Arts
A Grafton County Superior Court judge is currently considering a lawsuit filed by Hanover merchants against the town that challenges the right of the College to operate Topside, the convenience store in Thayer Dining Hall.
The case, which began two and a half years ago, will not necessarily decide the fate of the College's convenience store, but could force Dartmouth to apply for an exception to the town zoning laws.
Dartmouth is not named in the suit against the town and was not asked to present briefs to the judge.
But the leader of the effort, Dartmouth Bookstore Manager Dave Cioffi, said he and other merchants filed the suit to try to curb the College's "creeping commercialism."
The College did not apply for zoning approval when it converted Topside two years ago from a cafeteria to a convenience store that rents videotapes, because administrators and legal consultants felt the renovations were within its rights, said Peter Johnson, the town's code administrator.
The town's zoning laws stipulate that merchants, in order to make renovations to their buildings or change the use of their space, must gain approval from the zoning board.
Cioffi said the suit is designed to "draw a line and straighten out the zoning ordinances.