[RP TownTalk] Town vs County Law

[Robert Oppenheim]

Interesting find, Alan.

The summary I stated before was largely correct, although
I failed to note all the exceptions.

In General, the town has broad powers to pass ordinances that
over ride county law - with some exceptions which are enumerated
in the state code.

In general, the town can be more or less restrictive than county
law, but in some of the enumerated exceptions, the town must
be more restrictive than the county.

A note to readers. I am not an attorney and I am not qualified
to interpret law! What you read here is simply a lay person's
opinion and has NO real significance at all!

The Maryland Code alternates between granting Municipalities
broad powers to over ride county law and then limiting those
powers in specific areas.

Here is a brief hi-level summary of section 2B ...

In (a), it grants municipalities broad power to over ride county law.

In (b) it lists a few specific common sense exceptions in which
municipalities may NOT over ride county law.  Two examples are:
 * The town can not negate county taxes, and
 * The town can not over ride county law if it would have significant
health and safety issues that extend beyond the border of the town.

In (c) - (the section Alan quoted) - it allows municipalities to modify
some of the exceptions listed in (b) - as long as the town is more
restrictive than the county. Note that this More Restrictive requirement
applies ONLY to the enumerated exceptions listed in (b). Outside of the
listed exceptions, the town can pretty much over ride county law in most
any way it sees fit.

Although there are other exceptions in other parts of the Md code.
As I explained in my last email, zoning law in PG has its own set of rules.

Again, please note this is just my lay person's opinion, and could easily
be wrong!

Section 2B has lots of provisions and procedures that I am glossing over.
Interested people are invited to read Article 23A, Section 2B for 
themselves at

http://www.michie.com/maryland/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=mdcode
(on the left, scroll down to Article 23A, then click "In GENERAL," then 
click Section 2B)

As far as chicken law goes [Bruce says "croak"] the county's restrictions
on chickens is in its zoning law. And the county [appears] to allow the
town to relax zoning restrictions. So I believe that - if the town wanted
to - it could allow some minimal number of chickens to be kept,
as long as the area is kept clean and free of objectionable odors.
Before such an ordinance became law, the town's attorney would review
it (as he does with most town ordinances) to insure it was legal.

If you want to make it legal to raise chickens in Riverdale Park,
then you would do well to discuss it with council members.
Finding other like-minded Riverdalians might help you convince
the council to take action.

-Rob

Alan Thompson and Sarah Wayland wrote:
> Rob,
>
> I did a little research on this myself, and your source at MML seems, from my 
> interpretation of what I've read, to have exaggerated a little bit.  I'm not 
> going to discuss zoning (which is a whole separate legal mess all by itself) 
> but Article 23A, section 2B of the Maryland Code (available, with some 
> digging, at
> http://www.michie.com/maryland/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=mdcode
> (scroll down on the bottom left pane until you start seeing Article numbers))
>
> states, in part:
> --------------------------------------------
> (c)  Municipal legislation making county legislation inapplicable.- 
> Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b)(3) of this section, county 
> legislation enacted in accordance with the procedures and requirements thereof 
> shall nevertheless be or become inapplicable in any municipality which has 
> enacted or enacts municipal legislation that:  
>
> (1) Covers the same subject matter and furthers the same policies as the 
> county legislation;  
> (2) Is at least as restrictive as the county legislation; and  
> (3) Includes provisions for enforcement.  
> --------------------------------------------
>
> My reading of (c)(2), above, is that if the county council has dotted its i's 
> and crossed its t's just right (my eyes were glazing reading over (b)(3)), the 
> only way the council can overrule it is to be at least as restrictive as the 
> county legislation.  As you stated, determining whether the town can make a 
> particular piece of county legislation "inapplicable" is probably best left to 
> a lawyer.
>
> Best,
>
> Alan
>