Michel v. Planning & Zoning Commission

612 A.2d 778, 28 Conn. App. 314, 1992 Conn. App. LEXIS 282
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedJuly 21, 1992
Docket10766
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 612 A.2d 778 (Michel v. Planning & Zoning Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Michel v. Planning & Zoning Commission, 612 A.2d 778, 28 Conn. App. 314, 1992 Conn. App. LEXIS 282 (Colo. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

Heiman, J.

The plaintiffs in this zoning dispute appeal from the trial court’s judgment dismissing their appeal from the Monroe planning and zoning commission’s decision granting the defendant McDonalds Corporation’s application for a change of zone and for a special exception permit.1 They claim that the trial [316]*316court improperly found that (1) the appeal was moot, (2) the zone change did not constitute spot zoning, (3) the commission did not impose an illegal condition on its decision granting the application, (4) the application was not fatally defective even though the named applicant, McDonalds Corporation, was not an owner of the property at the time the application was filed, (5) the commission’s failure to hold separate votes on the requests for a zone change and for a special exception permit was not improper, (6) the building conditions and parking requirements imposed by the commission were not improper and (7) the commission’s decision to grant the application was not improper, even though the commission held a public hearing on the application before it received the decision and report of the Monroe inland wetlands commission on a related application. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

The following facts are necessary to resolve this appeal. On May 3,1990, McDonalds Corporation filed an application with the Monroe planning and zoning commission requesting a zone change for a four acre parcel and a special exception permit authorizing the construction of a McDonalds restaurant with a drive-through service window. On the date that the application was filed, the subject parcel, located at 390 and 400 Monroe Turnpike in Monroe, straddled two zoning districts: Design Business 1 (DB1) and Residential and Farming C (RC). The Monroe zoning regulations (regulations) permit certain restaurants that do not have drive-through windows to be built in DB1 districts. No restaurants are permitted in RC districts. Restaurants containing drive-through service windows are, however, permitted in Design Business 2 (DB2) districts. The regulations applicable to DB districts provide further: “Any new building to be constructed . . . shall be required to obtain a special exception per[317]*317mit for business use prior to its use.” Thus, in order to build a restaurant with a drive-through window, McDonalds sought a zone change redistricting the entire parcel as DB2 together with a request for a special exception permit.

The commission held a public hearing on the application on May 24, 1990. On June 29, 1990, the Monroe inland wetlands commission granted conditional wetlands approval for the parcel. After a single vote taken on July 5, 1990, the planning and zoning commission granted the application. The plaintiff abutting landowners appealed the commission’s decision to the Superior Court; see General Statutes § 8-9; and the trial court dismissed the appeal, finding that the appeal was moot and, further, that each of the plaintiffs’ claims was meritless. The plaintiffs petitioned this court for certification, which we granted on October 16, 1991. This appeal followed.

I

Plaintiffs claim that the trial court incorrectly determined that their appeal was moot. At oral argument before this court, the defendants agreed. Although the parties agree that the trial court improvidently dismissed the appeal as moot, we nonetheless must address the mootness issue because mootness implicates our jurisdiction. See Furstein v. Hill, 218 Conn. 610, 627, 590 A.2d 939 (1991). We agree with the parties. The appeal was not, and is not, moot.

The trial court found that the commission’s adoption of a new zoning map in June, 1991, rendered moot the plaintiffs’ challenge to the commission’s July 5, 1990 vote granting McDonalds’ requests for a change of zone and a special exception permit. Our Supreme Court’s recent decision in Protect Hamden/North Haven from Excessive Traffic & Pollution, Inc. v. Planning & Zoning Commission, 220 Conn. 527, 600 A.2d 757 (1991), [318]*318which was published after the trial court rendered its judgment, controls our resolution of this issue. In Protect Hamden/North Haven from Excessive Traffic & Pollution, Inc. v. Planning & Zoning Commission, supra, the court recognized that General Statutes § 8-2h (a), which became effective on October 1,1989, legislatively overruled McCallum v. Inland Wetlands Commission, 196 Conn. 218, 492 A.2d 508 (1985), and Johnson v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 2 Conn. App. 24, 475 A.2d 339, cert. denied, 194 Conn. 806, 482 A.2d 711 (1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1066, 105 S. Ct. 2141, 85 L. Ed. 2d 498 (1985), which had determined that certain zoning appeals became moot by virtue of subsequent regulatory amendments. Protect Hamden/North Haven from Excessive Traffic & Pollution, Inc. v. Planning & Zoning Commission, supra, 540-41. The current rule in this state is that the validity of a planning and zoning commission’s action is to be determined by reference to the zoning laws and regulations in effect at the time that the challenged action was taken. Id.; see General Statutes § 8-2h (a). Thus, a challenge to commission action no longer is rendered moot by a subsequent change in the applicable zoning laws or regulations. Id. The trial court incorrectly concluded otherwise.2

[319]*319II

The plaintiffs next argue that the commission engaged in illegal spot zoning when it granted the change of zone. We disagree.

Our courts consistently have invalidated zoning decisions that have constituted spot zoning. “ ‘[S]pot zoning is the “reclassification of a small area of land in such a manner as to disturb the tenor of the surrounding neighborhood.” ’ Morningside Assn. v. Planning & Zoning Board, [162 Conn. 154, 161, 292 A.2d 893 (1972)]. Two elements must be satisfied before spot zoning can be said to exist. First, the zone change must concern a small area of land. Second, the change must be out of harmony with the comprehensive plan for zoning adopted to serve the needs of the community as a whole. Id. The comprehensive plan is to be found in the scheme of the zoning regulations themselves. First Hartford Realty Corporation v. Plan & Zoning Commission, 165 Conn. 533, 542, 338 A.2d 490 (1973).” Blaker v. Planning & Zoning Commission, 212 Conn. 471, 483, 562 A.2d 1093 (1989).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Sargent v. Zoning Board of Appeals
236 Conn. App. 269 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2025)
Farmington-Girard, LLC v. Planning & Zoning Comm'r of Hartford
212 A.3d 776 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2019)
Handsome, Inc. v. Planning & Zoning Commission
Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2015
Zimnoch v. Planning & Zoning Commission
29 A.3d 898 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2011)
Rya Corp. V. Planning & Zoning Commission
867 A.2d 97 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2005)
Campion v. Board of Aldermen
859 A.2d 586 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2004)
Campion v. New Haven Board of Aldermen, No. Cv 02-0462505 S (Mar. 21, 2003)
2003 Conn. Super. Ct. 4004 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2003)
Stauton v. Madison Pzc, No. Cv 01-0455637 S (Feb. 10, 2003)
2003 Conn. Super. Ct. 2151 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2003)
Evans v. Plan & Zoning Commission
808 A.2d 1151 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2002)
Wysocki v. Ellington Inland Wetlands, No. Cv-00-0073541s (May 3, 2002)
2002 Conn. Super. Ct. 5646 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2002)
Russell v. Stratford Zoning Commission, No. Cv00 036 96 13s (Feb. 28, 2002)
2002 Conn. Super. Ct. 2040 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2002)
Shepard Group v. Hamden Pzc, No. 00-0436166s (Jan. 3, 2002)
2002 Conn. Super. Ct. 66 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2002)
Gilbert Bennett v. Redding, No. Cv01-034 21 43 S (Dec. 21, 2001)
2001 Conn. Super. Ct. 17163 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2001)
Miller v. Shelton Planning Zoning Comm., No. Cv00-0072081s (Aug. 2, 2001)
2001 Conn. Super. Ct. 10479 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2001)
Daw v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Westport
772 A.2d 755 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2001)
Mohican Val. Conc. v. Fairfield Zng., No. Cv 99 049 94 78s (Mar. 23, 2001)
2001 Conn. Super. Ct. 4027 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2001)
Duchess v. Planning and Zoning Comm., No. Cv98 035 24 74 (Mar. 2, 2001)
2001 Conn. Super. Ct. 3386 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
612 A.2d 778, 28 Conn. App. 314, 1992 Conn. App. LEXIS 282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/michel-v-planning-zoning-commission-connappct-1992.