Norwood Heights Improvement Ass'n v. Mayor of Baltimore

Collins, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an appeal by Norwood Heights Improvement Association, Inc., appellant, from an order of the Baltimore City Court affirming the decision of the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals of Baltimore City, hereinafter referred to as the Board, which approved applications of Leonard Stulman, trading as The Glenbrook Apartment Company, appellee, for permits to erect eighteen dwelling units to accommodate eighty families, with parking lots. The applications were approved by the Building Engineer of Baltimore City and brought to the Board by a negative appeal. In this appeal the reason given why the permits should be denied is: “It is in violation of ordinance No. 1247, and the Baltimore City Building Code.” After the decision of the Board the appellant appealed to the Baltimore City Court and from the decision affirming that Board the appellant appeals here.

Ordinance 1247, paragraph 32(d) provides in part: “(d) Appeals to the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals may be taken by any person aggrieved, or by any officer, department, board or bureau of the municipality affected, by any decision of the Zoning Commissioner. Such appeal shall be taken within a reasonable time as provided by the rules of the Board by filing with the Zoning Commissioner and with the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof. * * *” At the hearing before the Board and at the hearing in the Baltimore City Court the appellant offered no evidence and presented no witnesses but claimed that the drawings submitted to the Board showed violation of Ordinance 1247. In the very recent case of the Norwood Heights Improvement Association, Inc., v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore City and the College Gardens Corporation, ³⁷² just decided, 195 Md. 1 , 6, 72 A. 2d 1 , 3, Judge Grason said: “The petition filed by the Association alleges that the permits issued in this case violate twelve paragraphs of the Ordinance, which are set out numerically. There are no allegations in the petition stating facts which show how any of these twelve paragraphs were violated.

Counsel for the Association merely handed these twelve paragraphs to the Board, apparently with the expectation that something in the evidence would show a violation of some of the provisions of the Ordinance specified. It would be an absurd construction of the paragraph of the Ordinance quoted, that a petitioner could set out, as was done in this case, twelve provisions of the Ordinance without alleging facts to show their violation. On the contrary, a petitioner must