Maryland’s highest court has narrowly sided with the developers hoping to turn an airport that sits along a busy highway into more housing. But the high court even admitted the ruling handed down Wednesday will only lead to more litigation in the future.
The 4 to 3 ruling by the Maryland State Supreme Court overturns a lower court ruling, which itself overturned a law passed by the Prince George’s County Council. It stems from a change in the zoning of the land that Freeway Airport sits on, so that hundreds of town homes could be built — though the current county council has already repealed that law.
For years, residents had fought the move because of concerns that the winding, two-lane road the airport sits on along the outskirts of Bowie wouldn’t be able to handle the huge influx of traffic. Other developments near the airport are zoned in a way that led to lower density development. Those who live nearby have said the same should apply there.
Their legal challenge argued that the county council changed the law, so that it would only be able to apply to the land where the airport is.
In its ruling, the high court didn’t disagree with that but said that closing the airport and developing the land there would further “a valid public interest” because of the safety concerns raised by the airport’s owners.
In pushing for the zoning change, the owners had argued declining revenues were going to force them to work to increase traffic at the airport, and thus increase the risk of crashes if the site couldn’t be developed as was proposed.
The case is Prince George’s County Council et al. vs. Concerned Citizens of Prince George’s County et al. In recent months, the current county council had tried to drop out of the case, arguing it had been rendered moot by new legislative action earlier this year, including one bill passed by the council that repealed the original law that was passed in order to allow for the town houses on the airport land.
The high court said it wasn’t certain that was the case, but also acknowledged the legal challenges that have already sprung up from that legislation. The current council is led by a majority that takes a different view on development compared to previous majorities on the council.
Prince George’s County Council Vice Chair Wala Blegay, who represents the area where the airport is, called the decision disappointing.
“This law, regardless of whether the high court validates it … it’s a bill that has already been repealed,” Blegay told WTOP while traveling in Africa. “Legally, the council has a right to repeal the law. And we already did.”
She also raised concerns neighbors have about the ability of Church Road to handle the traffic.
WTOP has also reached out for comment from the group of neighbors who filed the original lawsuit, as well as the law firm that represents Freeway Realty LLC.
“It’s unfortunate,” said council chair Tom Dernoga, who has sided with residents throughout the process. “I’ve seen a lot of court of Supreme Court zoning decisions, and they’re very good at contriving pro developer results.
“The freeway folks have won the case, that case, but the laws changed,” he noted. “So they don’t currently have the ability to build what like been planning on building.”
With the newer legal squabbles just beginning at the Circuit Court level, it will still likely be years before any bulldozers start ripping apart the runway that’s perpendicular to U.S. Route 50.
“They’re not be building anything soon,” Dernoga said.
But he said another possible outcome from all of this is that it could reignite talks between the local residents and developers, which could lead to a compromise over future plans for the site.
“And I think that’s probably the likely result,” Dernoga added.
