N.H. Motor Transport v. Town of Plaistow

881 F. Supp. 695, 25 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 21354, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14838, 1994 WL 790886
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Hampshire
DecidedSeptember 19, 1994
DocketNo. C-93-149-L
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 881 F. Supp. 695 (N.H. Motor Transport v. Town of Plaistow) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
N.H. Motor Transport v. Town of Plaistow, 881 F. Supp. 695, 25 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 21354, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14838, 1994 WL 790886 (D.N.H. 1994).

Opinion

ORDER

LOUGHLIN, Senior District Judge.

The plaintiff, New Hampshire Motor Transport Association is an unincorporated trade association which represents the interests of New Hampshire Motor Carriers who are members.

Plaintiff Arnold Pevna, Trustee of Olympiad Realty Trust, is the owner of a parcel of land located partially in the town of Newton and partially in the town of Plaistow upon which a trucking terminal is located, which is leased to Atlas Motor Express, Inc.

Plaintiff, Atlas Motor Express, Inc. is a certificated interstate motor carrier, which leases the trucking terminal owned by Olympiad.

The plaintiffs, Engle Oostdyke, Inc., Gerard Express, Inc., Peterri Transportation Co., Inc., Wolf Trucking Inc., and Ivan Bon-dy are certified interstate motor carriers, with principal places of business in Bensa-lem, Pennsylvania, South Kearney, New Jersey, Los Angeles, California, and Hemet, California respectively. Each of the named motor carriers maintains trucks that make use of the Atlas terminal on a routine basis.

The Defendant, Town of Plaistow, is a Municipal Corporation established under the laws of the State of New Hampshire, and at all times relative hereto, has in effect a zoning ordinance pursuant to the provisions of N.H.Rev.StatAnn. chs. 672, 677 (1986).

Atlas is a New Hampshire business corporation which has been engaged in the trucking business since 1983.

Atlas first operated out of a terminal located in Haverhill, Massachusetts and in 1986 moved to a terminal building located in the Town of Plaistow where it operated until it moved to its current terminal in September, 1988.

Arnold Pevna and his wife are the owners of Olympiad Realty Trust. Atlas is owned by their three sons. Arnold Pevna operated a company known as East-West Consolidators which arranges freight transportation but which runs no trucks of its own.

In May of 1987 Olympiad entered into a purchase and sale agreement to purchase a parcel of land consisting of approximately eight acres, located in Newton and Plaistow, where the Atlas trucking terminal is now located. The agreement was contingent upon getting all necessary approvals from the towns of Plaistow and Newton to construct a trucking terminal.

On October 29,1986 legal counsel for Atlas corresponded with the Plaistow Planning Board inquiring as to whether the plans for the proposed trucking terminal facility needed to be reviewed by the Plaistow Planning Board and whether there were any potential problems.

At the June 24, 1987 meeting of the Plais-tow Planning Board the Board reviewed the plans for the proposed terminal and indicated in its minutes that Atlas did not have to come before the Board.

[697]*697On July 17, 1987 the Plaistow Planning Board through its administrative assistant wrote a letter confirming its actions at the June 24 meeting stating that “since the proposed site was entirely in Newton and, with access off Kingston Road through a private drive with passage easement, this plan does not require a public hearing in this town.”

Olympiad subsequently went through the site plan approval process with the Newton Planning Board. Owners of adjacent residential properties in Plaistow were notified and appeared at the meetings in opposition to the project. Site plan approval was ultimately granted.

Frederick Royer who fives at 48 Kingston Road, Plaistow attended two meetings in the Town of Newton, but was not notified of other hearings. Royer and other abutters objected to the operation of the terminal during night hours specifically between 7:30 p.m. and 5:30 or 6:00 a.m.

Three owners of properties located along Kingston Road in Plaistow brought a Writ of Certiorari in Rockingham County Superior Court seeking to vacate the Newton Planning Board’s approval of the Atlas terminal project.

The Writ of Certiorari was settled. As part of the settlement, the passage easement was paved and trees were planted to act as a noise buffer between the terminal and contiguous residential property.

On February 10, 1988 Olympiad acquired title to the proposed site in a deed recorded at Rockingham County Registry of Deeds Book 2727, Page 418.

Olympiad then obtained construction financing and built the presently existing terminal at a total cost of approximately $1,000,-000.00.

Although there were meetings between abutters and Plaistow selectmen with regard to the Atlas terminal no remedial action was taken by the Town of Plaistow. Plaistow felt that it had no jurisdiction as the terminal was located in Newton. Atlas had no notice of these meetings which appeared to be impromptu.

Atlas began operations at the terminal in September, 1988. Residents who own property abutting Kingston Road again filed complaints with the Board of Selectmen of the town of Plaistow relating to the trucking activity at the Atlas terminal.

On October 7, 1988 the town of Plaistow served a cease and desist order upon “Arnold Pevna d/b/a Atlas Trucking” for violation of Article 1 Section 1.4 of the Plaistow Zoning Ordinance.

Section 1.4 of the Plaistow Zoning Ordinance states as follows: “Any uses that may be obnoxious or injurious by reason of the production or emission of odors, dust, smoke, refuse matter, fume, noise, vibration or other similar conditions, or that are dangerous to the comfort, peace, enjoyment, health or safety of the community, whether it contributes to its disturbance or annoyance are prohibited in all Districts.”

Atlas and the other truckers who use the terminal continued to conduct their trucking operations until February of 1989 when Plaistow brought a Petition in Rockingham County Superior Court seeking temporary injunctive relief.

On February 28, 1989 the Superior Court amended its temporary order enjoining truck traffic at the terminal between the hours of 7:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.

On March 7, 1989 the Superior Court amended its temporary order so as to allow one truck to leave the terminal at or after 5:15 A.M. on weekdays and two more trucks to leave on or after 5:45 P.M. The amended order also allowed trucks unlimited access to the terminal until 9:00 P.M.

In September, 1989 after a trial on the merits the Superior Court issued an order permanently restricting access to the terminal by truck traffic as follows:

6:00 A.M. — 9:00 P.M. — No restrictions
9:00 P.M. — 11:00 P.M. — Two trucks may arrive or depart
11:00 P.M. — 5:00 A.M. — No trucks may arrive or depart
5:00 A.M. — 6:00 A.M. — Three trucks may arrive or depart.

[698]*698The Rockingham County Superior Court has indicated that the last court order will not be modified.

The Site

The parcel on which the trucking terminal sits is located partly in an industrial zone in the Town of Newton and partly in a residential zone in the Town of Plaistow. In the Town of Plaistow, the terminal is located adjacent to both the industrial and the residential zone. A lumber yard and wood dry kiln are located entirely in the Town of Plais-tow and are adjacent to the terminal site located in the industrial zone.

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881 F. Supp. 695, 25 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 21354, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14838, 1994 WL 790886, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nh-motor-transport-v-town-of-plaistow-nhd-1994.