Dybiec v. Burns

• Decision Date: 22 December 1977
• Docket Number: No. 111589,111589
• Citation: 383 A.2d 1058,34 Conn.Supp. 199
• Court: Connecticut Court of Common Pleas
• Parties: Maxwell W. DYBIEC et al. v. Joseph B. BURNS, Commissioner of Transportation.

Page 1058

383 A.2d 1058

34 Conn.Supp. 199

Maxwell W. DYBIEC et al. v. Joseph B. BURNS, Commissioner of Transportation.

No. 111589.

Court of Common Pleas of Connecticut, Hartford County.

Dec. 22, 1977.

Slavitt & Connery, Norwalk, for plaintiffs.

Carl R. Ajello, Atty. Gen., and Victor Feingold and Robert L. Klein, Asst. Attys. Gen., for defendant.

COVELLO, Judge.

This is an appeal from a denial of the plaintiffs' application for an additional payment allowance under the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act, General Statutes §§ 8-266 through 8-282. Examination of the record and various exhibits discloses that the plaintiffs were the owners of a ten year old, custom built, six room, ranch style dwelling located on Conte Circle, Norwalk. On March 11, 1971, the commissioner of transportation took the property through eminent domain proceedings as part of the relocation of United States route 7. The plaintiffs sought a suitable replacement home and on October 28, 1971, they moved into a seven room ranch style house built for them at 90 North Avenue, Westport.

The Conte Circle property, after an appeal to the Superior Court, brought the plaintiffs a condemnation award of $59,000. On March 3, 1972, pursuant to the provisions of General Statutes §§ 8-266 through 8-282, the plaintiffs made application for an allowance of $11,700, claiming that this was the additional amount which they had been required to pay in order to acquire housing equivalent to the home taken in the eminent domain proceedings. On March 13, 1974, the department of transportation denied that request and the plaintiffs, in turn seasonably appealed to the commissioner of transportation pursuant to General Statutes § 8-278.

The commissioner appointed the governor's screening committee to act as a hearing board. The members of the committee viewed the acquired property, the replacement property and various allegedly comparable properties and on May 7, 1974, they conducted a hearing at which both sides presented evidence in support of their respective positions. On May 31, 1974, the screening committee recommended the denial of the plaintiffs' request for an additional allowance. The commissioner adopted that recommendation on June 20, 1974, and arranged for the communication of that fact to the plaintiffs' attorney on July 2, 1974. The plaintiffs now seek the judicial review of this court in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act, General Statutes §§ 4-166 through 4-189.

Section 4-183 of the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act provides that appeals to this court are available only to those "aggrieved" by a final decision in a contested case. "Except in cases involving the sale of alcoholic beverages, aggrievement requires a showing that the plaintiffs have a specific, personal and legal interest in the subject matter of the decision, as distinguished from a general interest such as is the concern of the community as a whole, and that the plaintiffs were specially and injuriously affected in their property or other legal rights. Hughes v. Town Planning & Zoning Commission, 156 Conn. 505, 507, 242 A.2d 705; I. R. Stich Associates, Inc. v. Town Council, 155 Conn. 1, 3, 229 A.2d 545; Hickey v. New London, 153 Conn. 35, 37, 213 A.2d 308; Tyler v. Board of Zoning Appeals, 145 Conn. 655, 662, 145 A.2d 832 . . . ." Sheridan v. Planning Board, 159 Conn. 1, 13, 266 A.2d 396, 403. Having reviewed the record and various exhibits in the light of the circumstances evident here, the court concludes that, as owners of both the condemned property and the replacement property and as applicants for the allowance now under consideration, the plaintiffs have a specific, personal interest in the subject matter of this decision and, therefore, are aggrieved parties within the meaning of the statute and are authorized to prosecute this appeal.

General Statutes § 8-269, the relevant statute in question, provides in part: "Additional payment to owner displaced from dwelling. (a) In addition to payments otherwise authorized by this chapter, the state agency shall make an additional payment not in excess of fifteen thousand dollars to any displaced person who is displaced from a dwelling . . . . Such additional payment shall include the following elements: (1) The...