MANSFIELD - A Fall River Superior Court judge has annuled a May 2005 zoning board of appeals ruling granting landscaping and buffering relief for a proposed West Mansfield retail-restaurant building.

After a two-day trial and viewing the property, Judge D. Lloyd MacDonald sided with abutters Michael and Katie Rae and Gregory and Diane Matoian in their consolidated appeal of the zoning decision for 428 Elm St., the site of the former West Mansfield Variety Store.

The Raes and the Matoians argued that a special permit granted in 2005 would reduce the landscaping and buffering to their homes. The Raes reside at 430 Elm St., and the Matoians reside at 3 Coach Road.

Residents Peter Jr. and Maryann DeTrolio proposed constructing West Mansfield Crossing, a 4,400-square-foot building, and subdividing it for a 24-seat restaurant and a retail store. The DeTrolios proposed razing the existing store, a 2,144-square-foot building they closed in 2003.

Peter DeTrolio serves on the zoning board. He recused himself from the vote on his plans. The DeTrolios proposed a 5-foot landscaped buffer - 10 feet less than Mansfield zoning requires - along their property line with the Raes and the Matoians.

The DeTrolios proposed a stockade fence and a line of evergreen trees along their boundary with the Raes, and a line of evergreen trees along the Matoians' boundary.

MacDonald ruled that reducing the buffer and replacing it with the evergreens wouldn't benefit the abutters as much as a "reasonably designed" 15-foot strip.