Board's denial of travel stop permits upheld by Superior Court.

Byline: Correy E. Stephenson

The Hopkinton Zoning Board of Review's denial of applications for special use and aquifer protection permits for a company seeking to build a "travel stop" should be affirmed, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores proposed developing a parcel of land in Hopkinton as a travel stop for passenger vehicles and tractor-trailer trucks. The town issued three zoning certificates that required Love's to obtain a special use permit and an aquifer protection permit for the property.

Following a public hearing, the Zoning Board of Review denied both permit applications. Love's appealed, arguing that the board misconstrued the ordinance at issue and the town's comprehensive plan.

Judge Melanie Wilk Thunberg affirmed the board's denial after finding that a travel stop is not a permitted use under the town's ordinance and that the board did not overstep its bounds with regard to the aquifer protection permit.

"As the district use table does not list a travel stop, a travel plaza, a travel center, or a truck stop as a permitted use, the Court concludes that the Board's denial of the special-use permit was not in violation of constitutional provisions," she wrote.

Addressing the aquifer protection permit, she said the board did not err in its decision despite the fact that a relevant well was not listed on the town's map.

Neither Westerly attorney Kelly M. Fracassa, who represented Love's, nor Todd J. Romano of Providence, who represented the Zoning Board of Review, responded to a request for comment on the case.

Travel stop proposed

Located in a manufacturing zone of Hopkinton, the parcel of land was bounded by Route 3, Interstate Route 95, a state-owned park-and-ride, and another unimproved parcel.

Love's proposal for development of the property as a travel stop included the installation of a 24-hour facility with a restaurant, gift shop, restrooms and a fuel-filling station. To accommodate the proposed uses, the site would contain auto parking spaces and tractor-trailer stalls, as well as the installation of five underground storage tanks.

[box type="shadow" align="alignright" width="325px"]CASE: Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores, Inc., et al. v. Scalise, et al., Lawyers Weekly No. 61-007-20 (26 pages)

COURT: Superior Court

ISSUE: Was a zoning board of review decision denying the applications for a special use permit and an aquifer protection permit arbitrary and capricious, or in...