Opinion ID: 2347232
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Does the City Solicitor's opinion have a binding or precedential effect?

Text: The City contends that it does not, an argument which the Cranes do not controvert. The City argues that the City Solicitor is given no power to bind the City under Baltimore City Charter (1964) Art. VII, § 27, and this would seem to conform to the general rule that a city attorney has no greater power to bind the municipality than a private attorney has to bind his client, Gontrum v. City of Baltimore, 182 Md. 370, 374, 35 A.2d 128, 130 (1943); 3 E. McQuillin, Municipal Corporations § 12.52, at 234 (3d ed. rev. 1973). This does not mean, however, that a contemporaneous construction made by a city law officer is not entitled to some weight, Liss v. Goodman, 224 Md. 173, 179, 167 A.2d 123, 126 (1960). One final aspect of the case remains, which we propose to consider despite the fact that it was not disposed of below, in order to avoid the expense and delay of another appeal, as permitted by Maryland Rule 885. In its opinion, the trial court carefully skirted the question whether the Cranes would be confined to the plan of development for which they were given approval in 1964, which proposed garden-type units, or whether the only limitation to which they were subject was that regarding density, with the consequence that they were entitled to seek approval of two midrise buildings, containing 178 units. The first paragraph of the declaratory judgment said: ADJUDGED, DECLARED, ORDERED AND DECREED, that, for the reasons set forth in the Court's Oral Opinion, the Plaintiffs have a vested right to construct 180 apartment units on the tract of land comprising 6.5 acres fronting on Perring Parkway which tract of land is more particularly described in Plaintiffs' Suit for Declaratory Judgment. Because we believe, under the facts of this case, that the Cranes are generally confined to a development of the sort which was contemplated in the plan of development approved in 1964, we propose to modify the judgment by adding to the above quoted paragraph a final sentence: The construction of such units shall be, to the extent practicable, in the manner proposed in the preliminary plan of development approved by the Planning Commission on 21 April 1964. Declaratory judgment modified, and as modified, affirmed; costs to be paid by appellants.