Town of Upper Marlboro v. Prince George's Cnty. Council
| Decision Date | 01 August 2022 |
| Docket Number | 55, Sept. Term, 2021 |
| Citation | 480 Md. 167,280 A.3d 212 |
| Parties | The TOWN OF UPPER MARLBORO v. The PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
480 Md. 167
280 A.3d 212
The TOWN OF UPPER MARLBORO
v.
The PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY COUNCIL
No. 55, Sept. Term, 2021
Court of Appeals of Maryland.
August 1, 2022
Argued by Kevin J. Best (The Law Office of Kevin J. Best, Annapolis, MD), on brief, for Petitioner.
Argued by Rajesh A. Kumar, Principal Counsel (Prince George's County Council, Largo, MD), for Respondent.
Argued before: Fader, C.J., Watts, Hotten, Booth, Biran, Eaves, Sally D. Adkins (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.
Hotten, J.
Respondent, Prince George's County Council (the "Council" or "District Council"),1 sought to remove two historic schoolhouses in Upper Marlboro, Maryland from the 2010 Prince George's County Historic Sites and Districts Plan . Pursuant to the procedures outlined in the Prince George's County Code, on July 23, 2019, the Council passed an initiating resolution, CR-72-2019. This resolution directed the Prince George's County Planning Board of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (the "Planning
Board") to initiate the process for considering whether to adopt a minor amendment that would remove the two schoolhouses from the County's list of historically protected sites (the "minor amendment"). Pursuant to the resolution, a joint public hearing was held on the proposed minor amendment, during which representatives of the Town of Upper Marlboro (the "Town"), Petitioner, argued against its adoption. The Town, however, did not seek judicial review of CR-72-2019 itself.
The Council ultimately adopted the minor amendment through a subsequent resolution, CR-98-2019, on November 19, 2019. Within thirty days, the Town filed a
petition for judicial review of CR-98-2019 in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County. The Town asserted that CR-72-2019 did not properly set forth the purpose and scope of the proposed minor amendment as statutorily required. Therefore, according to the Town, the adoption of the minor amendment in CR-98-2019 was arbitrary and capricious. The circuit court ruled against the Town, finding that the adoption of CR-72-2019 and CR-98-2019 was not arbitrary and capricious, and was supported by substantial evidence in the record.
The Town subsequently appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, which affirmed the circuit court on different grounds. The intermediate appellate court determined that CR-72-2019 was an independently reviewable final agency action because it was an "administratively distinct" action by the Council. Town of Upper Marlboro v. Prince George's Cty. Council , No. 0801, Sept. Term, 2020, 2021 WL 4169198, at *4 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. Sept. 14, 2021). The court found that the Town forfeited its right to directly challenge CR-72-2019 because the Town failed to directly appeal within thirty days of the passage of the resolution. The court declined to reach the merits of whether CR-98-2019 was procedurally deficient because the challenge to CR-98-2019 was "based exclusively on alleged deficiencies with CR-72-2019." Id. The court concluded that the Town cannot circumvent the thirty-day appeal window by bringing "an appeal of CR-72-2019 through CR-98-2019." Id.
The Town filed a petition for certiorari , which we granted. Town of Upper Marlboro v. Prince George's Cty. Council , 477 Md. 149, 266 A.3d 990 (2022). It presents the following questions for our review:
I. Was CR-72-2019 a final appealable decision that had to be challenged within [thirty] days of finality as required by § 22-407 of the Land Use Article?
II. Was the Town's appeal of CR[-]98-2019 [in]sufficient to challenge the deficiencies in CR-72-2019?[2 ]
III. Was the decision of the County Council sitting as the District Council deficient in setting forth the purpose and scope of the minor amendment in the initiating resolution (CR-72-[2019]) as required by Section 27-642 of the Prince George's County Code?
As explained in detail below, we answer each question in the negative. The decision of the Court of Special Appeals is therefore affirmed on alternative grounds.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Relevant Facts
Old Marlboro Primary School and Old Marlboro High School are properties located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland and owned by Prince George's County.3 Until
the contested actions of the Council, the two schoolhouses were listed on the 2010 Prince George's County Historic Sites and Districts
Plan and protected by the County's historic preservation ordinances. See Prince George's County Code ("PGCC") § 29-101, et seq . Old Marlboro Primary School is a one-story wood-frame Craftsman-style building constructed in 1896 as a replacement building for an earlier public school built for girls in 1867. The building was converted into a residence in 1921. Old Marlboro High School was constructed in two phases in 1921 and 1934 and built in the Classical Revival-style. The two schoolhouses have been vacant since the early 2000s, and have deteriorated due to disuse and lack of maintenance since their historic designation in 2010.
On July 23, 2019, the Council passed CR-72-2019, "[f]or the purpose of directing the [Planning Board] to initiate a minor amendment to the [2010 ] Historic Sites and Districts Plan [.]" The resolution stated:
WHEREAS, the District Council finds that there is a need to reevaluate the designation of Historic Sites 79-019-51 and 79-019-52 [i.e. , Old Marlboro Primary School and Old Marlboro High School] for removal from the [2010 ] Prince George's County Historic Sites and Districts Plan ; and
WHEREAS, Section 27-642 of the Zoning Ordinance [of the Prince George's County Code] establishes a process whereby the District Council may initiate certain minor amendments to an approved functional master plan; and
WHEREAS, the Council finds that the proposed minor amendment is plainly authorized pursuant to Section 27-642, because the proposed amendment: (1) is limited to specific issues regarding public planning objectives; and (2) does not constitute an amendment which would require major transportation analysis and/or modeling, revised water and sewer classifications, and Adequate Public Facilities analysis; and
WHEREAS, upon approval of this Resolution and, in accordance with applicable law, the proposed minor amendment to the [2010 ] Prince George's County Historic Sites and Districts Plan shall be subject to all notice and public hearing requirements to seek public comment on the minor amendment.
The resolution then stated that the Planning Board "is hereby directed to initiate a minor amendment to the [2010 ] Prince George's County Historic Sites and Districts Plan ... to remove the Old Marlboro Primary School ... and the Old Marlboro High School[.]" The resolution set a joint public hearing on the proposed minor amendment for September 17, 2019.
During the joint public hearing, the Town submitted testimony, a citizen's petition, and a Town Resolution opposing the minor amendment. Following the hearing, the Council and the Planning Board conducted additional public work-sessions on the testimony from the joint public hearing and recommendations regarding the minor amendment.
On November 19, 2019, the Council passed CR-98-2019, which officially adopted the minor amendment removing Old Marlboro Primary School and Old Marlboro High School from the 2010 Prince George's County Historic Sites and Districts Plan :
A RESOLUTION concerning [t]he 2010 Historic Sites and Districts Plan for Prince George's County – Minor Amendment ...
WHEREAS, on July 23, 2019, the District Council adopted CR-72-2019 for the purpose of initiating a minor amendment process to amend the [2010 ] Prince George's County Historic Sites
and Districts Plan to remove the Old Marlboro Primary School (Historic Site 79-019-51) and the Old Marlboro High School (Historic Site 79-019-52) from the Inventory of Historic Resources[.] ...
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the County Council of Prince George's County, Maryland, ... that in accordance with Sections 27-642 of the Zoning Ordinance, the following Minor Amendment to the [2010 ] Prince George's County Historic Sites and Districts Plan , is hereby approved and incorporated as set forth fully within this Resolution[.] ...
Amend the [2010 ] Prince George's County Historic Sites and District [s ] Plan to remove the Old Marlboro Primary
School, Historic Site 79-019-51, and the Old Marlboro High School, Historic Site 79-019-52, as described in Attachment A, and incorporated fully herein.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any proposal for redevelopment of the subject property seek to retain historic building fabric from the two school buildings to the extent practicable and to commemorate the history of the property through interpretive signage or other visual elements; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Dr. William and Sarah Beanes Cemetery (Historic Site 79-019-22) be preserved in place and protected from any redevelopment of the subject property, including through delineation of an appropriate environmental setting[.] ...
(Emphasis added).
Legal Proceedings
A. Circuit Court Proceeding
On December 17, 2019, the Town filed a petition for judicial review of CR-98-2019 in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County. The Town argued that the initiating resolution, CR-72-2019, failed to comply with the dictates of the Prince George's County Code in setting forth the purpose and scope of the proposed minor amendment, and as a result, the Council's decision to adopt the minor amendment in CR-98-2019 was arbitrary and capricious. The Town argued that CR-72-2019, as an initiating resolution, was not a final agency decision and not directly judicially reviewable; therefore, it properly challenged CR-98-2019 by alleging deficiencies in CR-72-2019. The Council responded that CR-72-2019 was a judicially reviewable final agency decision, and because the Town challenged the adoption of the minor amendment solely based on alleged deficiencies in...
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