Spicer v. Noank Fire District Zoning Commission

562 A.2d 21, 212 Conn. 375, 1989 Conn. LEXIS 232
Supreme Court of Connecticut·Decided August 1, 1989·No. 13678·Published·Cited by 20 cases

Opinion

Callahan, J.

The issue in this case is whether the trial court erred in denying the motion of the plaintiffs to set aside the judgment dismissing their appeal from the decision of the defendant, the Noank fire district zoning commission (commission). We find no error.

The plaintiffs, William C. Spicer, Jr., and Doris M. Spicer, are the owners of property that was included in a site plan review submitted to the commission by William C. Spicer III and John Spicer (the applicants).1 The applicants lease the property in question from the plaintiffs and they own and operate Spicer’s Marina, which is located thereon. On October 8,1987, the commission approved the applicants’ site plan with modifications unacceptable to the plaintiffs. On October 23, 1987, the plaintiffs appealed to the Superior Court from the decision of the commission claiming in the first count of their petition that they were “aggrieved by the decision of the Commission because their use, enjoyment and value of the premises [was] impaired, depreciated and diminished by reason of the decision of the Commission which denies them the full use of their property by ehminating the full and legal and valid nonconforming uses and requiring, inter alia, a buffer along the easterly side of the Spicer’s Marina.” In the second count of their petition, the plaintiffs sought damages for the commission’s allegedly unconstitutional taking of their property under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.2

In commencing their appeal, the plaintiffs used the civil service form JD-CV-1 and named the commission as the sole defendant. Service was made on the commission by a sheriff who left copies of the writ, summons and complaint with the clerk of the town of Groton and also with Frank Socha, the chief executive of the Noank fire district, Ralph M. Reynolds, the zon[377] ing enforcement officer of the Noank fire district, and Russell A. Fowler, chairman of the commission. The municipal clerk for the Noank fire district was neither cited, served, nor delivered a copy of the plaintiffs’ appeal.

The commission subsequently moved to dismiss count one of the plaintiffs’ appeal for lack of jurisdiction claiming that they had failed to cite or serve the clerk of the municipality as required by General Statutes § 8-8 (b).3 On February 4, 1988, the trial court granted the defendant’s motion. The plaintiffs thereafter moved to set aside the judgment of dismissal claiming that Public Acts 1988, No. 88-79, § 3 (a),4 validated their appeal. On September 22,1988, the court denied the plaintiffs’ motion concluding that Public Acts 1988, No. 88-79, § 3 (a), required that the clerk of the municipality be served and that the plaintiffs’ failure to do so rendered their appeal subject to dismissal. The plaintiffs subsequently petitioned the Appellate Court for certification for review of the trial court’s denial of their motion to set aside the judgment of dismissal. On November 3, 1988, the Appellate Court granted the plaintiffs’ petition and, thereafter, this court transferred the appeal to itself pursuant to Practice Book § 4023.

[378] On appeal, the plaintiffs claim that, although they neither cited, served nor delivered their appeal to the municipal clerk of the Noank fire district, their appeal is not jurisdictionally defective because § 8-8 (b) as supplemented by Public Acts 1988, No. 88-79, § 3 (a), validates it. We disagree.

In Simko v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 205 Conn. 413, 418-19, 553 A.2d 879 (1987) (Simko I), and Simko v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 206 Conn. 374, 377, 382, 538 A.2d 202 (1988) (Simko II), this court held that the chairman or clerk of the zoning commission and the clerk of the municipality are necessary parties to the initiation of a zoning appeal to the Superior Court and that § 8-8 (b), as amended by Public Acts 1985, No. 85-284, requires the appellant to cite and serve both. See also Capalbo v. Planning & Zoning Board of Appeals, 208 Conn. 480, 484-85, 547 A.2d 528 (1988); Andrew Ansaldi Co. v. Planning & Zoning Commission, 207 Conn. 67, 69-70, 540 A.2d 59 (1988). Failure to comply strictly with the provisions of § 8-8 (b) renders the appeal subject to dismissal. Capalbo v. Planning & Zoning Board of Appeals, supra, 485; Andrew Ansaldi Co. v. Planning & Zoning Commission, supra; Simko II, supra, 383; Simko I, supra, 421.

Section 8-8 was supplemented by the legislature in 1988 by Public Acts 1988, No. 88-79, § 3 (a), to save many of the appeals invalidated by Simko I and Simko II. Our first opportunity to consider the effect of the 1988 saving statute came in Capalbo v. Planning & Zoning Board of Appeals, supra, 485, where we stated that “[pjursuant to [§] (3) (a) of the validating act, four conditions must exist for a zoning appeal to be validated: (1) it must have been taken on or after October 1,1985; (2) it must have been taken prior to December 1,1987; (3) a ‘final judgment’ must not have been rendered prior to the effective date of the act (April 20,1988); and (4) [379] the appeal must be otherwise valid except that the appellant failed to name the clerk of the municipality as a party to the appeal.” Although the plaintiffs’ appeal in the instant case satisfies the first three conditions, it is problematical with regard to the fourth “otherwise valid” condition.

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Spicer v. Noank Fire District Zoning Commission, 562 A.2d 21, 212 Conn. 375, 1989 Conn. LEXIS 232 (Colo. 1989).

562 A.2d 21 (Spicer v. Noank Fire District Zoning Commission) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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