In re Estate of Swinington

733 A.2d 62, 169 Vt. 583, 1999 Vt. LEXIS 97
CourtSupreme Court of Vermont
DecidedMay 18, 1999
DocketNo. 98-098
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 733 A.2d 62 (In re Estate of Swinington) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Vermont primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Estate of Swinington, 733 A.2d 62, 169 Vt. 583, 1999 Vt. LEXIS 97 (Vt. 1999).

Opinion

Talon Hill Gun Club, Inc., a co-permittee under a 1990 Act 250 permit, appeals from an Environmental Board order denying it party status in a permit proceeding subsequent to Talon [584]*584Hill’s bankruptcy and the death of the other co-permittee, John A. Swinington. We affirm.

In September 1990, the District 9 Environmental Commission issued a land use permit to Talon Hill and John Swinington as co-permittees. The permit applied to land in Leicester owned in fee simple by Swinington, subject to a lease held by Talon Hill. The permit authorized Swinington and Talon Hill to construct, operate and maintain a skeet and trap shooting facility, with an attendant access road.

Between 1990 and 1996, the initial permit was amended several times to allow changes in the operation of the shooting range and to extend construction deadline dates. In January 1996, the Commission granted an extension of the construction completion date to November 1,1997.

In February 1997, John Swinington died. Then in September 1997, the United States Bankruptcy Court in Vermont terminated the lease between Swinington’s estate and Talon Hill, granting immediate possession of the subject property to the estate. On October 6, 1997, the estate advised the Commission of the bankruptcy court’s order terminating Talon Hill’s lease and asked the Commission to grant a further extension of the construction completion deadline for the project.

On October 9, 1997, the Commission notified Talon Hill that it was granting the estate’s request, and on October 28,1997, Talon Hill filed written comments with the Commission objecting to the extension and requesting a hearing. Talon Hill’s primary assertion in the comment was that corporate entity Talon Hill, not the landowner, had the right to construct and operate the subject gun club. Talon Hill stated that it was seeking an alternative location to operate a gun club, and argued that it had a property interest in the name and the concept of Talon Hill Gun Club, Inc. The Commission reviewed the comments submitted but declined to conduct a hearing with respect to the extension request because substantive issues had not been raised.

On November 19,1997, the Commission issued a land use permit to the Swinington estate, authorizing the extension of the construction completion date of the access road to November 1, 1999. Talon Hill was not included as a copermittee on this permit. Talon Hill then appealed to the Board pursuant to 10 VS.A. § 6089(a), alleging that the Commission had not considered substantive issues raised by Talon Hill and had failed to hold the requested hearing.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
733 A.2d 62, 169 Vt. 583, 1999 Vt. LEXIS 97, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-swinington-vt-1999.