Opinion ID: 2327476
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mr Lerp's Appeal

Text: We affirm the action of the lower court in dismissing the appeal of Mr. Lerp on the grounds that he was not a party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeals. The appellants contend that the word party as used in the Anne Arundel County Code (1967 Ed.) Vol. 1, Sec. 2-102 is broad enough to include any person or taxpayer aggrieved by the decision of the Board of Appeals and not limited to a person or taxpayer aggrieved by the decision who was also a party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeals. We cannot agree with this connotation given to the word party. Sec. 2-102 provides: Within thirty days after any decision by the county board of appeals is rendered, any party who is aggrieved thereby may appeal such decision to the circuit court of the county, which shall have the power to affirm the decision of the board, or if such decision is not in accordance with law, to modify or reverse such decision, with or without remanding the case for rehearing, as justice may require.   . Within thirty days after the decision of the circuit court is rendered, any party to the proceeding who is aggrieved thereby may appeal such decision to the court of appeals of the state. The review proceedings provided by this section shall be exclusive. (Emphasis supplied.) The conclusion that the word party, as used in § 2-102, means an aggrieved party who was also a party to the proceeding before the Board is supported by a reading of the enabling act, Code (1966 Repl. Vol.) Art. 25A, § 5 (U), which authorizes the chartered counties of Maryland to establish county boards of appeals, and a review of the procedure for processing zoning applications in Anne Arundel County adopted pursuant to the enabling act. Art. 25A, § 5 (U) (the enabling act) in part provides:    Provided, that upon any decision by a county board of appeals it shall file an opinion which shall include a statement of the facts found and the grounds for its decision. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the board and a party to the proceeding before it may appeal to the circuit court for the county which shall have power to affirm the decision of the board, or if such decision is not in accordance with law, to modify or reverse such decision, with or without remanding the case for rehearing as justice may require. Any party to the proceeding in the circuit court aggrieved by the decision of the said court may appeal from such decision to the Court of Appeals. The review proceedings provided by this subsection shall be exclusive. (Emphasis supplied.) Article 25A, § 5 (U) (the enabling act) specifically provides for the manner in which an appeal may be taken from a county board of appeals to the circuit court and as is stated above, by the language that we have italicized in the statute, only an aggrieved party to the proceedings is authorized by the enabling act to appeal from the county board of appeals to the circuit court of the county. Anne Arundel County followed this procedure authorized by the enabling act by enacting § 2-102 of the Anne Arundel County Code (1967 Ed.) Vol. 1. The fact that the intent of § 2-102 was to impart to the word party the technical meaning that party be construed as a person or entity who was a party to the proceedings, becomes inescapable, when we contrast § 2-102 with § 536 of the Anne Arundel County Code (1967 Ed.) Vol. 2, which latter section provides for appeals from decisions of the Zoning Hearing Officer. It should be noted that § 536 does not require the person or entity taking the appeal from the Zoning Hearing Officer to the County Board of Appeals to be a party to the proceeding before the Zoning Hearing Officer. Sec. 536 provides: Within 30 days after a decision of the Zoning Hearing Officer is rendered, any person or persons, jointly or severally, or any taxpayer or any official, office, department, corporation, board, or bureau of Anne Arundel County aggrieved by any decision of the Zoning Hearing Officer shall have the right to appeal therefrom to the County Board of Appeals. (Anne Arundel County Code, 1967 Edition, Vol. 2, page 545, Section 536.) (Emphasis supplied.) The language used in § 536 (providing for appeals from the Zoning Hearing Officer) when compared with that used in § 2-102 (providing for appeals from the County Board of Appeals) shows a transition from the use of the words person, taxpayer and corporation, all of which have the most broad application, to the use of the word party, and the use, within the same section (2-102), of the reference to any party to the proceeding who is aggrieved. We think the intent is clear and unambiguous that the language of § 2-102 was to dutifully and properly follow that employed by Art. 25A, § 5 (U), the enabling act. Accordingly, when the word party is used in conjunction with proceedings, unless there be express qualifying language to the contrary, it would appear that it should be construed in a technical sense. Such an interpretation is in harmony with the definition given in Black's Law Dictionary (4th Ed., 1951): `Party' is a technical word, and has a precise meaning in legal parlance. By it is understood he or they by or against whom a suit is brought, whether in law or equity; the party plaintiff or defendant, whether composed of one or more individuals, and whether natural or legal persons, (they are parties in the writ, and parties on the record;) and all others who may be affected by the suit, indirectly or consequentially, are persons interested, but not parties.   . This construction is consonant with that adopted by this Court in DuBay v. Crane, 240 Md. 180, 184, 213 A.2d 487, 489 (1965), wherein we stated:    While it is not necessary that a protestant testify before the administrative agency, it is incumbent upon him, if he contemplates appealing an adverse decision, to, at least, have the record show that he was a party to the proceeding. Failing that he cannot maintain an appeal, such as that in Baltimore County. See Baltimore County Charter, Art. VI, § 604. (Emphasis supplied.) It is true that § 604, of Art. VI of the Baltimore County Charter employs after the word party, wherein it first appears, the words to the proceedings, and such words do not follow the word party where it first appears in § 2-102. However, both § 604 of Art. VI of the Baltimore County Charter and § 2-102 of the Anne Arundel County Code use the phrase parties to the proceedings later in the section. We do not think this difference between § 604 of Art. VI of the Baltimore County Charter and § 2-102 of the Anne Arundel County Code is significant. We note that § 604 of Art. VI of the Baltimore County Charter was enacted to replace § 34-7 of title 34 of the Baltimore County Code (1958), which provided that any person or any taxpayer aggrieved by a decision of the board, could maintain an appeal to the circuit court of the county. Here again, we note that when a change was made from the use of the word person or taxpayer to that of party, it is obvious that it was intended that the word party assume a technical connotation. Mr. Lerp not being a party to the proceedings before the County Board of Appeals, the lower court properly dismissed his appeal.