Gagne v. Lewiston Crushed Stone Company, Inc.
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1976-12-10 · cited 26×
This case concerns a dispute over a building permit issued by Lewiston's building inspector to Lewiston Crushed Stone Company for renovations on a split-zoned lot, which plaintiffs claimed violated the local zoning ordinance by expanding a nonconforming use into a residential zone. Plaintiffs sought collateral judicial review in Superior Court to revoke the permit and order removal of the construction without first appealing the inspector's decision to the zoning board of appeals. The court decided to sustain the defendant company's appeal, reversing the summary judgment for plaintiffs and dismissing their claims for bypassing the required administrative process. The core reasoning was that established principles of zoning review, as clarified in Keating v. Zoning Board of Appeals, mandate that parties exhaust direct appeals to the zoning board before seeking judicial review, and the ordinance's lack of a specified appeal deadline or other factors raised by plaintiffs did not justify an exception for collateral attack.