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(a) The Council must consider the record of the proceedings and the report and recommendations of the County Executive, including any recommendations of the government agencies and other parties listed in Section 49-62(h), and any other relevant and material information the Council receives from any person.
(b) The Council may at any time remand an application to the Executive or the Executive's designee to reopen the record or consider new information.
(c) A right-of-way may be abandoned or closed if the Council by resolution finds that:
(1) the right-of-way is no longer necessary for present public use or anticipated public use in the foreseeable future, or
(2) the abandonment or closing is necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents near the right-of-way to be abandoned or closed. In assessing health, safety, and welfare issues, the Council may consider:
(A) any adopted land use plan applicable to the neighborhood;
(B) safe and efficient pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns and flows, together with alternatives, in the immediate neighborhood, for local and through traffic; and
(C) changes in fact and circumstances since the original dedication of the right-of-way.
(d) A right-of-way which is the sole means of access to any property must not be abandoned or closed. (1975 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 1982 L.M.C., ch. 46, § 2; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 1; 2007 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1.)
(a) At any time before the Council takes final action on the application, the applicant may request in writing that the application be withdrawn.
(b) The request must be made to the County Executive if the Executive has not forwarded the application to the Council. If the Executive has forwarded the application to the Council, the request must be made to the Council. (1975 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 2007 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1.)
(a) Not less than 30 nor more than 60 days after the Council adopts the resolution to approve an abandonment or closing, the Council Clerk must notify the Planning Board, the Directors of Permitting Services and Transportation, and the County Attorney that the Council has authorized the abandonment or closing.
(b) The Director of Permitting Services, after receiving a copy of the Council resolution, must sign, on behalf of the County, a plat of subdivision prepared by the applicant, which the Planning Board has approved for recording, approving the abandonment or closing.
(c) The County Attorney must cause to be recorded in the County land records the Council resolution which approved the abandonment or closing.
(d) Any abandonment or road closure approved after July 1, 2007, is automatically revoked by operation of law if each condition specified in the approval resolution, including any later amendment to that resolution, has not been completed within the time specified in the resolution or, if the resolution did not specify a completion date, within 5 years after the Council approved the resolution or amended the resolution to insert that condition. (1975 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 1982 L.M.C., ch. 46, § 3; 2007 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1; 2008 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1.)
Editor’s note—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.
The action of the Council on any application for abandonment or closing is final, subject to any Council procedure for reconsideration that would otherwise apply. Any aggrieved person may appeal the action of the Council approving or denying an abandonment or closing to the Circuit Court within 30 days after the Council takes the action. (1975 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 2007 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1.)
Before abandoning or closing any right-of-way after Council approval under this Article, the Director of Transportation must cause to be posted prominently in the area of the right-of-way, for at least 15 days after the Council action, a notice listing the date when the right-of-way will be abandoned or closed. (1975 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 2007 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1; 2008 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1.)
Editor's note—In Welker v. Strosnider, 22 Md. App. 401, 323 A.2d 626 (1974), it was held that use of a dedicated roadbed as a bicycle bath or pedestrian shortcut is not use by the public within the meaning of section 49-67 or 50-15.
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 49-67A was renumbered Section 49-68 pursuant to 2007, ch. 8, § 1
(a) If any right-of-way, except a right-of-way located entirely in a municipality which has independent zoning and subdivision authority, has not been in public use, one or more abutting property owners may petition the Planning Board to abandon the right-of-way. The petition must take the form of a preliminary plan for the subdivision of land, and must state the reason for the proposed abandonment and show any proposed relocation or realignment of the right-of-way, where applicable.
(b) The petitioner must notify:
(1) each person with a recorded financial interest in land abutting the right-of-way;
(2) the Department of Transportation;
(3) the County Fire and Rescue Service;
(4) the Police Department;
(5) the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, when applicable;
(6) each public utility operating in the area;
(7) the governing body of each incorporated municipality or special taxing district which adjoins the right-of-way sought to be abandoned; and
(8) Any grantee of a franchise under Article 2, if the franchise authorizes the grantee to install or use any facility in, over, or under the affected right-of-way.
(c) The Planning Board must solicit the comments of each notice recipient, and then promptly determine whether:
(1) the right-of-way previously was improved or used for the purposes for which it was intended or dedicated; and
(2) the right-of-way is necessary for anticipated public use.
(d) If a recipient of notice under subsection (b) does not respond within 60 days after the notice is sent, the Planning Board must presume that the recipient does not oppose the proposal.
(e) If the Planning Board finds that the right-of-way is not necessary for anticipated future public use or that an alternative alignment or location will not adversely affect the public interest, the Board may authorize the right-of-way to be abandoned by incorporating the abandoned land into an amended plat of subdivision. The amended subdivision plat must require the dedication of any land needed for rights-of-way, easements, and other public uses. (1982 L.M.C., ch. 46, § 4; 1989 L.M.C., ch. 28, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 4, § 1; 2007 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1; 2008 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1.)
Editor’s note—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.
Section 49-68, formerly Section 49-67A, was renumbered, amended and retitled pursuant to 2007, ch. 8, § 1.
Former Section 49-68, applicability of article, derived from 1975 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 1985 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 31, was repealed by 2007 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1.
Editor’s note—Former Section 49-68A, relating to application filing fee, derived from 1975 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1, 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 48, and 1984 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 31, was repealed by 1996 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 1.
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