Opinion ID: 1931405
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Montgomery County's Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations

Text: Montgomery County is somewhat unique in the source and exercise of its municipal authority to regulate the use of land. As this Court explained in Pan American Health Organ. v. Montgomery County, 338 Md. 214, 657 A.2d 1163 (1995): Montgomery County is a charter county under the Home Rule Amendment. See MD. CONST. art. XI-A. Section 5 of Maryland Code (1957, [2001] Repl. Vol., []) Article 25A, known as the Express Powers Act, enumerates the powers that are granted to and conferred upon any county that forms a charter under the provisions of the Home Rule Amendment. Montgomery County's zoning power, however, derives exclusively from the Regional District Act [enacted by Chapter 448, Acts of 1927]. . . . [Amended] in 1939 and currently codified in Article 28 of the Maryland Code, creates the Regional District, which now encompasses all of Montgomery County and most of Prince George's County. Maryland Code (1957, [1997] Repl. Vol., [2001] Cum. Supp.) Art. 28, § 7-103. The Regional District Act establishes two mechanisms for land use planning. The first mechanism is through zoning. Under the Regional District Act, the county councils of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties each serve as `the district council for that portion of the regional district lying within [the] county.' Art. 28, § 8-101(a). Each district council `may by ordinance adopt and amend the text of the zoning ordinance and may by resolution or ordinance adopt and amend the map or maps accompanying the zoning ordinance text.' Id. § 8-101(b)(2). Thus, the Montgomery County Council has been designated as the District Council and has broad authority to adopt and amend the text of the zoning ordinance to regulate `the location and uses of buildings and structures.' Art. 28, § 8-101(b)(2)(v). The second mechanism is known as the mandatory referral process. Under the Regional District Act, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (`M-NCPPC') is empowered to adopt `a general plan for the physical development of the [Regional] District.' 1939 Maryland Laws ch. 714, § 4, at 1489 (codified as amended at Art. 28, § 7-108). Section 7-112 of Article 28 (the `mandatory referral provision') provides that proposals for certain public projects shall be referred to the M-NCPPC for non-binding review. Pan American Health, 338 Md. at 217-18, 657 A.2d at 1164-65 (footnote omitted) (some alterations added) (some citations omitted). Thus, Montgomery County's zoning authority arises from the Regional District Act, and is regulated by the provisions of the Montgomery County Code. The respondents offer two primary objections to Mr. Remes' contention that Lot 11 and Lot 12 have merged. First, the respondents urge that lot merger, by any method other than formal plat submission, is unavailable according to the Montgomery County Code. [15] Second, the respondents maintain that merger is intended to combine substandard, undersized, or nonconforming lots, [16] not to rectify setback encroachments and, because at no time have Lot 11 and Lot 12 been deemed substandard according to any of the iterations of Montgomery County's Zoning Ordinance development standards, [17] the issue before this Court, according to the respondents, thus, is not one of merger, but rather a question of whether the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services properly issued a building permit for Lot 11. As a corollary to the latter argument, the County notes that County law, dating back at least to the mid 1950's has prohibited the use of an adjoining lot to satisfy zoning setback requirements.. . . Thus, even if the elder Duffies might have imagined that Lot 11 would absorb the setback deficiencies by their Lot 11 pool and Lot 12 home additions, the setback requirements delineated in Montgomery County's zoning ordinance prohibit such adjacent lot encumbrance and Lot 11 never actually fulfilled this role in service of Lot 12. What respondents fail to acknowledge is that the zoning merger that occurred in this case forestalled the creation of a non-conformity on Lot 12. Without the use of Lot 11 as accessory to Lot 12, the uses of both lots would have violated the zoning ordinance. Mr. Remes urges that Ridge mandates that the owner of Lot 11 and Lot 12 make a choice: either formally combine the parcels so as to enable Lot 11 to satisfy the appropriate setbacks for the structure on Lot 12, or cure the setback deficiencies on Lot 12 and then subdivide the merged Lot 11 and Lot 12. Thus, petitioner argues that the fact that neither Lot 11 nor Lot 12 have ever been deemed undersized is relevant only to the issue of remedy; it has no bearing on whether these are merger-eligible lots. He is correct. Petitioner further maintains that the Ridge doctrine applies without regard to the positive law of a municipality, i.e., what affirmative steps the local subdivision regulations might require in order to recognize a formal zoning merger of lots, because the underlying policy of Ridge seeks to protect zoning requirements, requirements which are separate and apart from subdivision regulations. Again he is correct. As we explained in Ridge, zoning differs from planning; the latter of which embodies the requirements of subdivision. We stated: Zoning does not create parcels of real property. What zoning ordinances normally do, with respect to residential districts, is establish dimensional minimums, such as minimal lot, parcel or tract size, yard sizes (the distance between buildings and property lines), and the height of structures. In addition, such ordinances specify the number of residential units that may be placed upon the area of a tract or parcel (density), ancillary requirements such as parking minimums, bathroom minimums, and square footage minimums of buildings. Additionally, zoning ordinances can, to some extent, regulate uses of property, as distinct from dimensional requirements. Id. at 650-651, 724 A.2d at 37. Effectively, zoning dictates what one can build on, or how one may use his property while subdivision or planning determines how the land is divided. It is entirely possible that subdivision regulations are utilized to create separate lots while, at the same time, zoning principles establish limitations on the uses of lots, limitations that can extend across lot lines. The respondents vigorously exhort that zoning merger by operation of law, see Ridge, 352 Md. at 658, 724 A.2d at 40, is unavailable in Montgomery County. In arguing that Ridge is inapposite, the County states that [u]nlike Baltimore County, Montgomery County law clearly prohibits subdivision by intent, requiring instead that a property owner submit a plat for recording in the land records to combine or divide land. The County points to the language of current Montgomery County Code § 50-8, found in the chapter governing subdivision of land, which provides as follows: § 50-8. [ ]-Filing and approval of plats. Whenever any subdivision or resubdivision of land is proposed to be made within the district, and before any contract for the sale of or any offer to sell such subdivision is made, or before any development or construction of any building takes place within a subdivision or any part thereof, the subdivider thereof or his agent shall file, in accordance with procedure prescribed in this chapter, a plat of the proposed subdivision with the board for its approval and the approved record plat shall be recorded in the land records of the county, except as provided in section 50-9 [exceptions to platting requirements]. [Alterations added.] Montgomery County further contends that given its long history of imposing exacting requirements for subdivision, which includes requirements for combining or dividing parcels, the doctrine of merger stands diametrically opposed to the clear dictates of County law. According to the County, then, the owner's intent  and presumably the owner's actual use  plays no part in a finding of merger (or resubdivision) unless there has been a formal adjudication by the County's land use regulatory authority. In a related argument Design-Tech suggests that the elder Mr. Duffie could not have intended to merge the lots when the common law of this State did not formally recognize zoning merger until such time as the filing of Ridge on February 11, 1999. Specifically, Design-Tech states in a footnote: Even if this Court were to extend Ridge in favor of [petitioner's] position in this case, it would be inappropriate to give such a ruling a retroactive application to cover the actions taken by the owner of Lot 11 and Lot 12 in the 1950's and 1960's. See, e.g. Julian v. Christopher, 320 Md. 1, 10-11, 575 A.2d 735, 739-40 (1990); Kelley v. R.G. Indus., Inc., 304 Md. 124, 140, 497 A.2d 1143, 1150-51 (1985) (changes to common law are generally restricted to prospective application). [Alteration added.] In essence, Design-Tech seems to be arguing that zoning merger, since it is based, in part, on the owner's intent, must run with the person, and not with the land; alternatively, Design-Tech may be arguing for zoning merger to come into Montgomery County, but only after Design-Tech buys Lot 11 and builds its house, i.e., prospectively. The facts indicate that the elder Mr. Duffie died on August 16, 1999, and Mr. Duffie (the son) did not convey Lot 11 and Lot 12 to himself until August 31, 2001. There is no indication that, in those intervening two years, there were any changes on Lot 11 or Lot 12 that altered or ameliorated the encroachments or that removed one lot from the service of the other. Thus, technically, there was a period, after Ridge, and before the elder Mr. Duffie's death, during which the elder Mr. Duffie held both lots. Also, for two years following his death the lots were not yet deeded (by personal representative's deed) to Mr. Duffie (the son). During those two years, the encroachments ( i.e., the use of Lot 11 in service of the needed Lot 12 setbacks) remained. In addition, the cases cited by Design-Tech do not support the position of prospective application of the common law. Julian v. Christopher, 320 Md. 1, 10-11, 575 A.2d 735, 739-40 (1990), was a case dealing with contractual restrictions on the alienability of leasehold interests in which this Court stated: In appropriate cases, courts may `in the interest of justice' give their decisions only prospective effect. Contracts are drafted based on what the law is; to upset such transactions even for the purpose of improving the law could be grossly unfair. Overruling prospectively is particularly appropriate when we are dealing with decisions involving contract law. The courts must protect an individual's right to rely on existing law when contracting. Ordinarily decisions which change the common law apply prospectively, as well as to the litigants before the court. Design-Tech also cited this Court's opinion in Kelley v. R.G. Indus., Inc., 304 Md. 124, 161, 497 A.2d 1143, 1161-62 (1985) (a products liability case prompting changes to Maryland common law tort principles in respect to gun manufacturers' offering of Saturday Night Specials). We stated: One final matter warrants discussion, namely the effective date of the modification in Maryland common law tort principles which is set forth in Part III of this opinion. Ordinarily in a case such as this, which changes common law principles applicable to civil actions sounding in tort, we would apply the change to the case before us and prospectively to all such causes of action accruing after the date of the case before us. Kelley, 304 Md. at 161, 497 A.2d at 1161-62 (citation omitted). In Kelley, this Court determined that, based upon the particular circumstances in that case in respect to the Court's recognition that the wrongful conduct was related to the gun manufacturers' marketing of their product, the changes to the common law of tort effected by Kelley would not apply to all causes of action arising from a gunshot wound inflicted by a Saturday Night Special, but would apply to the Kelley plaintiff as well as to other causes of action accruing after the date of the Kelley mandate. Julian and Kelley were a contract case and a products liability case, respectively; they do not apply to the facts of the instant case and do not support Design-Tech's position. Generally, changes in the common law are applied prospectively, as well as to the case triggering that change in the common law. In Boblitz v. Boblitz, 296 Md. 242, 462 A.2d 506 (1983), this Court abrogated the common law of interspousal immunity and applied the abrogation to Boblitz as well as to all such cases accruing after the filing of the Boblitz opinion. Id. at 275, 462 A.2d at 522. But see Williams v. State, 292 Md. 201, 217, 438 A.2d 1301, 1309 (1981) (noting that particularly in criminal cases, changes in the common law ordinarily should have only prospective effect when considerations of fairness are present). The Court will hesitate to apply a change to the common law in the case before it where such a change would be contrary to a public policy set forth by the General Assembly. See Harrison v. Montgomery County Bd. of Educ., 295 Md. 442, 460, 456 A.2d 894, 903 (1983) (stating that the Court has been particularly reluctant to alter a common law rule in the face of indications that to do so would be contrary to the public policy of the State). See also Murphy v. Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co., 290 Md. 186, 428 A.2d 459 (1981), overruled on other grounds by Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co. v. Flippo, 348 Md. 680, 705 A.2d 1144 (1998); Condore v. Prince George's County, 289 Md. 516, 532, 425 A.2d 1011, 1019 (1981). We perceive no such declared public policy that should prevent us from finding a zoning merger where two lots held in common ownership were clearly used in the service of one another in order to satisfy zoning requirements and subsequent to Ridge remained in that category. [18] Moreover, as we perceive it, Ridge was a statement of the common law, not a change. The issue had not theretofore arisen, or been specified or articulated in our prior cases. Ridge was merely the first case to determine that zoning merger existed in Maryland. Montgomery County goes on to state that [b]y definition, subdivision includes both the division of land into one or more lots and the assembly of one or more lots or parcels into a larger one. [Montgomery County] Code § 50-1. [According to the County, t]o combine lots in Montgomery County, a property owner must prepare and submit a plat showing the resubdivision. When the Planning Board approves it, the plat is then recorded in the County land records. [Montgomery County] Code § 50-8 (alterations added). The terms subdivision and resubdivision are defined in the current Montgomery County Subdivision Regulations as follows: § 50-1. Definitions. . . . Resubdivision: A change in any lot line of a recorded lot or parcel of land. Resubdivision includes the assembly of recorded lots or parts of lots. A resubdivision is a subdivision. . . . Subdivision: The division or assemblage of a lot, tract or parcel of land into one (1) or more lots, plots, sites, tracts, parcels or other divisions for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale or building development and, when appropriate to the context, relating to the process of subdividing or to the land or area subdivided; provided, that the definition of subdivision shall not include a bona fide division or partition of exclusively agricultural land not for development purposes. A resubdivision is a subdivision. The respondents endeavor to distinguish the facts of the case sub judice from the circumstances in Friends of the Ridge, observing that Baltimore County, the locus of Ridge, had no statute or ordinance specifically prohibiting that merger. [19] The text of the relevant provisions of the Baltimore County Code are set out in the margin. We fail to perceive the degree of distinction between the Baltimore County and the Montgomery County provisions urged on the Court by respondents. Both, regardless of labels, address division of parcels and combining of parcels. Thus, the crux of the respondents' position is that no merger by operation of law occurred because the common owner of Lot 11 and Lot 12 did not undertake a formal anti-subdivision process to consolidate the lots as contemplated by Montgomery County's subdivision regulations. [20] Simply because a formal combination of Lot 11 and Lot 12 did not occur as contemplated by the Montgomery County Code, however, does not lead us to the necessary conclusion that these lots for zoning limitations are not subject to the doctrine of zoning merger. The issue is not subdivision combination but zoning merger. The respondents assert that the mandatory language of Montgomery County Code § 50-8 (the subdivider thereof or his agent shall file . . . .) precludes any use of the land that is inconsistent with the filed subdivision plat. As we have indicated, however, zoning concerns one's use of land, not how it is formally divided. The MNCPPC points to the intermediate appellate court's decision in Lee v. Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Comm'n, 107 Md.App. 486, 668 A.2d 980 (1995), an opinion which pre-dates this Court's Ridge opinion, as dispositive of the availability of merger by operation of law in Montgomery County. In Lee the MNCPPC approved the resubdivision [ i.e., a subsequent subdivision] of two lots in the Glen Hills area into six lots. Id. at 488-89, 668 A.2d at 982 (alteration added). [21] Following a petition for judicial review in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County brought by neighboring landowners who argued that the resubdivision was not consistent with the rural character of the neighborhood, the circuit court affirmed. The neighbors appealed and the intermediate appellate court reversed, holding that although the MNCPPC considered the seven statutory subdivision criteria found in Montgomery County Code § 50-29(b)(2), [22] there was not substantial evidence that the Board found that the proposed subdivision complied with all seven criteria. Lee, 107 Md.App. at 495, 668 A.2d at 985. The Court of Special Appeals explained: Compliance with the criteria ensures that the lots will be of the same character as existing lots in the neighborhood, block, or subdivision. To prove that the seven criteria have been met, lots need not be cookie cutter matches to existing lots in the neighborhood. The correlation, however, between area, size, shape, street frontage, alignment, width, and suitability for residential use of the proposed resubdivided lots and existing lots must be high in order to meet the requirements of section 50-29. Id. Lee is inapposite. As we have emphasized repeatedly, merger of the type here present is a function of, and limited to, zoning. To find zoning merger in the case sub judice affects no change to the decades-long status quo of the formal dimensions of Lot 11 and Lot 12; it merely affects the uses to which Lot 11 and Lot 12 may be put. The County's position specifically, and the other respondents' position generally, suggests their belief that those actions which are not legislated do not happen. Montgomery County's having legislated a formal process for land subdivision does not necessarily mean that such results, i.e., a limitation on uses, might not otherwise come about. We stated in Ridge: We shall hold that a landowner who clearly desires to combine or merge several parcels or lots of land into one larger parcel may do so. One way he or she may do so is to integrate or utilize the contiguous lots in the service of a single structure or project. . . . [23] Id. at 658, 724 A.2d at 40. That is precisely what the elder Duffies did when, in making additions to their home and in constructing a pool on a lot adjacent to their home, they employed Lot 11 in the service of Lot 12 for zoning purposes. Their use of Lot 11 and Lot 12 in concert is consistent with zoning merger. That they did not undertake to submit a formal replatting to the County [24] does not vitiate the manner in which they used their property.
Another question that would be left wanting, should this Court approve the agencies' approval of a building permit issued for Lot 11, is what becomes of Lot 12? We begin by noting that one of the primary goals of zoning and subdivision controls is to avoid the creation of nonconforming lots (and uses) and to restrict undersize parcels, not oversized parcels. Ridge, 352 Md. at 653, 724 A.2d at 34; see Fred McDowell, Inc. v. Wall Twp. Bd. of Adjustment, 334 N.J.Super. 201, 224, 757 A.2d 822, 835 (App.Div.2000) (invoking Loechner v. Campoli, 49 N.J. 504, 231 A.2d 553 (1967), New Jersey's seminal zoning merger case which we discussed in Ridge, and stating merger is employed to further the goal of bringing (or keeping) nonconforming lots into conformity with the zoning ordinance and thereby serving the overall goals of the master plan). Thus, based on the setback encroachments existing as a result of the structures on Lot 12, the proposed construction on Lot 11 would make Lot 12, if in separate ownership, a new and illegal nonconforming lot, unless, under the doctrine of zoning merger, the uses of Lot 11 are appropriately limited. Montgomery County notes that a single building may not extend across lot lines, even internal lot lines. [25] It is not disputed that Lot 11, with an area of eight thousand square feet, if considered in a vacuum, exceeds the minimum six thousand square feet lot size required in the R-60 zone, and satisfies the setback requirements. On the other hand, Lot 12, while of sufficient area for the zone, [26] does not, by itself, without the use of Lot 11, possess the required side yard and rear yard setbacks on account of the configuration of the structures constructed upon it. To allow Lot 11 to be used, as proposed, thus creates an illegal nonconformance as to Lot 12 and, by implication, grants an improper variance as to the rear yard setback for Lot 12. [27] Should this Court permit Lot 11 to be so used and a home constructed thereon, what becomes of Lot 12's ability to comply with the existing rear yard and side yard setback requirements? Such action effectively waives the zoning requirements as to Lot 12. The County, apparently recognizing that if its position were to be accepted by this Court it will have permitted the creation of an illegal nonconforming use, seeks to relieve the Court of concern, assuring that this Court need [ ][not] apply Ridge to prevent a nonconforming use that might result from an owner treating merged lots as separate.... Based on the setback requirements and the longstanding rejection of attempts to treat adjoining lots as one without formal resubdivision, the encroachment of the [elder Duffies'] addition into the setbacks remains a matter for DPS to handle through enforcement or when the owner of that lot seeks an additional building permit in the future [28] (alterations added). The Court must consider, however, the possibility that a Montgomery County landowner of multiple lots might utilize a parcel A to assuage zoning violations on an adjacent companion (and thus, nonconforming) parcel B, and later benefit from the sale of parcel A without correcting conditions causing the nonconformance of parcel B. Moreover, in relying on merger arising only from a formal resubdivision platting, a common owner might fly under the radar by simply refraining from submitting a new resubdivision plat. That is, the owner would assert zoning merger for purposes of complying with zoning requirements, but two lots for purposes of subdivision and sale (free of zoning limitations). In this way, the common owner could flip-flop between his or her adjacent parcels, thwarting the intent of the land development regulations and, perhaps more egregiously, skirting Montgomery County's exacting requirements for subdivision. The owner would have the benefit of avoiding zoning violations by treating the parcels as merged for zoning purposes, but later seek benefit from the sale of two separate valuable parcels of land. That is exactly what is occurring in the instant case.
Mr. Duffie acquired title to a lot composed of Lots 11 and 12 from his father's estate. At that time zoning merger had already occurred. The respondents contend that, should we find zoning merger of Lot 11 and Lot 12, our decision will wreak havoc on the title search procedures that a landowner who seeks to buy property must undertake. That is, the respondents urge that there must be an exhaustive title search in order to determine if two or more lots were ever held in common ownership and may have been used in a manner suggesting zoning merger. Such a practice, according to respondents, can lead to clouds on title and undermine zoning and subdivision laws. As stated by the MNCPPC, every situation involving the application of the merger doctrine for subdivision matters could potentially involve a factual dispute over whether a prior or current owner ever `desired' [ i.e., intended] to merge the lots (alteration added). As we have indicated previously, a common owner of property who constructs a building on one lot which incorporates space from an adjacent lot in order to fulfill setback requirements still maintains two separate lots for title purposes. See Ridge, 352 Md. at 658, 724 A.2d at 34. See also Rouse-Fairwood Devel. Ltd. Partnership v. Supervisor of Assessments for Prince George's County, 138 Md.App. at 630, 773 A.2d at 559 (stating that this Court, in Ridge observed that lots do not remain separate merely because they appear separately on a subdivision plan). Surveys are available to answer many of the title questions that might arise. Surveys routinely disclose encroachments. Surveys can as easily determine setback violations on abutting properties. The records of the administrative entities are public records and thus, available; land records of adjacent lots are also available (they were clearly available in the present case  they are, for the most part, in the record); title insurance is likewise available in most instances; actions in ejectment, quia timet [29] and the like are available. If disputes arising from encroachments or setback violations lead to claims of adverse possession or an action for ejectment, the parties generally seek judicial review in an effort to remove any such clouds on title. The same can be done via declaratory judgment actions in respect to the factual applicability of zoning merger emanating from adjacent properties. The task, for competent title attorneys, is not insurmountable. It would not be necessary as respondents speculate to trace title to an indefinite time for, as we have indicated, there are avenues which may be used to resolve the infrequent title questions that may arise. As petitioner suggests, DPS might revise its permit application to determine whether the subject lot is presently, or was formerly, held in common ownership with a contiguous lot. In the instant case, Lot 11 and Lot 12 apparently were still held by Mr. Duffie when Design-Tech obtained its building permit. [30]