Fedorich v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Town of Torrington

• Decision Date: 07 August 1979
• Citation: 424 A.2d 289,178 Conn. 610
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: James J. FEDORICH v. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS OF the TOWN OF TORRINGTON et al. (two cases).

Page 289

424 A.2d 289

178 Conn. 610

James J. FEDORICH v. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS OF the TOWN OF TORRINGTON et al. (two cases).

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued June 14, 1979.

Decided Aug. 7, 1979.

Peter C. Herbst, Torrington, with whom, on the brief, was John P. Febbroriello, Torrington, for appellant (plaintiff).

Thomas F. Wall, Jr., Torrington, with whom, on the brief, were Gerald R. Reis, David J. Frauenhofer and Robert A. Wall, Jr., Torrington, for appellees (defendants).

Before COTTER, C. J., and LOISELLE, BOGDANSKI, LONGO and PETERS, JJ.

LONGO, Associate Justice.

The plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Court of Common Pleas which, in the first case, dismissed an appeal from the action of the defendant Torrington zoning board of appeals granting a building permit to the defendant Joseph Guarnieri, and, in the second case, vacated a temporary injunction which had been issued restraining the defendant Guarnieri from placing on certain property a structure, the nature of which is the dispositive issue on this appeal, intended for dwelling purposes.

The undisputed facts underlying this appeal are as follows: On June 16, 1977, the defendant Guarnieri was granted a building permit to place a concrete foundation for a structure designed for dwelling on property adjacent to land of the plaintiff, James J. Fedorich, on which land the plaintiff's residence is located. The structure had been located on East Main Street, Torrington, and had been used as a home by the defendant Guarnieri for the previous seven years. The plaintiff appealed the issuance of the building permit to the defendant board, alleging that the issuance of the permit was illegal in that the defendant intended to place a trailer, as defined by § 105 of the Torrington zoning regulations, on the foundation without complying with § 520 of the regulations, discussed more fully within, governing the off-street parking and the use of trailers. The board upheld the issuance of the permit, determining that the structure was not a trailer within the meaning of the regulations, and the plaintiff appealed that decision to the Court of Common Pleas.

On October 11, 1977, the Torrington superintendent of buildings issued a moving permit to Guarnieri to allow him to place his dwelling structure on the property adjacent to that of the plaintiff. The plaintiff appealed the issuance of this moving permit to the defendant board and, pending the hearing on the appeal, obtained from the court a temporary injunction restraining Guarnieri from placing the structure on the property.

The plaintiff's appeal from the issuance of the building permit and his action for a permanent injunction restraining Guarnieri from moving and placing the dwelling structure on its foundation were combined by stipulation of the parties. The court dismissed the appeal and vacated the temporary injunction, reasoning that the defendant board's decision determining that Guarnieri's structure was not a trailer under the zoning regulations was not unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious. We granted certification, and the present appeal has ensued.

The single issue in this case is straightforward: whether the trial court erred in determining that the defendant board's classification, under § 105 of [178 Conn. 613] the Torrington zoning regulations, ¹ of the defendant Guarnieri's structure was not illegal, arbitrary, unreasonable or an abuse of discretion. If it was not, the action of the board must be sustained. ² Miclon v. Zoning Board of Appeals 173 Conn. 420, 422, 378 A.2d 531; Bogue v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 165 Conn. 749, 752, 345 A.2d 9; Belknap v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 155 Conn. 380, 385, 232 A.2d 922. The trial court decided the appeal on the record returned by the board and made no finding of facts. In such a case "(w)here a zoning authority has stated its reasons for (its action) ... the reviewing court ought only to determine whether the assigned grounds are reasonably supported by the record and whether they are pertinent to the considerations which the authority was required to apply under the zoning regulations." First Hartford Realty Corporation v. Plan & Zoning Commission, 165 Conn. 533, 543, 338 A.2d 490, 495-96. "The (board's action) ... must be sustained if even one of the stated reasons is sufficient to support it." Goldberg v. Zoning Commission, 173 Conn. 23, 25-26, 376 A.2d 385, 387. In reviewing the record, the trial court could not substitute its own judgment for that of the zoning authority; Horvath v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 163 Conn. 609, 316 A.2d 418; Summ v. Zoning Commission, 150 Conn. 79, 89, 186 A.2d 160; and because the local authority is closer to the circumstances and conditions which create the problem and shape its solution, zoning authorities are given wide discretion in determining public need and the means of meeting it. Goldberg v. Zoning Commission, supra, 173 Conn. 27, 376 A.2d 385; Lurie v. Planning & Zoning Commission, 160 Conn. 295, 312, 278 A.2d 799; Wade v. Town Plan & Zoning Commission, 145 Conn. 592, 595, 145 A.2d 597. In light of these principles, the trial court was correct in concluding that the board's classification of Guarnieri's structure was not illegal or an abuse of discretion.

The only issue before the court was whether the structure was a "trailer" within the meaning of § 105 of Torrington's zoning regulations, and the court's reasoning was correct on the basis of the record returned by the defendant board. In that record, the board stated: "It was the opinion of the majority members of the Board that the Superintendent of Buildings did not act arbitrarily when he issued the permit but based his decision on previous Zoning Board of Appeals decisions and on a March 11, 1971 policy of the Planning and Zoning Commission which stated that Mobile Homes are considered permanent dwellings when placed on permanent foundations of concrete." The "policy" adopted in 1971 to which the board referred is interpretive of § 105 of the zoning regulations and clearly demonstrates that prefabricated structures, when placed upon concrete foundations, would be considered by the zoning authority to be permanent dwellings and not "trailers" within § 105. ³ There was evidence in the record returned to the trial court that, pursuant to this policy, the Torrington zoning authority had issued a number of building permits for structures which, like Guarnieri's, were to be placed on permanent foundations; that Guarnieri's structure, prior to being moved, had been lived in as a home for seven years; that the defendant's home would be constructed on a permanent continuous foundation approximately four feet deep and would be permanently connected to city water and sewer systems; and that the home had no wheels on it at its previous location and would have none at its new location. On the basis of this evidence, the trial court could reasonably have concluded that the board did not act illegally in determining that Guarnieri's structure was not a trailer, but a type of more stable and lasting dwelling, adapted to use as a permanent, fixed residence falling within the ambit of the board's 1971 policy interpreting § 105 of the zoning regulations permitting such structures.

There was evidence in the record returned to the trial court that the Torrington corporation counsel, after personal inspection of the proposed dwelling, was of the opinion that the particular dwelling could not reasonably be determined to be a type of vehicle designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle, within the ambit of § 105 of the regulations. If the trial court's conclusions, based upon the testimony included in the record returned to it, are not illogical or unreasonable, it is not this court's function to retry the case. Ramadei v. Saccavino, 150 Conn. 700, 190 A.2d 489; Desmarais...