Supervisor of Assessments v. Keeler

• Decision Date: 04 January 2001
• Docket Number: No. 85,85
• Citation: 362 Md. 198,764 A.2d 821
• Parties: SUPERVISOR OF ASSESSMENTS OF BALTIMORE COUNTY v. William Cardinal KEELER, Archbishop of Baltimore.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

764 A.2d 821

362 Md. 198

SUPERVISOR OF ASSESSMENTS OF BALTIMORE COUNTY v. William Cardinal KEELER, Archbishop of Baltimore.

No. 85, Sept. Term, 1999.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

January 4, 2001.

David M. Lyon, Asst. Atty. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen. of Maryland, on brief), Baltimore, for appellant.

Saul E. Gilstein (David W. Kinkopf, Gallagher, Evelius & Jones, LLP, on brief), Baltimore, for appellee.

Argued before BELL, C.J., and ELDRIDGE, RODOWSKY,¹ RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL and HARRELL, JJ BELL, Chief Judge.

The issue this case presents is whether 16.5 acres of a 27-acre parcel² should be included within the exemption for actual and exclusive religious worship, prescribed by Maryland Code (1985, 1994 Repl.Vol., 2000 Supp.) § 7-204 of the Tax Property Article³ when development on the entire parcel has been restricted to a 7.5 acre development envelope and the 16.5 acre parcel is zoned as open space. The Circuit Court for Baltimore County upheld the decisions of the Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board for Baltimore County and the Maryland Tax Court, both of which granted the exemption to the entire property, with the exception of one acre being used for residential purposes, reasoning that the property was to be viewed as a whole. We shall affirm.

In 1990, William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, the appellee, entered into an option to purchase the subject property for the Roman Catholic Church. The Church intended to construct a church on the property. Because the property was zoned R.C. 2, agricultural, which permitted a church only as a special exception, the purchase was made contingent upon the necessary zoning approvals being obtained. In 1992, the County Board of Appeals for Baltimore County ("CBA"), having taken testimony from Father Donellan, the Church Pastor, George Gavrelis, a land planner and civil engineer, Paul Solomon, a Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management representative, Wes Guckert, a traffic engineer, Adam Gross, an architect, and members of the community and of the parish, determined that the requirements of Sections 502.1⁴ and 1A01.2.C⁵ of the Baltimore County Zoning Regulations (BCZR) were met and, therefore, granted a special exception permitting the construction of a church on the parcel.

The CBA concluded that the property should be viewed "as a package," observing, "[w]e find the church size and scale to be appropriate on this tract of land and not out of character in relation to the surrounding community. We further find its architectural design to be in keeping with the site and surrounding area." It limited construction on the property, however, to a 7.5 acre development envelope except that "the construction of driveways, road improvement, storm water management, utilities or other such improvements" could take place outside of the development envelope. Other conditions were placed, by the CBA, on the grant of the special exception, including:

"(2) Occupancy of the subject caretaker's residence shall be limited to a church employee (s) and the employee (s) family members.

"(3) The Petitioner shall provide a landscape plan to the Office of Current Planning for approval by the Baltimore County Landscape Planner and the deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Department. Said landscape plan shall then be submitted to the Zoning Commissioner for final approval. The approval landscape plan shall become a permanent part of the record and file this matter.

* * * *

"(5) The subject church shall have a maximum seating capacity for 650 individuals.

"(6) The Petitioner shall enter into legally enforceable document prior to issuance of building permits which shall restrict the areas north and south of the developed envelope as shown on Petitioner's Exhibit 1 to open space or agricultural use in perpetuity, unless the property or any portion of the property is rezoned to another zoning classification other than R.C. 2 [agricultural] ... or the Master Plan for Baltimore County designates the property or any portion of the property for use other than agricultural preservation or the Director of the Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management... finds, in writing, that the property or any portion of the property is no longer viable for agricultural use. The restriction shall take effect upon the commencement of construction of the proposed church. This restriction shall not preclude the construction of driveways, road improvements, storm water management, utilities or other such similar improvements within the restricted area.

"(7) Petitioner shall enter into a legally enforceable agreement which shall prohibit for a period of sixty (60) years from the date of this Order the construction of any buildings outside the building envelope so designated on Petitioner's Exhibit 1, so long as the subject site retains its R.C. zoning ...".[⁶]

The appellant, the Supervisor of Assessments of Baltimore County, determined that all property within the development envelope, except for one acre that was to be used as a caretaker's residence,⁷ qualified for the religious worship exemption. Subsequently, it decided that the exemption should be expanded to include 3 acres, which were used for storm water management and a septic system, outside the envelope. The appellant denied the exemption to the remainder of the property, the 16.5 acres of open space outside the development envelope.

The appellee appealed the decision of the Supervisor of Assessments of Baltimore County to the Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board ("PTAAB")⁸ for Baltimore County. Agreeing with the appellee, that Board extended the exemption to the 16.5 acres in dispute. That decision prompted the appellant's appeal to the Maryland Tax Court.

The Maryland Tax Court affirmed the decision of the PTAAB. In upholding the exemption, it indicated that its decision was based on the CBA's grant of the special exception and the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions executed by the appellee. Noting its agreement with the CBA finding that the entire parcel is "a package," the Tax Court concluded that the requirement that the property be actively used for religious purposes was met. It was also persuaded that the CBA zoning order prevented the property from being used for anything other than church purposes for 60 years. Those restrictions, the court observed, effectively prohibited the Church from using the property to do anything other than provide a setting for the church as well as support worship activity in the church. Its reliance on the restrictions imposed by the zoning order was made manifest by its observation that if the Church were free to use the property for residential or commercial purposes or sell the property to third persons, then a denial of the exemption would have been appropriate.

In addition, the Tax Court was influenced by the testimony of Father Thomas Donellan, who stated that he viewed the entire site as relevant to supporting the religious work of the church, and that the parcel, including the open space, enhanced both the worship of the congregation and the beauty of the building. Characterizing the church building and the land on which it is built as "one fabric," Father Donellan concluded, the church would not be the same without the surrounding lands.

The appellant sought judicial review in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. That court affirmed, holding that there was sufficient evidence in the record to uphold the Tax Court's decision that the land was used for religious purposes only. The Circuit Court, noting that the disputed area was available for anyone to walk, pray or contemplate the services, also expressed the view that § 7-204 does not require development of all of the property for which an exemption is sought in order that a valid active use be found.

We issued the writ of certiorari on our own motion to consider this important issue. Now we affirm the judgment of the Circuit Court.

I.

The decision we review is that of the Maryland Tax Court, an administrative agency, see Ch. 757 of the Acts of 1959; Read v. Supervisor of Assessments of Anne Arundel County, 354 Md. 383, 391, 731 A.2d 868, 872 (1999); Prince George's County v. Brown, 334 Md. 650, 658 n. 1, 640 A.2d 1142, 1146 n. 1 (1994); Shipp v. Bevard, 291 Md. 590, 592, 435 A.2d 1114, 1115 (1981); Shell Oil Co. v. Supervisor of Assessments of Prince George's County, 276 Md. 36, 38, 343 A.2d 521, 522 (1975); County Executive for Montgomery County v. Supervisor of Assessments of Montgomery County, 275 Md. 392, 393, 340 A.2d 246, 247 (1975); Fairchild Hiller v. Supervisor, 267 Md. 519, 521, 298 A.2d 148, 149 (1973). Thus, pursuant to Md.Code (1988, 1997 Repl.Vol.), § 13-532(a) of the Tax General Article, the final order of the Tax Court is subject to judicial review as provided in §§ 10-222 and 10-223 of the State Government Article, governing the standard of review for decisions of administrative agencies.

"Under this standard, a reviewing court is under no statutory constraints in reversing a Tax Court order which is premised solely upon an erroneous conclusion of law. See, e.g., Supervisor of Assess. v. Carroll, 298 Md. 311, 469 A.2d 858 (1984)

; Comptroller v. Mandel Re-Election Com., 280 Md. 575, 374 A.2d 1130 (1977). On the other hand, where the Tax Court's decision is based on a factual determination, and there is no error of law, the reviewing court may not reverse the Tax Court's order if substantial evidence of record supports the agency's decision."

Ramsay, Scarlett & Co. v. Comptroller of the Treasury, 302 Md. 825, 834, 490 A.2d 1296,1301 (1985).

Accordingly, in this case, we are limited to determining the legality of the decision of the Tax Court and whether there was "substantial evidence" in the record to support its findings and conclusions. Comptroller of the Treasury v. Disclosure, Inc., 340 Md. 675, 683, 667 A.2d 910, 914 (1995); ...