Donald Gould v. Town of Monkton

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of Donald Gould’s challenges to Monkton’s Unified Planning Document zoning regulations. The court held that statutory challenges to the enactment of municipal zoning regulations fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the environmental division, and that adoption of the regulations was a legislative rather than adjudicative act. The court also held that Gould had no constitutionally protected property interest in compliance with the zoning-enactment procedures or in continued application of the prior zoning regulations.

Holdings

1. The environmental division has exclusive jurisdiction over claims arising under 24 V.S.A. chapter 117, including claims challenging the procedural enactment of municipal planning laws; the civil division therefore lacked jurisdiction over Gould's statutory challenge.
2. A landowner has no constitutionally protected property interest in strict compliance with statutory procedures used to adopt generally applicable zoning regulations.
3. Gould had no constitutionally protected property interest in continued application of the 1978 zoning regulations because he filed his permit application after the UPD took effect; a permit application vests rights only in the regulations in existence when a full and complete application is filed and cannot retroactively vest rights in prior regulations.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Vermont Superior Court's civil division had jurisdiction over a declaratory judgment action challenging the statutory enactment procedures for municipal zoning regulations under 24 V.S.A. chapter 117.
2. Whether a landowner has a constitutionally protected property interest in strict governmental compliance with statutory procedures for adopting zoning regulations.
3. Whether a landowner has a constitutionally protected property interest in continued application of prior zoning regulations based on development plans, reliance, or a permit application filed after new regulations took effect.

Disposition

affirmed