The firm that owns a residentially-zoned property on Hattertown Road, which holds a kennel, has lodged a court appeal against the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), challenging the ZBA’s recent rejection of its application seeking zoning variances for the kennel’s continued operation.

In a lawsuit, which was received for recording by the town clerk earlier this month, Camp Seawatch Kennels, LLC, of 227 Hattertown Road appeals the ZBA’s December 2 decision against granting the firm the zoning variances which it sought.

The two-acre property lies in a R-2 (Residential) zone. It is located on the east side of Hattertown Road, south of Hattertown Road’s intersection with Castle Meadow Road.

In its application to the ZBA, the firm seeks zoning variances pertaining to nonconforming land uses, such as the kennel at 227 Hattertown Road.

Camp Seawatch is represented by attorney Sean Plumb of Shelton. The court appeal has been referred to Town Attorney David Grogins, and also to attorney Paul Pollock, who is the ZBA’s lawyer.

According to the lawsuit filed by Camp Seawatch, the firm bought the property from its previous owner in April 2014, after receiving a March 2014 letter of zoning compliance from the town in terms of its legal nonconformity under the zoning regulations.

The court papers state that the plaintiff, however, later received a letter from the town stating that the kennel operation was in violation of the zoning regulations due to an “illegal expansion of a nonconforming business.”

On September 16, the firm then sought zoning variances from the ZBA in order to continue the kennel’s operation at the property.

It the lawsuit, the firm claims that the ZBA acted illegally, arbitrarily, unreasonably, and in abuse of its discretion, exceeding its legal powers in rejecting the application.

The ZBA’s decision was improper because a hardship exists, justifying the approval of the ZBA application, according to the court appeal. That topographic hardship involves the presence of a steep slope on the site, resulting in the positioning of a barn on the site less than 100 feet away from a property line, according to the court papers. There is no other spot on the property where that barn could be located, according to the documents.

“The denial of the variance effectively forces the closing of the business and the sale of the property for far less than its fair market value,” according to the plaintiff.

Through the lawsuit, Camp Seawatch asks that a judge reverse the ZBA’s decision and order the ZBA to approve the application for zoning variances, among other relief, including attorney’s fees.

The ZBA held a public hearing on the Seawatch Kennels application on November 4. At that session, the application drew comments from two adjacent property owners.

An attorney representing an adjacent Hattertown Road property owner, in opposing the Seawatch ZBA application, stated that the kennel violates the zoning regulations by exceeding the level of activity allowed by the zoning rules.

Also, an adjacent Castle Meadow Road resident opposed the application, citing noise issues created by barking dogs at the kennel.

On December 2, after reviewing the application, the ZBA voted to reject it, deciding that, “there has been a long history of expansion of [a] nonconforming use and [it] continues to expand, and the evidence shows that.”

Also, “[The] hardship was not shown as required under Connecticut statutes,” according to ZBA records.

Legally allowed “nonconforming uses” are current land uses that were in existence before local zoning took effect in 1958, but do not conform to the zoning regulations.