Victory for Residents in Weston Land Use Ruling 

Weston, CT - April 10, 2008. Cohen and Wolf won a major victory for the Town of Weston in a land use case involving the development of a former commercial property in a residential area. In Weston I, LLC vs. Town of Weston Planning and Zoning, the Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the Town of Weston on all points and dismissed the case. The Judge's ruling allows the Town's Planning and Zoning Commission to uphold important regulations concerning non-conforming use.

"This decision is important to the town because it restores the residential character of the neighborhood and reduces the risk of future environmental contamination that is associated with the operation of a gas station," said Donald Saltzman, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The dispute involved the proposed development of a property on Georgetown Road on which an abandoned gas station is sited. The Town's Planning and Zoning Commission denied the plaintiff's application for development based on a regulation that says a property owner cannot continue a non-conforming use of a property if the use has been abandoned.

Cohen and Wolf attorneys argued that the plaintiff forfeited both its right to challenge the Commission's decision, and its right to challenge the validity of the regulation, by failing to seek the required remedy (filing an administrative appeal.) The Judge agreed with this argument, and in a rare reversal, vacated an earlier ruling in this case that was in favor of the plaintiff.

Honorable Judge John Downey of the Stamford Superior Court issued his decision on March 31, 2008.

Town Attorneys G. Kenneth Bernhard and Patricia C. Sullivan represented the Town of Weston, assisted by Barbara M. Schellenberg, also of Cohen and Wolf, P.C. The plaintiff was represented by the law firm of Halloran & Sage.

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