Friendship Cemetery v. Mayor of Baltimore

90 A.2d 695, 200 Md. 430, 1952 Md. LEXIS 358
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJuly 15, 1952
Docket[No. 204, October Term, 1951.]
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 90 A.2d 695 (Friendship Cemetery v. Mayor of Baltimore) 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
Friendship Cemetery v. Mayor of Baltimore, 90 A.2d 695, 200 Md. 430, 1952 Md. LEXIS 358 (Md. 1952).

Opinions

Collins, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is an appeal from a judgment entered for costs after the sustaining of a demurrer to each of three counts of appellants’ amended declaration, after the appellants declined to further amend.

For the purpose of this opinion we will recite first the pertinent matters alleged in the third count of the declaration. This count alleges that the appellant, Friendship Cemetery of Anne Arundel County, hereinafter called the Cemetery Company, owns Friendship Cemetery, approximately nine acres in area in Anne Arundel County. The other appellants are lot owners in that Cemetery. The appellee, the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore (the City), is a municipal corporation which has established an airport known as Friendship Airport, in Anne Arundel County. The remaining appellees constitute [434]*434the Airport Board of the Department of Aviation of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore (the Airport Board), which is the successor of the Baltimore Aviation Commission (the Aviation Commission). Pursuant to authority contained in Chapter 956 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 1945, the City passed its ordinance No. 520 approved July 15, 1946, which contained:

“a councilmanic finding that certain land in Anne Arundel County described therein is necessary for airport purposes and authorizes and directs Aviation Commission to acquire said land by purchase or condemnation. That said Friendship Cemetery is located in the heart of said airport area described in said Ordinance No. 520, being approximately 2500 ft. from the southern boundary, 5400 ft. from the western boundary, 7200 ft. from the northern boundary, and 7600 ft. from the eastern boundary of said airport. That following the passage of said Ordinance No. 520, Aviation Commission commenced the acquisition of the tract described therein. That during 1946, Aviation Commission began negotiating for the acquisition of said cemetery; and said Cemetery Company advised the Aviation Commission it was willing for said cemetery to remain in the airport if the City would only agree to care for it permanently, thus insuring the fulfillment of the Cemetery Company’s agreement with the lot owners for perpetual care; but Aviation Commission refused to accept any responsibility for the care of said cemetery. That on February 24, 1947, Aviation Commission passed a resolution directing City Solicitor to institute proceedings to condemn said cemetery; but no such proceedings have ever been instituted. That during the year 1947, negotiations for the purchase of the cemetery were carried on with Cemetery Company, first by Aviation Commis[435]*435sion, and later by its successor, Airport Board; but said negotiations failed for the reason that said City agencies then, and throughout all the negotiations described hereafter, have steadfastly and knowingly refused to pay a price sufficient to comply with the requirements of the formula fixed by the General Assembly in Chapter 804, Acts of 1945, namely, that in addition to damages for the land and improvements, there shall be paid the cost of removal of bodies, markers and monuments and the placing of the same at some other suitable or comparable location within the State of Maryland. That when it developed Plaintiffs were insisting upon being paid on the basis of the measure of damages fixed by said statute, Airport Board, on October 7, 1947, notified Plaintiffs it would not condemn their property. That said refusal of Airport Board to condemn Plaintiffs’ property was unlawful and in direct violation of the mandate of said Ordinance No. 520 to condemn all property that could not be purchased by Airport Board. That on January 9, 1948, Plaintiffs instituted an action against Defendants in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County asking that the writ of mandamus issue requiring the condemnation of their property. That at said time, the City had acquired all of the 3200 acres within its ‘Outline Plat of Friendship Airport Site’, dated October 27, 1947, with the exception of Plaintiffs’ property and possibly one or two other small parcels of land. That realizing there was no defense to said suit, Airport Board on January 26, 1948, procured the introduction of an ordinance in the Baltimore City Council and by a suspension of the rules, secured the first, second and third readings and passage of said ordinance on said date, without knowledge of the Plaintiffs or any opportunity on their part to [436]*436oppose the same. Said Ordinance No. 161, was approved by the Mayor of Baltimore on February 26,1948. * * * That while said Ordinance No. 161 repeals and re-ordains Ordinance No. 520 aforesaid with amendments, there was no amendment made to section one which describes the tract of land (including Plaintiffs’) which it provides ‘It is necessary to acquire by purchase or condemnation’ for airport purposes. Section 2 of Ordinance No. 520, however, is amended so as to make it discretionary with Airport Board when it will acquire the unacquired parcels, namely, when needed for airport purposes, and even when needed for those purposes, making it discretionary with Airport Board whether it will condemn if the land owner will not agree as to price. The latter provision is directly contrary to said enabling act (Chapter 956, Acts of 1945) requiring condemnation by the City where property needed for airport purposes could not be purchased. That although three and a half years have passed since the passage of said Ordinance No. 161, and although Plaintiffs’ land is the only land within the 3200 acre tract not yet acquired, Defendants refuse to condemn Plaintiffs’ land or to repeal the provisions of said ordinance declaring Plaintiffs’ property to be needed for airport purposes. That in filing an answer to said petition for the writ of mandamus, Airport Board alleged that in the exercise of its judgment and discretion under Ordinance No. 161, it had determined that the property of petitioners ‘is not needed, for airport purposes, although there is no formal or written record of any kind in the files of Airport Board showing when or for what reasons it had so exercised its said discretion. That promptly after said suit for mandamus was filed, Airport Board, through the office of its [437]*437counsel, the City Solicitor, requested a renewal of negotiations for the purchase of said cemetery and continued such negotiations until July 15, 1948, when it terminated the same on the ground that the amount of money Plaintiffs were asking, namely, $95,000.00 to $100,000.00, was too high. That on August 23,1948, the minutes of Airport Board show that a Mr. Watner, owner of Meadowridge Cemetery had proposed to remove all the bodies from Friendship Cemetery to Meadowridge Cemetery for $140,000.00, if he could get the consent of all lot owners. That although the minutes contained a notation ‘that the proposition of the Friendship people * * * would cost about $95,000.00’ said Board nevertheless decided to hold Mr. Watner’s proposal in abeyance; and from that date until November 5, 1948, Airport Board continued to negotiate with the said Mr. Watner, at which time counsel for the Plaintiffs protested the consideration of Mr. Watner’s plan even for the reduced price of $109,000.00, since Airport Board had refused to consider paying the Plaintiffs $95,-000.00 to $100,000.00. That thereafter Airport Board carried on negotiations with the Plaintiffs and Mr. Watner until December 7, 1948, when it advised Mr. Watner his proposal could not be accepted.

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Friendship Cemetery v. Mayor of Baltimore
90 A.2d 695 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1952)

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Bluebook (online)
90 A.2d 695, 200 Md. 430, 1952 Md. LEXIS 358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/friendship-cemetery-v-mayor-of-baltimore-md-1952.