Dumont Oaks Community Ass'n v. Montgomery County

634 A.2d 459, 333 Md. 202, 1993 Md. LEXIS 179
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedDecember 21, 1993
DocketNo. 21
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 634 A.2d 459 (Dumont Oaks Community Ass'n v. Montgomery County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dumont Oaks Community Ass'n v. Montgomery County, 634 A.2d 459, 333 Md. 202, 1993 Md. LEXIS 179 (Md. 1993).

Opinion

RODOWSKY, Judge.

Maryland Code (1974, 1988 Repl.Vol., 1993 Cum.Supp.), §§ 11-122 and 11B-104 of the Real Property Article (RP) prohibit discriminatory, local legislation directed at condominiums and at homeowners’ associations. Under § 10B-7 of the [204]*204Montgomery County Code (1984, 1993 Supp.) (M.C.C.), that county imposes a charge on common ownership communities to fund certain programs, hereinafter described. The issue in this case is whether the charge authorized by local law violates the prohibitions of public general law.

Montgomery County is a “home rule” county, having adopted a charter pursuant to Maryland Constitution, art. XIA. Chapter 33 of the Montgomery County Laws of 1990 enacted M.C.C. Chapter 10B, “Common Ownership Communities.” Common ownership communities are therein defined to include:

“(1) a development subject to a declaration enforced by a homeowners’ association, as those terms are used in state law;
(2) a condominium, as that term is used in state law; and
(3) a cooperative housing project, as that term is used in state law.”

§ 10B-2(b). Chapter 10B created a Commission on Common Ownership Communities (the Commission) which is charged with examining conditions in common ownership communities and making recommendations from time to time regarding conditions “which may result in unmet community, resident, or public needs.” § 10B-6. Chapter 10B also established an Office of Common Ownership Communities (the Office) within the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development. § 10B-4. Tasks of this Office relate to assisting these communities in providing services to their residents, such as developing manuals that describe available government resources and assisting with dispute resolution. § 10B-5.

Each common ownership community in Montgomery County must register annually with the Commission. § 10B-7(a)(1). “The governing body of a homeowners’ association, the council of unit owners of a condominium, and the board of directors of a cooperative housing corporation are responsible for compliance with [§ 10B-7(a) ], including the payment of any registration fee.” § 10B-7(a)(3). Failure to register constitutes a Class A violation, which carries a maximum $500 [205]*205fine under § 1-19, and makes the community ineligible for the Office’s assistance in dispute resolution. § 10B-7(a)(2).

To fund Commission dispute resolution and technical assistance activities, the County Executive is authorized, by regulation, to set various fees and charges. § 10B-7(b). By regulation, the County Executive set a registration fee of $1.00 per unit for January 1, 1991, through June 30, 1991, and a registration fee of $2.00 per unit for fiscal year 1992. Mont. County Reg. 56-90 AM (1991).

On April 15, 1991, Dumont Oaks Community Association, Inc., together with four (later six) other homeowners’ associations and thirteen condominium associations (collectively, Dumont Oaks), requested the Circuit Court for Montgomery County to enter a declaratory judgment invalidating this fee. Dumont Oaks alleged, inter alia, that RP §§ ll-122(b) and 11B-104(b) prohibit a county from enacting such a law, and that, as provided in Md. Const. art. XI-A, § 3, these public general laws supersede the locally imposed fee.

RP § ll-122(b) is part of the Maryland Condominium Act, codified as RP Title 11. In Title 11 “condominium” is defined as “property subject to the condominium regime established under this title.” § ll-101(e). Section 11-122 provides:

“(a) The provisions of all laws, ordinances, and regulations concerning building codes or zoning shall have full force and effect to the extent that they apply to property which is subjected to a condominium regime and shall be construed and applied with reference to the overall nature and use of the property without regard to the form of ownership. A law, ordinance, or regulation concerning building codes or zoning may not establish any requirement or standard governing the use, location, placement or construction of any land and improvements which are submitted to the provisions of this title, unless the requirement or standard is uniformly applicable to all land and improvements of the same kind or character not submitted to the provisions of this title.
[206]*206(b) Except as otherwise provided in this title, a comity, city, or other jurisdiction may not enact any law, ordinance, or regulation which would impose a burden or restriction on a condominium that is not imposed on all other property of similar character not subjected to a condominium regime. Any such law, ordinance, or regulation, is void. Except as otherwise expressly provided in §§ 11-130, 11-138, 11-139, and 11-140 of this title, the provisions of this title are statewide in their effect. Any law, ordinance, or regulation enacted by a county, city, or other jurisdiction is preempted by the subject and material of this title.”

The Maryland Homeowners Association Act is RP Title 11B. Section 11B-I04(b) provides:

“A local government may not enact any law, ordinance, or regulation which would:
(1) Impose a burden or restriction on property which is part of a development because it is part of a development.”

In Title 11B a development is “property subject to a declaration.” § 11B — 101(f)(1). A declaration is:

“an instrument ... that creates the authority for a homeowners association to impose on lots, or on the owners or occupants of lots, or on another homeowners association, condominium, or cooperative housing corporation any mandatory fee in connection with the provision of services or otherwise for the benefit of some or all of the lots, the owners or occupants of lots, or the common areas.”

§ 11B — 101(d)(1).

Concluding, inter alia, that RP §§ 11 — 122(b) and 11B-104(b) did not prohibit the charge, the circuit court granted the county’s motion for summary judgment and declared § 10B-7 valid and enforceable. Dumont Oaks appealed.

The Court of Special Appeals affirmed in an unreported opinion. Relying on Rockville Grosvenor, Inc. v. Montgomery County, 289 Md. 74, 422 A.2d 353 (1980), the intermediate appellate court held that, although the challenged fee is a burden, it is imposed on property of similar character and is therefore not discriminatory. Rejecting the argument of the [207]*207fee challengers that apartment complexes were not subjected to this registration fee, the court concluded that, while both types of housing may be high density, “they are dissimilar in the essential characteristic that is the basis of the County legislation — the form of ownership.”

We granted the petition for certiorari of Dumont Oaks. The issue raised in that petition limits the asserted grounds for invalidating the registration fee to violations of RP §§ 11-122(b) and 11B-104 by omitting apartment complexes from the imposition of the fee.

Both Dumont Oaks and Montgomery County invoke Rock-ville Grosvenor in support of their conflicting positions.

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Bluebook (online)
634 A.2d 459, 333 Md. 202, 1993 Md. LEXIS 179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dumont-oaks-community-assn-v-montgomery-county-md-1993.