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Zoning Bulletin <br />May 25, 2014 I Volume 8 I Issue 10 <br />recisions of •fficers—Six months <br />after zoning permit issuance, <br />neighboring property owner sends <br />letter to zoning official challenging <br />legality of permits <br />Neighbor says zoning official's failure to <br />respond to letter is an appealable "decision" <br />Citation: Reardon v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Town of Darien, 311 <br />Conn. 356, 2014 WL 1282522 (2014) <br />CONNECTICUT (04/8/14)—This case addressed the issue of <br />whether a property owner's letter to town officials challenging the <br />legality of zoning and building permits previously issued to another <br />property owner can give rise to a "decision," independent of the permit <br />decisions, that is subject to administrative review under General <br />Statutes §§ 8-6(a) and 8-7. <br />The Background/Facts: James P. Eckert and Janeen P. Eckert (the <br />"Eckerts") owned residential property abutting Long Island Sound in <br />the Town of Darien, Connecticut (the "Town"). On March 8, 2010, the <br />Town's zoning enforcement officer (the "ZEO") granted the Eckerts' <br />applications for two zoning permits, with conditions, that permitted <br />them to renovate an existing dwelling, construct an addition thereto, <br />and construct a separate garage. On March 25, 2010, notice of the issu- <br />ance of the zoning permits and corresponding building permits ap- <br />peared in the local newspaper. The Eckerts thereafter began <br />construction. <br />Rosemarie Reardon ("Reardon") owned property that was adjacent <br />to a portion of the Eckerts' property. More than six months after notice <br />of the Eckerts' permits' issuance was published, Reardon sent a letter <br />to the Town's director of planning and zoning. The letter contended <br />that inaccurate and incomplete information in the Eckerts' applications <br />had misled the town officials to conclude that "the environmentally <br />defective construction project fell within an exemption to coastal site <br />plan review required [under the Coastal Management Act and the <br />Town's zoning regulations]." <br />Reardon received no response to that letter. She then appealed to the <br />Town's Zoning Board of Appeals ("ZBA"). Among other things, she <br />contended that the failure of the ZEO (who had been sent the letter and <br />©2014 Thomson Reuters 9 <br />