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REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 1118 September Term, 1997 _______________________________

HAYFIELDS, INC.

V.

VALLEYS PLANNING COUNCIL, INC., ET AL.

_______________________________ Murphy, C.J., Salmon, Rhodes, Thurman H. (Specially Assigned), JJ. _______________________________ Opinion by Salmon, J. _______________________________ Filed: August 27, 1998

In 1995, Hayfields, Inc. ("Hayfields"), owner of Hayfields Farm (the Farm), proposed to develop its 475-acre Baltimore County property into a residential community of single-family dwellings and a country club with an 18-hole golf course and other related facilities. Hayfields filed a petition for special exception with the Baltimore County Zoning Commission to permit the proposed country club on the Farm. Hayfields also submitted a development plan for

nearly 300 acres of the Farm, which included the country club and a portion of the residential component of the project. Valleys

Planning Council, Inc., and several individually named adjacent and nearby property owners (collectively "VPC"), protested the

subdivision and development of the Farm.

The Zoning Commissioner VPC

granted Hayfields' petition and approved the development plan. appealed.1

The County Board of Appeals of Baltimore County (the

Board) approved the petition for special exception, subject to certain conditions, and also approved the development plan but reduced from five to three the number of lots into which the property could be subdivided. The Circuit Court for Baltimore

County affirmed the Board's decisions but removed two of the conditions that had been imposed. Hayfields appealed and presents one question for our review, which we have rephrased:

People's Counsel for Baltimore County also appealed to the Board but is not a party to this appeal or cross-appeal.

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Did the Board err in ruling that Hayfields could subdivide its 295-acre tract of R.C. 2zoned land into only three lots? VPC cross-appealed, presenting six questions: 1. Did the Board err in disregarding the adverse impact of the proposed special exception use on significant on-site resources of public importance? Did the Board err in its application of Schultz v. Pritts? Did the Board err in failing to consider the adverse impact of the proposed special exception use on the historic Hayfields Farm and National Register Historic District in which the Hayfields Farm is located?[2] Did the Board incorrectly impose the burden of proof on Valleys Planning Council? Did the Board properly impose certain conditions on the special exception use with respect to the golf driving range? Did the Board err in concluding that the definition of "country club" as used in the Baltimore County Zoning Regulations Section 101 includes a golf course plus a multiplicity of other facilities that are open to the public?

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2 The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities, Inc., and the Baltimore County Historical Trust, Inc., jointly filed an amicus brief on this issue.

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I.

FACTS Its soil is A portion of

Hayfields Farm has existed for nearly 200 years.3 superior to that found on other farms in the region.4 the land is still being farmed.

The Farm is underlain by a geological formation known as Cockeysville Marble, a large aquifer that constitutes an important source of water for wells in the area. believe that the Cockeysville Marble There are some experts who aquifer is particularly

vulnerable to contamination. Hayfields Farm is located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Interstate 83 and Shawan Road. To the east is a

commercial area, to the south are residential developments, and to the north and west are agricultural communities. The Farm is the

"gateway" to the rural area of Baltimore County and to the Western Run - Belfast Road National Register Historic District, a rural historic district noted for its agricultural significance. The

original country home (the manor house), slaves' quarters, barns, and outbuildings were all built prior to the Civil War.5 Baltimore

3 Hayfields Farm earned its name from the Farm's production of prodigious crops of hay. Nicholas Bosley Merryman, Hayfields History, 19 History Trails 1, 6 (Winter 1984-85). In 1824, the Farm was selected as the "Best Cultivated Farm" by the Maryland Agricultural Society. Id. 4 According to a Baltimore County soil survey in 1995, Hayfields Farm ranked third in the County's evaluation of prime and productive soils. Letter from J. Lawrence Pilson, Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management, to Arnold Jablon, Zoning Administration and Development Management (May 5, 1995). The two farms that ranked first and second were only 35 acres and 90 acres, respectively, whereas the tested acreage on Hayfields Farm was 288 acres. Of the Farm's 288 acres, 95 percent of the soil was designated as prime and productive. 5 One of the Farm's owners, John Merryman, was a minor figure in Civil War history. Merryman was seized at the beginning of the Civil War by Union troops because he was suspected of blowing up a bridge to prevent Union troops from marching to Baltimore. According to Chief Justice Roger B. Taney's later opinion, (continued...)

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County's Landmarks Preservation Commission (the LPC) has included these structures, seven in all, on its historic landmarks list. This designation provides the LPC with certain authority over proposed renovations of any listed structure. See Baltimore County

Code

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