Exxon Co., U.S.A. v. State Highway Administration

731 A.2d 948, 354 Md. 530, 1999 Md. LEXIS 333
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJune 16, 1999
DocketNo. 142
StatusPublished

This text of 731 A.2d 948 (Exxon Co., U.S.A. v. State Highway Administration) 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
Exxon Co., U.S.A. v. State Highway Administration, 731 A.2d 948, 354 Md. 530, 1999 Md. LEXIS 333 (Md. 1999).

Opinion

RODOWSKY, Judge.

This case presents a constitutional challenge to a condition included in a special exception for the remodeling of a gasoline filling station and in a permit to construct facilities within a planned right-of-way. We do not reach the constitutional issue, however, because the challenge should have been made when the allegedly unconstitutional condition was imposed and because the challenger acquiesced in the condition of which it now complains.

I

In 1962 the predecessor of the appellant, Exxon Company, U.S.A. (Exxon), leased for twenty years approximately 21,971 square feet of land located on the northwest corner of Allentown Road and Old Branch Avenue, Camp Springs, Prince George’s County, Maryland (the Property) on which to construct and operate a gasoline service station.1 The lease provided that all “structures, tanks, machinery, equipment and all other property ... placed upon the premises, whether annexed to the freehold or not, shall remain the personal property of Lessee[.]” A special exception (No. 751) for the operation of a service station on the Property was granted in March 1962 by the County Council for Prince George’s County, sitting as the District Council.2 It was apparently as part of the initial construction that underground gasoline storage tanks were placed along the Allentown Road side of the Property, near the intersection.

In April 1977 the appellee, the State Highway Administration of the Maryland Department of Transportation (SHA), purchased eight to ten feet of the Allentown Road frontage of the Property from the lessors, with Exxon’s consent, for a widening of that road. Allentown Road was shown in the [533]*533master plan as ultimately being widened to a 120 foot right-of-way which would then require taking twenty-two feet of the Property’s frontage on that road.

The lease was extended to December 31, 1991, and Exxon was given the option of extending the lease an additional six years to December 31,1997.

On October 14, 1981, Exxon applied to the District Council for a special exception (No. 3308). The purpose of the request was to modernize the existing gasoline station. Included in the planned remodeling were replacing the existing underground tanks, adding a third pump island, and adding a canopy over all of the pump islands. The new pump island and part of the new canopy, as well as the replacement underground tanks, would be within the planned right-of-way of the future widening of Allentown Road. The Technical Staff recommended approval in a report that contained the following in its “Comments” section:

“There are no immediate plans to widen the roads abutting the subject property. The Transportation Planning Division staff ... indicated that the pump island within the right-of-way would not have any adverse effect on the circulation system within the area. If the District Council approves the request to build within the right-of-way it is recommended that the approval be conditioned to the removal of any structures or equipment be solely [sic] the economic responsibility of the owners when the road is widened.”

At the public hearing before the Prince George’s County Zoning Hearing Examiner, counsel for Exxon stated:

“With regard to the Technical Staff Report and the staffs recommendation, with the exception of condition number one [regarding landscaping between the street and parking areas], which we will get into later, we concur and adopt what the staff has recommended.”

At that hearing John Warren (Warren), the marketing representative for Exxon in Prince George’s County, testified as follows:

[534]*534“Q. Mr. Warren, were you in the room when Mr. [Derro,3 Chief of the Transportation Division of the Prince George’s County Planning Board] testified earlier as to the status of the widening of Allentown Road?
“A. Yes.
“Q. Were the comments that Mr. [Derro] gave in accordance with what your understanding was as to the ... proposed widening of Allentown Road?
“A. Yes.
“Q. If the building permit were granted by virtue of the County Council permitting us to build within half of this widening aspect of Allentown Road, are you able to represent that the removal of the pump island that is located within that proposed widening area as well as the portion of the canopy that extends over would be removed by Exxon at its expense?
“A. By Exxon at Exxon’s expense, yes.”

Warren summed up by testifying:

“Q. If I understood the answer to your last question, Mr. Warren, essentially what you are saying is that Exxon is doing this because, A, it wants to modernize the station and, B, it really doesn’t have any expectation that Allentown Road is going to be relocated in the near future to affect the modernization, isn’t that right?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. That’s what I thought. Okay.”

The Zoning Hearing Examiner recommended approval of the special exception, subject to certain conditions, including:

“3. The applicant shall remove at its own expense, all ' structures and fixtures that are located on or in any part of the subject property taken or acquired by a public body, corporation or agency for the improvement or widening of Allentown Road.”

[535]*535Related to this condition, the Zoning Hearing Examiner’s sixth finding of fact, after referring to the future taking of twenty-two feet, stated:

“The proposed outside pump island is approximately 12 feet, on center, from the existing property line and the proposed canopy extends to the existing property line along Allentown Road. The underground tanks are also located in the proposed right-of-way, in the south corner of the lot, near the intersection. There are presently no funds in any budget, nor any plans, except for the Master Plan, to widen Allentown Road. In the opinion of the Transportation Division of [the] Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, it will probably be longer than 10 years before anything is done to accomplish the widening. The applicant has agreed to remove, at its own expense, all structures, fixtures, etc., located in the right-of-way on this property, upon the widening of Allentown Road. (T.24)”

On May 10, 1982, the District Council enacted Zoning Ordinance No. 24-1982, which granted the special exception and granted Exxon’s request for permission to construct facilities for its filling station within the planned right-of-way for the widening of Allentown Road, subject to the condition recommended by the Zoning Hearing Examiner, namely,

“3. The applicant shall remove, at its expense, all structures and fixtures that are located on or in any part of the subject property which is taken or acquired by a public body, corporation, or agency for the improvement or widening of Allentown Road.”

Thereafter, until the proceedings that are now before this Court, Exxon did not challenge this zoning ordinance or the quoted condition.

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Bluebook (online)
731 A.2d 948, 354 Md. 530, 1999 Md. LEXIS 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/exxon-co-usa-v-state-highway-administration-md-1999.