M.B.T. Construction Corp. v. Edwards

OPINION

SHEA, Judge.

This matter is before the Supreme Court on an appeal from a declaratory judgment entered in the Superior Court. The trial justice declared invalid a portion of the zoning code of the city of Newport governing nonconforming uses destroyed by fire. The city officials (the defendants) have appealed from that judgment. We affirm.

The plaintiff is the owner of a five-unit condominium located at 9V2 Narragansett Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island. In July of 1982 the property suffered a major fire leaving all five units uninhabitable. A major portion of the building was razed after the…