Petitioners here seek to block a Planned Unit Development (“PUD”) with a Wal-Mart supercenter in Baltimore City, but have been stymied by Circuit Court and appellate rulings against them on the threshold question of standing. Although the test to show standing has been established in Maryland for more than half a century, the issue continues to generate appellate cases. That is partly because the test is fact-sensitive and is not readily reduced to a set of rules.
As we have explained, to have standing to challenge a zoning reclassification, a person’s property interest “must be such that he is personally and specially affected in a way different from that suffered by the public generally.” See Bryniarski v. Montgomery Cnty. Bd. of Appeals,
FACTS AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
On November 22, 2010, the Baltimore City Council passed Ordinance 10-397, which approved a PUD for an 11.5-acre tract of land known as the “25th Street Station.” The PUD authorizes a mixed-use development located in the Remington and Charles Village neighborhoods of Baltimore City. It is anticipated to “bring approximately 20 national retailers ..., as well as 70-80 market-rate apartment units.”
Benn Ray and Brendan Coyne (“Petitioners”) filed a Petition for Judicial Review of the PUD’s approval. Ray resides in the Remington neighborhood at 279 W. 31st Street, Baltimore, Maryland. His residence is 2,212.39 feet, or approximately 0.4 miles, away from the PUD. Ray claims that he can see the PUD site from his second-floor bathroom during the winter months of the year, and that he can hear noise from the PUD site when his second-floor bathroom window is open. He believes that the PUD “will directly and dramatically increase traffic ... in front of [his] home,” which “will make it more dangerous for [him,]” given that “W. 31 St. is a narrow residential road that [he] believe[s] is ill equipped to handle the increased level of traffic.” Ray also believes that “the Wal-Mart planned to be part of the project will change the character of [his] neighborhood.”
Coyne resides in the Charles Village neighborhood at 2738 Guilford Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21218. His residence is 2,002.18 feet, or approximately 0.4 miles, away from the PUD. Coyne has produced no evidence to show that he can see or hear the PUD from his residence.
The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore City, the owners of the subject property, and the developers of the PUD (“Respondents”) timely responded to the petition for judicial review, and all filed motions to dismiss, alleging that Petitioners lacked standing to challenge the PUD. In a written order, Judge Pamela J. White of the Baltimore City Circuit Court granted Respondents’ motions and dismissed Petitioners’ Petition for Judicial Review. She found that “Petitioners are not ‘adjoining, confronting or nearby’ property owners and thereby do not enjoy prima facie aggrieved status.” Nor had Petitioners shown any special interest or damage unique to Petitioners that would distinguish them from the general public. Judge White explained that “see[ing] roof tops or parking lots or traffic activity ... or hear[ing] city noise from blocks away, or deal[ing] with traffic congestion, or worrying] about local businesses ... are not circumstances that are unique or different from many other Baltimore residents among the general public.” Judge White also found that Coyne’s beliefs about the potential decrease in his property’s value were not admissible.
The Court of Special Appeals affirmed. In a reported opinion authored by Judge Moylan, the intermediate appellate court agreed with the Circuit Court that Petitioners did not qualify for prima facie aggrieved status and that Petitioners had failed to show any special aggrievement different from the public generally. Ray v. Mayor of Balt.,
On May 9, 2012, this Court granted a writ of certiorari, Ray v. Mayor of Baltimore,
1. Did the Court of Special Appeals err when it equated Petitioners’ neighborhoods of Charles Village and Remington with the general public and ruled that they lacked standing because others in their neighborhood were adversely affected in similar ways?
2. Did the Court of Special Appeals err when it held that Petitioners lacked standing because they were neither “nearby” nor specially aggrieved without considering the unique adverse effects caused by a new type of large development on 11.5 acres in an urban neighborhood?2
We shall hold that the Circuit Court did not err in dismissing Petitioners’ Petition for Judicial Review.
DISCUSSION
Petitioners filed for judicial review of the PUD ordinance under Md.Code (1957, 2010 Repl.Vol.), Article 66B, § 2.09(a)(l)(ii). This section provides:
(a) Who may appeal; procedure. — (1) An appeal to the Circuit Court of Baltimore City may be filed jointly or severally by any person, taxpayer, or officer, department, board, or bureau of the City aggrieved by:
(i) A decision of the Board of Municipal and Zoning
Appeals; or
(ii) A zoning action by the City Council.
Id. In Bryniarski v. Montgomery County Board of Appeals, this Court described a “person aggrieved” as:
one whose personal or property rights are adversely affected by the decision of the board. The decision must not only affect a matter in which the protestant has a specific interest or property right but his interest therein must be such that he is personally and specially affected in a way different from that suffered by the public generally.
(Emphasis added).
Beyond these general principles provided in Bryniarski, we have not articulated what it means to be “specially affected” or how one proves that his harm is different from the public harm. Rather, the standard is flexible in the sense that it is based on a fact-intensive, case-by-case analysis. Therefore, before we can determine whether Petitioners are “specially affected,” we examine the fact patterns that have emerged from our earlier cases.
In doing so, we keep in mind that the concept of special aggrievement used in current zoning laws has its roots in the laws pertaining to the tort action of public nuisance. See 4 Edward H. Ziegler, Jr., Rathkopfs The Law of Zoning and Planning § 63:14 (2012) (“This strict standard of [special] aggrievement for standing to enforce a zoning ordinance is based in early nuisance law which antedated zoning.”). As the Rathkopfs treatise explains,
[T]he “special damage” rule was an outgrowth of the law of public nuisance. Inasmuch as a public nuisance was an offense against the state and, accordingly, was subject to abatement on motion of the proper governmental agency, an individual could not maintain an action for a public nuisance unless he suffered some special damage from the public nuisance. (Emphasis added).
Id. (quoting Skaggs-Alberbson’s v. ABC Liquors, Inc.,
When we examine Petitioners’ specific arguments, we will call upon the law of nuisance for enlightenment. But first, we will review how the Maryland cases have applied the principles summarized in Bryniarski.
Proximity as a Measuring Stick of Standing
A review of our cases, where standing to challenge a rezoning action was at issue, reveals one critical point: proximity is the most important factor to be considered. The relevance and import of other facts tending to show aggrievement depends on how close the affected property is to the rezoned property.
For example, an owner’s lay opinion of decreasing property values and increasing traffic has been considered sufficient for special aggrievement when combined with proximity that is almost as great as in cases where properties are “adjoining, confronting or nearby.” See Habliston v. Salisbury, 258 Md. 350, 352, 354-55,
Conversely, without sufficient proximity, similar facts will only support general aggrievement. For example, when the affected properties are not sufficiently close to the site to qualify as almost prima facie aggrieved, claims of increasing traffic, change in the character of the neighborhood, lay opinion projecting a decrease in property values, and limited visibility have been held to show only general aggrievement. See Shore Acres Improvement Ass’n, Inc. v. Anne Arundel Cnty. Bd. of Appeals,
In sum, Maryland courts have accorded standing to challenge a rezoning action to two types of protestants: those who are prima facie aggrieved and those who are almost prima facie aggrieved. A protestant is prima facie aggrieved when his proximity makes him an adjoining, confronting, or nearby property owner. A protestant is specially aggrieved when she is farther away than an adjoining, confronting, or nearby property owner, but is still close enough to the site of the rezoning action to be considered almost prima facie aggrieved, and offers “plus factors”
Dicta in Maryland cases suggest a third, poorly-defined category of protestants with standing who, despite being “far removed from the subject property,” may nevertheless be able to establish “the fact that his personal or property rights are specially and adversely affected by the board’s action.” Bryniarski,
This Case
With this framework in mind, we turn to the issues presented by this case. Petitioners advance two arguments: (1) the aggrieved class should be defined as the entire neighborhood; and (2) their claims for special aggrievement — including their proximity to the PUD, a change in the character of the neighborhood, increased traffic, and visibility of the PUD — are sufficient to establish standing. Additionally, Petitioner Coyne argues that the Circuit Court erred in ruling inadmissible his testimony regarding a decrease in the value of his property.
Petitioners vs. General Public
Petitioners argue that the Court of Special Appeals improperly compared them to other residents of Charles Village and Remington, which they assert are the areas the PUD will impact.
To justify this position, Petitioners look to Alvey v. Hedin, a case involving the rezoning of 4.75 acres from agricultural to commercial for the purpose of building a marina.
To further support their thesis that the scope of the aggrieved class entitled to standing should have been these neighborhoods, Petitioners analogize this case to special exception or conditional use cases. In support of that argument, they quote Md. Overpak Corp. v. Mayor of Balt., where we noted that “a PUD partakes more of the characteristics of a conditional use than any other zoning construct or mechanism recognized in Baltimore City.”
Respondents counter that both the Circuit Court and the Court of Special Appeals were correct to rely on the well-established standard set forth in Bryniarski, under which a person must show “that he is personally and specially affected in a way different from that suffered by the public generally.”
We agree with Respondents that the creation of a class of aggrieved persons is done on an individual scale and not based on delineations of city neighborhoods.
Indeed, even Alvey, the case relied on by Petitioners, supports this holding. There, in referring to the “aggrieved class,” the Court was using the word “class” to mean a category of individuals who showed special aggrievement different from the general public. It was not referring to the whole neighborhood or even numerous people. Instead, the aggrieved class consisted of the two individuals who were able to show that they were specially aggrieved by virtue of the detritus deposited on their shores.
Alvey does not support Petitioners’ argument because Petitioners’ theory depends on subtracting individual special aggrievement from the analysis — it assumes that every member of the neighborhood is automatically specially aggrieved. By comparing everyone inside the neighborhood to everyone outside of the neighborhood, there is no chance for the Court to examine whether the people inside the neighborhood are in fact specially aggrieved. Even Petitioners acknowledge that “[t]he neighborhood could include an individual who is not aggrieved.” Yet, under Petitioners’ proposed definition of an “aggrieved class,” this non-aggrieved person would still be given standing, a result at odds with our jurisprudence, which requires proof of harm to the individual.
Petitioners’ reliance on cases in which courts have analyzed neighborhoods in rezoning cases and to the governing standards of the Zoning Code is also misplaced. Neither the Code nor the cases apply to the issue of standing to support judicial review. Rather they apply to the merits at issue — whether a rezoning action was properly granted or denied. Certiorari was sought and granted here not on the question of whether the PUD should have been approved, but whether Petitioners had standing to seek judicial review of the decision of the City Council. These diverse issues call for different legal standards, and standing issues are “determined by the courts on a case by case basis, and the decision in each case rests upon the facts and circumstances of the particular case under review.” Bryniarski,
Creating a bright-line rule, under which each person in the entire neighborhood qualifies as a member of the specially aggrieved class in every PUD case, as Petitioners propose, would be tantamount to abandoning the Bryniarski rule that the facts and circumstances of each case would govern.
Petitioners’ Claims of Special Aggrievement
The second issue before this Court is whether “the unique adverse effects
In determining whether Petitioners have met their burden of showing special aggrievement, we remain aware of the appropriate standard of review. In this case, the Circuit Court converted the motions to dismiss into motions for summary judgment by considering materials outside of the pleadings, including Petitioners’ affidavits. See Md. Rule 2-322(c); 120 W. Fayette St., LLLP v. Mayor of Balt,
Petitioners’ Proximity to the PUD
Petitioners concede that they are not prima facie aggrieved as they both reside approximately 0.4 miles from the PUD. Thus, to establish special aggrievement through proximity, Petitioners must still reside close enough to the rezoning action to be considered almost prima facie aggrieved and then show some additional evidence of harm. DuBay,
On the contrary, protestants who lived more than 1000 feet from the rezoning site have repeatedly been denied standing. See Shore Acres,
Petitioners attempt to distinguish these precedents based on the large urban nature of the PUD involved here. Yet, nowhere in any of Petitioners’ briefs do they explain the significance, for standing purposes, of the urban PUD, as compared with suburban or rural locales. We can only suppose that Petitioners posit that an urban PUD expands the proximity factor so that individuals challenging a large urban development are permitted to reside
Petitioners’ Claims of Direct and Specifíc Harm
Protestants, who reside far away from the rezoned site and cannot establish special aggrievement through proximity, can only look to the theoretically recognized, but never before found in fact, third category of standing that requires a showing that the reclassification produces a harm directly and specifically impacting their property. See Bryniarski,
Change in Character of Neighborhood
Petitioners find harm in the change in the character of the neighborhood they say will result from the PUD, specifically the planned Wal-Mart. To support this proposition, they cite Bryniarski,
Respondents contend that this reliance on Bryniarski and Wier is misplaced because those “courts held that the protestants were prima facie aggrieved based on their proximity to the proposed developments.” Respondents cite several cases — including White, DuBay, Wilkinson, and 25th Street— to support their assertion that this Court has denied standing to protestants who allege a change in the character of the community, in the absence of proximity.
Respondents’ contention finds stronger support in our decisions. We have found no cases in which a protestant who lacked proximity to the rezoning action was granted standing based on a claim of change in the character of the neighborhood. As Respondents correctly point out, Bryniarski and Wier are distinguishable because those cases dealt with prima facie aggrievement. See Bryniarski,
Contrary to Petitioners’ argument, the weight of authority indicates that claims of change in the character of the neighborhood by protestants who lack proximity are insufficient to prove special aggrievement. See White,
Petitioners’ allegations of change in the neighborhood are not sufficient to show special aggrievement because they fail to identify a harm that directly impacts their properties. They complain that the commercial establishments now existing in their neighborhood, such as Waverly Ace Hardware, Eddie’s Market, and Safeway Supermarket, will close because of competition from Wal-Mart, and that they will become vacant buildings, which are detrimental to a community. Yet, Petitioners have failed to show that any of these businesses, whether open or closed, affect them in a manner distinct from the general public.
We return to the historical roots of zoning, i.e. the law of nuisance, to explain why standing is denied under this circumstance. As Restatement (Second) of Torts § 821C explains, for a “private individual [to] recover in tort for a public nuisance[, he must have] suffered harm of a different kind from that suffered by other persons exercising the same public right.” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 821C cmt. b (1979). Moreover, “[i]t is not enough that he has suffered the same kind of harm or interference but to a greater extent or degree.” Id. The Restatement gives the following illustration:
[Wjhen a public highway is obstructed and all who make use of it are compelled to detour a mile, no distinction is to be made between those who travel the highway only once in the course of a month and the man who travels it twice a day over that entire period. For both there has been only interference with the public right of travel and resulting inconvenience, even though the interference and the inconvenience have been much greater in the one case than in the other.
Id. The Restatement maintains there is a good reason courts refuse to grant standing based on differences in degree of harm: it is “the difficulty or impossibility of drawing any satisfactory line for each public nuisance at some point in the varying gradations of degree, together with the belief that to avoid multiplicity of actions[,J invasions of rights common to all of the public should be left to be remedied by action by public officials.” Id.
In this case, the interests of the general public were considered at the time of the public hearings considering this project. As Respondents say: “The process pursuant to which the City approved the zoning authorization necessary for the reuse of the property involved numerous reviews, meetings and public hearings in which several community members were heard before both the City Council’s Land Use Committee and Baltimore City Planning Commission.” Judicial review is only offered to individuals who are specially aggrieved. Special aggrievement is what Petitioners have not been able to show.
Increased Traffic
Second, Petitioner Ray argues that he has standing to sue based on his belief that the PUD would increase traffic, making it more dangerous for him to drive because of the narrow streets in the area. To support this claim, Ray cites BryniarsJci,
Respondents emphasize that Ray “fail[s] to identify a single case in which a property owning protestant was found to be aggrieved based on the threat of increased traffic.” They aver that “this Court has expressly rejected” the idea that standing can be based on a claim of increased traffic. To support this assertion, Respondents cite several cases — including Wilkinson, Marcus, DuBay, and White — in which this Court denied standing to protestants who alleged increased traffic.
We concur with Respondents. We have uncovered no cases, and Ray has cited none, where a protestant who was 0.4 miles from the rezoned property was granted standing based on a claim of increased traffic. On the contrary, there is an overwhelming weight of authority that claims of increased traffic, by protestants who lack close proximity, are insufficient to prove special aggrievement. See, e.g., Shore Acres,
Visibility
Ray also argues that he has standing because he can see the PUD from his second-floor bathroom window during the winter months. Here, Ray relies on Wilkinson, in which this Court recognized that “[visibility is one of the elements of proximity, and ... has been referred to as one of the factors giving rise to standing.”
Respondents also rely on Wilkinson, but for a different proposition: “mere visibility is not enough to give the requisite standing.” See id. In this regard, Respondents argue that Ray has not cited “a single case where someone living .4 of a mile away from a development project was specially aggrieved simply by being able to see the project.” Respondents cite Wilkinson and DuBay and argue that this Court has denied standing to protestants “who lived as close or closer to their proposed developments than Ray is from [the PUD], and who could see the projects from their residences.”
We have found no cases where a protestant, who lacked proximity to the rezoning action, was granted standing based on a claim of such limited visibility. Quite the opposite, such claims have been rejected as insufficient to show special aggrievement. See Wilkinson,
Lay Opinion Testimony of Decreasing Property Values
Finally, Petitioner Coyne makes an evidentiary argument. He maintains that he has standing because the development of the PUD will adversely affect the value of his property, but the Circuit Court ruled such testimony inadmissible. Because the Circuit Court did not consider Coyne’s testimony, this claim of aggrievement requires a different analysis than the others. Our review is focused not on whether the evidence was sufficient to show special aggrievement, but whether the Circuit Court was legally correct in ruling that an owner’s lay opinion testimony about future fluctuations in the value of his property is inadmissible.
There does not appear to be any Maryland case directly on point. Both parties cite the same case in their briefs, Bran-non v. State Roads Commission of the State Highway Administration,
Under Coyne’s reading of the case, it stands for the general proposition that property owners are always permitted to testify about the value of their property, including any future depreciation in value. Respondents adhere to a different view. They argue that Brannon establishes only that a property owner can testify about the property’s current value, but that any future speculation about a potential adverse affect caused by a development 0.4 miles away is within the specialized knowledge of an expert.
We agree with Respondents that testimony about whether the value of a property will increase or decrease because of a future development 0.4 miles away requires expert testimony. In Brannon, the owner was permitted to testify about the before-and-after-taking value of her property because she was personally familiar with her property both before and after the taking. Id. at 799-802,
Unlike the owner in Brannon, who was familiar with her property because the taking had already occurred, Coyne is not familiar with the value of his property after the PUD is developed, because that is only a future prospect. Thus, Coyne is merely speculating without “a reasonably good idea of what [the property will be] worth.” Id. at 802,
CONCLUSION
We hold that the Circuit Court was correct in dismissing Petitioners’ Petition for Judicial Review. The aggrieved class continues to be limited to those individuals who can show by specific facts that they have been specially aggrieved in a manner different than the public generally. Petitioners failed to allege such facts.
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS AFFIRMED. PETITIONERS TO PAY COSTS.
Notes
. Coyne does claim he can see the PUD from a conference room on the sixth floor of his office building, although he admits that he works on the first floor of that building.
. In their brief, Petitioners raise the issue of whether the Circuit Court was correct in ruling that Coyne's testimony on the decrease in his property value was inadmissible. The second question presented encompasses this issue, and we address it below.
. Effective October 1, 2012, this statute was repealed from Md.Code (1957, 2010 Repl.Vol.), Article 66B, § 2.09, and recodified at Md.Code (2012), § 10-501 of the Land Use Article. See Chapter 426 of the Acts of 2012.
. The statute granting the right to judicial review in effect in Bryniarski provided:
(j) Appeal from board to court. — Any person or persons jointly or severally aggrieved by any decision of the board of zoning appeals, or any taxpayer, or any officer, department, board or bureau of the municipality, may appeal to a court of record on the ground that such decision is illegal in whole or in part. (Emphasis added).
Md.Code (1957, 1965 Cum.Supp.), Article 66B, § 7(j). Although the language has been subsequently amended on several occasions, this statute was the predecessor to the current law, which was amended in 1970 to become Md.Code (1957, 1970 Repl.Vol.), Article 66B, § 2.09(a). See Chapter 672 of the Acts of 1970. Importantly, for our purposes, the language of a “person aggrieved” has remained constant through the evolution of the statute.
. A private nuisance is "a nontrespassory invasion of another's interest in the private use and enjoyment of land.” Rosenblatt v. Exxon Co., U.S.A.,
. When deciding whether a protestan! is prima facie aggrieved, which Petitioners do not claim, proximity is the only relevant factor. The inquiry is focused solely on whether the protestan! is "[a]n adjoining, confronting or nearby property owner." Bryniarski v. Montgomery Cnty. Bd. of Appeals,
. We treat these four cases as being outside of the zone of “prima facie ” aggrieved because the opinions discussed special aggrievement. Arguably, though, these should be considered instances of prima facie aggrievement. Both Alvey and Toomey predated the articulation of the prima facie standard found in Bryniarski, and neither Habliston nor Chatham addressed whether the protestants were prima face aggrieved.
. See, e.g., Wier,
. Petitioners rely on the provision in Ordinance 10-397, which approved the PUD in this case. The Ordinance established a "PUD Design Review Committee,” to be composed of representatives from several surrounding neighborhoods, including the Greater Remington Improvement Association, the Charles Village Civic Association, and the Remington Neighborhood Alliance. In accordance with the Ordinance, the Committee would have an opportunity to comment on plans for improvement submitted to ihe Planning Commission. These comments "shall be advisory to the Department of Planning and the Planning Commission.”
. Baltimore City publishes an interactive map showing city neighborhoods, including Charles Village and Remington. See http://maps. baltimorecity.gov/imap/imapJl.aspx.
. The DuBay Court further explained:
None of them showed that ... the reclassification! ] would cause him or her any unique or special kind of damage other than that suffered by the whole community.... DuBay is the nearest (a distance of 1500 feet) to the reclassified property, but his property is on the opposite side of the Beltway, which, if not a complete shield against the apartments to be constructed, will serve as an adequate barrier.... Aiken and Rice both reside a considerable distance (more than four-tenths of a mile) and possibly out of sight of the proposed apartments. And, which is more important, none of the appellants were able to show that the value of their respective property would be adversely affected.
DuBay v. Crane,
. This is not to say that there can never be a case where an entire neighborhood is aggrieved. But no facts, specific to this case, have been presented which show that the entire neighborhoods of Remington and Charles Village are specially aggrieved.
. The last two arguments (increased traffic and the PUD’s visibility) were made by Petitioner Ray only.
. Petitioner actually cites Sugarloaf Citizens’ Ass’n v. Department of Environment,
. This holding appears to be in line with states that have handled this issue, although the decisions we found tend to be from lower courts. See, e.g., Lindsey Creek Area Civic Ass’n v. Consol. Gov’t of Columbus,