, is read in conjunction with the holding in Save the Bay, Inc. v. Department of Public Utilities, 366 Mass. 667 (1975), then Cedar Lake did not have standing as a “person aggrieved” under G.L.c. 40A, §8. Both of these arguments must fail.

As to the first argument, a plain reading of G.L.c. 156C, §54 does not support the Cortones’ interpretation that the statute is applicable to administrative proceedings. “Where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, it must be given its ordinary meaning.” Commonwealth v. Brown, 431 Mass. 772, 775 (2000). In the instant case, the plain language of Section 54 unambiguously restricts an unregistered foreign LLC from maintaining an action or recovery only in “the courts

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Bluebook (online)
19 Mass. L. Rptr. 206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cottone-v-cedar-lake-llc-masssuperct-2005.