Anne Arundel County Com'rs v. Ward
Decision Date | 12 April 1946 |
Docket Number | 112. |
Parties | COUNTY COM'RS OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY v. WARD. |
Court | Maryland Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County; James Clark Judge.
Mandamus proceeding by Herbert S. Ward against the County Commissioners of Anne Arundel County, a body corporate, to compel the granting of a building permit. From an order, the defendants appeal.
Order reversed and petition dismissed.
Benjamin Michaelson, of Annapolis, for appellants.
Herbert S. Ward, pro se.
Before MARBURY, C.J., and DELAPLAINE, COLLINS, GRASON, and HENDERSON, JJ.
On May 7, 1945, a petition for a writ of mandamus was filed against the appellants in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, alleging that the appellee was the owner of two lots in a subdivision of Bay Ridge, having a frontage of 200 feet on Bay Drive and 243 feet on Upsher Ave.; that he made application on April 28 1945 for a building permit to erect on the rear of his lots give rustic, 16' X 16' cabins at a cost of $300 per cabin, and one rustic central service building, 16' X 32', to cost $600; that the permit was refused on May 1 1945; that the refusal was 'arbitrary, unlawful and unjust and in violation of the plaintiff's rights'.
An answer was filed to the petition setting up certain zoning regulations, adopted by the County Board on January 30, 1945, pursuant to authority conferred by chapter 551 of the Acts of 1943. The petitioner demurred to the answer, and the case was submitted to the trial court upon an agreed statement of facts.
It is conceded that the application for permit complied in all respects with the building Code then in force, but it is also conceded that it violated the applicable zoning regulations, which called for 'one-family residences; no apartments', not more 'than one residence on a lot with a fifty (50) foot front', and no house 'to contain less than 3,200 cubic feet' or 'cost less than $2,500.'
Bay Ridge is a peninsula located at the mouth of the Severn River, about four miles by road from Annapolis. Where not surrounded by water, or bordered by water, the area is bordered by privately owned farm land. The area contains about 300 acres and was surveyed and laid out in building lots about 1920; since that time it has been maintained as a residential community, with the exception of about 12 acres developed as a bathing beach and summer resort. Most of this acreage is covered with timber and unimproved. There are about 200 private residences, most of which are suitable for year-round habitation. Building restrictions substantially identical with the zoning restrictions were incorporated in the original deeds, but these expired in 1935. The petitioner purchased his lots subsequent to 1935. The proposal to zone was presented to the County Commissioners August 2, 1944, by Bay Ridge Civic Association, a body corporate. Several public hearings were held thereon, after due notice, and the regulations were finally adopted, with amendments, on January 30, 1945.
The enabling Act, chapter 551 of the Acts of 1943, effective May 4, 1943, read as follows:
The regulations adopted read as follows:
'1. The entire area of Bay Ridge is to be strictly residential as per the duly recorded plat of Bay Ridge. It shall be limited to one family residences; no apartments. This shall not apply to the erection of a Community Club House and Pier to be erected by the residents of Bay Ridge.
'2. No Building shall be erected in Bay Ridge nearer to the avenue, street or drive on which it fronts, as now laid out on the plats of Bay Ridge Realty Corporation, than forty (40) feet, measuring on the center of the frong lot line, or five (5) feet from the rear or side line. Any separate garage shall be erected on the rear part of lots and not less than seventy five (75) feet from the front Building line.
'3. There shall not at any time be more than one residence on a lot with a fifty (50) foot frontage. No building shall be erected on a lot having an average width of less than fifty (50) feet, or an area of less than 5,000 sequare feet.
'4. No house shall be constructed on any lot fronting the Severn River, the Chesapeake Bay, Sands Avenue, Lake Drive from Sands Avenue, to Decatur Avenue, Decatur Avenue, Barry...
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