delivered the opinion of the Court.
The appeal is from an order of the Baltimore City Court affirming the action of the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals, which had refused to permit a gasoline filling station in a residential use district by the exercise of the powers given it to extend the boundaries of a commercial use district one hundred feet into an adjoining residential use district. It is said that the Board and the Court erred because a 1941 ordinance that had rezoned the one hundred feet from commercial to residential was arbitrary, unreasonable and invalid in that it deprived the appellants of the most suitable and appropriate use of the property, in violation of rights assured them by the constitutions of Maryland and the United States, and because the refusal to permit the one hundred feet to be used for commercial use amounts to an arbitrary and illegal deprivation of reasonable use of the property.
Members of the Serio family owned a lot аt the northwest corner of Cold Spring Lane and Dolfield Ave. in Baltimore. When zoning first took effect in Baltimore in 1981, the lot, together with the surrounding area, was zoned second commercial. At that time most of the land on Dolfield Ave. north of Cold Spring Lane was vacant and portions were included in the commercial use zone on account of the proximity of the Western Maryland Railroad some 750 feet to the east. The expectations of the zoners proved to be faulty as far as Dolfield Avenue was concerned, a number of dwellings being built there between 1931 and 1941. The evidence is that the actual use and the trend were definitely rеsidential, rather than commercial, north of Cold Spring Lane. An exception was a part of the Serio lot — 100 feet on Dolfield Ave. and 100 feet on Cold Spring Lane— that they had sold to an oil company, which used it for a filling station. In recognition of the residential trend, the City Council in 1941 passed an ordinance changing from sеcond commercial to residential both sides of Dolfield Ave. as part of an area that ran some 600 feet east *549 and west and 350 feet north and south — from the Western Maryland Railroad on the east to Callaway Ave. on the west, and from an extension of the north line of the filling station for some 350 feet to the north. Thus the Sеrios were left with an L or cleaver-shaped lot extending around the filling station, adjoining it to the west on Cold Spring Lane and to the north on Dolfield Ave. The western portion of this remaining lot ran north from a 75 foot frontage on Cold Spring Lane to a rear width of some 55 feet, along the west boundary of the filling station lot for 100 feеt, and was and is zoned second commercial. The northern line of this portion of the lot is part of the southern line of that portion of the lot that fronts on Dolfield Ave. for some 102 feet, with a depth of roughly 155 feet. The portion of the lot fronting on Dolfield Ave. and running west 155 feet, was included in the area rezoned residential in 1941 and is presently so zoned. From Cold Spring Lane to Garrison Boulevard, a distance of some five blocks, on both sides of Dolfield Ave. residences have been built and there are no commercial establishments in that five block area, with the exception of the filling station to which we have referred and another such station on the northeast corner of Dolfield Ave. and Cold Spring Lane. In fact, there are stations on each of the four corners of that intersection. From Cold Spring Lane south on Dolfield Ave. are a number of stores for a block or so — a small shopping center — and there are some commercial and industrial uses to the east, on Cold Spring Lane and along the railroad.
Joseph F. Serio and Rose Serio, the appellants, purchased the lot in question from the estate of their mother in 1946. In 1954, application was made to erect a gasoline filling station on the lot. The plans and the testimony show that the Cold Spring Lane strip was to be used merely as a driveway and that 95% of the station, including the pump islands, pumps, tanks and flood lights, would be on the Dolfield Ave. portion; that is, the portion now zoned residential. At the hearing *550 before the Board, each side produced one real estate expert to show the character and potential uses of the land. For the appellants there was testimony that the land was not adapted to residential use and that its only reasonable use was commercial because it would be a tremendous hardship to attempt to sell houses on land where you are not able to get “the maximum bеnefit” from financing and savings institutions. There was testimony for the owners that they had attempted to sell the land for two years for residential use and were unable to do so. The protestants, the appellees, introduced testimony of a builder who had contemplated building five houses on the land on Dolfield Ave. between the filling station and the first house to the north. There was introduced a plat he had caused to be prepared, showing the proposed locations of the houses, with the necessary sideyards required by the zoning law. The builder said that he had gotten tentative approval from the planning commission and from the Veterаns Administration and had been assured by the man who financed his operations that he would go along with a construction loan. He testified also that he had sought advice from the real estate men in the neighborhood who had agreed that the houses could be built and sold at a profit. When he was asked whether the land was suitаble for residential use, he said that he thought it definitely was suitable for dwellings of the proper type and that they could be financed and sold profitably, although the house next to the filling station would be worth a little less. He did not consummate his plans because he took on another, and larger, building operation that prеsented itself and occupied his time and efforts. This builder had bought from the Serios land on Callaway Ave. just west of Dolfield Ave. and had built houses on it in 1954. It was shown that the 102 foot frontage on Dolfield Ave., on which he had intended to build, was graded to street level and that there were no physical or legal impediments to the constructiоn of houses.
*551 At the appeal in the City Court, the appellants produced the same real estate man who had testified before the Board and his testimony was fortified by that of another realtor, who said that the land was best suited for commercial purposes and not suitable for residential purposes because of the difficulty in obtaining financing. The testimony on this occasion was that the land could be used for residential purposes “at a loss — not a profit”. Apparently, this was intended to mean that the loss would be in relation to the maximum financial return that could be derived from the land. The testimony before the Board for thе protestants was repeated in Court, and there was also testimony as to the character of the neighborhood north of Cold Spring Lane, including that of the man who lives in the house 100 feet from the filling station, who said that eight years before he had bought and moved into the house before it was finished, even though the four filling stations were there at the time.
The Board decided that since a filling station is excluded from a residential use district, the permit could be granted only if there were compelling reason to make an exception, and found no such reason, as well as that the part of the filling station which would be in the commercial use district would adversely affect the residential properties in the neighborhood and interfere with the comfort and welfare of the home owners nearby. The Court, on appeal, affirmed the Board on the ground that there was substantial evidence in the record to support the actions and findings of the Board.
The appellants do not challenge the validity of the 1941 rezoning ordinance in its entirety, nor could they well do so. Rezoning is justified when there was error in the original zoning or when the character of a neighborhood has changed to such an extent that reclassification properly ought to be made. A court will not substitute its judgment as to the wisdom or soundness of the action taken by the legislative or administrative body but decides only whether that action is illegal, arbitrary or discriminatory. If the question de
*552
cided is fairly debatable, the decision must be upheld and “only where there is no room for reasonable debate, or where the record is dеvoid of supporting facts” will a court declare legislative or administrative action invalid.
Offutt v. Board of Zoning Appeals,
There was substantial evidence before the Boаrd clearly permitting a finding that the appellants’ property on *553 Dolfield Ave. could be used for the erection of residences, without unreasonable physical or economic impediment. This being so, the claim of the appellants as to the unconstitutional and invalid impingement of the ordinance on thеir property must fail.
We turn then to the second ground of the complaint, namely, that the refusal of the Board to allow a variance under the elasticity provisions of the Baltimore City zoning ordinance is arbitrary and unreasonable. Under the rules clearly laid down by the cases, we find that it is not. Filling stations are excluded frоm residential use districts by Sections 9 and 10 of the ordinance. Under Sec. 37.2, the Board may allow a filling station in a use district only where it is permitted in such districts by the use regulations. To escape this dilemma, the appellants urge the application of Sec. 14 of the ordinance which provides: “Use District Special Excеptions. The Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals may, after public notice and hearing, in its discretion, in a specific case, and subject to the provisions, restrictions, guides and standards set forth in Section 35 (j), permit, where otherwise excluded or limited — * * * (d) within one hundred feet of a boundary line between two use districts, аny use permitted in that one of such use districts which has the lower classification provided that the lot on which such use is permitted shall be contiguous to such zone of lower classification, and provided further that such one hundred foot measurement shall not extend across a street or alley and that there shall be no further extension thereafter.” As pointed out in
Montgomery County v. Merlands Club,
We havе previously noted in the discussion as to unconstitutionality that there was substantial evidence which permitted the finding that the land could be used for residences. The holdings of the
Gleason
and
Heath
cases, explained in the language quoted above, make this fact a full answer to the claim of the appellants that the action of the Board was arbitrary and unlawful. Since the Board was fully justified in finding that the variance was not warranted, there is no need to consider the further reasons it gave for its decision. Applicable here is the general well established principle that if the evidence before the Board substantially supports its conclusions, its findings will not be disturbed on appeal.
Hoffman v. Mayor & City Council,
Order affirmed, with costs.