In re Appeal of Stratton Corporation

After the Uptegroves (defendants) petitioned to reclassify Kidder Brook, which ran along Stratton Corporation's (plaintiff) property, from Class B to the higher Class A water quality standard, the Vermont Water Resources Board conducted informal rulemaking notice-and-comment proceedings, weighing ten statutory public-interest factors before voting to reclassify the stream; Stratton, which held development permits and had long-term redevelopment plans for the area, argued the Board should have instead held a formal trial-type adjudicative hearing given the reclassification's impact on its specific property rights, and appealed after the superior court dismissed its petition.