Ray v. Mayor of Baltimore

59 A.3d 545, 430 Md. 74, 2013 WL 216298, 2013 Md. LEXIS 11
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJanuary 22, 2013
DocketNo. 21
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 59 A.3d 545 (Ray 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
Ray v. Mayor of Baltimore, 59 A.3d 545, 430 Md. 74, 2013 WL 216298, 2013 Md. LEXIS 11 (Md. 2013).

Opinion

ADKINS, J.

Petitioners here seek to block a Planned Unit Development (“PUD”) with a Wal-Mart supercenter in Baltimore City, but have been stymied by Circuit Court and appellate rulings against them on the threshold question of standing. Although the test to show standing has been established in Maryland for more than half a century, the issue continues to generate appellate cases. That is partly because the test is fact-sensitive and is not readily reduced to a set of rules.

As we have explained, to have standing to challenge a zoning reclassification, a person’s property interest “must be such that he is personally and specially affected in a way different from that suffered by the public generally.” See Bryniarski v. Montgomery Cnty. Bd. of Appeals, 247 Md. 137, 144, 230 A.2d 289, 294 (1967). Today, we decline to adopt Petitioners’ theory that the class of persons aggrieved by [78]*78approval of this PUD must include the entire Charles Village and Remington neighborhoods. Moreover, Petitioner’s alternative argument, that they meet the specially aggrieved standard set forth above, does not withstand close examination.

FACTS AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

On November 22, 2010, the Baltimore City Council passed Ordinance 10-397, which approved a PUD for an 11.5-acre tract of land known as the “25th Street Station.” The PUD authorizes a mixed-use development located in the Remington and Charles Village neighborhoods of Baltimore City. It is anticipated to “bring approximately 20 national retailers ..., as well as 70-80 market-rate apartment units.”

Benn Ray and Brendan Coyne (“Petitioners”) filed a Petition for Judicial Review of the PUD’s approval. Ray resides in the Remington neighborhood at 279 W. 31st Street, Baltimore, Maryland. His residence is 2,212.39 feet, or approximately 0.4 miles, away from the PUD. Ray claims that he can see the PUD site from his second-floor bathroom during the winter months of the year, and that he can hear noise from the PUD site when his second-floor bathroom window is open. He believes that the PUD “will directly and dramatically increase traffic ... in front of [his] home,” which “will make it more dangerous for [him,]” given that “W. 31 St. is a narrow residential road that [he] believe[s] is ill equipped to handle the increased level of traffic.” Ray also believes that “the Wal-Mart planned to be part of the project will change the character of [his] neighborhood.”

Coyne resides in the Charles Village neighborhood at 2738 Guilford Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21218. His residence is 2,002.18 feet, or approximately 0.4 miles, away from the PUD. Coyne has produced no evidence to show that he can see or hear the PUD from his residence.1 Coyne’s main contention is that the PUD, and specifically the planned Wal-Mart store, [79]*79will adversely change the character of his neighborhood because the Wal-Mart store will force out many local businesses that he frequents, resulting in vacant buildings in his neighborhood. Coyne is of the opinion that the addition of the WalMart store will also lower wages of workers in his neighborhood, causing there to be “fewer employed people.” He believes that this “will lead to a higher number of residents failing to properly maintain their property.” Coyne claims that he is familiar with property values in the neighborhood and believes that these adverse effects will make “Charles Village a less desirable place to live,” thereby decreasing the value of his home.

The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore City, the owners of the subject property, and the developers of the PUD (“Respondents”) timely responded to the petition for judicial review, and all filed motions to dismiss, alleging that Petitioners lacked standing to challenge the PUD. In a written order, Judge Pamela J. White of the Baltimore City Circuit Court granted Respondents’ motions and dismissed Petitioners’ Petition for Judicial Review. She found that “Petitioners are not ‘adjoining, confronting or nearby’ property owners and thereby do not enjoy prima facie aggrieved status.” Nor had Petitioners shown any special interest or damage unique to Petitioners that would distinguish them from the general public. Judge White explained that “see[ing] roof tops or parking lots or traffic activity ... or hear[ing] city noise from blocks away, or deal[ing] with traffic congestion, or worrying] about local businesses ... are not circumstances that are unique or different from many other Baltimore residents among the general public.” Judge White also found that Coyne’s beliefs about the potential decrease in his property’s value were not admissible.

The Court of Special Appeals affirmed. In a reported opinion authored by Judge Moylan, the intermediate appellate court agreed with the Circuit Court that Petitioners did not qualify for prima facie aggrieved status and that Petitioners had failed to show any special aggrievement different from the [80]*80public generally. Ray v. Mayor of Balt., 203 Md.App. 15, 35-36, 45-46, 36 A.3d 521, 533, 539-40 (2012).

On May 9, 2012, this Court granted a writ of certiorari, Ray v. Mayor of Baltimore, 426 Md. 427, 44 A.3d 421 (2012), to answer the following questions:

1. Did the Court of Special Appeals err when it equated Petitioners’ neighborhoods of Charles Village and Remington with the general public and ruled that they lacked standing because others in their neighborhood were adversely affected in similar ways?
2. Did the Court of Special Appeals err when it held that Petitioners lacked standing because they were neither “nearby” nor specially aggrieved without considering the unique adverse effects caused by a new type of large development on 11.5 acres in an urban neighborhood?2

We shall hold that the Circuit Court did not err in dismissing Petitioners’ Petition for Judicial Review.

DISCUSSION

Petitioners filed for judicial review of the PUD ordinance under Md.Code (1957, 2010 Repl.Vol.), Article 66B, § 2.09(a)(l)(ii). This section provides:

(a) Who may appeal; procedure. — (1) An appeal to the Circuit Court of Baltimore City may be filed jointly or severally by any person, taxpayer, or officer, department, board, or bureau of the City aggrieved by:
(i) A decision of the Board of Municipal and Zoning
Appeals; or
(ii) A zoning action by the City Council.

(Emphasis added).3

[81]*81Id. In Bryniarski v. Montgomery County Board of Appeals, this Court described a “person aggrieved” as:

one whose personal or property rights are adversely affected by the decision of the board. The decision must not only affect a matter in which the protestant has a specific interest or property right but his interest therein must be such that he is personally and specially affected in a way different from that suffered by the public generally.

(Emphasis added).

247 Md.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In the Matter of Winifred Carpenter
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2024
Heard v. Prince George's Cnty.
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2024
Norris v. PNC Bank, N.A.
D. Maryland, 2023
Selective Way Ins. v. Fireman's Fund Ins.
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2023
Heard v. Cty. Cncl. of Prince George's
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2022
Maryland Attorney General Opinion 105OAG040
Maryland Attorney General Reports, 2020
Greater Towson Council of Community Associations v. DMS Development, LLC
172 A.3d 939 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2017)
Viles v. Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals
148 A.3d 358 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2016)
United Food & Commercial Workers International Union v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
137 A.3d 355 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2016)
A Guy Named Moe, LLC v. Chipotle Mexican Grill of Colorado, LLC
135 A.3d 492 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2016)
County Council v. Zimmer Development Co.
120 A.3d 677 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2015)
Prince George's Co. v. Zimmer Dev.
Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2015
Anne Arundel County v. Harwood Civic Ass'n
113 A.3d 672 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2015)
Anne Arundel County v. Bell
113 A.3d 639 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2015)
Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1300 v. Lovelace
109 A.3d 96 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2015)
State Center, LLC v. Lexington Charles Ltd. Partnership
92 A.3d 400 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 A.3d 545, 430 Md. 74, 2013 WL 216298, 2013 Md. LEXIS 11, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ray-v-mayor-of-baltimore-md-2013.