Michael Adams et al. v. Town of Brunswick et al., 2010 ME 7

Summary

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a judgment upholding the determination that leasing a house divided into two apartments to eleven Bowdoin College students constituted an allowable two-household dwelling rather than a prohibited boarding house under the Brunswick Zoning Ordinance. The Court also held that the Zoning Board of Appeals had jurisdiction to review the code enforcement officer's advisory determination. The Neighbors' separate argument concerning nonconforming use and lot-density requirements was not preserved for appellate review.

Holdings

1. The Zoning Board of Appeals had jurisdiction because the CEO issued an appealable determination regarding a proposed future use, rather than exercising unreviewable prosecutorial discretion by declining to enforce an existing violation.
2. The proposed use was an allowable two-household dwelling, not a prohibited boarding house, because each apartment provided independent facilities for a group living together as a single housekeeping entity and the tenants were collectively responsible for the entire apartment's rent.
3. The court declined to consider the Neighbors' argument that the two-apartment use violated current lot-density requirements because the argument was not presented initially to the CEO and therefore was not preserved for appellate review.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Zoning Board of Appeals had jurisdiction to review the CEO's determination concerning the proposed use.
2. Whether leasing two apartments to groups of unrelated Bowdoin College students constituted an allowable two-household dwelling or a prohibited boarding house under the Brunswick Zoning Ordinance.
3. Whether the proposed division of the property into two apartments violated current lot-density requirements and was not a lawful nonconforming use, despite the argument not having been raised before the CEO.

Disposition

affirmed