Car lot bid pits boards in legal case
A disagreement over a proposed car dealership location has escalated into a court battle between two municipal boards that will cost Plymouth at least some taxpayer cash before the argument is settled.
At issue is whether a
The section of Long Pond in question is in a zoning overlay district described as “highway commercial,’’ established by Plymouth Town Meeting in 2000. While that area is loaded with retail development, car dealerships are not addressed in the bylaw’s wording on the district, as either allowed or prohibited. That omission has left the matter open to interpretation.
When he was approached a few months ago by Sunna representatives about a zoning permit for a Honda dealership, Paul McAuliffe, the town’s inspectional services director, decided that car dealerships were not an allowed highway-commercial use.
Attorney Ed Angley, who represents Sunna, said McAuliffe told the company it had the option of appealing to the Zoning Board of Appeals. So Angley made the necessary filing.
The role of the Planning Board in the process was to recommend a course of action to the zoning board prior to its hearing on Sunna’s appeal. The planning panel urged zoning board members to uphold the inspectional services director’s interpretation of the town’s laws.
Lee Hartmann, Plymouth’s director of planning and economic development, noted that car dealerships are specifically listed in the town’s bylaws as allowed uses in other zoning districts. “We generally feel if a use is listed someplace in the bylaws, then it isn’t an allowed use if it isn’t listed someplace else,’’ Hartmann said.
Nevertheless the Zoning Board of Appeals, which has the final say on the matter, gave Sunna its unanimous go-ahead to resume application for permits. The panel based its decision on wording that allows “retail establishments, including display lots’’ in the district.
The Planning Board last week filed an appeal of the zoning board’s ruling in Land Court in Boston. Board chairman Marc Garrett said his panel researched what had occurred back in 2000 when the overlay district was approved.
Vehicular-related uses were allowed when the district was established in the spring of 2000, but the wording was deleted by Town Meeting that fall. The Planning Board’s written report at the time urged removal of that use so that it would be limited to other districts deemed more appropriate.
“However unpopular this is, it’s a prudent legal question that we’re asking,’’ Garrett said of the Land Court filing. “It is clear to us that the intent of that Town Meeting vote was no car dealership use. I don’t think the zoning board has the authority to overturn a Town Meeting vote.’’
Zoning board vice chairman David Peck said his board made a “thoughtful decision’’ based on the information presented in writing and at the hearing. “I respect where the Planning Board is coming from,’’ Peck said. “They’ve got a good set of reasons behind their challenge, but I think it’s unfortunate when any town board tries to contest a decision made by another board.’’
Planning Board members found a lawyer, Francis Veale Jr. of Easton, to handle the Land Court case for them pro bono, although there will be some filing expenses. The town won’t pick up any of the cost, so board members will pay out of their own pockets. The initial filing will cost them about $255, Garrett said.
“I think they have a strong case,’’ Veale said of the Planning Board’s position. “But this could take months to be heard, depending on the court docket.’’ The court appeal, meanwhile, freezes any permitting for the dealership until the case is settled.
Selectmen chairman Dick Quintal was critical of the Planning Board’s decision to challenge another board in court, but said that since it is an elected board, it is answerable to the voters, not selectmen.
Quintal said the town will have to pick up the tab for defending the zoning board. “I’m not going to hold it personally against anybody, but I think this is 100 percent ridiculous and a waste of the taxpayers’ money,’’ he said. “I encourage townspeople to contact members of the Planning Board.’’
Meanwhile, the town’s attorneys have told selectmen they don’t believe the Planning Board’s appeal will hold up in court. Acting Town Manager Melissa Arrighi said the town will file a motion in Land Court to dismiss the appeal. “We will encourage the Planning Board to follow another course of action, which would be an internal appeal once the building permit on the project is issued,’’ she said.
Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com. 
