Opinion ID: 2355263
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The plaintiffs' administrative appeals.

Text: Chapter I § V, B(1) of the Ordinance gives the Board the power to hear administrative appeals where the plaintiff alleges the CEO erred in enforcing the Ordinance. The defendants contend that since the plaintiffs' lots required variances before building permits could be issued, and since only the Board and not the CEO is authorized to issue variances, the CEO did not err in enforcing the Ordinance by denying permits to the plaintiffs. We agree. Before the Board, the plaintiffs relied on an Ordinance provision, Chapter I § X, B(3), which permits the building of single family houses on single lots recorded prior to the effective date of the amended Ordinance, subject to the provision that contiguous nonconforming lots of the same ownership be combined. (Chapter I § I, D(8)). [3] The Board interpreted section I, D(8) of the Ordinance to be inapplicable to three of the proposed lots. Because the original lots in proposed lots A and B are contiguous and A and B are both less than 80,000 square feet (they would remain so after combination), the Board decided that A and B would have to be combined before permission could be issued to build under section I, D(6). [4] Similarly, the Board would require lot E to be combined with the contiguous lots which the plaintiffs currently use for their summer house. Without ruling on the Board's interpretation of section I, D(8), we find that Chapter I § I, D(6), makes clear, that after combining contiguous lots, permission to build on undersized noncontiguous lots will be granted by the CEO, if, but only if, requirements other than area or width requirements conform to the regulations. Under any combination, the proposed lots would be undersized and would require variances for house and sewage system setbacks which are not part of area or width requirements and could, therefore, be obtained only through action of the Board. Without regard to sections I, D(8) and D(6), the plaintiffs contend that Chapter I § II, 3, [5] permits the Board to approve a change of property from an existing nonconforming use to another nonconforming use that is at least equally appropriate to the zoning district. The plaintiffs argue that although lots A, B, and E are undersized and could be combined with lots the plaintiffs own, the configuration proposed by plaintiffs is most economically sensible for residential real estate. In addition, still relying on section II, 3, the plaintiffs assert that the Board has the authority to vary setback requirements as part of an administrative appeal without following the stricter statutory variance standards. The plaintiffs' reasoning is unpersuasive. Section II, 3 states that an existing nonconforming use can be changed to an equally or more appropriate nonconforming use. The plaintiffs' lots, however, are not now being used in a nonconforming way. Rather, the plaintiffs are proposing nonconforming uses for lots which conform in their present use to the Ordinance. For such proposals, the plaintiffs may not rely on section II, 3 but must submit to normal variance procedure.