7 Conn. App. 283 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1986
The defendant is appealing from the judgment of the trial court sustaining the plaintiff’s
The facts are not in dispute. On or about June 13, 1957, a plan of subdivision was filed with the town clerk of the town of Prospect. On September 18, 1969, the plaintiff, Richard Knapp, purchased a portion of the property included in the subdivision, which property included lots 47, 53 and 55 located on Sherwood Drive. The planning and zoning commission of the town approved the application of the plaintiff to combine lots 47, 53 and 55 into a single building lot on June 17,1970. Subsequently, on October 6,1982, the plaintiff applied to the planning and zoning commission for a special zoning permit to allow him to deposit fill on the property in order to construct a residence thereon. The planning and zoning commission conditioned its approval of the permit upon approval by the defendant inland and wetlands commission. The plaintiffs application was denied by the defendant. The plaintiff appealed to the Superior Court; General Statutes § 22a-43; which sustained the appeal and rendered judgment for the plaintiff.
On appeal to this court, the defendant claims the court erred in sustaining the plaintiff’s appeal because the defendant had made findings of potential harm to wetlands and to the public health resulting from the construction of a septic system and residence on the property. The defendant also claims error in the court’s decision that General Statutes § 22a-40 (a) (2), which specifically permits the construction of a residence on a lot for which subdivision approval was obtained prior to 1974, the effective date of the municipal inland wetlands regulations, would also permit the proposed construction on the property. We disagree.
General Statutes § 22a-40 provides in pertinent part: “(a) The following operations and uses shall be permitted in wetlands and watercourses, as of right . . .
The defendant’s attempt to clothe itself with jurisdiction by separating the construction of a septic system from the construction of a residence is unavailing. It cannot be denied that a septic system is an adjunct to a dwelling and that, in the absence of a municipal sewage system, as here, it would be impossible to maintain a residence without a septic system.
The defendant refuses to acknowledge the fact that the legislature, by express and unequivocal language, has exempted from regulation by the defendant the use of land which has received subdivision approval prior to the creation of the defendant agency. The use of the subject property for a residence would be impossible without a septic system.
We reject the defendant’s argument that the exemption does not include the right to construct a septic system. Such an interpretation would render the exemption meaningless. Where legislation allows certain uses as a matter of right, the legislation should not be construed in a manner that would defeat that right. A statute should be construed so as to have meaning, so that the statute makes common sense, and so that there are no bizarre results. Eagle Hill Corpora
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.