Zoning Planning & Land Use Law in Maryland

The laws that regulate how land can be used, and what structures can be built on individual pieces of land in Mount Airy, Maryland can sometimes be a bit confusing. This article will not make its reader an expert, but should serve as a good introduction to the subject.

Localities normally divide their jurisdictions into segments, referred to as "zones," on which particular types of use are permitted. For instance, one area of a town might be zoned for residential use, a nearby one for commercial use, and areas on the outskirts zoned for industrial use. This practice is called "zoning."

The purpose of zoning is to preserve property values, and make towns and cities more livable. For instance, without zoning laws, a company might be able to purchase a vacant lot next to your house and create a noisy, smelly, dirty factory on it.

Zoning laws don't exist just to protect residential use - it also protects persons who engage in other types of use of land, by making sure that they are able to do their business, without bothering neighboring landowners, and thereby preventing legal disputes.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Mount Airy, Maryland

Zoning laws are frequently quite extensive and meticulous, and it's quite possible that your property in Mount Airy, Maryland contains some minor zoning violation that you don't know about. If this happens to you, you have substantial legal protections.

Initially, and perhaps most apparently, you can correct the violation. If the violation is comparatively minor, and correcting it would not cost you much or be a substantial burden, this might be the best way to go.

But what happens if you've invested a large amount of effort and money into improving your land, and you later discover that you've committed some relatively minor zoning violation? You are generally entitled to seek what is known as a "variance" in these cases. A variance is simply when your local government makes a small exception to the zoning rules to accommodate a small violation that would be difficult to fix. A variance will typically be granted if the violation doesn't harm anyone, and enforcing Mount Airy, Maryland's zoning laws to the letter would not, in this case, advance their purposes.

Moreover, zoning ordinances cannot be applied against you retroactively. For instance, suppose you built a 3-story house on your property, and your property was zoned to allow 3-story houses to be built at the time of construction. And then, years later, the area you reside in is re-zoned, to only allow 2-story houses. Can the local government force you to remove a whole level of your house? Of course not. Applying a law retroactively is unconstitutional. On the other hand, any future changes you want to make to your property will have to comply with the applicable zoning ordinance as it is currently written.

What Can A Mount Airy, Maryland Attorney Do?

If you are in the process of physically altering your property, you are almost sure to face some concerns having to do with local zoning laws. If you find that zoning laws are making it very challenging to use your property as you see fit, you may have legal recourse, typically in the form of a variance. Of course, your chances of success in any zoning dispute will be immeasurably increased if you have the assistance of a qualified Mount Airy, Maryland attorney.