| (November 1, 2007. Manchester, NH.) - Sheehan Phinney attorney Rob Miller, representing Cumberland Farms, prevailed on Motions to Dismiss in two cases brought against Cumberland Farms by Bo Realty, LLC, a corporate entity that operates a competing Mobil service station and MobilMart on Lake Shore Road in Gilford, New Hampshire.
Bo Realty, LLC, first challenged the Gilford Planning Board's approval of the Cumberland Farms project on the grounds that the project involved the use of "subsurface" tanks and transmission lines in violation of local regulation. Attorney Miller challenged Bo Realty's legal standing to bring the claim, and also argued that the question of whether Cumberland Farms' fuel system was "subsurface" was preempted by federal and state law. Belknap County Superior Court Judge Larry Smukler agreed, and dismissed Bo Realty's lawsuit.
Bo Realty subsequently challenged the Cumberland Farms project before the Gilford Zoning Board of Adjustment on substantially the same grounds. After the Zoning Board denied Bo Realty's claims, Bo Realty brought a subsequent lawsuit, again in the Belknap County Superior Court. Once again, Attorney Miller moved to dismiss Bo Realty's case, repeating his challenge to Bo Realty's legal standing and assertions of preemption, while adding the argument that the second case was now barred by the legal doctrine of collateral estoppel. Belknap County Superior Court Judge Larry Smukler again agreed with Attorney Miller's analysis, and threw out Bo Realty's second lawsuit, allowing Cumberland Farms to begin work on the project.
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.
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