Hearing examiner leaves record open after neighbor raises runoff, tree loss and mosquito concerns in Hoffman Brothers permit dispute

Maureen McNeal, hearing examiner for Prince George's County, presided Aug. 19 over a continuation of Case ERR0012025, in which Hoffman Brothers Towing and Used Cars seeks validation of a 1967 use-and-occupancy permit (U14196) that the petitioner says may have been issued in error.

The petitioner’s attorney, Abdullah Hejazi, told the examiner the lot “was actually started, from what we can tell, in the early 19 fifties,” and that the last use-and-occupancy (U&O) permit on file was issued about 1967. Hejazi said county planners could not certify the lot as a nonconforming use because staff could not trace the use to a time when it met the zoning code’s requirements, leaving validation as the petitioner’s available route.

Homeowner Thomas Harrah, who lives at 15612 Muse Court directly behind the Hoffman property, testified during public testimony about site conditions he said have worsened since the early 1990s. “I moved to the property in September 1992,” Harrah said, and described successive expansions of the sales and storage areas, including asphalt paving added near a sales trailer. Harrah testified that runoff from the lot drains toward the…