Town of Coventry v. Forsons Realty LLC

Syllabus

The plaintiff, the Town of Coventry, appealed from the Superior Court's November 4, 2019 entry of final judgment in favor of the defendants, Forsons Realty LLC, Ferrara Mechanical Services Inc., and Daniel Ferrara. The Town contended that the trial justice erred: (1) in her conclusions which led her to allow the<br>defendants to conduct heavy-duty vehicle inspections on property which was the site of a pre-existing legal nonconforming use and (2) in holding that there had not been<br>an impermissible expansion of that legal nonconforming use.<br><br>The Supreme Court held that heavy-duty vehicle inspections (as limited by the trial justice) were an inherent part of the legal nonconforming use at issue and that, therefore, the trial justice did not err by allowing such inspections to be conducted. In addition, the Court held that the trial justice did not err in ruling that there had been no impermissible expansion of the legal nonconforming use.<br><br>Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.