Maryland § 20-513

§ 20-513.

    (a)    (1)    (i)    The County Council may provide for the issuance of permits for the construction, repair, or remodeling of buildings.

            (ii)    A person may not construct, repair, or remodel a building without obtaining a permit and paying a fee established by the County Council.

        (2)    The County Council shall:

            (i)    regulate uniformly the construction, improvement, and demolition of buildings;

            (ii)    regulate the size of bricks and thickness of walls that are used in houses to be built;

            (iii)    provide for the entry into and examination of all buildings, lots, yards, enclosures, boats, and vehicles in order to determine their condition for health, cleanliness, and safety;

            (iv)    1.    provide for the taking down and removal of buildings, walls, structures, or superstructures that are or may become dangerous; or

                2.    require owners to move the buildings, walls, structures, or superstructures or put them in a safe and sound condition at their own expense;

            (v)    regulate the building and maintenance of party walls, partitions, fences, parapet walls, fire walls, smoke flues, fireplaces, hot–air flues, boilers, kettles, smokestacks, and stove pipes;

            (vi)    regulate the storage of gasoline and other combustibles or explosives in any structure listed in item (v) of this paragraph;

            (vii)    regulate the safe construction, inspection, and repair of private and public buildings;

            (viii)    regulate, limit, or prohibit the construction of wooden or frame buildings and remove the buildings at the owner’s expense, when constructed or not removed;

            (ix)    regulate the height, construction, and inspection of new buildings;

            (x)    regulate the limits in which steps, porticoes, bay windows, or other structural ornaments may be added to houses fronting on a highway, street, avenue, lane, or alley;

            (xi)    regulate the materials used and the manner of installing electric wiring or piping or laying conduit in any building;

            (xii)    regulate the location, manner of installation, size, and area per lot of all advertising structures and restrict the projection of advertising structures over public property;

            (xiii)    adopt and enforce all necessary rules or regulations over public property; and

            (xiv)    impose fines and penalties for violations of rules or regulations adopted under this paragraph.

    (b)    (1)    A local law is not valid or effective until it is adopted by the County Council at a regular meeting and recorded in the records of the County Council.

        (2)    Before adopting any local law under this section, the County Council shall publish notice of the date, place, and time, in a newspaper of general circulation in the part of the regional district affected by the local law, of the meeting of the County Council at which the local law is to be presented for adoption.

        (3)    The notice shall:

            (i)    state that the meeting will include a hearing on the proposed local law at which all persons will be given an opportunity to express the person’s views on the proposed local law;

            (ii)    1.    briefly indicate the nature of the local law to be adopted, amended, or repealed; or

                2.    if a complete and comprehensive building code is to be considered for adoption, provide a statement to that effect; and

            (iii)    be published at least once each week for 2 consecutive weeks before the date of the meeting, but the County Council may provide for more extensive notification.

    (c)    (1)    (i)    After local laws are adopted, the County Council shall record the local laws in a book kept for that purpose in the office of the County Council.

            (ii)    When the local laws are recorded under this paragraph, all persons are deemed to have notice of the local laws and no actual notice need be proven.

        (2)    (i)    The County Council shall print a sufficient number of copies of the adopted and recorded local laws for general distribution.

            (ii)    If it is necessary to prove the existence of the local laws in any judicial proceeding, a printed copy is prima facie evidence of the existence.

    (d)    (1)    The County Council may wholly or partly amend any local law adopted under this section.

        (2)    Amendments are valid and effective when recorded as provided in subsection (c) of this section.

    (e)    The County Council may exempt a municipal corporation or special taxing district in the regional district from local laws adopted under this section if the County Council determines that the building regulations and enforcement in the municipal corporation or special taxing district are as adequate and equally effective as the local laws adopted by the County Council.

    (f)    (1)    The County Council, in addition to the remedies provided for by this subtitle and Title 27 of this article, may provide for the enforcement of the local laws adopted under this section by applying to the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County for an injunction.

        (2)    A violation of the local laws is sufficient cause in itself for the issuance of an injunction when applied for, and no further cause need be alleged or shown.

    (g)    (1)    A building code adopted under this section shall be enforced by the officers designated in the county charter or county code.

        (2)    All fees and penalties are governed by the law applicable to a charter county.