Justia Real Estate & Property Law Opinion Summaries

Defendants Earl Blamires, his wife Sylvia, and his son Brian all appealed a Superior Court decision that affirmed a trial courtâs judgment in favor of Plaintiff Val-Gioia Properties, LLC. In 2004, police responded to a complaint that Defendants were dumping a considerable amount of debris onto Plaintiffâs land. Plaintiffs sought damages for clean-up costs. None of the Defendants attended the original trial date, but instead sent letters to the court and opposing counsel explaining their reasons for not attending. Plaintiffs argued that the letters were not proper answers to the suit, and subsequently Plaintiffs received a default judgment. From there, the case went back and forth between the trial and superior Courts for various technical issues and appeals all arguing the validity of the default judgment. In October, 2008, a final judgment was entered in favor of Plaintiffs. Defendants appealed. After reviewing the trial and appellate records, the Supreme Court found that Defendants indeed did serve a proper answer in the case, and that the default judgment should not have been entered. The Court vacated the original default judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Petitioner Michael West sought to develop six two-family homes on land in a residential neighborhood. After gaining initial support for his proposal by the local zoning officer, the full zoning commission denied Petitionerâs plan. The Boardâs decision was later affirmed by the Board of Appeals and the Superior Court. Because Petitioner thought he was in compliance with the zoning ordinances, he challenged the Superior Courtâs interpretation of the zoning ordinance to the Supreme Court. Furthermore, Petitioner asked the Court to resolve what he perceived as a conflict between the zoning ordinance and the municipalityâs comprehensive plan. The Supreme Court found no error with the lower courtâs interpretation of the local zoning ordinance, nor did it find a conflict with the local zoning ordinances and the municipalityâs comprehensive plan. The Court affirmed the lower courtâs decision.