(Download) "Harris v. Zoning Commission of the Town of New Milford" by The Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Harris v. Zoning Commission of the Town of New Milford
- Author : The Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut
- Release Date : January 12, 2002
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 90 KB
Description
Argued October 31, 2001 Opinion The plaintiffs, 1 owners of large parcels of undeveloped land in the town of New Milford (town), appeal 2 from the judgment of the trial court dismissing the plaintiffs' appeal from the decision of the defendant, the zoning commission of the town of New Milford (zoning commission), that amended the definition of the phrase ''lot and area'' in the town's zoning regulations (amendment). The amendment excluded certain types of land from the calculation of the minimum lot area required for the purposes of residential development. We affirm the judgment of the trial court dismissing the plaintiffs' appeal. The following facts and procedural history are undisputed. On October 29, 1997, the town's planning commission adopted a ''Plan of Conservation and Development'' (plan). The purpose of the plan was to achieve ''a careful blend of [the town's] small town heritage and natural resources with an improved quality of new development that incorporates and protects these resources'' as the town ''grows and drifts away from its traditional agricultural base . . . .'' The plan suggested achieving this balance between conservation and development, in part, by regulating for appropriate residential lot sizes and slopes in order to ensure open space in subdivisions, to protect water supplies, to preserve ridgelines and vistas, and overall, ''to control development in a responsible manner and encourage a respect for the environment.'' In late 1999, the zoning commission proposed, and later adopted, an amendment to the definition of ''lot and area'' in § 015-010 of the New Milford zoning regulations. The amendment, which applies only to residential zones, excludes wetlands, watercourses and land with a 25 percent slope or greater from the calculation of the total horizontal area of a parcel of land for the purposes of determining whether a parcel conforms to the minimum lot area required for development. 3 The ultimate effect of the amendment on undeveloped parcels of land is a reduction of the number of potential lots for each parcel.