Baltimore County Board of Appeals reverses ALJ and grants Friends of Lubavitch relief under RLUIPA; denies parking and setback variances

The Baltimore County Board of Appeals on Feb. 25, 2025, reversed an administrative law judge’s decision and granted the petitioner Friends of Lubavitch the relief they sought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), while denying requests for a parking modification and for variance relief from setback requirements.

The board — Chair Bernardi, Mr. Evans and Mr. Lauer — said the property at 14 Agbert Road in Towson constitutes a religious institution for zoning purposes but concluded the petitioners had not proven entitlement to reduced parking (requesting two spaces instead of the required 23) or to the setback variances the petition sought. The board also found that some zoning arguments were barred by prior litigation and administrative findings, but that federal law required the county to avoid imposing a substantial burden on religious exercise.

Why it matters: the decision resolves a long-running dispute about a three-story building on a roughly 17,000-square-foot parcel across from the Towson University campus, where the Friends of Lubavitch have operated a Chabad house…