Opinion ID: 2321542
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Montgomery County, Maryland

Text: In Montgomery County, the District Council adopted subdivision regulations by an ordinance which is codified in the Montgomery County Code, Chapter 50, entitled Subdivision of Land. Montgomery County Code (County Code), Ch. 50 (2004). Section 50-3 provides that the Chapter shall apply to all land within the county which lies within the Maryland-Washington Regional District, as now defined by Article 28 of the Annotated Code of Maryland. County Code, § 50-3. Under Chapter 50 of the County Code, the subdivision of land, essentially, is a two step procedure. The first step is the subdivision [14] plan [15] application process under which the proposed subdivision of land may be approved or approved subject to certain conditions. An applicant who desires to subdivide land must submit to the Montgomery County Planning Board an application, a proposed preliminary subdivision plan which consists of a tracing drawing, and a filing fee. [16] County Code, § 50-34. Pursuant to § 50-35(f), the Planning Board must either approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the preliminary plan. An approved preliminary plan has a Validity Period during which the approved plan must be implemented or its validity will expire. County Code, § 50-35(h); see n. 3, supra. At any time before recordation of a final plat of subdivision, an applicant (in its discretion) may abandon the subdivision application (if not acted upon yet by the Planning Board) or an approved preliminary plan (by simply allowing its validity to expire or by submitting a superseding plan application). There is no provision in Chapter 50 that precludes an applicant from filing an entirely new subdivision plan for the same land at any time, and there is no provision authorizing the Planning Board or any other government agency to compel an unwilling applicant to complete the final plat approval and recordation process in accordance with an approved subdivision plan. [17] After a preliminary plan of subdivision is approved, the concluding step in perfecting that approval is to obtain Planning Board approval of a final plat [18] for the subdivision. County Code, §§ 50-7 to -8. It is at the final plat approval stage that the area to be dedicated to public use, pursuant to relevant conditions attached to the approved preliminary plan, typically are shown on and dedicated by the Subdivision Record Plat. County Code, § 50-36(c)(6). After the Planning Board approves a final plat, and the absence of judicial review of that action, or after judicial review the plat approval is upheld, see Md.Code, Art. 28 § 7-116, the approved final subdivision plat is transmitted to the clerk of the Circuit Court to be recorded among the land records of Montgomery County. County Code, § 50-37(f)(5). [19] After this stage, for the applicant/developer wishing to proceed with developing the subject property, the permit processing phase of development occurs, such as obtaining building and construction permits. See County Code, § 50-20(a).