Building Restriction Upheld

To protect the drinking water of a section of Edgartown, Massachusetts, from contamination, the town's board of health adopted a regulation prohibiting the construction of guest houses in the area. The Hamels owned a four‐bedroom house located on a 2 acre (0.8‐ha) lot in that area. They wished to build a guest house with its own septic tank system. They sought a declaration that the regulation against guest houses was a usurpation by the board of the zoning power vested by state law exclusively in the town inhabitants. The trial court ruled against them. The appellate court said state law granted health boards the authority to make reasonable health regulations that are general in application. The court said the board's regulation here was “solidly connected to the maintenance of safe drinking water.” The court observed, “Insofar as those regulations touched on land use, that impact was a byproduct of the primary purpose of limiting wastewater flow.” Thus, the court concluded the regulation was validly adopted by the board.