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Weston Planning and Zoning Commission
Members differ on zoning officer's authority
Jun 6, 2008
by Patricia Gay
Is the town’s zoning enforcement officer an agent of the Planning and Zoning Commission, or does he have autonomous authority and veto power over the commission?
That was the subject of a philosophical — and sometimes heated — discussion at the P&Z meeting on Monday, June 2.
Town attorneys Ken Bernhard and Patricia Sullivan were on hand to advise the commission about its powers under state law.
Ms. Sullivan said the commission derives its powers from Connecticut General Statute 8-3(e) which simply states, “The zoning commission shall provide for the manner in which the zoning regulations shall be enforced.”
“All power emanates from the king,” said Mr. Bernhard.
Case law, which further fleshes out the statute, allows a zoning commission to utilize the services of a zoning enforcement officer, Ms. Sullivan said.
And a legal treatise goes further to say the commission can delegate none, some, or all of its enforcement power to the zoning enforcement officer.
“Ultimately, you guys have to decide,” Mr. Bernhard said to the commissioners.
Ms. Sullivan added that whenever the commission makes any delegation of power, it needs to make the terms clear.
At the end of the attorneys’ presentation, the commission did not take any action. However, Commissioner Stephan Grozinger said he would compile a list of questions he had on the issue for review by the town attorneys.
Sparks
But later in the meeting, while the commission was discussing an application by Weston I, LLC — the owner of a non-conforming commercial property — the scope of the zoning enforcement officer’s authority sparked a debate.
Mr. Grozinger wanted to “direct” the zoning officer to deny the application because it was incomplete.
But Commissioner Dan Gilbert said the commission did not have the authority to “direct” the zoning officer to deny the application; it only had the authority to “consult” or make a recommendation to the officer.
Mr. Grozinger was clearly frustrated. “Every time we have any dealings with the zoning enforcement officer, we have a half hour discussion about what his authority is. This needs to stop,” he said.
Dr. Gilbert said there was no question in his mind that the zoning enforcement officer is the enforcement authority for all residential property, as well as all commercial property in town.
“The zoning enforcement officer has complete enforcement authority when it comes to Weston — at the moment,” he said.
Mr. Grozinger — and the rest of the commissioners — agreed that the zoning officer is the enforcement authority for all residential property, but Mr. Grozinger disagreed the zoning officer has the same authority over the town’s commercial property.
Letter
Mr. Grozinger and Dr. Gilbert are in agreement that in a letter dated March 23, 2006, from the commission to Bob Turner — the town’s zoning enforcement officer at the time — the commission put limitations on the zoning officer’s authority in regard to the Weston Shopping Center, a commercial property.
But the two disagree as to the extent of those limitations.
“We requested that Bob no longer issue zoning permits for non-residential use — the shopping center — without first consulting with the commission. What we said was very clear. In a non-residential area you need to come to us and let us know what is going on. Bob was still allowed to issue the permits. The commission just wanted to know what was going on and wasn’t taking away authority. It was getting its oar in the water,” Dr. Gilbert said.
He said the letter clearly states the zoning officer need only consult with the commission in non-residential matters.
Mr. Grozinger said that if the zoning officer need only consult with the commission, than he can do what he wants and has veto power over the commission — which is not what the commission intended. He does not believe the zoning officer should be allowed to overrule the commission.
To help the commission figure out what authority it wants its zoning officer to have, Mr. Grozinger produced a copy of the zoning regulations for Westport, which spell out the authority for its zoning officer.
He recommended Weston consider adopting some similar regulations to end any confusion.
“We will work this out at our next meeting,” Dr. Gilbert said after the meeting. “Stephan is going to pull out parts of Westport’s regulations for us to review. We have a very good team here,” he added.
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