Appeal of Weeks

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• stating that zoning ordinances are in derogation of property rights and ambiguities must be decided in favor of the property owner
• explaining that “zoning ordinances are in derogation of common law property rights and that in construing land use regulations any uncertainty must be decided in favor of the property owner” (quotation omitted)
• applying standard to environmental court’s construction of town zoning ordinance which mirrored statutory language
• explaining that under 24 V.S.A. § 4406(1) merger is not automatically triggered when and if an existing undersized lot is brought into common ownership with an adjoining parcel after the effective date of the ordinance, absent language in the zoning ordinance providing to the contrary
• rejecting a claimed zoning restriction that was not expressly stated in the ordinance
• there is no need to look beyond plain language of statute if it resolves legal dispute without doing violence to legislative scheme

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).