Property Owner v. Neighbor Regarding Building Setback Violation

A property owner sued a neighbor, seeking to have a newly constructed structure demolished, alleging it violated established setback rules which had been codified in a municipal regulation concerning building permits, but the lower court dismissed the claim finding the regulation was not applicable to the specific situation as it concerned the construction of a new building on a plot previously occupied by a structure that was partially destroyed by fire, which the court interpreted as not constituting a "new building" under the regulation. The high court quashed the lower court's decision, reasoning that the municipal regulation clearly applied to any building erected on the plot, regardless of whether it replaced a prior structure, and therefore the neighbor's construction, which failed to respect the required distance from the boundary line, was unlawful and subject to demolition.