Agenda - Planning Commission - 06/01/2017

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Zoning Bulletin May 10, 2017 I Volume 11 I Issue 9 ("Waterman") owned approximately 140 acres of land (the "Wheatlands Farm property" or the "Property") in Queen Anne's County (the "County"). The Property, which was located across from a commercial development, was zoned "Countryside," a designation which permitted agricultural and low density uses. Waterman had a goal of rezoning the property to "Planned Regional Commercial," which permitted com- mercial and high density uses. As a first step toward that goal, in June 2014, Waterman petitioned the Town of Queenstown (the "Town"), seeking to have the Wheatlands Farm property annexed into the Town. The Town Commissioners voted to annex Property, and later adopted an ordinance rezoning the Property from Countryside to Planned Regional Commercial. The effective date of the rezoning ordinance depended upon a waiver from the County Commissioners because Maryland statu- tory law—Md. Code § 4-416(b) of the Local Government Article ("LG")— provided that the property could not be rezoned to permit development for uses substantially different from previously authorized uses or uses at a substantially higher density, for a period of five years, unless the County Commissioners granted express approval and waived the five-year period. On November 25, 2014, the County Commissioners passed Resolu- tion 14-31, which granted the express approval needed to allow for rezoning of the Property to a classification that was substantially differ- ent and at a higher density. The approval of Resolution 14-31 allowed development consistent with the "Planned Regional Commercial" clas- sification without having to wait the five-year period referred to in LG § 4-416. Shortly thereafter, newly elected commissioners took office. On December 9, 2014, the new County Commissioners adopted Resolution 14-33, which rescinded the express approval that previously had been granted under Resolution 14-31. In response to that action, Waterman and the Town Commissioners filed actions in Circuit Court. They alleged that the County Commis- sioners lacked authority to rescind Resolution 14-31. The County Commissioners, along with an interested party which had intervened —the Queen Anne's Conservation Association ("QACA")—contended that under Article XI-F, Section 6 of the Mary- land Constitution, the County did have the legal authority to adopt Res- olution 14-33, thereby• rescinding Resolution 14-31. Maryland's Constitution provides that "[a] code county may enact, amend, or repeal a public local law of that county by a resolution of the board of county commissioners...." Md. Const. art. XI-F, § 6. The Constitution defines "public local law" as "a law applicable to the incorporation, organization, or government of a code county and contained in the county's code of public laws" (with exceptions). 2017 Thomson Reuters 7