410-641-6029
August-Early September 2014
Vol. 10, No.5
www.issuu.com/oceanpinesprogress Board of Directors awards Thompson $12,000 bonus It was an early Christmas present for Ocean Pines Association General Manager Bob Thompson, as the Board of Directors in a 5-2 vote awarded him a $12,000 bonus for work performed in the fiscal year that ended this past April 30. The gift-wrapping occurred in closed session following a special meeting of the board July 29, called to conduct a review of the general manager’s job performance. ~ Page 7
THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY COVER STORY
Appeals court restores county commissioners’ medical campus rezoning
Racquet sports project is back on track, sort of Although no plans to do anything have officially been approved, or even presented yet, the Ocean Pines Association’s Board of Directors spent hours mired in meetings in July trying to sort out who supports building which types of new racquet sports courts at the Manklin Meadows Recreation Complex. Initially, it seemed like members of the tennis, platform tennis and pickleball clubs were all in agreement regarding the addition of courts at the complex. ~ Page 10
OPA attorney offers to “test” junk vehicle cases in court The only way to ultimately determine which junk vehicle cases will stand up in court is to file for an injunction against property owners who the Ocean Pines Association has found to be in violation of its guidelines and restrictions and see if a judge agrees. OPA Attorney Joe Moore during a July 29 meeting said that once the Compliance, Permits and Inspections Department has cited property owners for having a junk vehicle or other violation on their lost and the owners have not remedied the situation, he will take legal action. ~ Page 24
By TOM STAUSS Publisher ixteen months after a visiting circuit court judge voided a 2012 rezoning decision by the Worcester County Commissioners that could accommodate a proposal by local developer Jack Burbage to build an Atlantic General Hospital-affiliated medical campus on Route 589, Burbage has achieved a significant if not stunning victory delivered by a three-member panel of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. In a decision filed July 22, appeals court judges Robert A. Zarnock, Timothy E. Meredith and James R. Eyler reversed a decision by visiting judge Raymond Beck in late March of 2013 that overruled the commissioners’ 2012 decision rezoning Burbage’s 31-acre parcel just south of Ocean Pines from A-1 agricultural to C-2 commercial. The commercial rezoning would be a requirement should Burbage follow through on his vow to develop a medical campus on the site in association with AGH. Burbage is chairman of the hospital’s governing board of directors and a principal in Silver Fox LLC. Burbage could divest himself of one of his roles should it become necessary.
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The case, Silver Fox LLC, et al, versus Walter M. Stansell, et al, could have broader implications for rezoning along Route 589, where development, except Jack Burbage for expansion of the Casino at Ocean Downs, has largely been frozen in place awaiting the outcome of the Burbage appeal. The panel based its decision on a determination that the Route 589 neighborhood as defined in the case has undergone change, one of two factors routinely employed to justify rezoning requests. With an appeals court precedent in hand, other property owners along the highway could decide to test the rezoning waters in years to come. Stansell and his co-litigants have appeal rights they could pursue, including a request for the full 14-member court to consider the case or an appeal to Maryland’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. In both instances, judges have
the discretion to reject an appeal petition if one is submitted. The appellees would probably be advised by counsel to weigh the potential costs and the odds that an appeal to the high court would be successful. One possible deterrent to continued litigation: The panel’s 18-page decision declared that costs associated with the case were to be paid by the appellees, who include Stansell, a prominent Ocean City restaurateur, and his wife, Pam, former commissioner Jeanne Lynch and Ocean Pines residents Paul Bredehorst and Carole Schauer. Lynch is also a former member of the county’s planning commission. It was not immediately clear whether that ruling covers attorney fees incurred by Burbage and his co-litigants, but that issue could become the topic of further legal skirmishing in the future. The court of special appeals panel essentially said that the commissioners, when they approved Burbage’s rezoning request in September of 2012, did not act arbitrarily in doing so and that the decision was “fairly debatable and supported by substantial evidence” that had accumulated since a comprehensive reTo Page 27
Renaud, Stevens win OPA board seats See Page 3