Supreme Court Affirms

Permit forMuni. Bldg.

By M. D. Drysdale

The site plan approval and zoning permits for Randolph’s Municipal Building project were properly granted, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled last Wednesday, June 20.

In particular, the court ruled that saving the 100-year-old crabapple tree in front of the Municipal Building was not sufficient reason to invalidate the permit.

The granting of the permits by the Development Review Board (DRB) had been challenged twice by Summer Street residents. First the residents appealed to the state Environmental Court, but that court affirmed the DRB’s ruling.

The Environmental Court’s ruling was then appealed by the petitioners to the Vermont Supreme Court. The case was heard in a "rocket-docket" procedure that involved three justices instead of five: Chief Justice Paul L. Reiber with John A. Dooley and Denise R. Johnson.

The appeal to the Supreme Court alleged that the DRB decision violated the Town Plan regarding preservation of open space. It also claimed that the decision violated the zoning ordinance because the expansion of the municipal building was not in harmony with surrounding uses.

The Supreme Court rejected both arguments. It also rejected a demand for a "de novo" hearing (starting all over again with new testimony).

In order to overturn a ruling by the Environmental Court, the justices noted that they must find "clear error" by that court. No such "clear error" was found.

"To the contrary," the justices wrote, the Summer Street residents "acknowledge that there are commercial structures on Summer Street, which was the primary basis for concluding that the expansion would be harmonious.

"Their central objection is based on the removal of the crab-apple tree, which does not constitute error," the justices stated firmly.

They quoted the Environmental Court ruling that "Any reduction in green space resul ting from the removal of an existing crab apple tree would be remedied by planting new trees along the side of the building."

The ruling was a welcome victory for the town, which has lost a couple of other legal arguments relating to the Municipal Building project. A lower court ruled that the contract for the job was not correctly bid out, so the town is preparing for a new bidding procedure.

However, the selectboard has also held confidential meetings on a "real estate matter" that might result in a change of plans for the project.

As of a week ago, the selectboard said there are no new developments on that front.