Washington Grove City Zoning Code

The Board of Zoning Appeals for the Town of Washington Grove is established as required by the laws of Maryland and is referred to in this Article as the Board.

The Board is authorized:

(a) upon appeals, to grant variances from strict application of certain regulations, as set forth in Section 12.3;

(b) to hear and decide upon appeals, taken by any aggrieved person, board, association, corporation or official, where it is alleged that there is an error in the grant or refusal of a building permit; but the Board is not authorized to reverse or modify any action which conforms to the provisions of this Article and which, therefore, was not erroneous;

(c) to interpret certain lines on the Zoning Map in accordance with the requirements of Section 4;

(d) to hear and decide requests for Special Exceptions; and

(e) to adopt rules of procedure with the consent of the Town Council.

An administrative appeal from any decision of the Board may be taken by any aggrieved person or by the Town to any court of competent jurisdiction under the B Rules, Maryland Rules of Procedure.

Before making its decision on any matter within its powers, the Board must hold a public hearing thereon.

11.311 Notice of Hearing. At least 30 days notice of a public hearing must be given in writing to the applicant or appellant, the Commission, the Mayor, the Town Council, and the owner of all land contiguous to the land with which the hearing is concerned or directly across any street from it. The Board may also give notice to such other interested persons, organizations, or agencies as it sees fit. The Board may also advertise the hearing in the same manner as prescribed in Section 13.32. Upon receipt of any application for a special exception or variance which will involve any change to a structure or site visible from any public way, the Board of Zoning Appeals promptly shall forward a complete copy of the same to the Historic Preservation Commission for review and comment.

11.312 Conduct of Hearing. Any person may submit oral or written testimony at the hearing. The applicant, the Town Council, Commission and any party required to be notified by Section 11.311 may be represented by counsel and cross examine witnesses. The rules of evidence do not apply. A report of the entire hearing must be made. The report together with all exhibits and written statements submitted at the hearing, must be incorporated in the application file and considered part of the record. The Board may leave the public record open or reopen the public record for a specific time to receive additional written comments.

11.313 Continuation of Adjourned Hearing. When a hearing is adjourned and the time and place of the continued hearing are announced at the time of adjournment no further notice need be given; otherwise notice of the continued hearing must be given in the same manner as in the case of the original hearing.

11.314 Minutes. The Board must keep minutes of its proceedings, meetings and hearings.

11.315 Resolutions. All actions of the Board must be taken by resolution, including the grounds and findings, forming the basis thereof, and a record of the members’ votes, all of which must be incorporated in the minutes.

11.316 Attendance of Witnesses. The Board is authorized to require the attendance of witnesses at hearings or meetings and to administer oaths.

11.317 Application Fee. Any administrative appeal, request for variance, or petition for special exception filed shall be accompanied by payment of the applicable filing fee as set forth in Article XVI of the Code of Ordinances.

Following the closing of the record of a public hearing the Board must render a decision either by

(a) approving or denying the application or appeal, or

(b) dismissing the application or appeal if the Board finds that it fails to conform to any of the procedural requirements of this Article.

11.321 Time Limit. If a decision has not been rendered

(a) 60 days after the closing of the record of the public hearing in the case of an application for Special Exception, or

(b) 30 days after the closing of the record of the public hearing in the case of a variance or appeal;then it must be assumed that the application or appeal has been disapproved, except that the Board, by resolution, may extend the time limit by 30 days.

11.322 Based on Record. The Board must make its decision solely upon the basis of its findings as to whether each of the specific requirements of the appropriate Sections of this Article has been satisfied by the evidence in the record.

11.323 Burden on Applicant. In the interpretation of the evidence the Board must consider the burden of proof to be upon the applicant, including the burden of going forward with the evidence and the burden of persuasion on all questions of fact which are to be determined by the Board.

11.324 Special Exceptions.

(a) Stand for Evaluation.
(1) A special exception must not be granted without the findings required by this Article VII. In making these findings the Board of Appeals shall consider the inherent and non-inherent adverse effects of the use on nearby properties and the general neighborhood at the proposed location, irrespective of adverse effects the use might have if established elsewhere in the zone. Inherent adverse effects are the physical and operational characteristics necessarily associated with the particular use, regardless of its physical size or scale of operations. Inherent adverse effects alone are not a sufficient basis for denial of a special exception. Non-inherent adverse effects are physical and operational characteristics not necessarily associated with the particular use, or adverse effects created by unusual characteristics of the site. Non-inherent adverse effects, alone or in conjunction with inherent adverse effects, are a sufficient basis to deny a special exception.

(2) A special exception may be granted when the Board finds from a preponderance of the evidence of record that the proposed use:

(A) Is a permissible special exception in the zone.

(B) The fact that a proposed use complies with all specific standards and requirements to grant a special exception does not create a presumption that the use is compatible with nearby properties and, in itself, is not sufficient to require a special exception be granted.

(C) Will be consistent with the general plan for the physical development of the Town of Washington Grove including the applicable master plan. Any decision to grant or deny a special exception must be consistent with any recommendation in the applicable master plan regarding the appropriateness of a special exception at a particular location. If the Planning Commission in a report on a special exception concluded that granting a particular special exception at a particular location would be inconsistent with the land use objectives of the applicable master plan, a decision to grant the special exception must include specific findings as to master plan consistency.

(D) Will be in harmony with the general character of the neighborhood considering population density, design, scale, and bulk of any proposed new structures, intensity and character of activity, traffic and parking conditions, and number of similar uses.

(E) Will not be detrimental to the use, peaceful enjoyment, economic value or development of surrounding properties or the general neighborhood at the subject site, irrespective of any adverse effects the use might have if established elsewhere in the zone.

(F) Will cause no objectionable noise, vibrations, fumes, odors, dust, illumination, glare, or physical activity at the subject site, irrespective of any adverse effects the use might have if established elsewhere in the zone.

(G) Will not, when evaluated in conjunction with existing and approved special exceptions in any neighboring one-family residential area, increase the number, intensity, or scope of special exception uses sufficiently to affect the area adversely or alter the predominantly residential nature of the area. Special exception uses that are consistent with the recommendations of a master plan do not alter the nature of an area.

(H) Will not adversely affect the health, safety, security, morals, or general welfare of residents, visitors, or workers in the area at the subject site, irrespective of any adverse effects the use might have if established elsewhere in the zone.

(I) Will be served by adequate public services and facilities, including police and fire protection, water, sanitary sewer, public roads, storm drainage and other public facilities. With regard to findings relating to public roads, the Board shall further determine that the proposal will not reduce the safety of vehicular or pedestrian traffic.

(3) Nothing in this Article relieves an applicant from complying with all requirements to obtain a building permit or any other approval required by law. The Board’s finding of any facts regarding public facilities does not bind any other agency or department which approves or licenses the project.

(4) The applicant for a special exception has the burden of proof to show that the proposed use satisfies all applicable general and specific standards under this Article. This burden includes the burden of going forward with the evidence, and the burden of persuasion on all questions of fact.

(5) The Board may condition approval of a special exception with any requirements necessary to protect nearby properties and the general neighborhood. These conditions may include limiting hours of operation, days of operation, number of employees and students and the times of their arrival and exit, exterior lighting, number and nature of vehicle trips, exterior appearance, vehicular parking and traffic circulation, signage, and buffering of outdoor sports or recreational areas.

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(c) Shall, in connection with any Special Exception use which may reasonably cause more than twenty (20) vehicular arrivals per day for three (3) or more days in any single week, require that the Special Exception property have not less than thirty (30) feet of road frontage on a public street with a width of pavement not less than 27 feet within the Town boundaries. Ingress and egress to the Special Exception property in connection with the Special Exception use shall be exclusively via said access, and shall be improved with an entrance and driveway of sufficient width and design to safely accommodate two way traffic and emergency vehicle access.

The decision of the Board must be stated in a written opinion setting forth the evidence upon which it is based. The opinion becomes a part of the file, and copies must be made available to all persons who were notified of the hearing and to all who submitted oral or written testimony.