Scoville v. Ronalter
| Decision Date | 10 December 1971 |
| Citation | 291 A.2d 222,162 Conn. 67 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | Robert J. SCOVILLE et al. v. Anton RONALTER et al. |
Marc A. Wallman, New Haven, with whom, on the brief, was John A. Oliva, New Haven, for appellants-appellees (defendants Marwood Apartments, Inc., and Carabetta Enterprises, Inc.).
Thaddeus Maliszewski, Hartford, for appellees-appellants (named plaintiff et al.).
Before HOUSE, C.J., and COTTER, THIM, SHAPIRO and LOISELLE, JJ.
The plaintiffs, Robert J. and Bobbie B. Scoville, Arthur F. and Rosalie R. Jacobs, Walter and Eleanor K. Neighingale and Ernest and Virginia Bielert resident taxpayers of the city of Bristol, owners of premises abutting the property which is the subject of the present litigation, brought this cause of action together with other plaintiffs, who are not parties to this appeal. This suit was brought against Anton Ronalter, building inspector and zoning enforcement officer of the city of Bristol, D & D Builders, Inc., Marwood Apartments, Inc., and Carabetta Enterprises, Inc. The trial court found in favor of the defendants Ronalter and D & D Builders, Inc., and the plaintiffs have not pursued their cross appeal as to those defendants.
Marwood Apartments, Inc., one of the defendants, acquired by deed in February, 1970, certain land located on the westerly side of Hiltbrand Road in the city of Bristol. On April 4, 1960, an application for a change of zone of that property from B residence to business was heard by the Bristol zoning authority. The plaintiffs alleged in their complaint that they, as owners of homes abutting the property described, signed a petition which 'had been circularized by the applicant' for the change of zone among the residents of the area to influence the residents to approve the application 'for a change of zone to business on the representation that a shopping center would be constructed.' The plaintiffs further alleged that seven building permits, which 'were never signed as required by law or were never legally issued in accordance with applicable law,' were applied for on December 18, 1968, by the defendant D & D Builders, Inc., to build wood and brick apartment buildings on the subject land and that, thereafter, on March 26, 1970, the defendant Carabetta Enterprises, Inc., sought to apply for a renewal of the permits to build apartments on the land 'but said purported renewals were never signed as required by law or were never legally issued in accordance with applicable law.' It was not until about April 1, 1970, that a foundation was partially poured for the first building.
It was the claim of the plaintiffs, and alleged, that the building permits and renewals were invalid; that the construction of the apartments is 'in breach of the original representations made in 1960 as to the use of the land for a shopping center' and that such apartment construction 'will substantially reduce the market value of the plaintiffs' properties . . . and will cause irreparable damage to the plaintiffs, and constitute a nuisance.' The plaintiffs claimed they have no adequate remedy at law and they sought, inter alia, an injunction enjoining and restraining the defendant corporations from doing any and all acts in the construction of apartments on the property in question, an order declaring the building permits and renewals invalid and money damages.
The trial court refused to grant an injunction but concluded that the plaintiffs in this appeal, the Scovilles, the Jacobses, the Nightingales and the Bielerts, were entitled to money damages in the amount of $2000 each because their properties 'suffered damage that was special and peculiar to them because their properties, in addition to a temporary diminution value suffered by other properties in the general neighborhood, would because abutting on the site be subject to the sight, noise and disturbance of construction.'
The defendants Marwood Apartments, Inc., and Carabetta Enterprises, Inc., hereinafter called the defendants, appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court and the plaintiffs Scoville, Jacobs and Nightingale, took a cross appeal from the judgment rendered by the Court of Common Pleas.
The trial court was warranted in finding the following facts which are pertinent to a disposition of this appeal: In February, 1960, the defendant D & D Builders, Inc., applied to the zoning commission of the city of Bristol requesting that the zoning of the subject property be changed from B residence zone to B business zone. The zoning commission changed one-third of the land to B business zone and made no change in zone as to the remaining two-thirds of the land described in the application. The zoning regulations of the city of Bristol did not permit apartment buildings in a B residence zone. As a result of the action of the zoning commission in 1960 the northerly one-third of the subject property was placed in the B business zone and the southerly two-thirds remained in the B residence zone. On receiving the minutes of the zoning commission meeting in 1960, the city engineer amended the official zoning map to reflect the action of the zoning commission. The zoning map from 1960 to the day of the trial depicted the northerly one-third of the subject property in a B business zone and the southerly two-thirds in a B residence zone. There was conflicting testimony and evidence offered at the trial relative to the zoning of the area in question. The defendants claim that the minutes of the meeting of the zoning commission in 1960 reflect that a change of zone was approved from B residence to B business, reserving two-thirds of the subject premises for parking, and that a copy of the decision of the zoning commission was attached to the official map. The credibility of the evidence, however, was for the trial court. The defendant D & D Builders, Inc., in December, 1968, obtained from the defendant Ronalter, the building inspector and zoning enforcement officer of the city of Bristol, seven building permits for the construction of garden-type apartments on the subject property and at that time the defendant D & D Builders, Inc., entered into a sale of the property to the defendant Carabetta Enterprises, Inc., conditioned on securing building permits for the construction of garden-type apartments, the erection of which was not permitted in a B residence zone but was allowed in a B business zone.
When the defendant Ronalter issued the building permits in December, 1968, he believed that the official zoning map was in error and that the zoning commission intended to grant the 1960 change from B residence zone to B business zone of all the land described in the application and merely delineated the area on which buildings might be constructed and parking maintained. On March 26, 1970, the defendants Carabetta Enterprises, Inc., and Marwood Apartments, Inc., renewed the original building permits which had expired because actual construction had not begun under them within six months of issuance as required by the building code and at that time the defendants, Carabetta Enterprises, Inc., and Marwood Apartments, Inc., began the construction of garden-type apartments on the property. Between ...
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...action claiming "grievous injury, damage and harm" and "annoyance, personal inconvenience and irritation"); Scoville v. Ronalter, 162 Conn. 67, 76, 291 A.2d 222 (1971) ("sight, noise and disturbance of construction" and devaluation of plaintiffs' property); Jobert v. Morant, 150 Conn. 584, ......
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