Board denies appeal; zoning certificate for Pool Road medical complex stands
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Summary
The Board of Zoning Appeals denied an appeal by nearby resident Richard Roby and upheld the zoning administrator’s decision to issue a change‑of‑tenant zoning certificate for 688 Pool Road, concluding the property remains a legal nonconforming medical center rather than a newly prohibited drug treatment facility.
The Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals denied an appeal challenging a zoning certificate for 688 Pool Road, a multi‑building medical office complex. Appellant Richard Roby argued the January zoning certificate named a methadone clinic and that County Ordinance 2023‑10 prohibits drug treatment facilities in R‑10000 residential districts; he asked the board to nullify the certificate and stay any permits that rely on it.
The zoning administrator, Anastasia Yemelianova, and county counsel presented decades of zoning history for the Pool Road Medical Office Complex and said the property is a lawful nonconforming medical center that predates later text amendments. Yemelianova and county counsel explained that a change‑of‑tenant filing does not constitute a change of use when the new occupant’s activities fall within the same nonconforming use category. “Medical center is defined as a medical or dental clinic building occupied by medical practitioners and dispensing health services,” the zoning administrator testified; she said the complex has continuously operated as a medical center since earlier conditional‑use approvals.
Opponents — led by Richard Roby and supported by local resident testimony reporting increased litter and discarded needles near Pool Road — argued the facility’s operations matched the ordinance definition of a drug treatment facility, which the code lists in a different use category and bars from the R‑10000 district. The applicant’s counsel, Kelly Schafer Miller, and owner Mabel McCord said Healing Hearts and Priceless Hearts provide licensed outpatient health and counseling services and employ licensed nurses and practitioners.
After extended questioning and closing arguments, the board voted to deny the appeal, upholding the zoning administrator’s determination that the site remains a legal nonconforming medical center and that issuance of the change‑of‑tenant zoning certificate was appropriate. The board will issue a written decision within 30 days; parties retain appeal rights to the Circuit Court for Carroll County.
