Martin v. BUCKLIN, DIRECTOR

Brune, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The appellant, Eleanor S. Martin, filed a petition in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County for a writ of mandamus against the Director of the Department of Inspections and Licenses of that County to require him “to issue to the Petitioner, a building permit without first requiring a subdivision plat to be recorded among the land records of Montgomery County, Maryland, provided she shall otherwise meet all other requirements for issuance of such permit.” The petitioner alleged that she was the owner of two lots, one of which was improved by two dwelling houses, that she desired to build a foundation for one of them and make other improvements to that dwelling; that she had been informed by the defendant (referred to below as the “Director”) that he could not issue a building permit until she procured a new subdivision plat showing each house on a separately numbered lot. She further asserts that under the administrative construction of the zoning ordinance for the Maryland-Wash ¹⁴² ington Regional District in Montgomery County, Maryland, enacted by the Montgomery County Council, and the regulations for the subdivision of land in that district promulgated by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Director is precluded from issuing a building permit for construction on part of a subdivided lot or for an additional dwelling on a subdivided lot unless a new subdivision plat is secured. She contends that because of the expense involved, the time required and the labor involved in the procurement of such plats by the petitioner, the requirement thereof constitutes “an unreasonable, capricious and arbitrary abuse of power” and that “the action of the defendant is illegal, arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, discriminatory and unconstitutional.” The petitioner’s chief objective is to have the alleged regulations of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (referred to below as the “Planning Commission”) declared invalid.

Though