Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting - November 27, 2018
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Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting - November 27, 2018
The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) of Frederick, Maryland, held a meeting on November 27, 2018, at 7:00 PM at City Hall. The meeting focused on administrative matters, including approval of prior meeting minutes, a case continuance, adoption of findings for a short-term rental appeal, and a letter to the Board of Aldermen. No public comment was offered, and officer elections were deferred due to the absence of a full board.
Consent Calendar
- Unanimously approved meeting minutes from April 24, 2018, May 22, 2018, and October 23, 2018.
Public Comments & Testimony
- None were provided during the general public comment period.
Discussion Items
- Continuance of ZBA18-1018V (Weinberg Center): The board voted to continue the variance application to December 18, 2018, because one member (Mr. West) would need to recuse himself, leaving an insufficient number of voting members to reach a quorum for that case. The motion passed unanimously.
- Adoption of Findings for ZBA16-686AA (Short-Term Rentals): The board reviewed and adopted the draft findings and decision for the administrative appeal filed by Philip LeBlanc. The appeal challenged a zoning determination by the Zoning Administrator regarding short-term rentals (e.g., Airbnb). The board voted 4-0 to adopt the findings with a modification: striking the last sentence of the first paragraph on page three. The decision dismissed the appeal, concluding that the zoning determination was not an enforcement action, the applicant was not uniquely aggrieved, and the ZBA lacked jurisdiction because the determination was not tied to a specific property or enforcement. The board also acknowledged that the Land Management Code (LMC) lacks clarity on short-term rentals but noted that rewriting the LMC is outside its authority.
- Letter to the Board of Aldermen: The board approved (4-0) sending a letter drafted by the chair to the Frederick Board of Aldermen. The letter recommends that the aldermen address the lack of clarity in the LMC regarding online rentals (e.g., Airbnb) through legislative action, as the ZBA cannot rewrite the code. The letter highlights confusion among property owners and inconsistent regulation enforcement.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes for the April 24, May 22, and October 23, 2018 meetings.
- Granted a continuance for ZBA18-1018V until December 18, 2018.
- Adopted final findings and decision for ZBA16-686AA, dismissing the appeal (4-0).
- Approved the letter to the Board of Aldermen regarding short-term rental regulations (4-0).
- Deferred the election of officers to a future meeting due to the absence of a full board.
No action was taken on the zoning determinations listed as items added to the agenda (ZBA18-903ZD, ZBA18-1007ZD, ZBA18-1019ZD), as they were not discussed during the meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome everybody to the November 27th meeting of the City of Frederick Board of Zoning Appeals or zoning board of appeals. Before we get started on the night's business, I'd like to go over some brief information about the ZBA and our procedures tonight. And to hear and decide appeals of aggrieved parties where it's alleged there has been an error in any order requirement decision or determination made by an administrative officer in the enforcement of Division One of the land use article of the Annecad Code of Maryland or any law adopted under that division, including the City of Frederick Land Management Code. We conduct these responsibilities in accordance with the city's land management code in Maryland state law. Members of the Board of Zoning Appeals are all volunteers and we are all residents of the city. Members are appointed by the mayor, and those appointment confirmed by the Board of Aldermen. Board is comprised of uh typically five voting members. We have one absent tonight, so we have four members. Um three members quite constitutes a quorum. So we're in good shape there. Board is also supported in our activities by members of the city staff for everyone's benefit. I'd like to introduce those individuals who are going to be supporting us tonight. To my far right and everybody else's far left, Mr. Scott Waxter. He is an assistant attorney with the city attorney's office. Sitting Mr. Waxter is Miss Gabrielle Collard. She is the division manager of current planning with the planning department here with the City of Frederick. And then to my far left, and everybody else's far right is Jessica Murphy, and she is the office manager with the planning department here in the city. And in addition to her many, many, many duties, she supports the ZBA in all of our work, including here tonight. We have a little bit of an unusual agenda tonight. We have no cases that we're going to be hearing, but we do have some uh business to conduct. Uh therefore I will uh skip going through uh the step-by-step uh rules for anything that uh we normally have appearing before us. But I do like to mention that the ZBA welcomes public testimony. Um wishes to speak tonight or give testimony will be sworn in. Only sworn testimony would be considered by the board. Um and anybody wishing to give testimony must give their full name uh and address prior to testifying. Lastly, any person that's agrieved by a decision of the zoning board of appeals has a right to appeal our decision to the Circuit Court of Maryland. Any questions on tonight's procedures? Seeing none. Um if not, we've got a couple of housekeeping uh matters to address, uh, and then we'll get on to uh the meat of tonight's agenda. So uh members of the board that brings us to item two, general public comment. Uh this is a portion of our meeting where we're open to general public comment uh regarding zoning in the city of Frederick. Do we have anybody here in the audience to give general public comment? Seeing none, we will move on to item three. Approval of the minutes. Members of the board, we have a backlog of minutes to approve uh before you. Um we have the April 24th, 2018 minutes, the May 22nd, 2018 minutes, and the October 23rd, 2018 minutes. Um I will entertain a motion uh starting with the April 24th minutes. Mr. Chair, I I move that we approve the April 24th minutes. We have a motion for approval by Mr. Butcher. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Mr. West. So we have any discussion of the motion. Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye.
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