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07/26/2017 09:00 AMThe Madison Land Conservation Trust (MLCT) and a Madison resident have ended up on opposing sides of a courtroom after a lengthy dispute over a piece of property along the Hammonasset River. The MLCT is seeking restoration of one of its open-space parcels that was encroached on by a neighbor.
The Madison Land Conservation Trust, founded in 1964, is a non-profit organization and one of the oldest land trusts in the country. Run by a volunteer board, the trust oversees close to 1,700 acres of woodlands and wetlands across the town and maintains the nearly 35 miles of trail on the land.
According to the MLCT, in late spring 2016 a Madison wetlands enforcement officer noticed tree clearing and brush removal along the Hammonasset River near Creamery Lane. It was then determined that local homeowner Anthony Suppa had clear-cut part of his lot and had crossed on to 80 to 100 feet of land trust land.
A notice of violation was issued and the two parties appeared before the Inland Wetlands Commission on multiple occasions. However, according to a MLCT press release, a resolution of the issues could not be reached. Suppa offered to replace the trees with “immature trees,” according to MLCT, but the land trust objected.
“Given that the cost to restore each of the seven 80- to 110-year-old trees he cut down is about $28,000, you could easily be looking at over $100,000,” said MLCT board member and president of All Habitat Services David Roach.
Unable to come to some sort of resolution, the land trust filed an injunction suit in New Haven Superior Court.
“IRS regulations require land trusts to protect the lands they hold,” said MLCT President Michael Maloney. “We try very hard to resolve encroachment issues on a cooperative basis. On rare occasions diplomacy doesn’t work and we have to resort to more authoritative methods.”
MLCT attorney Keith Ainsworth said most lawsuits involving the land trust have been settled early in the litigation process, but this case is the first to be tried in court.
“Encroachments, which include anything from dumping leaves and brush on land trust land to sheds and other structures built across a property line to tree and brush clearing have happened many dozens of times, but most are relatively small and are worked out with a simple discussion or notification,” he said. “But the land trust has filed lawsuits on at least three other occasions where the homeowner cleared older trees that are very difficult to replace. In this particular neighborhood on Creamery Lane, there were two other encroachments involving tree clearing which were resolved last year through negotiation so that the area could be restored. Creamery Lane is on the Hammonasset River and some of the homeowners believe they can clear to the river, but the land trust owns a buffer parcel all along the river at that location.”
Ainsworth said he is optimistic about the outcome of the court.
“The land trust expects that the court will render a decision in its favor as the evidence proved that the trees and brush were clearly on land trust land,” he said. “The homeowner admitted cutting them, but he said he thought it was his land despite a survey map he had prepared a year before and concrete boundary markers he had installed. It appears that he wanted better river access.”
Attorney James J. Perito, who is representing Anthony Suppa, said the court filings provide a clear picture of his client’s side of the story.
“Suffice it to say, that this has been an unfortunate dispute arising from a mistake,” he said. “My client has attempted to resolve this, but to date an agreement has not been achievable so the court will have to make a decision.”
A decision is expected later this summer.