(August 21, 2007. Manchester, NH.) - Sheehan Phinney Partner Rob Miller has successfully brokered a settlement for his Massachusetts-based clients, Dr. David B. and Diane Lovejoy and Gary and Adele Shanbar, in a longstanding dispute between the Lovejoys and Shanbars, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, and Developer James W. Powers, Inc.
The dispute arose nearly four years ago when the Lovejoys and the Shanbars purchased vacation property in Bethlehem in a subdivision that had not yet been built out. More than a year and a half after purchasing the land and building their homes, the Lovejoys and the Shanbars arrived at their properties to find substantial portions of their land parcels encumbered by a new, ex post facto conservation restriction imposed by the Department of Environmental Services due to the developer's disturbance of wetlands while completing the subdivision road.
Attorney Miller sued the developer on behalf of his clients, alleging breach of contract, fraud, misrepresentation and violation of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act, NH RSA 358-A. With discovery complete and the case headed for trial, progress made during three-way talks with the Department of Environmental Services led to a breakthrough and a creative settlement of the dispute. Pursuant to this settlement, the conservation easement and related set of deed restrictions imposed by DES were removed from the Lovejoys' and Shanbars' deeds, and the related demarcation of the new Conservation Area Boundary was removed from the Lovejoys' and Shanbars' properties. The Lovejoys' and Shanbars' other claims against James W. Powers, Inc. were resolved between the parties on confidential terms.
Attorney Miller is the Chair of Sheehan Phinney's Land Use Litigation Group, and has litigated dozens of zoning, planning, wetlands, conservation and development disputes before local land use boards, the New Hampshire state courts, the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Before joining Sheehan Phinney, Attorney Miller clerked for United States District Court Chief Judge Paul J. Barbadoro. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green is a regional business law firm with offices in Manchester, Concord and Lebanon, NH, and in Boston, MA. The firm provides a broad range of sophisticated legal services to businesses and institutions in traditional and emerging areas of the law. Its diverse client base includes local and regional organizations, as well as national and international businesses with interests in the Northeast. |
