Land Use, Zoning & Critical Area

 

On the water in Maryland the question is rarely whether you own the land. It is what the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area program will let you do with it — and, often, whether what is already built can stay.

 

We represent waterfront property owners, developers and homebuilders in Critical Area and zoning variance proceedings before the Anne Arundel County Office of Administrative Hearings and the County Board of Appeals, and we advise buyers, builders and lenders on what a property's approvals actually permit before they are committed to it.

 

Chesapeake Bay Critical Area

 

The Critical Area program is the hardest overlay in Maryland to obtain relief from, and as of October 1, 2026, it is narrower still. Chapter 79 of the 2026 Laws, signed in April 2026, adds a rebuttable presumption that an owner with an existing accessory structure already has reasonable and significant use of the property; bars variances that would authorize a use not otherwise allowed in the designation or alter required mitigation; and requires a board of appeals to hear an appeal from an administrative hearing officer on the record, deferring to that officer's findings of fact. The Act carries no transition provision for applications already pending, so if you have one on file, which standard governs it is a question worth asking now.

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​Our work includes:

 

• Buffer and expanded buffer disturbance

• Steep slope disturbance in the Resource Conservation Area

• Critical Area lot coverage

• Resource Conservation Area, Limited Development Area and Buffer Modification Area designations

• Buffer management plans and mitigation

• Project notification to the Critical Area Commission

• After-the-fact variances and the resolution of open code violations

• Contested hearings, including cases opposed by the Office of Planning and Zoning, the Health Department, the county Critical Area Team and the Critical Area Commission together

 

Zoning variances and administrative relief

 

• Setback, height, lot coverage and area variances

• Special exceptions and conditional uses

• Nonconforming use and grandfathering determinations

• Zoning verification letters

• Pre-file consultation with the Office of Planning and Zoning

• Letters of explanation and justification to the Zoning Administrator

 

Appeals

 

Appeals to the Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals from decisions of the Administrative Hearing Officer — entering appearances, continuances, qualifying and examining expert engineers and land planners, and building the record.

 

Diligence and feasibility

 

Not every land use question needs a hearing. Much of this practice is telling a buyer, a builder or a lender what a property will actually support, before they are committed:

 

• Zoning due diligence and entitlement review on acquisition — what is approved, what is conditioned, what has lapsed and what is transferable

• Feasibility analysis comparing regulatory routes, including when a legislative text amendment is faster and cheaper than a special exception and variance

• Adequate public facilities and school capacity testing

• Development timelines — how long the path actually takes in that jurisdiction

• Water and sewer category changes and allocation

• Forest conservation and stormwater obligations as they land in the contract

 

Government relations

 

We advise property owners and businesses on legislative and regulatory matters affecting their projects, presenting a client's position to regulatory agencies and to local and state government.

 

Contact David A. Katz.