Joray Road still open but Conde will appeal

SHARON — In a judgment handed down on Wednesday, June 16, U.S. District Judge Alfred Covello ruled against Sharon resident Pilar Conde in her lawsuit against the town.

Attorney Barrie Goldstein, who represents Conde, said June 29 that her client plans to appeal the decision.

Conde and her husband, Alfonso Lledo Conde, bought property at 124 West Woods Road in 2003.

She filed a lawsuit against the town in July 2008 after the town made her take down a gate located on her property.

After she purchased the property on West Woods Road, Conde had constructed a driveway from the road to her house.

The gate blocked off a recreational easement on her property over Joray Road. The road was overgrown with vines and impassable until she cleared it, Conde claimed.

In July 2007, First Selectman Malcolm Brown, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit along with former Selectman Tom Bartram and Selectman John Mathews, received two complaints from Sharon residents who said they couldn’t access the path because of Conde’s gate.

The passway alongside the gate was only wide enough for horses to pass through in single file. And it was not wide enough for any vehicles, including horse carts.

Conde claimed she wanted the gate to keep vehicles from trespassing on her property; she had called the state police once already when a vehicle drove up to her house in the middle of the night.

“There is no question that Conde maintains an interest in her property,� Covello wrote. “The question here, however, is whether she has a constitutionally protected right to construct a barrier, affecting the use of the town’s easement.

“The question is whether, absent the defendants’ failure to hold a hearing on Conde’s request to construct the gate, her request would have been granted. The court concludes that Conde has failed to produce evidence sufficient to establish that this would have been the case.�

Brown and Bartram hailed the decision.

“About the only comment I can make is that I’m pleased with the judge’s decision,� Brown said.

“I am pleased with the way the judge saw the case,� Bartram said.

Mathews, who is the only selectman still sitting on the Board of Selectman, would not comment on the case’s outcome.

Conde’s attorney, Barrie Goldstein, e-mailed a statement on behalf of her client to The Lakeville Journal.

“Sharon’s Board of Selectmen and the District Court have chosen to ignore that it was never our intent to block or interfere with the use of the easement by the people of Sharon, but only to protect our property from trespassing vehicles which are not allowed by the terms of the easement,� Goldstein wrote.

“Judge Covello’s decision reflects the worrying tendency to favor the establishment over the rights and liberties of the individual. The town’s attorney recommended a settlement in our favor indicating the strength of our case and issues such as the town liability and maintenance remain.�