Baltimore County v. American Oil Co.

Per Curiam. Section 23-23 of the Baltimore County Code, 1965 Supplement, authorizes the zoning commissioner to “make special exceptions to the zoning regulations in harmony with their general purpose and intent”. On July 5, 1966 the County Council enacted bill No. 64 as an emergency measure effective July 12, 1966 which recited that the planning board under the powers vested in it by Sec. 23-20 of the County Code was about to propose changes in the regulations governing the granting of special exceptions for filling stations and ordained that a new Sec. — 23-23A be added to the Code to provide that “No special exception for any filling station shall be granted for a period of six months after this section is enacted.” On January 3, 1966 the Council enacted bill No. 117 as an emergency measure effective January 6, 1967, extending the six months moratorium enacted by bill No. 64 for a period of four months from January 12,1967. Six large oil companies sought declarations that bill No. 117 was illegal and unconstitutional and that the County Council could not “prohibit a lawful, legitimate use from the entire municipality for any period of time”.

After a hearing, Judge ⁷²¹ Turnbull held (a) that bill No. 117 had been illegally enacted because it was a “zoning regulation” which had not been passed in compliance with Sec. 23-20 (which requires the recommendation of the planning board to the Council on a proposed zoning regulation after published notice and hearing) and Sec. 23-21 (which demands a public hearing by the