OAKDALE HOMEOWNERS CHALLENGE ZONING CHANGE

Montville — The owners of a house on the north shore of Oxoboxo Lake have filed a complaint in New London Superior Court challenging a town board's decision to allow smaller lot sizes on a neighboring property.

The Planning & Zoning Commission voted unanimously on June 13 to change the zoning designation for 45 Oakland Drive, a 10.7-acre lot on the on the north end of the lake, to allow for a smaller minimum lot size.

The change would allow the property's owner, Shawn Meaike, to subdivide the property into lots as small as 40,000 square feet, or 0.9 acres. The minimum lot size in the previous zoning designation mandated that individual lots must be at least 80,000 square feet, or 1.8 acres — twice as large.

The commission found that Meaike's request for a zoning change falls in line with the town's most recent development plan, and approved the zoning change, which was scheduled to go into effect July 3. That same day, John and Susan Wronowski — owners of the

Cross Sound Ferry that operates between New London and Long Island as well as the Block Island Ferry, Thames Towboat Co. and Thames Shipyard & Repair Co. in New London — filed an appeal of the decision, claiming that Oakland Drive isn't wide enough to support more houses and that the zone change doesn't correspond with Montville's Comprehensive Plan and the Plan of Conservation and Development.

The Wronowskis live on a 3-acre plot that abuts the eastern side of Meaike's property.

The town's Zoning Board of Appeals does not process challenges to zoning changes, so the decision is being contested in New London Superior Court.

New London law firm Tobin, Carberry, O'Malley, Riley & Selinger is representing the Wronoskis in their complaint.

Meaike and the Wronowskis could not be reached for comment.

Attorney Robert Tobin said Wednesday that Oakland Drive is too small to accommodate the additional homes that could be built on the lot after the zone change.

“You can barely pass through,” he said.

In the complaint filed July 3 in New London Superior Court, Tobin also argued that the decision was “illegal, arbitrary and capricious” because the commission relied on “erroneous, insufficient and/or misleading information provided by its staff and Meaike in reaching its decision.”