NAIOP Maryland has asked the Maryland Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling that could invalidate conditional uses, special exceptions and other critical zoning tools in Prince George’s County.
NAIOP Maryland submitted an Amicus Curiae petition requesting that the court review a lower court ruling that threatens the validity of current and future zoning text amendments, potentially opens legislative actions to appeal by community groups and presents a confusing new interpretation of a clause requiring “uniformity” in zoning.
A ruling by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals (Concerned Citizens of PG County District 4, 2022 WL 2339411 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. June 29, 2022) published in June invalidated a Prince George’s County zoning text amendment enacted through legislative action. The court held that the change violated a clause requiring “uniformity” in the class or kind of development throughout a zone or district.
The NAIOP petition argues the court made several errors in its ruling including allowing a legislative act to be directly appealable to the court and incorrectly applying the concept of zoning uniformity.