Opinion ID: 2278305
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Testimony of Paul Solomon

Text: Moreover, Petitioners' argument regarding placement of both the SWM facility and interior access road is based principally upon the testimony of Paul Solomon, a former employee of the Baltimore County Office of Planning and Zoning. Mr. Solomon, according to his credentials, was involved intimately with the creation of the R.C. zones. Mr. Solomon testified before the CBA as an expert witness that, because the primary goal of the R.C. 2 zone was to preserve the land within that zoning district in order to maximize agricultural output, placement in the R.C. 2 zoning district of infrastructure improvements supporting land located in the R.C. 5 zone was inconsistent with that goal. When pressed on cross-examination, however, Mr. Solomon conceded that there was no specific reference in the BCZR to that effect. Rather, according to him, the conflict between the zoning regulations and the placement of the SWM facility in the R.C. 2 zone was implicit in that infrastructure may be placed in compliance with the zoning laws only when it is ancillary to a use permitted within that particular zone. The CBA, in rendering its decision affirming the Commissioner, was unpersuaded by, and rejected the testimony of, Mr. Solomon due to his inability to offer legal support for his contention. Because the Commissioner and CBA chose to discount Mr. Solomon's testimony in interpreting the zoning regulations, we defer to their expertise and ability to assess more directly how the witnesses testified. IV. We decline to Reach the Issue of Whether the SWM Facility, Under the Circumstances of this Case, is a Governmental Use Exempt From the BCZR Pursuant to Glascock v. Baltimore County . The parties' quarrel moves next to whether, pursuant to Glascock v. Baltimore County, 321 Md. 118, 581 A.2d 822 (1990), and its progeny, the SWM facility is a public improvement that qualifies as a public use exempt from regulation by the BCZR. The debated proposition is that the SWM facility, which is claimed to be an improvement to the Property required by the Baltimore County Code, will be constructed, and conveyed in-fee to the County for the purposes of public maintenance, and thus broadly serves the public by reduc[ing] as nearly as possible the adverse effects of stormwater runoff and [] safeguard[ing] life, limb, property and public welfare. Maryland Code (1982, 2007 Repl.Vol.), Environment Article, § 4-201. Petitioners argue that the SWM facility, regardless of whether it constitutes a public or private improvement, nevertheless is not a public facility exempt from the BCZR because it is a local facility which serves only the run-off from the proposed subdivision, rather than a regional facility broadly serving a greater public. The Commissioner, CBA and Court of Special Appeals accepted Respondents' argument, concluding that the SWM facility is a public improvement which serves the broad purpose of maintaining the public health, safety, and general welfare by establishing minimum requirements and procedures to control the adverse impacts associated with increased stormwater runoff. Baltimore County Code § 33-4-102. Because we conclude that there are no zoning impediments to the SWM facility, we need not address whether the Commissioner, CBA, and Court of Special Appeals were correct in concluding that the rule annunciated in Glascock, under the present circumstances, relieves the SWM facility from the requirements of the BCZR. We are compelled, however, to nevertheless discuss briefly the Glascock doctrine and the problems associated with applying it to the facts of the present litigation. A. The Rule of Glascock: A Local Government, When it Owns, Leases, or Otherwise Controls Property in that Locality and Puts the Property to Public Use, is Not Subject to its Own Zoning Laws, Absent an Explicit Legislative Provision Manifesting an Intent that the Local Government be Subject to those Laws. The concept that a local subdivision of State government generally is not subject to its own zoning laws, unless there is an explicit legislative provision which provides otherwise, may be traced in Maryland to Commissioners of Cambridge v. Henry, 263 Md. 370, 283 A.2d 415 (1971). In that case, the City of Cambridge sought to build, within city limits, a waterfront public park adjacent to a city-owned public marina. Henry, 263 Md. at 371, 283 A.2d at 416. After the permit application was reviewed, approved, and granted by the proper local authorities, several neighboring residents filed, in the Circuit Court for Dorchester County, a complaint aimed at enjoining the proposed construction. Henry, 263 Md. at 371-72, 283 A.2d at 416. The waterfront park, according to the neighbors, would violate applicable local zoning ordinances prohibiting commercial uses in the particular zoning district. Henry, 263 Md. at 372, 283 A.2d at 416. Our resolution of the case hinged on the fact that the applicable zoning ordinance provided specifically that, before any statutory right to redress was available through the judicial process, certain issues presented in the case, namely that construction of the park would impose immediate substantial and irreparable injury on the neighborhood, needed, in the first instance, to be addressed by the local Board of Appeals. Henry, 263 Md. at 373-74, 283 A.2d at 417. Because the claimant failed to follow those statutory procedures, i.e., bringing the complaint first before the Board of Appeals, we concluded that dismissal of the judicial action was appropriate. Id. In considered dicta, however, we explained for guidance that, when the appeal came before the Board, the Board would have to consider whether the City should be bound in the first place by its own zoning regulations. Henry, 263 Md. at 374, 283 A.2d at 417 ([G]enerally a governmental body that has enacted a zoning law is not itself bound by that law.) (citing Nehrbas v. Incorporated Village of Lloyd Harbor, 2 N.Y.2d 190, 159 N.Y.S.2d 145, 140 N.E.2d 241, 242 (1957)). The reasoning behind this principle was that, [i]n the very nature of things, a municipality must have the power to select the site of buildings or other structures for the performance of its governmental duties. Accordingly, it necessarily follows, a village is not subject to zoning restrictions in the performance of its governmental, as distinguished from its corporate or proprietary, activities. Id. (quoting Nehrbas, 159 N.Y.S.2d 145, 140 N.E.2d at 242). Six years after Henry, we were called upon, in Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. State, 281 Md. 217, 378 A.2d 1326 (1977), to determine whether Baltimore City could enforce against the State the City's zoning, building, and fire codes in order to prevent the construction by the State of a correctional facility on property, within city limits, leased by the State. According to the municipal zoning laws at the time, the owner of any land within the particular zoning district was required, before it could proceed with any plans to convert an existing structure into a correctional facility, to obtain a specific zoning approval, by ordinance, from the Mayor and Council. City of Baltimore v. State, 281 Md. at 223, 378 A.2d at 1329. In holding that the State was not required to obtain such an approval before commencing with its proposed conversion activities, we stated that it is a basic and long-standing principle of statutory construction that the State is not deemed to be bound by an enactment of the General Assembly unless the enactment specifically names the State or manifests a clear and indisputable intention that the State is to be bound. Id. Relying our earlier conclusions in State v. Milburn, 9 Gill 105, 118 (1850), which in turn quoted Justice Story, we reasoned that General Acts of the Legislature are meant to regulate and direct the acts and rights of citizens, and in most cases, the reasoning applicable to them applies with very different and often contrary force, to the government itself. It appears to me, therefore, to be a safe rule, founded in the principles of the common law, that the general words of a statute ought not to include the government, or affect its rights, unless that construction be clear and undisputable upon the text of the Act. City of Baltimore v. State, 281 Md. at 223-24, 378 A.2d at 1329. Because Maryland Code (1957, 1970 Repl.Vol.), Article 66B, §§ 2.01 to 2.13, the enabling act which granted to the City the power to enact zoning laws, did not manifest an intent that the State be bound by those laws, we concluded that Baltimore City lacked the authority to enforce against the State its zoning ordinances when the land was to be used for the benefit of the general public. City of Baltimore v. State, 281 Md. at 223, 224, 378 A.2d at 1329, 1330. In Board of Child Care of the Baltimore Annual Conference of the Methodist Church, Inc. v. Harker, we extended this rule to include in the exemption the State's agencies and instrumentalities. 316 Md. 683, 693, 561 A.2d 219, 224 (1989) (That the exemption from county zoning regulations accorded to the State under our holding in City of Baltimore v. State . . . extends to the State's agencies and instrumentalities is entirely manifest.). Turning to Glascock v. Baltimore County , the basis of Respondents' claim that the SWM facility would not be, in any event, subject to the BCZR, we were confronted with a situation where the County, as lessee of land owned by a local volunteer fire company, sought to construct in a Baltimore County resource conservation zone a 620 foot wireless communication tower. 321 Md. 118, 120, 581 A.2d 822, 823 (1990). The communication tower, a use permitted only by special exception in the zone, was intended to be utilized by the County as part of a countrywide governmental communication system serving principally as an emergency response system for the police and fire departments. Id. When the County failed to seek the requisite special exception, an adjacent property owner challenged on that basis the County's right to construct the tower. Id. We held that, as a territorial division[] of the State, created and organized for public political purposes connected with the administration of state government, and specially charged with the administration and superintendence of the local affairs of the community, the County enjoyed exemption from its zoning regulations, absent evidence of a contrary intent expressed there, when the proposed use was in furtherance of its governmental, as opposed to corporate or proprietary, functions. Glascock, 321 Md. at 122, 581 A.2d at 824 (citations omitted); see also Pan Am. Health Org. v. Montgomery County, 338 Md. 214, 226, 657 A.2d 1163, 1169 (1995) ([T]he common law provides that [the State] is not bound by local zoning ordinances unless the General Assembly clearly indicates a contrary intent. Local governments, as instrumentalities of the State, enjoy this same common-law immunity.) (citations omitted). Thus, we extended the common-law rule from City of Baltimore v. State, that a State enjoys governmental immunity from its own, and its municipalities', zoning laws, to include in the exemption the counties as political subdivisions of the State. Based on our belief that nothing could be more important than the potential savings of life of a police officer or a fire fighter, Glascock, 321 Md. at 121, 581 A.2d at 823, and in light of the fact that nothing in the BCZR or Maryland Code (1987 Repl.Vol.), Article 25A, § 5(X), the grant to Baltimore County of its power to enact zoning laws, evidenced an intent that the County be bound to its own regulations, we concluded that there was no obligation that the County pursue a special exception. Id. [35] B. The Assertion of Immunity Under Glascock in This Case is Problematic. The Circuit Court pointed out that the determination of whether an improvement to the development site required by the subdivision regulations constitutes a public use immune from the BCZR under the Glascock doctrine is governed not only by whether the facility is owned and operated by the government, but also whether its use is important in carrying out a government function. See Glascock, 321 Md. at 120, 581 A.2d at 823 (indicating the importance of adequate emergency communication equipment to public safety). The intermediate appellate court agreed with the relevant principles of law identified by the Circuit Court, but disagreed with their application to the facts of this case. There are two primary problems with applying Glascock to the present case. First is the problem with ownership of the SWM facility at the time the exemption determination was sought and made. We are unable to locate a Maryland case in which a private developer/landowner asserted successfully such an exemption from zoning laws. In the cases in which a the Glascock -type exemption was asserted successfully, the proponent, the developer if you will, was a governmental entity seeking to develop land which it owned or otherwise controlled at the time it proposed the establishment of the provocative use, facility, or structure. Compare Henry, 263 Md. at 371, 283 A.2d at 416 (proposed construction by the City of a waterfront public park on land adjacent to a city-owned public marina); City of Baltimore, 281 Md. at 223, 378 A.2d at 1329 (proposed construction by the State of a correctional facility on property leased by the State); Glascock, 321 Md. at 120, 581 A.2d at 823 (proposed construction by Baltimore County of a fire and police emergency communication tower on land leased by the County from the local volunteer fire department) with Harker, 316 Md. at 688, 561 A.2d at 222 ([N]o exemption exist[s] `from local zoning for privately owned land used by private organizations for functions governmental in nature' [when a non-profit corporation is providing child shelter services subject to governmental regulation]); Pan Amer. Health Org. v. Montgomery County, 338 Md. 214, 223, 657 A.2d 1163, 1167 (1995) ([T]he word `government' [in the common law principle espoused in City of Baltimore and Glascock ] refers only to the State of Maryland and its instrumentalities, not to all levels of government. [The] [Pan American Health Organization, a regional office of the World Health Organization,] is not part of and does not derive its existence from the State of Maryland.); Cassidy v. Baltimore County Board of Appeals, 218 Md. 418, 431-32, 146 A.2d 896, 903 (1958) (distinguishing between private undertakings and undertakings clothed with a public interest, and concluding that a special exception was warranted under the circumstances, thereby obviating the need to determine whether a privately owned public utility (BGE) was given preferential treatment by the local government); Creative Country Day School of Sandy Spring, Inc. v. Montgomery County Board of Appeals, 242 Md. 552, 219 A.2d 789 (1966) (distinguishing between public, private non-parochial, and private parochial secondary schools, and determining that it was not unreasonable for the County to require the private non-parochial school to obtain a special exception before building a school in a residential use district while excusing the public and parochial schools from that same requirement). In the present case, however, private parties are asserting governmental exemption from the zoning laws, proposing to construct improvements on land presently owned and operated by them on the presumption that the proposed infrastructure improvement, upon completion, will be approved by the local government in terms of compliance with local design and operational standards and fee simple title will be accepted by the local government for the purpose of continuing maintenance at some future time. The underlying purpose of the rule that a governmental entity is immune from its own zoning laws, unless a contrary result is apparent from the words of the laws, when it owns or controls land and uses it in furtherance of some governmental purpose, is premised, at least in part, on the rationale that, [i]n the very nature of things, a municipality must have the power to select the site of buildings or other structures for the performance of its governmental duties. Accordingly, it necessarily follows, a village is not subject to zoning restrictions in the performance of its governmental, as distinguished from its corporate or proprietary, activities. Henry, 263 Md. at 374, 283 A.2d at 417 (citing Nehrbas, 159 N.Y.S.2d 145, 140 N.E.2d at 242). With this principle in mind, in order for the immunity to attach to the proposed SWM facility, the governmental body proposed to receive title to the completed use, facility, or structure must have agreed prospectively (expressly or by operation of law), at a minimum, to accept ownership or control in advance or at the time of the determination of exemption. The purpose of requiring proof of the prospective acceptance by the governmental entity qualifying for the exemption of the proposed use, facility, or structure should be obvious. First, approval of the location and intended purpose of the proposed use, facility, or structure on the land use proposal is manifested by acceptance. Further, demonstration of the prospective agreement or requirement that the proposed use, facility, or structure will be owned or controlled by the governmental entity is necessary to foreclose unilateral representations by a private applicant. As we stated in Waterman, 357 Md. at 504, 745 A.2d at 1010, the purpose of requiring an acceptance by the local government is to prevent a situation where a developer imposes upon the municipality the responsibility for maintenance and repair for an otherwise private facility merely by designating unilaterally the improvement for public maintenance. See also Waterman, 357 Md. at 504 n. 8, 745 A.2d at 1010 n. 8 (In many instances, it is ultimately to a developer's sales advantage to offer to dedicate to the local government water and sewer facilities, streets, recreational areas or other sites because, if the offer is accepted, the local government, not the future residents of the subdivision, generally will be responsible for maintenance of the facilities. In `closed subdivisions,' which limit public access, homeowners associations generally are responsible for maintaining such facilities.). [36] We could not locate in the record the answer to whether the County requested conveyance of the proposed SWM facility for public maintenance, and therefore required in-fee dedication, or whether it was Respondents who initiated the proposal that the SWM facility be conveyed to the County. [37] , [38] In any event, it does not matter at whose behest the SWM facility is to be conveyed, because there has been no affirmative indication that the governmental unit charged with maintaining such a SWM facility likely would accept the offer to convey in-fee for the purposes of continuing public maintenance. To the contrary, a representative of the Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management (DEPRM), the governmental unit charged with maintaining public SWM facilities, was present at the CBA hearing at which the development plan was considered. At that time, the DEPRM submitted evidence, based on Baltimore County Code §§ 14-331 to 14-350 (Regulations for the Protection of Water Quality, Streams, Wetlands and Floodplains), §§ 14-401 to 14-422 (Forest Conservation Regulations), and BCZR 1A01.1.A, indicating some technical discontent with the proposed development plan. At no time did the DEPRM express any sentiment that reasonably could be construed as a willingness to accept or a likelihood of acceptance of the conveyance in-fee to the County of the proposed SWM facility for the purposes of maintenance. In this situation, mere approval by the CBA of the development plan delineating a location and intended purpose of a SWM facility proposed by the private developer does not manifest, by itself, acceptance by the appropriate governmental unit so as to satisfy the government ownership/control requirement for application of Glascock. V. Placement of the SWM Facility and Access Road in the R.C. 2 Zoned Lot Did Not Constitute a De Facto Rezoning of the R.C. 2 Land to the R.C. 5 zone. Prior to submission of the development plan which ignited the present litigation, Respondents sought to change the zoning of the R.C. 2 portion of the Property to R.C. 5. The justification for this proposed reclassification was that, when the County Council established originally in 1976 the Baltimore County resource conservation zones for the purposes of agricultural resource preservation in the County, the wedge-shaped 3.9 acre tract in the northern parcel was zoned mistakenly as R.C. 2, instead of the intended R.C. 5. In other words, Respondents claimed that the zoning lines were drawn in error, and that the entire northern portion should have been placed in the R.C. 5 zone. The case was heard in public session before the Board of Appeals over two days. Citing the well-settled principle that there is a strong presumption of correctness of original zoning in comprehensive rezoning and [that] to sustain a piecemeal change in circumstance such as present here, there must be strong evidence of mistake in the original zoning or comprehensive rezoning, or evidence of substantial change in the character of the neighborhood must be produced, Mayor and Council of Rockville v. Henley, 268 Md. 469, 472, 302 A.2d 45, 46 (1973); Heller v. Prince George's County, 264 Md. 410, 412, 286 A.2d 772, 773 (1972), the Board rendered on 6 May 2002 its opinion that there was insufficient evidence to support Respondents' argument that a mistake occurred. It therefore rejected Respondents' request to re-zone the entirety of the Property located north of Sweet Air Road as R.C. 5. Because we conclude that there are no zoning impediments as a matter of law to the placement on the R.C. 2 zoned land of the SWM facility and access road, and because we defer to the expertise of the Commissioner and CBA in interpreting, on this record, the County's resource conservation zoning regulations, we conclude that no de facto rezoning occurred by approval of the development plan. There arises from the CBA's earlier denial of the mistake rezoning application prosecuted by Respondents on evidentiary insufficiency grounds no mandatory inference that reflects adversely upon the subsequent development plan approval. The two cases are not related except as to partial identity of the subject property. JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS AFFIRMED; COSTS TO BE PAID BY PETITIONERS.