In a strong endorsement of the planning powers of local towns, a superior court judge this week upheld Edgartown’s right to stop a Chappaquiddick resident from using a backyard “heliport” to fly to and from his property.

The Hon. Cornelius J. Moriarty, an associate justice of the superior court, upheld the town’s cease and desist order relating to the heliport and permanently enjoined the owner, William S. O’Connell, from using his property as a site for launching and/or landing helicopters.

Judge Moriarty’s decision fell in line with his comments during the hearing on the matter two weeks ago that “Katama Bay would be littered with fuselages” if the legal arguments advanced on Mr. O’Connell’s behalf were to prevail.

“Under your theory,” he told Thomas C. Grassia, counsel for Mr. O’Connell, “anyone could land anywhere in Edgartown.”

Indeed, the O’Connell case — in a cross motion seeking summary judgment in his favor — argued that the town could not regulate helicopter landings by way of zoning bylaws, because they amounted to “an accessory use customarily incidental to the permitted use of the property.”

In other words, helicopters were analogous to cars — simply another means of getting to and from a property, which the town could not restrict.

Mr. O’Connell’s attorneys also argued the prohibition was unconstitutional.

But the arguments didn’t fly, and now, neither will Mr. O’Connell — at least not to and from his Chappy property.

The history of the case goes back more than two years, to September 2006, when Mr. O’Connell, through his business, acquired a one-acre lot at 18 Sandy Point Road.

The land had previously been part of an eight-acre subdivision which later involved plans to construct three affordable homes. Mr. O’Connell and other nearby landholders fought the housing plan, arguing the area was environmentally sensitive.

Then after buying a lot which adjoined his existing one-acre site, Mr. O’Connell proceeded to clear-cut a 100 by 106-foot area of the property.

A wind sock was put up, along with a sign saying “heliport”, which bore a picture of a chopper bearing the tail number of his aircraft, N406DK.

In June 2007, Mr. O’Connell notified the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission that he intended to use the site for only his private use and that there would be an estimated 25 takeoffs and landings per year.

The problem was, he did all this either unaware or heedless of Edgartown’s R-120 residential zoning, which prohibits such use of the property. As Judge Moriarty noted in his decision: “Nowhere is a private landing strip, heliport or helipad listed as a permitted use in the R-120 district.”

On July 27, 2007 Leonard Jason Jr., the Edgartown zoning officer, issued a cease and desist order, directing Mr. O’Connell not to use the site for his helicopter and allowing him 30 days to appeal the order to the zoning board of appeals.

He did not do that.

On August 10 lawyers wrote back to Mr. Jason saying Mr. O’Connell had not yet used the helipad, and that he had been advised by them “not to exercise any rights which he might have to land an aircraft on his property.”

A month later the lawyers wrote again, acknowledging zoning ordinances appeared to prohibit a heliport, and saying he did not intend to use it as a heliport, just for “occasional landing and taking off.”

Mr. Jason responded saying occasional landing or taking off was not permitted either. He offered another 30 days for Mr. O’Connell to appeal.

Again he did not appeal the cease and desist order, and in October of that year, his helicopter landed on the property.

The town went to court to seek an injunction to back its cease and desist order.

Several other factors outside the scope of the court case, added to the interest of the public.

The first was the fact that Mr. O’Connell fought to protect the land from development on alleged conservation grounds before he clear-cut it.

The second came midway through the case, when Mr. O’Connell did actually litter Vineyard waters with a helicopter fuselage — although the crash happened not in Katama Bay, but outside the entrance to Lake Tashmoo.

On June 21 he was at the controls, with his brother, two women and two dogs aboard, when his chopper plunged into the ocean about 1,000 yards from shore, while on approach to the Vineyard airport. It was a bright, clear day, and no distress call went out before it went down.

The third factor was that Mr. O’Connell had previously been involved in a tragic accident on the Vineyard. In July 2002, a friend was killed by the propellers of his 47-foot cigarette boat Thunder Enlightening. Mr. O’Connell was charged with motor boat homicide, and later placed on six months’ probation.

In the case at hand this week Judge Moriarty pointedly noted Mr. O’Connell’s failure to follow well-established rules for appeal. “[When] an aggrieved party fails to avail himself of the opportunity to appeal action taken by an administrative agency, it cannot later challenge the validity of the order . . . To allow them to challenge the propriety of the order as a defense to the enforcement action would simply permit an end run around the required appellate process . . . The appropriate method to challenge a cease and desist order is to timely appeal to the ZBA,” he wrote.

And the judge gave short shrift to the O’Connell argument on unconstitutionality.

“The defendants’ position is simply wrong,” he wrote.

The judge allowed the town’s motion for summary judgment, declared the cease and desist order valid and enforceable, ordered Mr. O’Connell to be permanently enjoined from landing his helicopter on his land, and denied the cross motion.

Edgartown town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport welcomed the decision.

“This is a victory for the town and the neighborhood and hopefully represents the end of an unfortunate history of litigation relating to the property at Sandy Road,” he said, adding:

“The message should be loud and clear: no helicopter landings on private property in Edgartown.”

Mr. O’Connell’s attorney, Mr. Grassia, said he had not yet studied the decision and could not say whether it would be appealed.