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******************************************************HAYES FAMILY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP ET AL.

v. TOWN OF GLASTONBURY

(AC 37827)
Beach, Alvord and West, Js. Argued April 5—officially released June 28, 2016 (Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford, Land Use Litigation Docket, Aurigemma, J. [motion to dismiss, judgment]; Berger, J. [motion to

dismiss, judgment].)
Richard P. Weinstein, with whom, on the brief, was SarahBlackLingenheld, for the appellants (plaintiffs).
Matthew Ranelli, with whom wasAndreaL. Gomes, for the appellee (defendant).Opinion ALVORD,J. Theplaintiffs, HayesFamilyLimitedPartnership, Richard P. Hayes, Jr., and Manchester/Hebron Avenue, LLC, appeal from the judgment of the trial court granting the motion to dismiss their action filed by the defendant, the town of Glastonbury. The court dismissed the plaintiffs’ inverse condemnation action
on the ground that they failed to meet the finality requirement for a claim of a regulatory taking ofproperty without just compensation in violation of article first, § 11, ofthe Connecticut constitution and the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution. Specifically, the plaintiffs claim that the court improperly (1) failed to considerthe prior application rule and its preclusive effect on future applications for a special permit, (2) failed to conclude that this court’s decision in Hayes Family Ltd. Partnership v. Town Plan & Zoning Commission, 115 Conn. App. 655, 974 A.2d 61, cert. denied, 293 Conn. 919, 979 A.2d 489 (2009), contains ‘‘findings [that] doom any alternative commercial development at the subject site,’’ (3) concluded that theplaintiffs’ single applicationforaspecialpermitwas not sufficient to establish finality, (4) failed to consider whether the plaintiffs’ property could be used for any economicallyviable use,1 and (5) dismissedtheirclaims where the application of the town zoning regulations resulted in at least a partial taking of their property.2 We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The following facts and procedural history are relevant to the resolution ofthe plaintiffs’ claims. On June 27, 2005, the plaintiffs filed an application for a special permit to construct a CVS pharmacy located on 2.4
acres of land located at the corner of Hebron Avenue andManchesterRoadinGlastonbury. The subjectproperty is zoned for commercial development, but all uses require a special permit with design review approval. The property is abutted by an established single-family neighborhood in a rural residential zone. Following an extended public hearing, the town’s Plan and Zoning Commission (commission) denied the application because ofits scale and intensity in relation to the size and topography of the parcel, its impact on and lack of compatibility with the existing neighborhood, and the inadequacy of the proposed landscaping.
The plaintiffs appealed from the commission’s decisiontothe SuperiorCourt, whichdismissedtheirappeal
on the ground that the decision was supported by substantial evidence in the record. Following this court’s granting of the plaintiffs’ petition for certification to appeal, they filed their appeal challenging the trial court’s determination. This courtaffirmedthejudgment of the trial court. Hayes Family Ltd. Partnership v. Town Plan & Zoning Commission, supra, 115 Conn. App. 655.On October 1, 2009, the plaintiffs commenced the present action against the defendant, claiming that the denial of their application for a special permit ‘‘preclude[d] any reasonable economical development of the site and constitute[d] a[n] [unconstitutional] taking withoutjust compensation

. . . .’’ The defendant filed
amotionto dismissthe complaint, arguingthatthefacts
as pleaded were insufficient to establish the finality requiredforanunconstitutionaltakingclaim. Thecourt, Aurigemma, J

., concluded that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that the commission would not allow any reasonable alternative use of the property and dismissed the action. On appeal, this court concluded that the trial court should have held an evidentiary hearing before deciding the motion to dismiss and, therefore, reversed the judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings. Hayes Family Ltd. Partnership v. Glastonbury, 132 Conn. App. 218, 219, 31 A.3d 429 (2011).
On remand, the court, Berger, J ., by agreement of the parties, conducted a trial on the merits, but in a bifurcated manner. The parties agreed that ifthe court concluded that the plaintiffs had established finality, the court would deny the motion to dismiss and then determine whether they had proved their claim of inverse condemnation. After several days of evidence, the parties filedposttrialbriefs forthe court’s consideration. On February 6, 2015, the court issued its memorandum of decision granting the defendant’s motion to dismiss and rendering judgment of dismissal.
Initsdecision, thecourtrecitedthefactualandprocedural background of the case, the case law applicable to regulatory taking actions, the case law applicable to the finality requirement, and a summary of the testimony and exhibits presented to the court with respect to proposed alternatives for development at the site. The court, in a comprehensive and well reasoned decision, addressed the plaintiffs’ claims as set forth during the trial and in their posttrial brief, and concluded that they ‘‘failed to meet their burden to prove finality.’’ In reaching that conclusion, the court stated: ‘‘The rejection of the 13,000 square foot CVS prototype, without examining whether an alternative might pass muster, does not establish finality. Moreover, this court does not agree with the plaintiffs that a revised application foradifferent developmentwithpresumablyadifferent impact might not be acceptable under the reasons for denial in the first application.’’
We conclude that the record supports the court’s factual and legal bases for its conclusion that the plaintiffs failed to satisfythe finality requirement forjudicial review of an inverse condemnation claim. It would
serve no useful purpose for this court to repeat the analysis containedinthetrial court’s decision. SeeNorfolk & Dedham Mutual Fire Ins. Co

. v. Wysocki, 243Conn. 239, 241, 702 A.2d 638 (1997). We therefore adopt that decision as the proper statement of the relevant facts, issues, and applicable law. See Hayes Family Ltd. Partnership v. Glastonbury, 166 Conn. App. , A.3d (2015) (appendix).
We do believe, however, that it would be helpful to provide additional analysis with respect to two of the plaintiffs’argumentsthattheyclaimwerenotaddressed
or were inadequately addressed by the trial court in its decision. Those particular claims relate to the alleged preclusive effect of the prior application rule and this court’s decision in Hayes Family Ltd. Partnership v. Town Plan & Zoning Commission, supra, 115 Conn. App. 655, on any future applications for a special permit.3 Although the trial court concluded that the commission’s denial ofthe first application did not logically require the denial of a less ambitious revised plan, the court did not provide a detailed explanation for its rejection of those claims.
I

PRIOR APPLICATION RULE ‘‘When a party files successive applications for the
same property, a trial court’s inquiries may vary dependingonwhetherthe applicationbeforethezoning agencyis an applicationforavariance oranapplication forapermit. Inconsideringasubsequentvarianceapplication where it has already denied a similar prior one, [a] zoning board ofappeals is generallyprecluded from reversing aprior decisionunless there has been amaterial change of conditions, or other considerations have intervened affecting the merits, and no vested rights have arisen.

. . . The board is disallowed from revisiting its prior determination that the requirements for
avariance are not present because, ifa reversal ofthat determination was allowed, there would be no finality to the proceeding [and] the result would be subject to change at the whim of members or due to the effect of influence exerted upon them, or other undesirable elements tending to uncertainty and impermanence.

. . . ‘‘Finality ofdecision isjust as desirable in the case of
an exception [orpermit] as in one involving avariance. Because ofthe nature ofan exception [orpermit], however, the power of a zoning board to review a prior decision denying the exception [or permit] is not limited, as it is when a variance is sought, to the two situations mentioned above. An additional situation arises when the owner requesting an exception [orpermit] files a subsequent application altering the plan under which he previously sought the exception [or permit], in order to meet the reasons for which the board denied the prior one.

. . . To justify a special exception [orpermit]

. . . it must appear that the manner in which the owner proposes to use his propertywill satisfy the conditions imposed by the regulations. If, therefore, upon asecond requestforaspecial exception [or permit], there is a substantial change in the
manner ofuse plannedbythe owner, the boardis faced with an application materially different from the one previously denied. It may well be that the new plan, by
reasonofthechangesmadetherein,willsucceed,where the former failed, in satisfying the conditions enumerated in the regulations. Under such circumstances, the board is not precluded from granting the second application merely because it has denied the first.

. . . ‘‘A subsequent [permit] application made in order to bring a prior application into compliance with applicable regulations, no matterhowminorthe workinvolved maybe, is clearlynot minorin regardto its significance and effect.

. . . The board may grant the exception [or permit] once it finds that all the requirements of the ordinance have been satisfied

. . . .’’ (Emphasis omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Grasso v. Zoning Board ofAppeals, 69 Conn. App. 230, 244–46, 794 A.2d 1016 (2002); see also Richardson v. Zoning Commission, 107 Conn. App. 36, 43–44, 944A.2d 360 (2008).
Inthepresentcase, theplaintiffs arguethatthe ‘‘commission will be bound under the prior application rule from allowing any reasonable commercial use of the property’’ because ‘‘[d]ue to the size, location, and topographyofthe subjectproperty, anyviable commercial development will present at least one ofthe issues that caused the denial ofthe CVS application.’’ During the trial, as noted by the trial court, alternative proposals were offered to demonstrate uses that could be made oftheproperty. Althoughtheplaintiffs contended that they would not be accepted by the commission because any commercial development would result in
anadverse impacttothe neighborhood, itis sheerspeculation to assume that a less intensive proposal than the one originally submitted would be denied by the commission. It is true that, under the prior application rule, the plaintiffs could not submit the same proposal for approval; however, changes made to bring a future application into compliance with the regulations may
ormaynotbeacceptabletothecommission.’’[B]yrefusing to engage the commission in the zoning approval process, [the applicant] eliminated the possibility that this matter could be resolved by local political choices and settlements.’’ Lost Trail, LLCv. Weston, 140 Conn. App. 136, 149, 57 A.3d 905, cert. denied, 308 Conn. 915, 61 A.3d 1102 (2013). Accordingly, this claim fails.
II
PRIOR APPELLATE COURT DECISION Additionally, the plaintiffs argue thatthis court’s previous decision in Hayes Family Ltd. Partnership v. Town Plan & Zoning Commission, supra, 115 Conn. App. 655, will have a preclusive effect on any futureapplicationsforaspecialpermit. Accordingtotheplaintiffs, the preclusive effect is certain because of ‘‘the Appellate Court’sfinding that a commercial development on the subject property would have an adverse impact on neighboring residences.’’ (Emphasis added.) The plaintiffs also claim that ‘‘[t]he Appellate Court found that the proposed development would adversely impactthe neighboringresidenceswithregardto noise, traffic, and property values.’’ (Emphasis added.) The plaintiffs contendthat‘‘[t]heAppellate Court’sfindings
were not based upon any particular characteristics of [the] plaintiffs’ proposal but, rather, were based upon it being a commercial development adjacent to residences. Suchfindings doom any alternative commercial development at the subject site because any commercial development will have an adverse impact
on the neighboring residences under the Appellate Court’s reasoning upholding the commission’s denial.’’ (Emphasis added.)
The plaintiffs have mischaracterized the holding in that decision. This court reviewed the evidence in the record to determine if it was sufficient to support the commission’s denial of a particular application for a special permit. We concluded: ‘‘On the basis of the foregoing and our thorough examination ofthe record,
we conclude that there was adequate evidence to support the commission’s reasons for denying the special permit.’’ Hayes Family Ltd. Partnership v. Town Plan & Zoning Commission, supra, 115 Conn. App. 662. No mentionwas made ofanypossible future applications. Most importantly, nofindings were made as to traffic, noise, property values or adverse impacts upon the neighborhood because this court is not a fact finder. ‘‘It is well settled that we do not find facts.’’ Briav. Ventana Corp., 58 Conn. App. 461, 466, 755A.2d 239 (2000); see also Multilingual Consultant Associates, LLC v. Ngoh, 163 Conn. App. 725, 737, A.3d (2016). Accordingly, this claim ofthe plaintiffs has
no merit.4
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.

1 We summarily dispose of this claim. Although the plaintiffs contend that they demonstrated that ‘‘no economically viable use of the property is possible,’’ they have provided no references to the transcript or other portions of the record that support this statement. ‘‘We are not required to review issues that have been improperly presented to this court through an inadequate brief.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.)Burns v. Quinnipiac University, 120 Conn. App. 311, 323–24 n.12, 991 A.2d 666, cert. denied, 297 Conn. 906, 995 A.2d 634 (2010).

2 Because the plaintiffs’ claims are interrelated, we necessarily address them together in this opinion.

3 In their appellate brief, the plaintiffs also included the following issues: (1) ‘‘Did the trial court err in holding that plaintiffs had not met the finality requirement where alternative uses would be subject to denial based upon traffic concerns?,’’ and (2) ‘‘Did the trial court err in holding that plaintiffs hadnotmetthefinalityrequirementwhere alternativeuseswouldbe subject to denial based upon noncompliance with the plan of development?’’ The commission provided a collective statement that gave the reasons forits denial ofthe plaintiffs’ application foraspecialpermit. Those reasonsdid not include traffic concerns or noncompliance with the plan ofdevelopment. ‘‘In zoning cases, we have held that, when a zoning commission has formally stated the reasons for its decision, the court should not go behind that official collective statement

. . . [and] attempt to search out and speculate [on] other reasons which might have influenced some or all of the members ofthe commission to reach the commission’s final collective decision.’’ (Internalquotationmarks omitted.) Gibbonsv.HistoricDistrictCommission, 285 Conn. 755, 769, 941 A.2d 917 (2008). ‘‘To go beyond those stated reasons invades the factfinding mission of the agency by allowing the court to cull out reasons that the agency may not have found to be credible or proven.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 771. Accordingly, we decline to address these claims.

4 The plaintiffs also claim on appeal that the trial court improperly dismissed their action where the application ofthe zoning regulations resulted in at least a partial taking of their property. The court did not rule on a partial taking claim because it was never expressly raised. In their posttrial brief, the term ‘‘partial taking’’ is mentioned twice in twenty-six pages; the plaintiffs provided no case law or other authority with respect to this concept. No mention of ‘‘partial taking’’ is made in the plaintiffs’ posttrial reply brief. The trial court did not rule on a claim of a partial taking because it had not been presented to the court. ‘‘For this court to

. . . consider [a] claim on the basis of a specific legal ground not raised during trial would amountto trial by ambuscade, unfairboth to the [court] andto the opposing party.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Dauti Construction, LLC v. Planning & Zoning Commission, 125 Conn. App. 665, 674–75, 10 A.3d 92 (2010), cert. denied, 300 Conn. 924, 15 A.3d 630 (2011). Moreover, the plaintiffs’ failure to demonstrate that they met the finality requirementforaregulatorytaking claimlikewise is dispositive ofthisissue.