December 2022 Maryland Certiorari Grants: Supreme Edition

By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Maryland held its first conference under its new name. From that conference emerged the first post-name change opinion, Tapestry, Inc. v. Factory Mutual Insurance Company, authored by Chief Justice Matthew Fader for a unanimous Court. For another answer to a future trivia question, the Appellate Court of Maryland issued its first unreported opinions today under its new name, and the first to be posted was Judge Shaw’s opinion in Hawley v. Greer.

The conference also produced only one certiorari grant, Gerstein v. Rocon, LLC, and the Court’s statement of the Issues Presented reflects that the “CSA” is now the “ACM.”

All these changes will take some getting used to, and my favorite comment comes from Marlene Trestman, who Tweeted: “I’m still getting over the name change from the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City!”

The lone certiorari grant is below.

Jerome Gerstein, et al. v. Rocon, LLC – Case No. 29, September Term, 2022 (Unreported ACM Opinion by Judge Friedman)

Issues – Land Use – 1) Does the Cumberland zoning ordinance violate the land use article by allowing setback requirement to be modified by the conditional use process instead of by the variance or administrative adjustment processes mandated by the Land Use Article? 2) Did ACM (formerly CSA) misconstrue the Cumberland zoning ordinance by treating a requirement that is not a “setback” under the ordinance as a setback? 3) Did ACM (formerly CSA) misconstrue the Cumberland zoning ordinance by determining that there is no height restriction for communications towers? 4) Did ACM (formerly CSA) err by finding that an application for conditional use had been submitted to the Cumberland Planning Commission for review when there is nothing in the record to support the finding?