Agenda - Planning Commission - 11/09/1995

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Page 4 -- October 15, 1995 Z.B. ' Conditional Approval-- Illegally Enacted Conditions: Sever Them or Void Entire Permit? Floch v. ;Planning and Zoning Commission of the Town of Westport, 659 A.2d 746 (Connecticut) ]995 The town of Westport, Conn., applied to its Planning and Zoning Commis- sion for a special permit to build two athletic fields on its high school's prop- erty. After a public hearing, the commission approved the permit with several conditions. The commission's chairperson signed a final resolution, which was filed with the commission's office for public inspection. In the written resolution were several conditions on which the commission never voted. One stated, "This is a conditional approval. Each and every condi- tion is [an] integral part of the commission decision. Should any of the condi- tions, on appeal from this decision, be found to be void ... then this conditional approval is likewise void." The town's zoning regulations had similar language about conditional approvals of special permits. Floch, who owned property next to the high school, appealed the decision to court. She claimed the added conditions were illegal because the commis- sion never voted on them. Therefore, the permit should not have been granted. The court invalidated the special permit. The commission appealed. It said the trial court should have removed the illegal conditions from the resolution instead of invalidating the whole thing. The commission claimed because the conditions were void from the begin- ning, the court should not have considered the added conditions part of the resolution. If they were never part of the resolution, they could not be the rea- son for overturning it. DECISION: Affirmed, in favor of Floch. Because the conditions were an integral part of the resolution, it could not be upheld even if the rest was valid. The trial court properly reversed the reso- lution and invalidated the special permit. Even though the commission never voted on them, the added conditions became an integral part of the resolution. The resolution and the town's zoning regulations stated all conditions were integral and could void an entire approval if found invalid. The illegal conditions were part of the approval that was filed in the commission's office, so they became official. If Floch had not appealed, they would have been enforced even if not validly enacted. Vaszauskas v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 574 A.2d 212 (1990). Zoning Officials -- Buyer Says Secretary's Assurances About Zoning Sealed Deal Sundberg v. Evans, 897 P. 2d J285 (Washingto~O 1995 Sundberg wanted to buy some lots on which he would develop a recre- ational vehicle park. The lots were in Sunland Estates, Grant County, Wash. Property had to be zoned commercial for recreational vehicle parks. Before buying the lots, Sundberg asked Sumrall, a secretary at the county Planning Department, about the lots' zoning. Sundberg and Sumrall had differ- ent accounts of their conversation.