[RP TownTalk] Town vs County Law

[Regina Kreger]

Thank you for this info, Rob!

Robert Oppenheim wrote:
> <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">Recent 
> emails brought up an age old question about town
> law having to be "more strict" or "less strict" than county law.
> This was bantered about a lot when I was on the council. And
> often seemed to flip-flop depending on which way favored the
> speaker.
>
> So I made a point to learn more about this at the Maryland
> Municipal League seminars (at the MML convention).
>
> I was told that the empowering state law views municipalities
> and counties as equal, and that the town can override county
> law in any way the town sees fit. We can be the exact opposite
> of the county if we choose to be.
>
> However, there was one big caveat for municipalities in Prince
> Georges and Montgomery counties, because in these counties,
> unlike the rest of the state, municipalities do NOT have zoning
> authority. Zoning authority here falls under some strange mixture
> of the county and M-NCPPC.
>
> Outside of zoning issues, the town can pass law that overrides
> county law. But it gets tricky if the law concerns zoning. We may
> weaken county zoning laws, but may not be more strict. (Details
> below).
>
> Unfortunately, I did not get to talk with anyone at MML that was
> familiar with the fine points of PG vs municipality Zoning Law.
>
> Our county zoning law states: "The municipality may not impose
> any standard or requirement stricter than those standards or
> requirements set forth in the Zoning Ordinance." [27-924(a)(2)]
>
> Note the almost double negative in the above. It says -
>    may NOT impose STRICTER standards.
>
> I interpret this to mean the town may "weaken" county zoning
> restrictions. So, as an example, if county law restricts or forbids
> raising chickens in our R-55 zoning areas, then the town could
> choose to allow the raising of chickens. But, I am giving an opinion
> here that I am not qualified to give! And there are bound to be
> those who disagree with my interpretation.
>
> We might actually need an opinion from an attorney with
> experience in this area (and where are you going to find an
> experienced chicken lawyer? OK, just kidding, I think there
> are plenty of chicken lawyers).
>
> You can read and search the county code at
> http://egov.co.pg.md.us/lis/default.asp?File=&Type=TOC
>
> P.S.  I recall an effort a year or so ago to further empower
> municipality zoning rights in Montgomery and Prince George's
> counties. I do not know the results of that effort.
>
> -Rob
>
>
> </div>
>