Coalition Moves Forward with Rezoning Lawsuit Against County

A coalition of citizen groups and individuals is suing the county over the way it handled rezoning in County Council Districts 6 and 7.

The Growth Action Network, which represents the groups and individuals, announced the lawsuit on Thursday. The suit challenges Bill No. 44-11, which was passed in August as part of countywide comprehensive rezoning every 10 years.

The lawsuit was filed in Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County on behalf of:

• Harwood Civic Association
• South River Federation
• Friends of Jug Bay
• Sherwood Forest Civic Association
• Generals Highway Council of Civic Associations
• Lothian Civic Association
• Davidsonville Civic Association
• Nine citizens from Districts 6 and 7

The 22-page suit challenges the way Anne Arundel County goes about the decennial rezoning. The suit focuses on controversial changes made in Council Districts 6 and 7, which include much of Edgewater, Davidsonville, Annapolis, Crownsville, Gambrills and Crofton.

The main complaint in the suit is that 44-11 did not comport with either the General Development Plan or the Small Area Plan. The GDP and SAP are outlines of land use for the county.

In total, the Office of Planning of Zoning received 90 applications for rezoning, most of which were "upzoning" requests. Of those, planning and zoning forwarded 50 requests to the Planning Advisory Board (PAB), a citizen panel appointed by the county executive to review zoning requests.
Once the rezoning plan hit the Anne Arundel County Council, an additional 40 changes were added. County Executive John Leopold vetoed 16 of the additions on the grounds that they were inconsistent with the General Development Plan. Ten of those were overridden by the council.

Mike Lofton of the Harwood Civic Association, one of the parties to the lawsuit, said in a media release, "the Council chose largely to disregard the GDP and the advice of the County's excelling professional planning staff. We believe that not only did the actions of the Council demonstrate an arrogant disrespect for the wishes of the citizens of the county, but they were in clear violation of Maryland law, and we expect the courts to reverse them.”

Specifically, the lawsuit targets the following parcels that were rezoned in Bill 44-11:

• 1308 Defense Highway
• Corner of Riva Road and West Central Avenue
• 3336-3340 Solomons Island Road
• Six parcels on Mt. Zion Marlboro Road
• 1635 and 1685 Underwood Road
• Crandall Road at Muddy Creek Road
• Cox Road and Polly Place
• 1300 Defense Highway/Staples Corner
• 1541 Defense Highway
• 2792 Solomons Island Road
• 1625 Old Generals Highway

The plaintiffs are represented by a team of volunteer lawyers recruited by the Chesapeake Legal Alliance and headed by attorney Russell Stevenson.