A Connecticut town is suing its own board of appeals and a local cancer charity over brick pavers.

According to news reports, John Ellis, a former Major League Baseball player, created the nonprofit Connecticut Cancer Foundation to provide economic assistance and financial aid to cancer patients and their families. As part of the construction of the facility, a local landscaping company donated $35,000 in materials and labor to install a baseball diamond-shaped patio that features bricks engraved with names of those battling cancer.

In the original plans, the diamond was supposed to be grass. The foundation asked for, but was denied, a special exception because the pavers did not meet the zoning commission's regulations.

"They do not consider it landscaping, that’s part of the problem. So, grass is landscaping, pavers are not," said Jane Ellis, the foundation’s executive director.

The foundation appealed the zoning commission’s decision to the Zoning Board of Appeals and a special exception was granted. Yet, the city claims the board did not have the authority to give the approval.

"Now the town, the zoning commission, is suing their own board of appeals and a charity for pavers," Ellis said. She said the commission is telling them to dig the bricks up and remove them.

"I am not afraid of a little fight, and this is minor to me compared to the families that I see all the time and the children battling cancer. This is ridiculous, and I feel sorry for these people who voted no. I really do… And I was really hopeful that the five people sitting on that commission…if they had ever experienced cancer, or knows someone who has gone through this battle, that I didn’t understand how they could not vote to approve. I really was so disheartened when they decided 4-1 to deny," Ellis added.

—Source: wtnh.com