Somers settling lawsuits over rock removal
Mar. 8—SOMERS — The town is in the process of settling lawsuits after several years of disagreements over a local couple's excavation of rock from their property.
The conflict between town officials and Amy and Daniel Eastman led to two separate lawsuits and a dispute over a zoning citation pertaining to the couple's desire to remove more than 9,000 cubic yards of ledge rock from their residential properties at 40 and 42 Hallie Lane.
The Board of Selectmen on March 2 unanimously granted Town Attorney Carl Landolina authority to enter into a global settlement with the Eastmans on behalf of the town as discussed during an executive session earlier in the evening.
The monetary settlement will resolve three outstanding matters.
One matter involves a citation issued by the zoning enforcement officer against the Eastmans, claiming they were in violation of the town's zoning regulations by removing rock on their property without a special-use permit, and for which they were fined $42,000.
A lawsuit involved two cease and desist orders issued by the zoning enforcement officer, which the Eastmans appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The ZBA upheld the orders and the Eastmans challenged the ruling in Vernon Superior Court.
The Eastmans also filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Connecticut against the town, seeking damages and other relief for decisions that they say deprived them of their constitutional rights.
According to Landolina, both parties recently discussed a resolution of all matters as a global settlement.
At issue is a rock mass that crosses the property line between 40 Hallie Lane — a parcel with a 6,322-square-foot, single-family home on about 5.2 acres where the Eastman family lives — and 42 Hallie Lane, which is about 41 1/2 acres of land.
The Eastmans seek to expand the grassy area at the site after the rock is removed and make room for a garden and play area for their 10 children to use, according to their lawyer, Peter J. Zarella of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney, and Carpenter in Hartford.
After attempting to remove the rock from their property without a permit — the subject of the citation and cease and desist orders — the Eastmans in 2020 applied for, and received, a special-use permit to remove the ledge rock from their property.
As a condition of the Zoning Commission's approval of the permit, the Eastmans hired an independent consultant to do an analysis on how the rock would be sliced and removed.
Landolina told selectmen last week that the Eastmans eventually chose to have the rock hammered out, which Landolina said is the least intrusive method environmentally.
Landolina indicated that the town's insurer, Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency, would fund the settlement.
For more coverage of Somers and Enfield, follow Susan Danseyar on Twitter: @susandanseyar, Facebook: Susan Danseyar, reporter.
