Opinion ID: 2556168
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Protection Program

Text: The General Assembly established the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Protection Program (Critical Area Program or Program), Md.Code (1990, 2007 Repl.Vol.), Natural Resources Article §§ 8-1801 et seq., in 1984, in recognition of the Chesapeake Bay's importance and the State's and local governments' role in its future health, and in response to then-growing concerns over the deteriorating condition of what the Legislature deemed natural resources of great significance to the State and the nation. . . . Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1801(a)(1). [2] The Critical Area Program require[s] all local jurisdictions, under the direction of [the] Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission, to formulate and implement a plan to control development in the `critical' or protected area. Critical Area Comm'n for the Chesapeake and Atl. Coastal Bays v. Moreland, LLC, 418 Md. 111, 117, 12 A.3d 1223, 1226 (2011). The Critical Area Program's primary mechanism for protecting the Bay is limiting development in statutorily defined critical areas, Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1807, where unchecked human growth could cause harm to the Bay. The Program establishes a development-free buffer of at least 100 feet landward from the mean high water line of tidal waters, tributary streams, and tidal wetlands. . . . Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1801(a)(4). The Program requires local governments to zone all critical areas as one of three tiers: (1) Resource Conservation Area (RCA), see COMAR § 27.01.02.05; (2) Limited Development Area (LDA), see COMAR § 27.01.02.04; or (3) Intensely Developed Area (IDA), see COMAR § 27.01.02.03. The amount of growth in IDAs and LDAs allowed in each jurisdiction's critical area is known as the county's growth allocation. See Nat. Res. Art. 8-1802(a)(11) (`Growth allocation' means the number of acres of land in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area that a local jurisdiction may use to create new intensely developed areas and new limited development areas.). Each county's growth allocation is capped at five percent of its RCA. Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1808.1(b). In each jurisdiction, these Critical Area Zones overlay the pre-existing zoning; that is, local zoning ordinances must comply with the Program, but may add additional zoning conditions or restrictions. See Bucktail, LLC v. County Council of Talbot County, 352 Md. 530, 535, 723 A.2d 440, 442 (1999); see also Md. Overpak Corp. v. Mayor of Baltimore, 395 Md. 16, 26 n. 10, 909 A.2d 235, 241 n. 10 (2006). The Program is complicated by the division of responsibilities in its implementation between the State and local governments. See Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1801(b)(2) (stating that implementation of the Program is to be done on a cooperative basis between the State and affected local governments). While each local jurisdiction. . . ha[s] primary responsibility for developing and implementing a [local] program, such responsibility is subject to review and approval by the Commission. Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1808(a); see Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1808.1(c)(2) (stating that the Commission shall ensure that the local plan is consistent with the purposes, policies, goals, and provisions of th[e Critical Area Program]). After the adoption by a local government of its initial plan, all changes to the local plan, including growth allocation amendment requests, are subjected to a two-tiered approval process, similar to the process for the initial plan adoption. The local government, in considering growth allocation amendment requests, is governed by guidelines set forth in Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1808.1(c)(1). [3] If the local government rejects a growth allocation request, the application is terminated and the Commission plays no role because there is nothing for it to review. If, however, the local government approves a growth allocation request (with or without restrictions/conditions), the Commission must ensure that the guidelines . . . have been applied in a manner that is consistent with the purposes, policies, goals, and provisions of [the Program]. Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1808.1(c)(2). On review, the Commission may approve the request, deny the request, approve the request subject to conditions, or return the request to the local government with a list of changes to be made. See Nat. Res. Art. § 8-1809( o )(3).