Magistrate declines finding in 1316 B Road manure case; town to renotice or pursue irreversible violation route

Town staff asked the special magistrate Sept. 8 for a finding of fact that manure had been placed at 1316 B Road, but the magistrate declined to issue a finding because the town’s notice gave respondents a compliance date they met before the town reinspection. The town and magistrate agreed the violation had occurred earlier, but the magistrate said, as written, the notice did not support a post-deadline finding of violation.

Code Compliance Officer John Suarez presented photos and said piles of manure were observed on the property as early as Nov. 22, 2024. Suarez returned Aug. 25, 2025 with the property owner, who showed him that the manure had been removed; Suarez indicated he had not re-inspected after the Sept. 2 compliance deadline. The town asked for a finding of violation and requested a $500-per-day fine that would begin on or after Sept. 8 if violations recurred.

Special Magistrate Sandy Barnard said the town’s notice specified a date by which the respondent had to comply; because the town’s records showed compliance before that date, she could not issue a legally defensible finding of violation based on the notice as drafted. She advised the town that if it wished to proceed it could re-notice the matter using the town’s “irreparable/irreversible” finding language or otherwise adjust the notice timeline and bring the case back.

Town staff said they would renotice or rewrite the notice to pursue an irreparable-violation finding if appropriate. No fine or administrative order was entered at this hearing; the magistrate pulled the matter from today’s docket for possible future notice and hearing.