BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD
Baltimore County’s Comprehensive Zoning Map Process (CZMP), which takes place every four years, is set to start in September 2023. To request that your property be considered for a possible change of zoning classification, there are two important things to consider. First, the window within which you can make the request is from September 1, 2023 to October 15, 2023. Second, there has been a change in the law regarding how the Director of Planning issues its report to the Planning Board.
HOW WE CAN HELP
Smith, Gildea & Schmidt can assist you with either requesting a timely change of zoning classification or monitoring a zoning classification request filed by others. Smith, Gildea & Schmidt has represented property owners whose property was being considered for a possible change of zoning classification by others as well as property owners who would like to see their property’s zoning classification changed themselves. The “Public,” which is not limited to actual property owners, has from September 1, 2023 to October 15, 2023 to request that any property be considered for a possible change of zoning classification. The Planning Director, the Planning Board and the County Council have additional time to propose that your property be considered for a possible change of zoning classification. After that, a property is no longer eligible for a change of zoning classification for another four years. Following the filing deadline, the Planning Board, after considering recommendations from the Director of Planning and input from the Public, recommends to the County Council a new or comprehensively revised version of the map. Thereafter, the County Council is required to adopt a new zoning map before September 16, 2024.
A recent change in the law, Bill No. 84-22, was enacted by the County Council on December 19, 2022. Now, the Director of Planning issues a staff analysis report following the filing of comprehensive rezoning request as well as a report containing the preliminary recommendations of the Department of Planning with regard to the proposed zoning map after public hearings and prior to deliberations by the Planning Board. This change in the law has not been formally added to Section 32-3-203 of the Baltimore County Code.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO
It is important for property owners in Baltimore County to be aware of this change in the law and the overall process as many property owners have stated that they were not even aware that their property was even being considered for a possible change of zoning classification. Their property’s zoning was changed, nonetheless, because all that is required is that the Department of Planning send a property owner, by regular mail, notice that their property is being considered for a possible change of zoning classification. A sign giving notice would have to be posted on your property if it is the lone property being considered for a possible change of zoning classification, but that is not the case if it’s part of a larger assemblage of properties. The Planning Director, the Planning Board, the County Council or the “Public” (which arguably includes anyone on the planet) can propose that your property’s zoning classification be changed as part of an effort to change the zoning of your property along with other properties in the vicinity of yours, so be certain to consult with someone knowledgeable about the CZMP to ascertain if your property might be impacted by this process.