City of Hyattsville v. Prince George's Cnty. Council

254 Md.App. 1

270 A.3d 950

CITY OF HYATTSVILLE, et al.

v.PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY COUNCIL, et al.

No. 1261, Sept. Term, 2020

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

February 23, 2022

Argued by: J. Carroll Holzer (J. Carroll Holzer PA, Towson, MD), E. I. Cornbrooks, IV (Jason C. Parkins, Karpinski, Cornbrooks & Karp PA, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Appellant.

Argued by: Rajesh A. Kumar, Principal Counsel (Prince George's County Council, Upper Marlboro, MD), Alyse L. Prawde (Timothy F. Maloney, Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, PA, Greenbelt, MD), on brief, for Appellee.

Kehoe, Arthur, Wells, JJ.^*

Arthur, J.

This appeal concerns a decision by the Prince George's County Council, sitting as the District Council, to approve zoning changes for a property located within the City of Hyattsville. The District Council rezoned part of the property from the "Open Space" zone to the "One-Family Detached Residential" zone and amended the list of allowed uses to permit townhouses to be constructed on the property. After the City of Hyattsville and several Hyattsville residents petitioned for judicial review, the Circuit Court for Prince George's County affirmed the District Council's decision.

For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we shall uphold the District Council's decision to change the zoning of the property and to amend the list of allowed uses, but we shall direct that this case be remanded to the District Council to reconsider its decision regarding the density of development permitted on the property.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The Subject Property

This case concerns a property located within the City of Hyattsville in Prince George's County. The property includes two parcels separated by a city street, 40th Place. The upper parcel is approximately 3.6 acres in size, and the lower parcel is approximately 4.66 acres in size.

The upper parcel formerly served as the site of the headquarters building for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC). The building has been vacant since the mid-1990s. A parking lot for the former WSSC headquarters is located on the lower parcel. A significant percentage of the lower parcel lies within the County's 100-year floodplain.¹

Adjoining properties to the north of the subject property are developed with single-family detached houses. Three multi-family apartment buildings sit on the adjoining properties located to the south of the upper parcel and to the east of the lower parcel. A public park known as Magruder Park sits on the adjoining properties located to the south and west of the subject property.²

B. 2004 Sector Plan and Sectional Map Amendment

In September 2004, the Prince George's County Planning Board adopted a sector plan for the "Gateway Arts District," which covers the City of Hyattsville and three other municipalities. To implement the sector plan, the Planning Board endorsed a sectional map amendment, which included comprehensive rezoning of the Gateway Arts District. The Prince George's County Council, sitting as the District Council, approved the sector plan and sectional map amendment in November 2004.

The sector plan "provides comprehensive guidance for future development" in the Gateway Arts District. 2004 Approved Sector Plan and Sectional Map Amendment for the Prince George's County Gateway Arts District, at v.³ The sector plan describes seven "character areas," each with distinct characteristics. Id. at 17. Each character area has its own set of "Development District Standards," which "implement the concepts and recommendations" for each character area. Id. at 135. The sector plan assigned the subject property to the "traditional residential neighborhood" or "TRN" character area, which is reserved primarily for single-family housing. See id. at 138.

The 2004 sectional map amendment imposed an overlay zone known as the Development District Overlay (D-D-O) zone over the entire Gateway Arts District. "The D-D-O Zone is a mapped zone which is superimposed by a Sectional Map Amendment (SMA) over other zones in a designated development district, and may modify development requirements within the underlying zones." Prince George's County Code ("PGCC") § 27-548.19. New development on properties in the D-D-O zone generally requires approval of a detailed site plan by the County Planning Board, which reviews the detailed site plan for its compliance with the applicable development standards. Id.

In addition to establishing an overlay zone, the sectional map amendment changed the underlying zones for various properties. Before the rezoning, both parcels of the subject property were assigned to the "R-55" or "One-Family Detached Residential" zone. See PGCC § 27-430. The sectional map amendment left the upper parcel in the R-55 zone, but changed the lower parcel to the "O-S" or "Open Space" zone. The O-S zone, whose purposes include the conservation of natural resources, permits development at a lower density relative to other residential zones. PGCC § 27-542(a). The sectional map amendment gave the following explanation for this change: "Rezoning to O-S creates the opportunity to expand parkland and reinforce the vision of the traditional residential neighborhood character area." 2004 Approved Sector Plan and Sectional Map Amendment, at 123.

C. Werrlein's Applications for Rezoning of the Property

Long after the 2004 rezoning, a development company known as Werrlein WSSC, LLC, purchased the subject property. Werrlein intended to remove the former WSSC headquarters building and parking lot and to construct a combination of one-family detached residences and attached residences (i.e., townhouses) on the property.

The existing zoning classifications for the property did not permit townhouses. In the traditional residential neighborhood character area of the D-D-O zone, townhouses are permitted if that use is allowed in the property's underlying zone. 2004 Approved Sector Plan and Sectional Map Amendment, at 196. Under the County zoning ordinance, townhouses are not permitted in the R-55 zone, except under certain narrow circumstances. See PGCC § 27-441(b). One-family detached dwellings are permitted in the R-55 zone (id. ), with a maximum density for 6.7 dwelling units per net acre of net lot or tract area. PGCC § 27-442(h). One-family detached dwellings are permitted in the O-S zone (PGCC § 27-441(b)), with a maximum density of 0.2 dwelling units per net acre of net lot area or tract area. PGCC § 27-442(h). Townhouses generally are not permitted in the O-S zone. PGCC § 27-441(b).

On March 29, 2018, Werrlein submitted an application to the Planning Board under PGCC § 27-548.26(b). That provision states, in relevant part, that an owner of property located in the approved D-D-O zone "may request changes to the underlying zones or the list of allowed uses, as modified by the Development District Standards." PGCC § 27-548.26(b)(1)(B). In the application, Werrlein asked to "amend the Table of Uses ... to allow single-family attached/detached dwellings in the [traditional residential neighborhood] area for this site." The application included a conceptual site plan depicting the proposed development. Initially, Werrlein proposed to develop the property with 16 detached dwelling units and 66 attached dwelling units (i.e., townhouses), for a total of 82 dwelling units. The upper parcel would have both detached houses and townhouses, while the lower parcel would have townhouses only.⁴

Werrlein subsequently submitted two amended applications. In the first amended application, Werrlein asked to change the zoning of the lower parcel to either the R-55 zone or the R-10A Zone, which permits "high-density multifamily residential development[.]" PGCC § 27-438(a)(1)(a). The second amended application asked to rezone both parcels to the "M-U-I" or "Mixed Use – Infill" zone, which permits "a mix of residential and commercial uses as infill development in areas which are already substantially developed." PGCC § 27-546.15(a).

After a series of votes by its City Council, the City of Hyattsville notified the Planning Board that the City did not support Werrlein's requests for rezoning of the property. Separately, however, the City reached an agreement with Werrlein to purchase 1.81 acres of the lower parcel, which the City intended to use to expand Magruder Park. Settlement of the purchase agreement was contingent on Werrlein obtaining a zoning amendment. The agreement stated that no part of it should be construed as an endorsement, by the City, of Werrlein's requests for a zoning amendment.

D. Initial Recommendation by the Planning Board

The Prince George's County zoning ordinance sets forth a multi-step process after a property owner applies for certain zoning changes in the approved development district overlay zone. First, the Planning Board's technical staff must review the application and submit a written report. PGCC § 27-548.26(b)(3). Next, the Planning Board must hold a public hearing and submit a recommendation to the District Council. Id. Ultimately, the District Council may approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the requested zoning changes. PGCC § 27-548.26(b)(5).

After Werrlein submitted the second amended application, the Planning Board's technical staff reviewed the application and issued a written report. The technical staff advised the Board not to endorse Werrlein's request to rezone the property to the M-U-I zone, concluding that the M-U-I zone was not appropriate for the traditional residential neighborhood character area of the D-D-O zone. The report advised the Board, however, to recommend rezoning the lower parcel from the O-S zone to the R-55 zone and allowing "single-family attached residential development" (i.e., townhouses) on the property.

The staff report observed that, under PGCC § 27-548.23(b), Development District Standards in the D-D-O zone "may not permit density in excess of the maximum permitted in the underlying zone." For that reason, the report...