155 Conn. 539 | Conn. | 1967
The plaintiff has appealed from a judgment of the Court of Common Pleas dismissing her appeal from the action of the defendant zoning board of appeals in refusing to grant a certificate of approval for the location of a gasoline service station under General Statutes §§ 14-321 and 14-322.
The plaintiff owns land in a light industrial zone in North Haven. Under § 6.1.20 (a) of the North Haven zoning regulations, automobile service stations are a permitted use in such a zone, but no permit for the construction of an automobile service station may be issued until the proposed location has been approved as suitable by the zoning board of appeals and, following such approval, certain designated physical aspects of the layout have been approved by the planning and zoning commission. North Haven Zoning Regs. § 6.3.6.3 (1964).
The plaintiff and the Gulf Oil Corporation, holder of an option to purchase the plaintiff’s property, applied to the defendant zoning board of appeals for a certificate of approval of the location for a gasoline service station pursuant to General Statutes §§ 14-321 and 14-322 and for a variance of the front-yard requirement to permit construction of a canopy over the pump area and the construction of a building sixty-nine feet from the property line. No application was made for approval of the location under § 6.3.6.3 of the zoning regulations. At the hearing, the applicants abandoned the request for a variance and sought only the approval of the location under the General Statutes.
In passing on the application for approval of the location under § 14-322 of the General Statutes, the board was required to act as a special statutory agent of the state and, as such, to be governed by the requirements of that section. Socony Mobil Oil Co. v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 153 Conn. 257, 259,
Following a hearing, the board unanimously denied the application, stating that it “took into consideration the proximity of other similar uses and feels it is not in the best interests of the Town to add another gasoline service station in this area. Washington Avenue is already congested with gasoline stations and many of them have changed hands several times during the recent months. In addition, the Board feels that there is a reasonable question of safety at this site.”
To support this conclusion, the minutes of the meeting of the board or the transcript of the hearing which it held should demonstrate that due eon-
The appendices to the briefs indicate that the factors pertinent to the requirements of § 14-322 were before the board in detail. They indicate further that the chief controversy was over traffic conditions at the proposed location, which was on Washington Avenue near an interchange to interstate route 91 and opposite a T-shaped intersection of Washington and Blakeslee Avenues. The board had before it statements and testimony concerning the width of Washington Avenue, pedestrian use, traffic volume, and conflicting claims concerning the extent and nature of the traffic hazard involved. There was evidence that Washington Avenue was a “high volume” highway and that vehicles exiting from and entering the interstate route 91 interchange must cross traffic lanes on Washington Avenue. There was also testimony that the vicinity was already oversupplied with gasoline stations. From these and other factors before it, the board concluded that there was “a reasonable question of safety at this site.”
The language of the decision was but a way of saying that the board was unanimously of the opinion that the location was not suitable for the
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
“[North Haven Zoning Begs. § 6.3.6.3 (1964).] No permit for the construction of any automobile service station, public garage, new or used car automobile show rooms or outdoor sales areas shall be issued until the proposed location shall have been found suitable and approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals. In considering the suitability of location, said Zoning Board of Appeals shall consider the proximity of said location to schools, parks, playgrounds, hospitals, churches, theaters or buildings for civic or public assembly and shall also consider the proximity of other similar uses, and the best use of the proposed location taking into consideration the health, welfare and best interests of the neighborhood, surrounding property owners and its effect on travel and traffic and such other residential, commercial or industrial uses in the area. After such approval of location is obtained, such permit shall not be issued until the signs, exterior lighting, architectural treatment, layout of driveways and other paved areas shall have been approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission.”