Maryland Aviation Administration v. Newsome

RODOWSKY, Judge.

In the area surrounding the Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) a General Assembly enactment overlays on the county zoning a form of environmental zoning designed to protect building occupants from excessive noise. The regulatory scheme identifies areas of high levels of noise and, inter alia, prohibits new residential construction there, absent a variance. At issue in the instant matter is whether the agency empowered to grant a variance from the prohibition may properly consider the number of additional persons who would be exposed to high levels of noise if a…