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REPORTED IN THE COURT OF

(retired, specially assigned), JJ.

SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND Opinion by Davis, J. No. 2184 September Term, Filed: November 1, 2001 2000

ELLER MEDIA COMPANY

v.

MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE

Davis, Krauser, Wenner, William W.

At the center of this appeal is whether a poster on the facade of a commercial building towering sixty-four feet over the heart of the business district in downtown Baltimore City constitutes a mural or an advertisement. The location where a

depiction of longtime Baltimore Oriole shortstop/third basemen, Cal Ripken, Jr., had hovered above the bustling street below is where, appellant, in this appeal, seeks to become beneficiary to a favorable zoning decision which had allowed the Nike

Corporation to prominently display the likeness of the local icon. Appellant Eller Media Company seeks to reverse the decision of the Baltimore City Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals (Board) denying appellant's application to retain an existing general advertising sign. The Board denied the application on

January 31, 2000 and appellant timely requested judicial review of the decision. The Circuit Court for Baltimore City affirmed

the Board's decision in a memorandum opinion and order filed October 16, 2000. court's judgment. Appellant presents three questions for our consideration: Did the Board err when it held that the 1993 decision did not constitute approval of a general advertising sign? I. Did the circuit court err by giving deference to the Board's legal conclusion that the Board's 1993 Appellant timely appealed from the circuit

- 2 decision did not constitute approval of a general advertising sign? II. Did the Board act arbitrarily and capriciously in treating appellant's Beetle/Volkswagen (VW) sign differently than Mass Transit Communications' (MTC) Ripken/Nike sign and by failing to make sufficient findings of fact to support its conclusions?

We answer all three questions in the affirmative and therefore reverse the judgment of the circuit court.

FACTUAL SUMMARY
On October 14, 1993, the Zoning Administrator of Baltimore City denied the application of Mass Transit Communications (MTC) to paint a mural on an exterior wall of the building at 28 Light Street. day. In MTC appealed this decision to the Board on the same its appeal, MTC described the proposed project,

sponsored by Nike Sportswear, as one in a series of murals in major cities depicting local sports heroes. The mural (Ripken

depiction) at 28 Light Street would feature Cal Ripken, Jr., a baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles, and a Nike logo. MTC

represented that "[a]dvertising copy will not exceed 20% of the total space." approaching The appeal also pointed out that Ripken was Major League Baseball record for most

the

consecutive games played and that "[t]he possibility of the

- 3 record being broken and the dramatic effect of the mural should bring a lot of favorable attention to the 28 Light address and to the downtown business area in general." In a memorandum dated November 9, 1993, the Director of the Baltimore City Department of Planning advised the Board that it should not consider this proposal as a general advertising sign because to do so would run into several conflicts with existing City policy.

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