Leo's Motors, Inc. v. Town of Manchester

In Leo's Motors, Inc. v. Town of Manchester, 158 Vt. 561, 564, 613 A.2d 196, 199 (1992), the Court reevaluated our interpretation of 4470(a)'s notice requirements in order to make allowances for the "informality that often typifies municipal proceedings" and the desire that "negligence or inadvertence of a municipal employee unrelated to the timeliness of the decisional process ought not defeat the strong policies in favor of phasing out nonconforming uses." In Leo's Motors, Inc., the plaintiff failed to receive notice of the zoning board's decision within the statute's 45-day period because a municipal employee neglected to put the decision in the mail. The Court did not think it appropriate to award the mandatory deemed-approval remedy when the failure to send a copy of the decision was inadvertent and not the result of any official policy or purpose to withhold notice.