Title
A RESOLUTION CONCERNING MUNICIPAL ANNEXATION for the purpose of waiving, in accordance with State law, the five-year restriction on municipal zoning and development of annexed land and approving the proposed development of land annexed by the City of Laurel with substantially different uses, or at a substantially higher density, than could be granted for the development pursuant to its pre-annexation zoning classification of the property.
Background
Title 4 within the Local Government Article of State law provides authority for municipalities in Maryland to increase their corporate boundaries through the annexation of land. More specifically, Section 4-416 of the Local Government Article sets forth certain restrictions on the zoning and development of the newly annexed land, including a five-year hold on certain zoning intensifications via rezoning of the annexed land by the municipality, as well as a five-year hold on the development of the annexed land approved by the municipality at a substantially higher density than could have been approved under the pre-annexation zoning classification for the annexed land. Notwithstanding these restrictions, Section 4-416, Local Government also sets forth a process by which the County Council for the County in which the municipality is located may expressly waive the five-year hold on zoning and development of the annexed land.
Accordingly, this Resolution lifts the remainder of the five-year hold in order to approve the development and construction of approximately 7.375 acres of land known as “Parcel E” within “Parcels D and E, Westside” that was annexed into the City of Laurel on or about September 7, 2012.