Lipscomb v. Renzulli
| Decision Date | 07 July 1970 |
| Citation | 271 A.2d 327,159 Conn. 570 |
| Parties | Caroline K. LIPSCOMB v. L. A. RENZULLI. |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
Daniel D. McDonald, Bridgeport, with whom was David O. Chittick, Bridgeport, for appellant (defendant).
Paul C. Shafer, Jr., Bridgeport, for appellee (plaintiff).
Before ALCORN, C.J., and HOUSE, THIM, RYAN and SHAPIRO, JJ., concurring.
This action for breach of contract arose out of a dispute between the plaintiff and the defendant, adjoining property owners in Fairfield, over the defendant's erection of a carport on his property. The plaintiff sought money damages and injunctive relief. In a trial to the court, judgment was rendered for the plaintiff, and the defendant has appealed.
The finding discloses the following facts. The defendant applied to the Fairfield zoning board of appeals for a variance permitting him to add a fourth-floor one-family apartment to his building, and in connection with his application he submitted a plan for off-street parking as required by the zoning regulations. The board granted his application, but the plaintiff appealed the board's decision to the Court of Common Pleas. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff and the defendant entered into negotiations which resulted in a written agreement dated August 20, 1965. The agreement provided, among other things, that the defendant was to construct the fourth-floor addition in the manner set forth in the agreement and that the plaintiff was to withdraw her appeal. The plaintiff subsequently did in fact withdraw her appeal, and the defendant commenced construction of the fourth-floor addition. After the addition was completed, the assistant zoning enforcement officer inspected the defendant's property. When he discovered that the defendant had not provided the required off-street parking, he ordered him to do so. The defendant then erected a carport on his property in an area previously used as a garden. This garden was referred to in the agreement of August 20, which stated that the garden 'will be maintained in substantially its present size, and will not be used for parking purposes except by order of the Fairfield zoning authorities.' The garden, which contained dogwood trees, flowering shrubs, flower beds and flagstone walks, was eliminated in its entirety in order to make room for the carport.
The defendant assigns error in the court's conclusion that the total elimination of the garden was not necessary in order to supply the off-street parking required by the zoning authorities; that the total elimination of the garden constituted a breach of the provision of the agreement that the garden would be maintained in substantially the same size and would not be used for parking purposes except by order of the zoning authorities; that the erection of the carport in the area previously occupied by the garden constituted a breach of the agreement; and that the manner in which the carport was used constituted a breach of the agreement. These conclusions are to be tested by the findings. Brockett v. Jensen, 154 Conn. 328, 331, 225 A.2d 190; Craig v. Dunleavy, 154 Conn. 100, 105, 221 A.2d 855; Klahr v. Kostopoulos, 138 Conn. 653, 655, 88 A.2d 332. They must stand unless they are legally or logically inconsistent with the facts found or unless they involve the application of some erroneous rule of law material to the case. Johnston Jewels, Ltd. v. Leonard, 156 Conn. 75, 79, 239 A.2d 500; Craig v. Dunleavy, supra.
The court, on the basis of its finding of facts, could reasonably have concluded that the defendant did not have to destroy the garden in its entirety in order to provide the parking space which the zoning authorities required. The court found that under the zoning regulations the defendant only had to furnish one additional off-street parking space as a result of the addition of the fourth-floor one-family unit and that James F. Walsh, the assistant zoning enforcement officer, had ordered him to supply only one additional space, with area sufficient for ingress, egress and turning as well as actual parking in accordance with the specifications set forth in the zoning regulations. Although the defendant asserts that these facts were found without evidence, Walsh's testimony as set out in the appendix to the plaintiff's brief fully supports them. The court also incorporated by reference in its finding a photograph, admitted into evidence as an exhibit, which shows that the carport erected on the site once occupied by the garden contains more than one parking space. The natural and logical inference from these facts is that the area of the garden was greater than the...
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Southern New England Contracting Co. v. State
...fact delay progress for three and one-half months. These conclusions are to be tested by the finding, as corrected. Lipscomb v. Renzulli, 159 Conn. 570, 572, 271 A.2d 327; Brauer v. Freccia,159 Conn. 289, 293, 268 A.2d 645. They must stand unless they are legally or logically inconsistent w......
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DiMaggio v. Cannon
...in the brief and consequently are treated as abandoned. Housing Authority v. Dorsey, 164 Conn. 247, 320 A.2d 820; Lipscomb v. Renzulli, 159 Conn. 570, 576, 271 A.2d 327. The only assignment of error pursued in the defendant's brief relates to a single ruling on While the defendant was a wit......
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Gutowski v. City of New Britain
...were jointly and severally liable to the plaintiff for damages. These conclusions are to be tested by the finding. Lipscomb v. Renzulli, 159 Conn. 570, 572, 271 A.2d 327; Brauer v. Freccia, 159 Conn. 289, 293, 268 A.2d 645; Brockett v. Jensen, 154 Conn. 328, 331, 225 A.2d 190. They must sta......
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Lewis v. Lewis
...with the facts found or unless they involve the application of some erroneous rule of law material to the case.' Lipscomb V. Renzulli, 159 Conn. 570, 572, 271 A.2d 327, 329; Brauer v. Freccia, 159 Conn. 289, 293, 268 A.2d 645; Johnston Jewels, Ltd. v. Leonard, 156 Conn. 75, 79, 239 A.2d Des......