§ 27-223. Limitations on zoning.

(a)

In a Sectional Map Amendment, property may be reclassified to any zone established in the Zoning Ordinance and Urban Centers and Corridor Nodes Development and Zoning Code of Prince George's County (Subtitle 27A), except the Military Installation Overlay Zone, Architectural Conservation Overlay Zone and the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Overlay Zones; and except for property located in the Resource Conservation Overlay Zone, which may not be reclassified to a Commercial or Industrial Zone, any Comprehensive Design Zone except the V-M and V-L Zones, or Mixed Use Zones. No Military Installation Overlay Zone or Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Overlay Zone may be established or amended through the Sectional Map Amendment procedures; however, Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Zoning Map Amendment procedures, and Military Installation Overlay Zoning Map Amendment procedures pursuant to Section 27-213.23 through 27-213.27 of this Subtitle, may occur simultaneously with Sectional Map Amendment procedures for the same area, if so authorized by the District Council.

(b)

The District Council may only consider zoning property to a Comprehensive Design Zone where:

(1)

A Zoning Map Amendment application requesting such a zone has been filed in conformance with Section 27-179 and the Planning Board has made its recommendation on the application;

(2)

In the V-M and V-L Zones, where the property owner(s) has consented to the zoning; or

(3)

Such a zone has been proposed in a Sectional Map Amendment to implement the design guidelines or standards intended to implement the development concept recommended by the Master Plan or Sector Plan.

(A)

A recommendation for approval shall address the land use types, land use relationships, and maximum and minimum land use quantities, as well as the base, minimum, and maximum densities; and commercial/industrial intensities, general circulation pattern, general location of major access points and land use relationships shown on the Basic Plan.

(B)

The design guidelines or standards intended to implement the development concept recommended by the Master Plan, Sector Plan, or the Sectional Map Amendment Zoning Change may constitute the Basic Plan for development on property where a Comprehensive Design Zone is established through a Sectional Map Amendment.

(C)

Property owners must give written notice of their non-acceptance of the Comprehensive Design Zone to the Planning Board and District Council prior to or within thirty (30) days following Sectional Map Amendment approval. Upon receipt of the notice of non-acceptance of the rezoning, their property shall be classified as the alternative base density zone recommended in the Sectional Map Amendment, or if none has been recommended, the existing zoning of the property shall be retained.

(c)

The District Council may only consider zoning property to the Mixed Use Community Zone where a Zoning Map Amendment application requesting the Zone has been filed in conformance with Section 27-199 and the Planning Board has made its recommendation on the application.

(d)

The District Council may only consider zoning property to the Reserved Open Space Zone where the property owner has requested or consented, in writing, to the zoning. In the case of publicly-owned land, this requirement does not apply. A property owner may not request the R-O-S Zone if any existing use on the property, with the exception of a publicly-owned use, would become nonconforming as a result of noncompliance with the required minimum net lot area as set forth in Section 27-442(b).

(e)

The District Council may only consider zoning property to the Mixed-Use Town Center Zone where such a zone is recommended in an adopted or approved Master Plan and a Town Center Development Plan is prepared in accordance with Section 27-546.13 and approved in conjunction with the Sectional Map Amendment, or if it is found to be an older, substantially developed mixed-use community.

(f)

No property shall be zoned C-1, C-2, C-C, C-G, or C-H if it was not classified in that zone prior to the approval of the Sectional Map Amendment. Property may only be zoned to the R-P-C Zone in accordance with Section 27-158.

(g)

No property may be zoned to a less intense category (Section 27-109(b)) if:

(1)

The property has been zoned by Zoning Map Amendment within five (5) years prior to the initiation of the Sectional Map Amendment or during the period between initiation and transmittal to the District Council, and the property owner has not consented (in writing) to the zoning; or

(2)

Based on existing physical development at the time of adoption of the Sectional Map Amendment, the zoning would create a nonconforming use. This zoning may be approved, however, if there is a significant public benefit to be served by the zoning based on facts peculiar to the subject property and the immediate neighborhood. In recommending the zoning, the Planning Board shall identify these properties and provide written justification supporting the zoning at the time of transmittal. The failure of either the Planning Board or property owner to identify these properties, or a failure of the Planning Board to provide the written justification, shall not invalidate any Council action in the approval of the Sectional Map Amendment.

(3)

Notwithstanding Subsection (g)(1) above, property located in an area designated by the General Plan as a Center or Corridor Node and subject to an applicable Regulating Plan established in accordance with the procedures of Subtitle 27A of the County Code, may be zoned to a less intense category only to meet the goals and regulations of Subtitle 27A, the General Plan, and the applicable Master or Sector Plan for the property.

(h)

The area of the "property," as that word is used in Subsection (g)(2), above, is the minimum required by the Zoning Ordinance which makes the use legally existing when the Sectional Map Amendment is approved.

(i)

No property may be zoned R-T if it was not classified in that zone prior to the initiation of the Sectional Map Amendment, except where the most recent Sectional Map Amendment involving the property was approved prior to 1990, unless:

(1)

The proposed development on the property to be rezoned to R-T will consist only of one-family attached metropolitan dwelling units; or

(2)

The property to be rezoned to R-T is located within a mixed-use activity center designated as a "Transit Village" in the applicable Area Master Plan.

(j)

The District Council may not classify property in the Development District Overlay Zone unless the zone is recommended in an approved Master Plan, Master Plan Amendment, or Sector Plan. The Plan shall be prepared in accordance with Part 13 and Section 27-548.24, and the Development District Overlay Zone shall be implemented by a Sectional Map Amendment.

(k)

The District Council may not classify property in the Mixed Use - Infill Zone unless the property is in the Transit District Overlay Zone or the Development District Overlay Zone and proposed development is subject to site plan review.

(l)

The District Council may not classify property in the Transit District Overlay Zone unless the zone is recommended in an approved Master Plan, Master Plan Amendment, or Sector Plan, or a Transit District Overlay Zoning Map Amendment has been initiated pursuant to the regulations of Section 27-213.01 to 27-213.06. The Plan shall be prepared in accordance with Part 13, a Transit District Development Plan shall be prepared in accordance with Section 27-548.07, and the Transit District Overlay Zone shall be implemented by a Sectional Map Amendment.

(m)

The District Council may not classify property in the Urban Center or Urban Corridor Node Zones (UC) unless the property is located in an area designated by the General Plan (as amended) as a Metropolitan, Regional, or Community Center or designated as a Corridor Node in a Master Plan or Sector Plan, and is developed in accordance with the regulations specified in Subtitle 27A of the Prince George's County Code.

(n)

The zoning reclassification, via approval of a Sectional Map Amendment, for property located wholly or partially within the Safety Zones of the Military Installation Overlay Zone is subject to the following restrictions:

(1)

No land in the Safety Zones of the M-I-O Zone shall be rezoned to a more-intense Residential zone.

(2)

No land in the Safety Zones of the M-I-O Zone shall be rezoned to the R-30, R-30C, R-18, R-18C, R-10A, R-10, or R-H Zones.

(3)

No land in the Safety Zones of the M-I-O Zone shall be placed in the M-U-I, M-X-T, M-X-C, or M-U-TC Zones.

(4)

No land in the Safety Zones of the M-I-O Zone shall be placed in a Comprehensive Design Zone.

(5)

No land in the Safety Zones of the M-I-O Zone shall be placed in an Urban Center District pursuant to Subtitle 27A of this Code.

(CB-2-1984; CB-33-1985; CB-72-1987; CB-134-1988; CB-53-1991; CB-10-1992; CB-63-1992; CB-2-1994; CB-73-1994; CB-76-1995; CB-55-1996; CB-8-2000; CB-10-2001; CB-27-2001; CB-33-2005; CB-37-2006; CB-76-2006; CB-2-2010; CB-35-2011; CB-42-2015)