Title: Town of Grand Isle v. Patry

State: vermont

Issuer: Vermont Supreme Court

Document:

Town of Grand Isle v. Patry (2002-468); 176 Vt. 627; 852 A.2d 573

2004 VT 24

[Filed 09-Mar-2004]
[Motion for Reargument Denied 14-Apr-2004]

                                 ENTRY ORDER

                                 2004 VT 24

                      SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 2002-468

                             NOVEMBER TERM, 2003

  Town of Grand Isle	               }	APPEALED FROM:
                                       }
                                       }
       v.	                       }	Environmental Court
                                       }	
  Ivan Patry	                       }
                                       }	DOCKET NO. 124-6-02 Vtec

                                                Trial Judge: Merideth Wright

             In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:

       ¶  1.  Landowner Ivan Patry appeals from the environmental court's
  decision ordering him to remove his trailer and to apply to the Town of
  Grand Isle for various land-use permits before developing his property.  We
  reject landowner's contention that a two-hundred-year-old land grant, from
  which he claims he can trace his chain of title, precludes the Town from
  applying state and local zoning laws to his property.  Accordingly, we
  affirm the environmental court's decision.

       ¶  2.  Landowner acquired the subject property by quit-claim deed on
  May 14, 2002.  Because the property is only 45 feet wide and 480 feet long,
  any dwelling would violate the Town's 25-foot setback requirement. 
  Nevertheless, without applying for any municipal permits or variances,
  landowner placed a travel camper on the property, uncovered a failed septic
  system, and began to construct a water drainage system.  He planned to
  replace the old septic system and build some type of residence on the
  property.  On May 20, 2002, the Town's zoning administrator issued a
  written notice detailing several zoning violations and informing landowner
  that he could appeal the notice of violation to the Town's development
  review board within fifteen days.
        
       ¶  3.  On June 4, 2002, the fifteenth day following the notice of
  violation, the Town asked the environmental court to preliminarily enjoin
  landowner from engaging in any further development activity on the
  property. (FN1)  Two days later, the Town filed a complaint seeking
  injunctive relief and the imposition of monetary penalties.  On June 14,
  2002, following a hearing, the court granted the Town's request for a
  preliminary injunction.  The court ruled that landowner was required to
  apply for municipal permits, even assuming that the property had been
  passed down in an unbroken chain of title from the original 1779 land
  grant.  The court ordered landowner to remove the travel trailer from the
  property until he obtained a setback variance, to apply for a drainage
  permit for drainage work already done, to apply for a septic system permit,
  to obtain a variance for setback requirements pertaining to any other work
  done on the property, and to apply for a building permit.  In an October
  14, 2002 decision, after landowner unsuccessfully attempted to have the
  case removed to federal court, the environmental court denied landowner's
  motion for reconsideration and directed an entry of final judgment as to
  the issues decided in its June 14 order.  The court decided that landowner
  should not be subjected to a hearing on penalties until he had an
  opportunity to appeal the question of whether the Town's zoning laws
  applied to his property.

       ¶  4.  On appeal, landowner argues that the environmental court
  erred by subjecting his property to the Town's zoning laws.  He contends
  that a 1779 land grant known as the "Charter of the Two Heroes," from which
  he claims his property was passed down through an unbroken chain of title,
  is a contract that conferred a right of inhabitation and other privileges,
  and that 24 V.S.A. § 4490 prohibits the Town from applying its zoning laws
  to interfere with those rights obtained under the land grant.  Section 4490
  states that the provisions of the Vermont Planning and Development Act, 24
  V.S.A. §§ 4301-4495, which took effect in March 1968, "shall not affect any
  act done, contract executed or liability incurred prior to March 23, 1968." 
  The Act sets forth statewide criteria for the implementation and
  enforcement of local zoning ordinances.  See 24 V.S.A. § 4401(b)(1)
  (authorizing municipalities to adopt zoning regulations to permit,
  prohibit, restrict, regulate and determine land development); id. §
  4443(a)(1) (prohibiting land development within area affected by zoning
  regulations unless administrative officer issues zoning permit in
  conformance with regulations); id. § 4445 (authorizing zoning administrator
  to institute enforcement proceedings upon violation of zoning laws).

       ¶  5.  We find no merit to landowner's argument.  The Charter of the
  Two Heroes does not immunize land conveyed therein from land-use regulation
  later enacted pursuant to the state's police powers.  See Galanes v. Town
  of Brattleboro, 136 Vt. 235, 240,