Murrell v. City of Baltimore
| Decision Date | 30 July 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 72,72 |
| Citation | 376 Md. 170,829 A.2d 548 |
| Parties | Cephus M. MURRELL, et al. v. MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. |
| Court | Maryland Court of Appeals |
Joseph S. Kaufman, Howard M. Schulman (Schulman & Kaufman, LLC, on brief), Baltimore, for petitioners.
Sandra R. Gutman, Chief Solicitor (Thurman W. Zollicoffer, Jr., City Solicitor, on brief), Baltimore, for respondent.
Argued before BELL, C.J., and ELDRIDGE, RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL and BATTAGLIA, JJ.
The issue in this case is whether the judgment of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, upholding an administrative decision by the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development to raze certain buildings, was appealable to the Court of Special Appeals. The Court of Special Appeals, in an unreported opinion, held that the Circuit Court's judgment was not appealable in light of Maryland Code (1974, 2002 Repl.Vol.), § 12-302(a) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, and dismissed the appeal. We shall reverse.
Prior to setting forth the facts and arguments in the present controversy, it would be useful to review briefly some of the pertinent statutory procedural requirements which must be followed before the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development is entitled to raze a condemned building.
The Building Code, Baltimore City Code (2000 Repl.Vol.), Art. 32, contains a comprehensive statutory scheme aimed at ensuring the legal use and occupancy of buildings in the City of Baltimore. The Department of Housing and Community Development is the administrative agency charged with the administration, interpretation, and enforcement of the Building Code.1 Section 105 of the Building Code prescribes the duties and powers of the "Building Code Official," stating that whenever any part of a building "become[s] dangerous, unsafe, or a menace to public health and safety, the Building Code Official may condemn it and take any other appropriate action to rectify or eliminate the dangerous or unsafe condition." § 105.2.2
Nevertheless, before the Building Code Official may take any action on a Building Code violation, the Official must give notice of the code violation to the person legally responsible for the maintenance of the building. See § 116.2. If the violation is not abated or the notice not complied with, the Official may then institute legal proceedings. See § 116.3.
Under § 119, if a structure is deemed "unsafe" or "unfit" for authorized use, the Building Code Official may require the owner to rehabilitate the building, or, if rehabilitation is not feasible, the Official may require the owner to raze the building. An order to raze is not final, however. Subsections 119.3.2.1 and 119.3.2.2 provide:
Various actions are authorized under the Building Code to address the failure to comply with an order to rehabilitate or raze an unsafe building. These are listed in §§ 119.7 and 119.7.1:
b. to clean, close, board, or otherwise safeguard a vacant building, or
c. to remove high grass and weeds or litter, trash, and debris from the premises of a vacant building.
Thus, under § 119.7.1, the Building Code Official must give notice prior to razing a building that is deemed "unsafe" or "unfit" for authorized use. After receiving an order to raze or a condemnation notice, the owner of the building may seek administrative review under § 123.
Section 123 sets forth, inter alia, the right to administrative review of notices and orders, the procedural requirements for the administrative hearings, and the right to judicial review of administrative decisions. The detailed procedures for the administrative hearings can be found in § 123.6, which states in pertinent part as follows:
Turning to the facts of this case, on August 17, 1992, the Department of Housing issued two notices of housing code violations to the petitioner Murrell for the buildings located at 562 Gold Street and 566 Gold Street.3 The notices advised the petitioner to (1) "remove all trash and debris, high grass and weeds within ten (10) days of the date of this notice and keep in clean and sanitary condition at all times"; (2) "board up all accessible openings within ten (10) days of the date of this notice and notify inspector when this is done" as well as to "[k]eep these openings boarded until the building is razed or rehabilitated"; and, finally, to (3) "[r]epair and rehabilitate or raze after securing approval from the building official." The notices stated that "conditions must be corrected by 9/17/92 unless otherwise noted." The record in this case does not disclose what actions, if any, by either the petitioner or the Department, took place between August 17, 1992, and 1999.
On February 2, 1999, Alvin Waters, an inspector for the Department of Housing, inspected the three properties located at 562 Gold Street, 566 Gold Street, and 2201-2203 Pennsylvania Avenue. As a result of his inspection, Mr. Waters posted a condemnation notice upon each of the properties. Each notice of condemnation advised that the owner had a right to appeal. There is nothing in the record indicating that a condemnation notice was posted on the petitioner's property located at 564 Gold Street.
A week later, on February 9, 1999, Mr. Waters prepared a report for the Department of Housing describing the alleged code violations in detail, recommending that the three properties be condemned as a safety hazard, and stating that, if the conditions were not corrected or the buildings rehabilitated, the buildings should be razed. Specifically, his report noted as follows with respect to 562 Gold Street:
Next, regarding 566 Gold Street, Mr. Waters's report stated:
Finally, his report recited the following for 2201-2203 Pennsylvania Avenue:
The record does not contain an inspection report for 564 Gold Street.
On the same day, the Department of Housing mailed to the petitioner a letter for each of the condemned properties (562 Gold Street, 566 Gold Street, and 2201-2203 Pennsylvania Avenue), which enclosed a copy of the condemnation notice. The Department of Housing also sent to the petitioner letters notifying him of the impending charges and liens for the cost...
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