Description: Challenge to denial of variances for reconstruction of home in Connecticut that was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy.
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Turek v. Zoning Board of Appeals for the City of Milford
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 04/04/2018 Memorandum of Decision Download Plaintiffs' appeal sustained. Connecticut Court Said Zoning Board’s Failure to Consider Sea Level Rise Was “Contrary to Law and Logic”. The Connecticut Superior Court held that the City of Milford zoning board of appeals improperly denied variances for the rebuilding of a home destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. The court said the board’s denial based on a local “aesthetic” height requirement had not considered “the nuances and immediacy of flood hazard or sea level rise and the elevation requirements … and is thus contrary to law and logic.” The court also found that the plaintiffs’ hardship was not self-imposed—the court said their hardship was the total destruction of their home by Hurricane Sandy and the need to comply with applicable elevation requirements in rebuilding.