Grasslands Plantation, Inc. v. Frizz-King Enterprises, LLC

In this Queen Anne’s County zoning case, we decide how to allocate the burden of proof in a de novo review by the Board of Appeals of the Planning Commission’s decision approving a subdivision. 1 We hold that the Board erred in imposing the burden on the adjacent landowner protestant. We also address the question of whether a county ordinance passed during pendency of the protestant’s judicial appeal, which amended the standards by which the Commission is to evaluate proposed subdivisions, should be applied to this subdivision application. We hold that, under these circumstances, the new…