Plaintiff Antranig Manasian ("Manasian"), as Trustee of 1843 Realty Trust, filed an unverified Complaint of February 19, 2010, pursuant to G.L. c. 40A, ยง17, appealing a decision of Defendant Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Falmouth (the "ZBA"), which granted a variance (the "Variance") to Defendant Marigoula Troubalos ("Troubalos") (together, "Defendants") for the construction of a single family home with less than required front yard setback. A case management conference was held on April 26, 2010. Troubalos filed her Motion for Summary Judgment on June 30, 2011, together with supporting memorandum, Statement of Material Facts, and Appendix containing Affidavits of John P. Doyle and Michael J. Markoff, Esq. On July 1, 2011, Manasian filed his Motion for Summary Judgment, together with supporting memorandum, Statement of Facts, and Appendix containing the Affidavits of Antranig Manasian, Douglas C. Azarian, and Jack K. Merrill, Esq. On July 28, 2011, Troubalos filed her Opposition, together with a Statement of Additional Material Facts, and Supplemental Appendix containing the Affidavits of Rita Klapes and John Corrway. On July 28, 2011, Manasian filed his Opposition. A summary judgment hearing was held on August 1, 2011, and a decision ("Decision 1") was issued on November 22, 2011, in which this court found that it had subject matter jurisdiction over the Complaint, and that Manasian's alleged harm of property devaluation due to an obstructed view of his property to and from Nathan S. Ellis Highway was a cognizable harm protected by the Falmouth Zoning Bylaw. This court could not, however, make a determination of whether the harm was particularized to Manasian or whether the impaired views to and from Manasian Property (defined, infra) were "de minimis."
A pre-trial conference was held on April 4, 2012, and a site view and trial at the Falmouth District Court was held on July 23, 2012. After Manasian testified and rested his case, Troubalos argued an oral motion for a directed verdict, which this court did not act on at that time. Troubalos filed her Post-Trial Brief on September 24, 2012. Manasian filed his Post-Trial Brief on September 26, 2012, and the matter was taken under advisement.
Testimony at trial for Manasian was given by Antranig Manasian (Plaintiff). Testimony for Defendants was given by James Weaver (engineer), Priscilla Geraghty ("Geraghty") (realtor), Tom Bunker (surveyor), and Rita Klapes (daughter of Troubalos). Twenty-eight exhibits were submitted into evidence, some in multiple counterparts. A decision of today's date has been issued ("Decision 2"). In accordance with Decision 1 and Decision 2, it is hereby:
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that this court has subject matter jurisdiction over the Complaint.
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that Manasians's alleged harm is a cognizable harm protected by the Town of Falmouth Zoning Bylaw.
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that Manasian does not have standing to challenge a variance issued to Troubalos for front yard setback (the "Variance") based on view.
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that Manasian has not satisfied his burden to show (1) any harm from the Variance relating to loss of view to and from 28 Nathan S. Ellis Highway ("Manasian Property"), (2) any harm from the Variance relating to diminution in value of Manasian Property, and (3) if there were any harm, it was particularized to him.
By the Court. (Sands, J.)
ANTRANIG MANASIAN, TRUSTEE OF 1843 REALTY TRUST vs. THE TOWN OF FALMOUTH and MATTHEW J. MCNAMARA, DENNIS MURPHY, PATRICIA FAVULLI, RONALD H. ERICKSON AND KENNETH H. FOREMAN, as they constitute the FALMOUTH ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS, and MARIGOULA TROUBALOS