Puskarz v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of City of Hartford

• Decision Date: 13 July 1967
• Citation: 232 A.2d 109,155 Conn. 360
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: Carl PUSKARZ et al. v. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS OF the CITY OF HARTFORD et al.

Page 109

232 A.2d 109

155 Conn. 360

Carl PUSKARZ et al. v. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS OF the CITY OF HARTFORD et al.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

July 13, 1967.

Thomas H. Corrigan, Hartford, for appellant (defendant Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Ass'n of Hartford), with whom were Nathan Aaron, Hartford, for appellant (defendant Martin), and, on the brief, Richard M. Cosgrove, Corporation Counsel, for appellant (named defendant).

Jules S. Tarlow, Hartford, with whom was Leonard I. Shankman, Hartford, for appellees (plaintiffs).

Before KING, C.J., and ALCORN, HOUSE, THIM and RYAN, JJ. RYAN, Associate Justice.

The defendants the Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Association of Hartford and James G. Martin applied to the defendant board for a variance of the zoning ordinance of the city of Hartford to permit them to construct a 120-bed convalescent home in a B residence zone, with parking for a total of fifty-two cars at 680 Franklin Avenue in the city of Hartford. On July 20, 1965, the board granted the application. The plaintiffs, owners of property at 701 Franklin Avenue, located diagonally across the street from the subject property, appealed to the Court of Common Pleas. From the judgment of the trial court sustaining the appeal and reversing the action of the board, the defendants have appealed to this court.

Because of the inadequacy of the record, and for the purpose of determining the issue of plaintiffs' aggrievement, the trial court permitted additional evidence to be introduced. On the basis of this evidence, the court made a special finding of facts.

Franklin Avenue runs north and south and is a main thoroughfare about 100 feet wide. The property in question is on the east side of the street in the block bounded on the north by Bolton Street, on the east by Wethersfield Avenue, and on the south by Victoria Road. It has a frontage of 194 feet and a depth of 500 feet. A building is located thereon set back about 325 feet from Franklin Avenue. A seventy-two-inch brick sewer owned by the Metropolitan District crosses the property from north to south diagonally. A twelve-foot conduit crosses the southern portion of the property, and a sanitary sewer passes through the northern portion of it. The Ukrainian Hall fronting on Wethersfield Avenue, a two-story building, is located to the rear and east of the premises. A playground owned by the city of Hartford is located to the southeast of the subject property. The Victoria Convalescent Hospital is situated on the south side of Victoria Road, 150 feet west of Wethersfield Avenue, the next street to the east of Franklin Avenue.

In a B residence zone the following are permitted uses: Parks, single-family detached dwellings, detached and semidetached dwellings for two families, and customary home occupations such as dressmaking and millinery when situated in the same building used as a private residence by the person carrying on the occupation. Hartford Zoning Ordinance § 38-7 (1960, as amended). Section 38-7(C) of the ordinance permits the following uses in a B residence zone as special exceptions: Conversion of existing dwellings into dwelling units for not more than four families, groups of one-family, two-family or multi-family dwellings. Section 38-8 concerns a special exception for high-rise apartments in a B residence zone. A convalescent home is neither a permitted use nor a special exception in a B residence zone.

The trial court concluded that the board, in granting the variance, acted illegally, arbitrarily and in abuse of its discretion in that (1) at granted the variance without any finding of difficulty or unreasonable hardship in carrying out the strick letter of the ordinance; (2) no evidence was presented to show that the premises were not adaptable to the uses permitted in a B residence zone; and (3) no evidence was presented to show that either Martin, as the prospective purchaser, or the Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Association, as the owner, will suffer any unreasonable hardship by the strict application of the zoning ordinance. The court also concluded that the notice of the hearing before the board on July 6, 1965, did not constitute proper notice of the application for a variance, and that compliance with the notice requirements of § 8-7 of the General Statutes was a prerequisite to any vaild action by the board on the ground that the statute supersedes the notice requirements of chapter 19, § 11, of the Hartford city charter. 25 Spec.Laws 87, § 11; 28 Spec.Laws 843, No. 641, § 6.

The first question to determine is whether notice of the hearings before the zoning board of appeals in the city of Hartford is governed by § 8-7 of the General Statutes or by chapter 19, § 11, of the Hartford charter and by § 38-27(5) of the Hartford zoning ordinance. The charter provides for hearings by the board 'on petition after public notice and hearing and subject to appropriate conditions and safeguards.' Section 38-27(5) of the zoning ordinance uses the identical language of the charter. Notice of the hearing of July 6, 1965, was given by publication in a newspaper on two successive days, June 28 and June 29, 1965, and by posting a sign concerning the hearing for a period...