Opinion ID: 2056507
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Maryland and Prince George's County Specifically

Text: Maryland zoning and planning enabling statutes, enacted by our General Assembly, provide for comprehensive plans. [11] Non-charter counties and municipalities with zoning and planning powers are governed by Article 66B of the Maryland Code (1957 & 2003 Repl.Vol. & Supp.2009) generally. Some provisions of Art. 66B, however, also apply to charter counties, such as Prince George's County. [12] For example, § 1.04(a) provides that a charter county shall enact, adopt, amend, and execute a comprehensive plan. The section also lists the required elements for the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan shall include a transportation element, a mineral resources plan, a water resources plan, recommendations for land development regulations to implement the comprehensive plan, and a sensitive areas element. Id. § 1.04(b). The county is charged with ensuring the implementation of the comprehensive plan through zoning and other land use regulations, including subdivision ordinances and regulations. Id. § 1.04(f). Section 3.01 of Art. 66B addresses the adoption of a comprehensive plan by noncharter counties and municipalities (§ 3.01 is not applicable to charter counties. See § 1.03). The plan shall [s]erve as a guide to public and private actions and decisions to insure the development of public and private property in appropriate relationships.. . . Id. § 3.05(a)(2). Section 3.05 describes the plan and its required elements. [13] Any regulations adopted by the local legislative body shall be adopted: (1) in accordance with the plan. Id. § 4.03(a)(1). Montgomery and Prince George's Counties receive additional and special statutory treatment with regard to zoning and planning in Article 28 of the Md.Code. In Montgomery and Prince George's Counties (charter counties), the Commission is authorized, at the direction of the County Council, sitting as the District Council, to create a general plan for the entire Regional District. Art. 28, § 7-108(a)(1)(i). [14] The general plan shall contain the Commission's recommendations for development in the regional district. Id. § 7-108(a)(2). The District Council may direct the Commission to prepare the general plan based on studies and considerations of, among others, existing and forecasted population growth, development, transportation needs, housing needs and demands, and transportation needs. Id. § 7-108(a)(3). The District Council also may provide [t]hat the Commission shall consider various alternative concepts of growth or development in preparing the general plan. . . . Id. § 7-108(a)(4)(i). The purpose of the general plan is guiding and accomplishing a coordinated, comprehensive, adjusted, and systematic development of the regional district, the coordination and adjustment of this development with public and private development of other parts of the State of Maryland and of the District of Columbia, and the protection and promotion of the health, safety, morals, comfort and welfare of the inhabitants of the regional district. Id. § 7-110. As part of the countywide general plan, Article 28, § 7-108(b) provides that, to the extent necessary and feasible, the Commission shall adopt a map of the county, dividing the county into planning areas, subject to the approval of the District Council. The Commission shall adopt, and, from time to time, amend and revise, a local master plan for each planning area. . . Id. § 7-108(b)(1)(iii). Master plans differ from General Plans in that [m]aster plans govern a specific, smaller portion of the County and are often more detailed in their recommendations than the countywide General Plan as to that same area. Garner v. Archers Glen Partners, Inc., 405 Md. 43, 48 n. 5, 949 A.2d 639, 642 (2008). The District Council may provide that the local master plan may include recommendations for zoning, staging of development and public improvements, and public services relative to the implementation of the plan. . . . Id. § 7-108(b)(1)(iv). The District Council may also provide that a local master plan shall be based upon and include in greater detail, but need not be limited to, the same factors, elements, and conditions as contained in the general plan. . . . Id. § 7-108(b)(1)(vi). Furthermore, the District Council may provide that the local master plan or any amendment thereto shall be, upon adoption by the Commission and approval by the appropriate district council, an amendment to the general plan if so designated by that district council. Id. § 7-108(b)(2). The District Council for Prince George's County and the Commission, in reliance on the applicable statutory provisions, have created both local master plans and a general plan. We next shall recount the plans that bear on the subject property of this case.