Judge: Sylvia must comply with property rules, regulations

BELMONT — State Rep. Michael Sylvia been barred from living at his Farrarvile Road property until he brings the premises into compliance with local and state zoning and building regulations, a judge has ruled.

Superior Court Judge James D. O’Neill III on Thursday issued an injunction prohibiting Sylvia from occupying a converted garage and a recreational vehicle on the property until he obtains all necessary permits. The judge further barred him from using any “water appliance or fixture” until he installs a proper septic system.

The town of Belmont took Sylvia to court in August 2018, alleging that he had been living on the property at 216 Farrarville Road for several years in violation of the town’s zoning ordinance and local building codes.

Further, the town said there is no record of a working septic system on the property. The previous system was damaged in a 2009 fire which occurred before Sylvia bought the property.

O’Neill also ordered Sylvia to pay the town’s legal fees, but he withheld imposing the $275-a-day civil fine, which the town wanted Sylvia to be ordered to pay.

Sylvia moved off the property last fall, after the town filed the suit, and since then has been living in an apartment on Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3). However, he still claims the Farrarville Road property as his official address.

Sylvia on Friday declined to comment, saying, “I’m going to see my lawyer this afternoon.”

“We are gratified that the judge understood our position and agreed with it,” Belmont’s attorney, Laura Spector-Morgan, said.

During the judge-only trial in October, Sylvia, who acted as his own attorney, argued that zoning and building codes were only intended to apply to public buildings.

O’Neill rejected that notion, saying that state law says all buildings are subject to building and fire codes, and that the statutes “do not distinguish between public and private structures.”

“Evidence and arguments … demonstrate that the defendant believes his property is not subject to the various rules and regulations cited by the town,” O’Neill wrote in stating the rationale for issuing the permanent injunction.

Sylvia is part of the Free State movement whose members advocate pursuing the maximum freedoms of life, liberty, and property. In an entry on his blog posted Friday, the day after O’Neill’s ruling was issued, Sylvia wrote, “If one is truly an owner, there is no need to ask for permission to use that which is owned. To be required to seek permission to use one’s own property, such as applying for a building permit, is contrary to our right of holding property.”

O’Neill also disagreed with Sylvia’s contention that the town waited too long to bring the suit against him and that the suit was brought in retaliation for Sylvia’s support of the Belknap County budget, of which the Belmont selectmen were critical.

The judge noted that the selectmen had been apprised of the suspected violations on Sylvia’s property years before he became the chairman of the Belknap County Delegation — the body that sets the county budget. Moreover, O’Neill said, Sylvia offered no evidence at the trial to support his claim that the town filed a punitive suit “for political purposes.”

While O’Neill held off imposing fines against Sylvia, he did so temporarily, meaning there is the potential they could be imposed in the future.

“The civil penalties are held in abeyance pending further review and full compliance with this order,” O’Neill wrote.

Spector-Morgan said that, if Belmont had to go back to court in the future on a contempt motion, then the civil penalties could be awarded at that time.