Dean Hatch Fights to Build New HOme

A year and a half ago, Dean Hatch almost lost his life. Unloading pipes from a truck, he was crushed when the 1,000 pound wall that doubles as a ramp for the loading bed fell on him. It was touch and go. Finally, it was a go. He lived, made it through surgery, and now lives at home.

For 150 years, Dean Hatch and his family have lived in the old farm house across from Dressels. Now he's looking for a variance in the zoning laws so he can tear down the old house and build a smaller, more accessible one. The problem: the area has been rezoned for business.

The Sentinel reports:

Now that Hatch is confined to a wheelchair, he needs a new place to live.

“This house is too old... it cannot be made 100 percent acceptable to me… I own three acres here. I want to build a new home. We've already gotten it surveyed, staked out, and we have plans for the new house…we are being held up because of zoning law issues at present,” said Hatch.

The location of Hatch’s home on Route 202 in Granby was rezoned by the town to business use, preventing him from building a more suitable home for him and his wife, Mary. Originally part of a much larger parcel, the farmhouse where Hatch currently resides, has been in his family for five generations.

“At one time it was 150 acres,” said Hatch.

Hatch said he is not ready give up the final three acres of the Hatch Farm.

“We are fighting with the town to try to get a variance…we’ve had two meetings with the town and my case has been continued,” said Hatch.

Hatch said he hopes that The Americans with Disabilities Act will provide him with the ammunition to win the battle to keep his property.

A letter sent to the Town of Granby’s attorney from the Stavros Center for Independent Living cites the American with Disabilities Act as a guarantee of Hatch’s right to build on his land: “…no qualified individual with a disability shall be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any public entity.”

--Mb