High Ridge Real Estate Owner, LLC v. Board of Representatives

Citations

• 342 Conn. 423

Syllabus

Pursuant to the Stamford Charter (§ C6-40-9), after the Zoning Board of the City of Stamford issues a decision concerning an amendment to the Stamford zoning regulations, a protest petition may be filed with the zoning board opposing such amendment, which the zoning board shall refer to the Stamford Board of Representatives, and the board of repre- sentatives shall thereafter approve or reject such amendment. If the amendment applies to two or more zones, the petition must include ''the signatures of at least [300 Stamford] landowners . . . .'' The plaintiff, an owner of real property in the city of Stamford, appealed to the trial court from the decision of the defendant, the Board of Representatives of the City of Stamford, which had rejected a decision by the Stamford Zoning Board to approve the plaintiff's application to amend certain Stamford zoning regulations. The plaintiff had sought to have the zoning regulations amended to permit the development of a family health and fitness facility in a commercial district. After the zoning board approved the plaintiff's application with modifications, which affected more than one zone, a local homeowners association filed a protest petition, pursuant to § C6-40-9 of the charter, opposing the approved zoning amendment. The petition contained the signatures of 120 individuals who were sole owners of a total of 120 parcels of land in Stamford, 240 individuals who were joint owners of a total of another 120 parcels of land in Stamford, and another 110 individuals who were joint owners of yet another 110 parcels of land in Stamford but under circumstances in which one or more individuals with joint ownership in one of those 110 parcels did not sign the petition. Without determining whether the petition contained the requisite number of signatures required by § C6-40-9, the zoning board referred the petition to the board of representatives. Subsequently, a subcommittee of the board of representatives determined that the prote