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The following terms in this Article have the meanings indicated, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated in the context:
Public facility means any parcel of land of one (1) acre or more, with or without buildings or other capital improvements, devoted to public use, including roads, highway interchanges, rapid transit lines and stations, parking garages, schools, colleges, hospitals, health centers, government office buildings, fire and police stations, parks, recreation centers, golf courses, sanitary landfills, and any other significant facility whose construction is an established public purpose.
Public facility area means a public facility site plus that limited land area adjacent to an existing or proposed major public facility where at least one of the following conditions exists:
(1) The nature of the public facility is or will be such that adjacent private development may reasonably be expected to have a definite impact on the use and usefulness of the facility and its potential contribution to the attractiveness of the environment.
(2) There is an approved master plan of land use, transportation, and public facilities which identifies certain strategic and limited areas, the development of which for the use shown on the master plan is desirable to the implementation of the basic concepts of that master plan.
(3) The owner of the parcel needed for the proposed public facility is unwilling to sell only that part of his land needed for the public facility alone.
(4) One (1) public agency purposes to transfer a parcel of land to a second public agency which needs most but not all of the parcel for one (1) or more specific public facilities.
Public facility area plan means a site development plan, as it exists from time to time, specifying generally or in exact detail, as may be judged appropriate in specific instances by the county council and county executive, the location and types of land uses, activities, and improvements directed or permitted to take place both on the site occupied by the public facility and on the adjacent land acquired within the public facility area.
Public facility area development project means all of the following actions, taken in the following order:
(1) The council holds a public hearing on the designation of a proposed public facility area. The council or county executive may propose a designation before a binding contract to purchase a public facility is signed. Any proposal to designate an area as a public facility area requires the affirmative vote of 5 members of the council for approval. The approval is subject to veto by the county executive. The council may approve the proposal over the disapproval of the county executive by the affirmative vote of 6 members;
(2) Acquisition of land within a public facility area;
(3) Preparation of a public facility area plan, which plan may be proposed by either the county executive or the county council;
(4) Holding of land pending a suitable time for disposition;
(5) Conducting a public hearing on the public facility area plan prior to disposition of any land for private development, provided, however, that any such plan shall be approved and be subject to veto and reapproval in the same manner as provided in subsection (e)(1) of this section, provided, however, that once a public facility area plan has been approved, the county executive shall execute that plan in accordance with its terms and conditions; and
(6) Disposition of land for development according to the public facility area plan. (1968, ch. 607, § 1; 1970, ch. 471, § 1; FY 1991 L.M.C., ch. 11, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1; 2017 L.M.C., ch. 12, §1.)
(a) The county executive for Montgomery County is hereby authorized and empowered to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this article.
(b) Generally. To carry out public facility area development projects, which shall be limited to public facility areas.
(c) Acquisition of land and property. To acquire by purchase, gift, option, or any other legal means, excluding condemnation, land and property of every kind and any right, title, interest, franchise, easement, or privilege therein, for use in a public facility area development project.
(d) Plans and surveys. To make or have made all surveys and plans necessary to carry out the purposes of this article and to adopt or approve, modify and amend such plans, which plans may include but are not limited to: the identification of areas appropriate for public facility area development projects, and the preparation of public facility area plans.
(e) Sale, lease, etc., of property acquired. To sell, lease, convey, transfer or otherwise dispose of or retain any land or property acquired in a public facility area, regardless of whether or not it has been developed, redeveloped, altered or improved and irrespective of the manner or means in or by which it may have been acquired, to any private, public or quasi-public corporation, partnership, association, person or other legal entity. Prior to such disposition of land, a public facility area plan shall have been prepared. Any lease or rental agreement entered into pursuant to this article, for any of the purposes or objectives contemplated by this article, is hereby declared to be exclusively for business or commercial purposes and the fee, interest, rent, or charge reserved to be paid shall not be subject to redemption by the lessee, tenant or their successors in title, except to the extent and in the manner set forth in such lease agreement. Such property shall be subject to such covenants, conditions and restrictions, including covenants running with the land as the county council and county executive may deem to be necessary or desirable to promote the orderly development of Montgomery County or to otherwise carry out the purposes of this article. The purchasers or lessees and their successors and assigns shall be obligated to devote such real property only to the uses specified in the public facility area plan, and may be obligated to comply with such other requirements as the county council and county executive may determine to be in the public interest, including the obligation to begin within a reasonable time any improvements on such real property required by the public facility area plan. Such real property or interest therein shall be retained, sold, leased, or otherwise transferred at no less than its fair market value for uses in accordance with the public facility area plan. In determining the fair market value of real property for uses in accordance with the public facility area plan, consideration shall be given to the uses provided in such plan; the restrictions upon, and the covenants, conditions and obligations assumed by the purchaser or lessee or by the county retaining property; and the objectives of such plan for the promotion of orderly development. The conveyance to a private purchaser or lessee may provide that such purchaser or lessee shall be without power to sell, or encumber, or lease, or otherwise transfer the real property without the prior written consent of the county executive.
(f) Loans, grants, gifts, etc. To apply for and accept from the United States of America, the State of Maryland, or any department or agency thereof, or any other source, any loan, grant, gift, contribution, or aid of any kind.
(g) Other powers and procedures. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the powers and procedures for land acquisition, financing, including the levying of taxes and the issuance of bonds on the full faith and credit of the county, the construction of improvements, and land disposition shall be as defined and established in chapter 2 of the Montgomery County Code, 1965, and amended from time to time.
(h) Powers of other agencies. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed in any way to abrogate or curtail the powers of other public agencies or officers to select sites and to acquire and develop land in accordance with the provisions of the Annotated Code of Maryland or the Montgomery County Code. (1968, ch. 607, § 1; 1970, ch. 471, § 1.)
Editor's note-In connection with the above section see King v. Gleason, 32 Md. App. 151, 359 A.2d 245 (1976).
(a) The Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings must:
(1) schedule and conduct public hearings on any appeal or other matter assigned by law or by the County Council, County Executive, or other officer or body authorized to assign matters to a hearing examiner;
(2) issue a subpoena, enforceable in any court with jurisdiction, when necessary to compel the attendance of a witness or production of a document at any hearing, and administer an oath to any witness;
(3) allow each party in any hearing a reasonable opportunity to cross examine each witness not called by that party on matters within the scope of that witness' testimony;
(4) forward a written report, with a recommendation for decision, to the body that assigned the matter, including findings of fact and conclusions of law where required or appropriate;
(5) adopt regulations, subject to Council approval under method (2), to govern the conduct of public hearings and other activities of the Office.
(b) The Office may act as an administrative office or agency designated by the District Council, as prescribed in Division II of the Land Use Article of the Maryland Code.
(c) The Office may hear, and submit a written report and decision to the specified officer or body on, any:
(1) application to initiate, modify or revoke a special exception or conditional use, as provided in Chapter 59;
(2) designation by the County Council of a geographic area as a community redevelopment area;
(3) matter referred by the Board of Appeals under Section 2-112(b); or
(4) waiver or objection to a finding made by the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs concerning an application for an accessory dwelling unit rental housing license under Section 29-26.
(d) When the County Executive or a designee must conduct an administrative hearing under any law, the Executive may authorize the Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings to conduct the hearing or any particular class of hearings. (1976 L.M.C., ch. 44, § 2; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 4; 1988 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 2; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 30, § 1; 2013 L.M.C., ch. 2, § 1; 2013 L.M.C., ch. 4, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 28, § 1; 2019 L.M.C., ch. 18, §1.)
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