In a significant land use opinion, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island has ruled in favor of RH McLeod Family, LLC and Margot Perot in the case of RH McLeod Family, LLC, and Margot Perot v. Town of Westerly Zoning Board of Review, Todd Nordstrom, and Karyn Nordstrom (No. SU-2023-0104-MP), quashing a Superior Court judgment and invalidating dimensional variances granted to the defendants for a proposed construction project in Westerly’s Weekapaug neighborhood.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision, which upholds local standards and public policy that protect the integrity of local zoning objectives,” stated Gerald J. Petros, partner and chair of Hinckley Allen’s Litigation Law Group and the Environmental Law Group and counsel for the petitioners. “The ruling reaffirms the importance of applying the law consistently and ensures that development aligns with established zoning principles.”
The petitioners challenged the Town of Westerly Zoning Board’s decision to approve variances allowing the defendants to voluntarily demolish their nonconforming home and build a substantially larger structure that failed to meet lot size, frontage, and setback requirements.
Under the Town of Westerly’s Zoning Ordinance, an owner who voluntarily demolishes a nonconforming structure is prohibited from building a new structure that does not comply with all dimensional zoning requirements. The Court found that both the Zoning Board and the Superior Court misinterpreted that Ordinance when it permitted the defendants to build a substantially larger structure that failed to meet lot size, frontage, and setback requirements. The Court confirmed Rhode Island’s longstanding public policy against the expansion of nonconforming structures since by definition such structures do not comport with the comprehensive plan or current zoning regulations. Rhode Island’s public policy encourages the discontinuation of nonconforming structures and uses.
The opinion sets an important precedent for future zoning cases across Rhode Island involving nonconforming structures or uses.
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