(a) (1) A permit is required from the Director of Permitting Services for any work within the public right-of-way. Any permit issued for roadside tree work must comply with Section 49-36A. In this Article, “roadside tree” means any plant that has a woody stem or trunk which grows all, or in part, in the right-of-way of any County public road.
(3) Permit applicants must use forms prescribed by the Director, submit detailed plans and specifications, and include locations and record plats approved by the Department and the Planning Board.
(4) If the proposed activity requires a sediment control permit, the Department must issue the permit before any activity occurs under a permit issued under this subsection. The State Highway Administration must approve any action under its jurisdiction before the Director may approve the permit.
(5) As a requirement to issue a permit under this Section, the Director may require the applicant to designate and bond a haul route for construction materials, as described in Section 49-8.
(b) The Director must collect a fee, set by Method 3 regulation, for each right-of-way permit application. However, the Director must not collect a fee for any permit to:
(1) remove or prune a tree that endangers a person or property;
(2) remove a stump in the right-of-way;
(3) plant a tree; or
(4) install a sign identifying a geographic area in the right-of-way if:
(A) the primary applicant is an unincorporated or non-profit civic or homeowners’ organization that is either:
(i) listed on the Planning Board’s most recent list of civic and homeowners associations; or
(ii) exempt from federal income taxes and shows that its annual revenue during its most recent fiscal year did not exceed an amount set by a regulation;
(B) in a homeowners’ association, maintenance responsibility of all common areas has been transferred from the developer; and
(C) the proposed sign would be smaller than a maximum size set by regulation.
(c) Before an applicant begins any road, sidewalk, sidepath, bikeway, curb and gutter, driveway, retaining wall, steps, or drainage project, on a road or within the boundaries of a dedication to public use, the applicant for a permit to undertake any such project must pay to the County an inspection and engineering fee set by the County Executive by Method (3) regulation.
(d) If any such project is solely a grading project, the applicant must pay an inspection and engineering fee to the County if Department staff does the engineering work on the project and an inspection fee if the applicant submits the engineering work.
(e) Any violation of this Section is a Class A violation.
(f) The Director must refund half the fees required by this Section to the applicant if a permit is rejected or withdrawn before construction begins. If an applicant proposes to undertake a project using materials, standards, or specifications superior to those required under this Article, the fees charged must be computed on the estimated cost of the project as if it met those requirements.
(g) A person, including any utility corporation, must not cut within the right-of-way to install, replace, or maintain or connect any underground gas, electric power, or telephone line, or any other underground infrastructure, without a permit from the Director. The Director must supervise all backfilling and repaving of utility trenches to assure that the permittee complies with all applicable specifications. The permittee must restore the right-of-way to its prior condition.
(h) An aggrieved person may file an appeal with the County Board of Appeals from a denial, suspension, or revocation of a permit issued under this Section within 10 days of the denial, suspension, or revocation. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 103-16; 1973 L.M.C., ch. 25, § 8; 1981 L.M.C., ch. 50, § 1; 1983 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 54; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 48; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 31; CY 1991 L.M.C., ch. 42, § 1; 1992 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1.; 1993 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 4, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 14, § 1; 2002 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 2; 2007 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1; 2013 L.M.C., ch. 22
, § 1; 2014 L.M.C., ch. 26
, § 1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1.)
Editor's note—2013 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 2, states: Effective Date. This Act takes effect on March 1, 2014, and applies to any permit applied for under Chapter 8, Chapter 19, or Section 49-35 on or after that date.
Section 49-34, formerly Section 49-37, was renumbered, amended and retitled pursuant to 2007, ch. 8, § 1. Former Section 49-34 was renumbered Section 49-31 pursuant to 2007, ch. 8, § 1.
The above section is cited in Montgomery County v. Phoenix Insurance Company, 232 Md. 58, 192 A.2d 111 (1963) [formerly § 100-15]. Section 49-38 [formerly § 93-14] is discussed in County Council for Montgomery County v. Lee, 219 Md. 209, 148 A.2d 568 (1959).