Questione giuridica chiave
Whether a municipality has standing to appeal a departmental decision rejecting a private building application.
Decisione estratta
No. Under § 12(2) VRG, the municipality lacked a protectable communal interest in appealing a refusal of the building permit.
Motivazione estratta
The expansion of municipal standing did not change the earlier rule that a municipality in building-police matters may appeal only where the departmental decision allows construction. If the department rejects the application, the decision remains within the applicant's choice to pursue or abandon the project, so no sufficiently protected communal interest exists. Mere defense of the municipality's own prior decision is not enough.