Merry Charters, LLC v. Town of Stonington

• Decision Date: 27 October 2004
• Docket Number: No. 3:02CV336 (MRK).,3:02CV336 (MRK).
• Citation: 342 F.Supp.2d 69
• Parties: MERRY CHARTERS, LLC and Carl Shillo, Plaintiffs, v. TOWN OF STONINGTON, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

Page 69

342 F.Supp.2d 69

MERRY CHARTERS, LLC and Carl Shillo, Plaintiffs, v. TOWN OF STONINGTON, et al., Defendants.

No. 3:02CV336 (MRK).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

October 27, 2004.

Frank J. Szilagyi, Josephine A. Spinella, Silvester, Daly & Delaney, Hartford, CT, Scott Roger Chadwick, Murdo T. Smith, Christopher R. Stone, Chadwick, Libbey & Stone, East Hartford, CT, for Plaintiffs.

Thomas R. Gerarde, Beatrice S. Jordan, Howd & Ludorf, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

KRAVITZ, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Merry Charters, LLC ("Merry Charters") and Carl Shillo ("Mr.Shillo") bring this action against the Town of Stonington, the Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission (the "Commission"), Edward T. Sullivan (Chairman of the Commission at all times relevant to this action), and George Thayer (Chairman of the Stonington Zoning Board of Appeals (the "ZBA") at all times relevant to this action). The lawsuit arises from Defendants' denial of Plaintiffs' applications for special use permits and for a variance. Plaintiffs claim that these actions violated their rights to equal protection and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment and also contravened Connecticut's common law. Defendants have moved for summary judgment and to strike an exhibit offered in support of Plaintiffs' Local Rule 56(a)(2) Statement [doc. # 60]. For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [doc. # 49] and Defendants' Motion to Strike [doc. # 65].

I.

In the summer of 2000, Mr. Shillo began operating a commercial tour boat business called "Merry Charters" from a dock owned by Mr. Robert Valenti located on the Mystic River in Stonington, Connecticut. Defs.' Local Rule 56(a)(1) Statement at ¶ 4 [doc. # 51].¹ Because Mr. Valenti's dock was subject to a Commission-imposed stipulation requiring a zoning permit if the dock were to be used commercially, on August 11, 2000, Plaintiffs applied to the Commission for a special use permit to run a tour boat operation from the Valenti dock. Id. at ¶¶ 10, 12 & Ex. F. The Commission held public hearings on the application on October 5 and 17, 2000. Id. at ¶¶ 22-23 & Ex. J.

In connection with those proceedings, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") raised concerns about a number of aspects of Plaintiffs' application in a letter to the Town Planner. In particular, the DEP expressed concerns about reconciling the tour boat operation with an existing public access easement at the site, handling sewage generated by the tour boat, and determining whether state coastal permits for the dock and pier had been previously issued. Id. at ¶ 24 & Ex. K.

Another problematic aspect of Plaintiffs' application was that it did not provide for any on-site parking for tour boat customers or employees. Section 7.10 of the Stonington Zoning Regulations (the "Zoning Regulations") on "Off-street Parking Requirements" states that "parking shall be a required accessory use for each use proposed and shall be shown on all site plans and evaluated in terms of need and sufficiency of design," and Section 7.10.1.2 emphasizes that parking spaces must be on-site. Id. at ¶ 24 & Ex. UU ("Required spaces shall be on the lot proposed for development and be under single ownership and control."). Section 7.10.4 further states:

Parking Space Requirements by District. Parking spaces shall be provided in sufficient number to accommodate the motor vehicles of all occupants, employees, customers and any others normally visiting the premises at any one time as may be required by the Commission. Spaces shall be provided in not less than the number indicated in Table 7-10.

Id. Because Table 7-10 of the Zoning Regulations does not specifically list parking requirements for tour boats, the Commission exercised its powers under Section 7.10.4.1 to determine the appropriate number of required on-site parking spaces for a tour boat operation.² The Commission decided that the parking requirements for restaurants (which are found in Table 7-10 of the Zoning Regulations) should be applied to Plaintiffs' tour boat operation. As such, the Commission determined that Plaintiffs' tour boat operation would require fifteen on-site parking spaces. Id. at ¶¶ 29-31.

Because of DEP's concerns and Plaintiffs' failure to provide for any on-site parking, the Commission on October 17, 2000 denied Plaintiffs' application for a special use permit without prejudice to renewal. Id. at ¶ 32. Plaintiffs submitted a second application for a special use permit on November 16, 2000. Id. at ¶ 33 & Ex. O. The DEP informed the Commission that Plaintiffs' new application adequately addressed DEP concerns. Id. at ¶ 34 & Ex. P. As to on-site parking, Plaintiffs' second application proposed satisfying that requirement by leasing fifteen parking spaces from St. Patrick's Church, located approximately 1200 to 1300 feet from the Valenti dock. Id. at ¶¶ 35-36. Plaintiffs also asked the Commission to use its discretion under Section 7.10.2 of the Zoning Regulations to reduce the on-site parking requirements from fifteen to zero.³ Id. at ¶ 38.

The Commission sought an opinion from the Town Attorney on whether it could reduce the on-site parking requirements to zero as Plaintiffs requested. The Town Attorney advised the Commission that it had discretion to do so under the Zoning Regulations and that it had further discretion to impose substantial conditions on the special use permit specifically related to the use of the off-site parking at St. Patrick's Church.⁴ Id. at ¶¶ 40-43 & Ex. Z Mary Villa, the Town Planner at the time, submitted a memorandum to the Commission recommending denial of Plaintiffs' application. Id. at ¶ 46 & Ex. S. Ms. Villa arrived at this recommendation in part because (1) there was no existing contractual agreement between Plaintiffs and St. Patrick's Church for the lease of the fifteen parking spaces at the church; (2) the Stonington Board of Police Commissioners had expressed their concern about Plaintiffs' application due to the lack of adequate parking in the area; (3) satellite or off-site parking was not expressly permitted by the Zoning Regulations, and therefore should be considered prohibited; (4) the public on-street parking adjacent to the site had already been counted toward the parking requirements of other area businesses; and (5) the Town would have difficulty monitoring compliance with use of the off-site parking at the church, especially considering that most people would prefer to park as close as possible to their destination. Id. at Ex. S.

Robert Granato, a member of the Commission at the time, also submitted a memorandum to the Commission recommending denial of Plaintiffs' application. Id. at ¶ 47 & Ex. BB. Mr. Granato's memorandum noted the following factors that led to his recommendation: (1) on-site parking requirements are important in maintaining the balance between business needs, the density of the area, and traffic considerations; (2) commercial use of the fifteen spaces at St. Patrick's Church would constitute an impermissible change from the parking lot's intended use as church parking; (3) two prior cases where off-site parking was approved by the Commission involved nearby parking (100 yards in one case, and diagonally across the street in the other) that could only be used by employees (not patrons) of the business; and (4) allowing the off-site parking proposed by Plaintiffs would set a precedent for every other business in Mystic and might lead to uncontrolled density use in the area. Id.

The Commission considered Plaintiffs' second application on May 15, 2001, and denied it by a vote of three to two. Id. at ¶¶ 45-48 & Ex. DD. The Commission offered the following reasons for denying Plaintiffs' second application:

1. No on-site parking provided as required by [Zoning Regulation] 7.10.

2. The applicant was unable to provide adequate and appropriate parking.

3. The off-site parking proposed is not expressly permitted in the Regulations and therefore is prohibited.

4. There are existing and well documented parking problems and congestion in the vicinity of the proposed activity, which is in downtown Mystic. Approval of this project may contribute to such existing problems and thereby threaten the safety of residents and merchants, as well as visitors to the downtown area.

Id. at Ex. DD. Plaintiffs appealed the Commission's denial to the Connecticut Superior Court on June 4, 2001. Id. at ¶ 50 & Ex. EE.

On June 15, 2001, Plaintiffs applied to the ZBA for a variance from the parking regulations, requesting that the required number of on-site parking spaces for the tour boat operation be reduced to zero. Id. at ¶ 51 & Ex. FF. On July 31, 2001, Defendant George Thayer (Chairman of the Commission) sent a memorandum to Defendant Edward T. Sullivan (Chairman of the ZBA) expressing the Commission's opposition to Plaintiffs' variance application. Id. at Ex. LL. On August 14, 2001, the ZBA held a public hearing on Plaintiffs' application, and the ZBA denied the variance request on September 11, 2001, by a vote of three in favor, and two opposed. Id. at ¶ 63 & Ex. NN. According to Section 8.10.7 of the Zoning Regulations, a supermajority vote of four out of five votes was required to approve a variance. Id. at Ex. UU. The ZBA's stated reason for denying Plaintiffs' variance application was as follows: "No parking provided — commercial ventures require at least one designated spot." Id. at Ex. NN. Plaintiffs also appealed the ZBA's decision to the Connecticut Superior Court. Id. at ¶ 69.

The Connecticut Superior Court rejected Plaintiffs' appeals from the denial of their applications for a special use permit and for a variance. See Merry Charters, LLC v. Stonington Planning & Zoning Com'n, 2002 WL 1376054, *1-2 (Conn.Super., May 29, 2002); Merry Charters, LLC v. Town of Stonington Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 2002 WL 1455709, *1-2...