Council to amend code so county definition aligns with state limited private inpatient licensing

Councilmember Rockey on July 15 introduced a bill to align Anne Arundel County code definitions with state licensing for limited private inpatient facilities, addressing a licensing mismatch raised by a property owner seeking to operate an eating-disorder treatment program. Rockey read a property-owner attorney summary explaining that the Office of Health Care Quality (Maryland Department of Health) issues a license for a limited private inpatient facility under Md. Health-General §10-501 and COMAR 10.07.16.02, while the county’s code includes language describing an “eating disorder treatment facility” that does not fully align with that state license. The property owner’s consultants and prospective operators had been advised the county definition might prevent issuance of a state license without a local-use match. The bill would amend the county definition to make explicit that a limited private inpatient facility license is a recognized local use, ensuring local and state nomenclature align so operators can pursue the state license. Rockey characterized the change as a technical alignment rather than a substantive use change. Councilmembers had no substantive objections during the work session. Staff indicated the amendment is intended to permit facilities that meet state licensure requirements to obtain local approval without semantic mismatch; no vote was taken during the work session.