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The Frederick News-Post: Frederick County Council's decision on Trout Run questioned in court
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/ne...cle_3674d3e2-992a-533a-861f-74600cb64b93.html
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By Jen Fifield [email protected] | 0 comments
Posted on July 6, 2015
The Frederick County Council's decision not to add Trout Run to the Frederick County Register of Historic Places is now being questioned in court.
The council voted 6-1 on June 2 against adding the property to the historic register after listening to hours of comment in two public hearings and reading dozens of emails on the topic.
The property owner is now asking the court to review that decision. Social Betterment Properties International, a company acting as a real estate arm of the Church of Scientology, filed a petition for judicial review in Frederick County Circuit Court on Wednesday.
Narconon, a substance abuse rehabilitation center associated with the Church of Scientology, wants to open at Trout Run. The county's zoning laws don't allow for this use, but Narconon would have been given an exception for a group home if the property was placed on the historic register.
The majority of the council members said when voting last month that they were not convinced that the property, a 40-acre camp in the Catoctin Mountains, met the criteria for a historic property.
Narconon believes the property met the requirements needed to be placed on the register, said Bruce Dean, an attorney representing the property owner.
"There is no evidence that it did not," Dean said.
It was well within the discretion of the council to decide not to place the property on the register, said county attorney John Mathias. Under county law, the property owner has the burden of convincing the council that the property should be on the register, he said.
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http://www.fredericknewspost.com/ne...cle_3674d3e2-992a-533a-861f-74600cb64b93.html
* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *
By Jen Fifield [email protected] | 0 comments
Posted on July 6, 2015
The Frederick County Council's decision not to add Trout Run to the Frederick County Register of Historic Places is now being questioned in court.
The council voted 6-1 on June 2 against adding the property to the historic register after listening to hours of comment in two public hearings and reading dozens of emails on the topic.
The property owner is now asking the court to review that decision. Social Betterment Properties International, a company acting as a real estate arm of the Church of Scientology, filed a petition for judicial review in Frederick County Circuit Court on Wednesday.
Narconon, a substance abuse rehabilitation center associated with the Church of Scientology, wants to open at Trout Run. The county's zoning laws don't allow for this use, but Narconon would have been given an exception for a group home if the property was placed on the historic register.
The majority of the council members said when voting last month that they were not convinced that the property, a 40-acre camp in the Catoctin Mountains, met the criteria for a historic property.
Narconon believes the property met the requirements needed to be placed on the register, said Bruce Dean, an attorney representing the property owner.
"There is no evidence that it did not," Dean said.
It was well within the discretion of the council to decide not to place the property on the register, said county attorney John Mathias. Under county law, the property owner has the burden of convincing the council that the property should be on the register, he said.
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