Pascale v. Board of Zoning Appeals

On April 22, 1960, the plaintiff applied for, and the building inspector granted, a permit to erect a two-story four-family house on premises owned by the plaintiff at 394 and 398 Lexington Avenue in New Haven. The building is in a residence B zone. See New Haven Zoning Ordinance 1013 (1958); New Haven Code 32-44 (1962). The regulations require that in such a Zone there be two side yards aggregating at least fifteen feet in width and that neither be less than seven feet wide. New Haven Zoning Ordinance 1023 (1958); New Haven Code 32-27 (1962). The side yards adjacent to the plaintiff's building are eight feet and nine feet four inches, respectively. There is a separate means of ingress and egress to each of the two second-floor apartments by a series of steps and risers. These steps are adjacent to, and at right angles to, the outside of the building on one side, and each series leads upward to a landing outside a door to an apartment. They have railings but are uncovered. The inspector's final approval of the building was given on December 20, 1960. Mrs. Vito Cuozzo, a defendant, owns the house and lot adjoining the side yard into which the steps project. On January 10, 1961, she appealed to the defendant board from the decision of the building inspector, claiming that the steps violated the side-yard requirement of the regulations. On February 7, 1961, the board, after a hearing, sustained her appeal and ordered the plaintiff to correct the violation. The plaintiff appealed to the Court of Common Pleas, which overruled the board. Mrs. Cuozzo has appealed from the judgment.