(a) If alternative standards and specifications are allowed in Section 49-32, any one alternative may be selected by the applicant for a permit, subject to the approval of the Director of Permitting Services.
(b) The Department of Transportation must erect, or order a permittee to erect, name signs at each road intersection. If the Director of Transportation finds that traffic control or vehicular or pedestrian safety so requires, the Director may order a permittee to install traffic control signs, markings, or other devices on any right-of-way that will be publicly maintained.
(c) If a preliminary drainage study indicates that a minimum right-of-way or storm drain easement width required in this Article is inadequate to properly drain a particular road, the Department of Permitting Services may require any additional right-of-way or storm drain easement necessary for proper drainage. The Department must notify the permittee of any added right-of-way before a dedication plat is approved by the Planning Board (or equivalent body in any municipality with land use authority) and recorded in the County land records, and must notify the permittee of any added easement when it approves a right-of-way permit.
(1) If a lot or lots front on a public road, the permittee must provide sufficient drainage easements to allow for the safe conveyance of stormwater from the public right-of-way to either an approved outfall or an approved public structure.
(d) (1) If a lot or lots front on a public road, the permittee must construct sidewalks, master- planned bikeways, ramps, curbs, and gutters, except:
(A) any sidewalk or sidepath in front of a lot that is larger than 25,000 square feet for a single-family detached dwelling in a rural area;
(B) any sidewalk or sidepath on any roadway that is classified as rustic or exceptional rustic;
(C) any sidewalk or sidepath on a neighborhood street or neighborhood yield street serving fewer than 75 dwelling units if the Planning Board and Department of Transportation find that a sidewalk is not expected to be necessary for pedestrian movement;
(D) any sidewalk if the site is located in an environmentally sensitive area with limits on the amount of impervious surface allowed if the Planning Board and Department of Transportation find that a sidewalk is not expected to be necessary for pedestrian movement; or
(E) any sidewalk or sidepath on a neighborhood street, neighborhood yield street, or service drive where the Department of Permitting Services finds that a sidewalk or sidepath is infeasible, will not connect to other sidewalk segments within the foreseeable future, or qualifies for fee payments in lieu of construction under Section 49-40; or
(F) any sidewalk or master-planned bikeway where the Planning Board establishes criteria to accept a payment in lieu of a transportation improvement.
(2) However, the Planning Board may require the applicant to install sidewalks, bikeways, ramps, curbs, and gutters if the Board finds, as a condition of approval of a preliminary subdivision plan or site plan, that sidewalks, bikeways, ramps, curbs, and gutters at that location are necessary to allow access:
(A) to an existing or planned sidewalk or bikeway;
(B) to a bus or other public transit stop;
(C) to an amenity or public facility that will be used by occupants of the site or subdivision; or
(D) by persons with disabilities.
Before the Planning Board approves any requirement under this paragraph, the Board must give the Departments of Permitting Services and Transportation a reasonable opportunity to comment on the proposed requirement.
(e) The construction of half roads or any road of less than the width required by this Article is prohibited except as permitted in Section 49-40. Construction of such portions of roads is permitted if the dedicated portion of the road established by a dedication plat and recorded in the County land records before August 15, 1950 is wide enough to permit the grading and construction of paving 20 feet wide with curbs, gutters, and sidewalks required for the type of road.
(f) A road must not be constructed unless it connects with an existing public road at one end. A road must not be constructed short of an intersection unless it connects with an existing public road or the dedication of the right-of-way ends short of an intersection. If any road construction ends at or goes through an intersection, the intersection must be completed. If a road ends at other than an intersection or a point of connection with an existing road, a turnaround such as a cul-de-sac must be provided. Each turnaround must be graded, paved, and include appropriate drainage structures and temporary curbs if required by the Department of Permitting Services.
(g) If drainage structures are required for any particular class of road, the Planning Board must require the applicant to install or construct drainage structures that the Board finds are necessary or appropriate, after reviewing a preliminary drainage study approved by the Department of Transportation, in accordance with applicable design standards and specifications.
(h) Driveway entrances to individual lots must be required if the Planning Board finds that off- street parking facilities are necessary and practicable.
(i) Street trees.
(1) On public road rights-of-way, street trees must be planted in accordance with design standards of the Department of Transportation. On private road rights-of-way and easements, street trees must be planted in accordance with the technical manual adopted by the Planning Board under Chapter 22A.
(2) The Department of Permitting Services, the Department of Transportation, and the staff of the Planning Board should coordinate the specific location and species of street tree plantings to promote compatibility of the plantings with road function and safety, signage, maintenance, appropriate visual buffering, utilities, other public or private improvements, and aesthetic considerations related to streetscape design.
(j) Ground cover.
(1) A property owner may plant and maintain ground cover in a public right-of-way adjacent to the owner’s property if the owner:
(A) complies with County regulations;
(B) maintains the ground cover to prevent any obstruction of the public right-of- way prohibited under Section 49-10; and
(C) holds the County harmless for any damage to the ground cover, and any damage or injury caused by the ground cover.
However, ground cover in a public right-of-way adjacent to the owner’s property must not be planted where it will reduce public safety or impede travel.
(2) In this subsection, property owner or owner includes each person with a legal interest in the property and any successor to that person’s interest.
(3) The County Executive must adopt Method (3) regulations that define the design and maintenance standards applicable to this Section.
(4) Except as provided in paragraph (1), this subsection does not impair the County’s right to enter, maintain, occupy, or otherwise control any public right-of-way for any purpose.
Editor’s note—2000 L.M.C., ch. 23
, § 2, states that between December 1, 2000, and any later date when regulations first take effect, the ground cover referred to in Section 49-33(k) [now 49-33(j)], as amended by this Act, may include any plant species placed or maintained by the property owner that does not visually or physically obstruct the public right-of-way or otherwise impede vehicle or pedestrian traffic.
(k) Curbs and gutters.
(1) A person must not install any curb or gutter in any portion of a road that is located in:
(A) an environmentally sensitive watershed area, including a Class III, Class IV, or high-quality Class I watershed, as designated by the Maryland Department of the Environment; or
(B) an area that the Department of Environmental Protection designates as environmentally sensitive, after giving the Department of Transportation and the Planning Board a reasonable opportunity to comment.
(2) The Director of Permitting Services may allow a person to install curbs and gutters in a portion of a road located in an area listed in paragraph (1), after giving the Planning Board a reasonable opportunity to comment, if:
(A) installing curbs and gutters will not significantly degrade water quality in the area;
(B) curbs and gutters are necessary for vehicular or pedestrian safety or the proper grading or maintenance of the road, or to reduce the environmental impact of the road on any park, forest, or wetland; and
(C) a preliminary subdivision plan or site plan approved by the Planning Board for the land abutting the portion of the road where curbs and gutters may be installed expressly permits the curbs and gutters to be installed, if either plan is required for the land in question. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 103-13; 1971 L.M.C., ch. 3, § 44; 1973 L.M.C., ch. 35, § 8; 1976 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 1; 1992 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1; 1992 L.M.C., ch. 18, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 4, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 23, §§ 1 and 2; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 14, § 1; 2002 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 2; 2007 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1; 2008 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1; 2013 L.M.C., ch. 4, § 1; 2014 L.M.C., ch. 37
, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 34, §1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1.)
Editor’s note—See County Attorney Opinion dated 9/2/97 explaining that the director of the Department of Permitting Services has limited authority to grant a sidewalk waiver to avoid a sidewalk leading nowhere, but may not collect an “in lieu of” fee if a waiver is granted, unless it is authorized as an excise tax.
2014 L.M.C., ch. 37, § 2, states: The County Executive must transmit to the Council, by June 1, 2016, a regulation adopted under Method 2 that contains comprehensive complete streets guidelines. Once adopted, this regulation must replace the standards in Section 49-32(g), (h) and (i). Any revised road design and construction standards in Chapter 49, as amended in Section 1 of this Act, do not apply to any road construction project that is in final design or construction when this Act takes effect.
2008 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 3, states: Sec. 3. Any regulation in effect when this Act takes effect that implements a function transferred to another Department or Office under Section 1 of this Act continues in effect, but any reference in any regulation to the Department from which the function was transferred must be treated as referring to the Department to which the function is transferred. The transfer of a function under this Act does not affect any right of a party to any legal proceeding begun before this Act took effect.
Former Section 49-33A was renumbered Section 49-29 pursuant to 2007, ch. 8, § 1.