South Windsor v. Lanata

Citations

• 341 Conn. 31

Syllabus

The plaintiffs, the town of South Windsor and its zoning enforcement officer, O, sought an injunction and the assessment of fines against the defendant homeowner, who was using her property to store salvage and debris that she had obtained in connection with a cleaning business that she operated. O notified the defendant in 2014 that she was in violation of the town's blight ordinance and zoning regulations, and ordered her to remove the debris from her property. In December, 2016, a fire occurred on the property, and the fire marshal subsequently initiated an arson investigation. In light of the pending investigation, both the police and the defendant's insurance carrier instructed the defendant not to touch or remove anything from the property. Thereafter, on February 24, 2017, O issued the defendant a notice of violation, informing her that her property was in violation of the town's blight ordinance and directing her to remove the debris, as well as a cease and desist order, which identifed the defendant's creation of a junkyard in a residential zone as a zoning violation and directed her to stop depositing material on her property. The defendant did not appeal from either notice or the cease and desist order, and the plaintiffs commenced the present action in an effort to compel her compliance, alleging that the defendant had violated the town's blight ordinance and zoning regulations. Pointing to the instructions she received not to touch or remove anything during the arson investigation, the defendant raised the special defense of 32 JANUARY, 2022 341 Conn. 31 South Windsor v. Lanata legal impossibility, which the trial court ultimately failed to credit. With respect to the zoning claim, the trial court found that the defendant had been wilfully violating the town's zoning regulations since at least the date on which the cease and desist order was issued. Accordingly, the trial court imposed a daily fine pursuant to statute (§ 8-12), commencing on February 24