Members of the Baltimore County Council will vote tonight to allow the county to adjudicate alleged environmental code violations, providing tests for the codes themselves and relief for county judges, some officials said.
County environmental officials rarely pursue code violations because cases are heard in district court under existing law, said David Carroll, director of the county?s Environmental Protection and Resource Management Department.
The process is too costly and cumbersome to be of value, Carroll said last week before council members.
“It?s really not in the best public interest to use our resources this way,” he said.
The bill, introduced at the request of County Executive Jim Smith, establishes a county-level process for hearing environmental code violations ? which usually involve construction too close to streams and wetlands, or interfering with a protective buffer.
The new system is modeled off similar changes officials made 10 years ago in the county?s Department of Permits and Development Management.
The county appointed a hearing officer who served as a judge on code cases and assessed fines. Fines for most environmental cases will be $500 a day.
The officer was able to slash cases? average lifetimes from several months to 30 days, said department director Tim Kotroco.
And, he said, he?s already heard praise from local judges on the latest changes.
“The district judges weren?t enamored [that] the county was bringing tall grasses and weeds and barking dogs into court,” Kotroco said. “They are dealing with serious criminals.”
The county?s hearing officer will be trained to handle environmental cases, Kotroco said.
Most of the county?s code infractions are settled before they reach the officer. Of about 11,000 cases each year, only 4,000 are actually adjudicated, he said. That number is expected to increase if the new bill passes tonight.
