Opinion ID: 2347232
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Were the Cranes' rights extinguished by their delay?

Text: This case should not be confused with those in which a property owner contends that he has a vested right in an existing zoning classification or under an existing building permit, exemplified by Steuart Petroleum Co. v. Board of County Commr's, 276 Md. 435, 347 A.2d 854 (1975); County Council v. District Land, 274 Md. 691, 337 A.2d 712 (1975); Rockville Fuel & Feed Co. v. City of Gaithersburg, 266 Md. 117, 291 A.2d 672 (1972) and Ross v. Montgomery County, 252 Md. 497, 250 A.2d 635 (1969). The Cranes' rights were contractual and became vested by their conveyance as solidly as if they had entered into a contract with the City to sell the 4.6-acre parcel for $70,000.00. It is the law of this State that a municipality, acting through its duly-elected or appointed officials, becomes bound by its agreements so long as those agreements are for the public good, Williamsport v. Washington County Sanitary Dist., 247 Md. 326, 332, 231 A.2d 40, 44 (1967); City of Rockville v. Brookeville Turnpike Const. Co., 246 Md. 117, 129, 228 A.2d 263, 270 (1967). While they may not have acquired a right in perpetuity, they certainly had a right the life of which was only limited by reasonableness, 3 E. Yokley, Municipal Corporations § 436, at 8 (1958), a right which was neither extinguished nor attenuated by a lapse of nine years, primarily because from 1964 until at least 1971, the Cranes had no reason to suppose that their right was at hazard.