Opinion ID: 2442854
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Miles Point Property

Text: The first parcel of land at issue in this case, consisting of seventy-two acres of undeveloped land, is owned by Respondent Miles Point Property, LLC, and is located in the Town of St. Michaels. The Miles Point property is designated as S-2 in the Talbot County Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan (the Plan). Properties designated as S-2 under the Plan are contemplated for improvements, extensions, or construction of shared sanitary facilities within three to five years following the date of adoption of the Plan and/or amendments or revisions thereto. On February 24, 2005, Miles Point, through the Town of St. Michaels, submitted an application to Talbot County to reclassify the property as S-1 under the Plan. This change would designate the property as having immediate priority status for the purposes of extending shared sanitary facilities to service development of the property. [4] Miles Point claims that it did not seek immediate installation of sewerage hook-ups (allocation) when making this request, but instead sought only to change the property's designation under the Plan. Talbot County interpreted Miles Point's application as requesting an allocation. On April 12, 2005, after the two reported incidents of sewage overflow occurring in April due to heavy rains and flooding, the Talbot County Council introduced Resolution No. 124 to amend the Plan per Miles Point's request. A public hearing on the resolution was held on May 10, 2005. The Council met on May 17, 2005, to evaluate the merits of the application, and ultimately decided against reclassification. On July 12, 2005, more than two months after the May sewage overflow, the Council adopted findings of fact relating to the resolution, and voted unanimously against the resolution. [5] Miles Point appealed the Council's decision to the Talbot County Board of Appeals. The Board considered the issue in a public hearing on December 5, 2005. On April 19, 2006, the Board issued a unanimous written decision dismissing the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The Board held that its power to hear appeals from Council decisions was circumscribed by authority granted to it by the Council, pursuant to Article 25A, Section 5 of the Maryland Code (the Express Powers Act), and that the Council had not specifically delegated review authority over the Plan (or requests to modify its terms) to the Board. The Board further held that it did not have such review authority under Section 502 of the Talbot County Charter (the Charter), which confers jurisdiction over appeals from executive, administrative, or adjudicatory orders. The Board held that the decision not to designate the Miles Point property as S-1 under the Plan was not such an order. Miles Point sought judicial review of the Board's decision in the Circuit Court for Talbot County, arguing that the Board did in fact have the authority to review the Council's decision. On August 8, 2008, the Circuit Court reversed the Board's decision, stating that although there was no separate enabling legislation specifically authorizing an appeal relating to the Plan, Section 502 of the Charter nonetheless conferred upon the Board the authority to hear such an appeal. On August 28, Talbot County timely appealed to the Court of Special Appeals from the Circuit Court's decision. The County argued that the Express Powers Act did not permit the Board to review the Council's decision on appeal, and that even if this were not the case, neither the Charter nor any other local law conferred specific jurisdiction on the Board.