Rest in Peace? State Supreme Court Issues Ruling on Backyard Burial Case

A recent Connecticut Supreme Court decision regarding a landowner’s right to bury her husband in the backyard highlights the intricacies of land use matters.

As the Hartford Courant recently reported, Elise Piquet, an 82 year old widow from Chester, Connecticut, has spent the last 8 years litigating the burial issue.  The case originated in 2004 after Piquet buried her husband’s remains in the backyard of her 8-acre property.  After a friend advised her that the private burial might not be allowed, Piquet asked for a clarification from the Department of Public Health and, subsequently, the town. 

Chester’s zoning enforcement officer issued Piquet a cease and desist order in 2005 for violating the town’s zoning regulations.  Piquet appealed the order, seeking a variance from the town’s zoning board of appeals.  Later in 2005, however, in a letter to Piquet, the zoning officer withdrew the order to allow Piquet time to remedy the violation.  Piquet then withdrew her appeal with board and sought a declaratory judgment asking the court to declare whether she had the right to use her property to bury her husband’s remains, and, upon her death, for her burial as well.

In a 4-3 decision, the Court ruled that Piquet had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies before appealing to the courts.  The Court said that even though the zoning officer withdrew the order, the letter constituted a “decision” that Piquet could have appealed to the town’s zoning board of appeals.