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Queen Annes County, MD
 
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Minutes (2621)
In addition to the definitions contained elsewhere in this Chapter 14:1, the following words have the meanings indicated:
AUTHORIZED SURETY
A performance guarantee and/or a maintenance guarantee in a form required by this article and includes, to the extent authorized by this article:
A. 
A bond issued by a company authorized to provide surety in Maryland;
B. 
A letter of credit issued by a financial institution authorized to do business in Maryland; or
C. 
A cash deposit.
REQUIRED IMPROVEMENTS
Includes required improvements and any other improvements, facilities or work for which a guarantee is given under this Chapter 14:1.
This article applies to any monetary guarantee, agreement or undertaking authorized or required by this Chapter 14:1 with respect to a required improvement.
A. 
Effect of requirement. If an owner or developer is required under the provisions of this Chapter 14:1 to furnish a guarantee, no project approval shall be given to any part of the project to which the guarantee relates until authorized surety is provided in accordance with this article.
B. 
Sectional development. If a development activity is approved for implementation or construction in sections or stages, a guarantee is required with respect to all required improvements necessary to the proper operation and function of the section in question, even though such required improvements may be located outside of that section or stage.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to obligate the County Commissioners of Queen Anne's County, the Planning Commission, the Department of Planning and Zoning, or any officer, employee, agent, or attorney of the County with respect to any aspect of a required improvement or its construction. No person, including a contractor, a subcontractor, or a person who supplies materials with respect to a required improvement, shall have any interest in any guarantee furnished under this article, as third party beneficiary or otherwise.
The Planning Commission may adopt general rules and regulations, consistent with this Chapter 14:1, relating to its duties with respect to guarantees.
A. 
Form. A separate guarantee shall be required with respect to each required improvement, habitat protection, or enhancement measure. A letter of credit or cash deposit shall be used only when authorized by the Planning Commission. A bond or letter of credit shall be in one instrument and executed or issued by the same company or financial institution.
B. 
County Commissioners. All authorized surety shall be issued in favor of and be enforceable by the County Commissioners of Queen Anne's County.
C. 
Conditions of performance guarantee. A performance guarantee shall provide guarantees of:
(1) 
Complete performance by the owner or developer of all terms and conditions of this Chapter 14:1 and any conditions imposed by the Planning Commission with respect to the required improvement;
(2) 
Payment of labor and materialmen who furnish labor, services or material with respect to the required improvement; and
(3) 
Indemnification to the County Commissioners of Queen Anne's County, and any officer or employee of the County, with respect to all costs, expenses, damages, injury, or loss to which the County, officer, or employee may be subjected by reason of any wrongdoing, misconduct, want of care or skill, negligence, or default upon the part of the owner or developer or any contractor or subcontractor employed with respect to the required improvement which arises from or in any way relates to the required improvement.
D. 
Conditions of maintenance guarantee. A maintenance guarantee shall provide guarantees for the proper maintenance of the required improvement or habitat protection or enhancement measure and for the correction of any defects with respect to materials and workmanship and shall include a performance guarantee with respect to any work or other activity done in connection with such maintenance or correction.
E. 
Duration. The Planning Commission shall require that a performance guarantee continue for at least the period approved for completion of the required improvement and may require that a maintenance guarantee, in the same or a lesser amount, continue thereafter for a reasonable period, which it deems necessary, to assure the quality of the workmanship and materials provided for the required improvement and for its proper maintenance.
F. 
Approval. Any authorized surety shall be subject to approval by the County Attorney or the attorney for the Planning Commission as to form and legal sufficiency.
A. 
Amount. A surety bond shall be in an amount equal to 125% of the estimated cost of the required improvement, habitat protection, or enhancement measure as determined by the Planning Commission.
B. 
Recordation. All bonds must be recorded by the owner or developer, and a copy of the recordation fee receipt must be filed with the Planning Director.
A. 
Amount. A letter of credit in an amount equal to 110% of the estimated cost of the required improvement, habitat protection, or enhancement measure as determined by the Planning Commission.
B. 
Duration. A letter of credit shall be irrevocable for the period which the Planning Commission shall determine; but in no event shall that period be less than the time specified in § 14:1-85E of this Chapter 14:1, plus 30 days.
A. 
Amount. A cash deposit shall be in an amount at least equal to the estimated cost of the required improvement, habitat protection, or enhancement measure as determined by the Planning Commission.
B. 
Agreement. The cash deposit shall be subject to the terms of a written agreement, approved by the Planning Commission and signed by the Planning Director and the owner or developer. The agreement shall contain the conditions required or authorized for a performance guarantee; a specific statement of the several phases of work or construction involved in the required improvement, habitat protection, or enhancement measure; the amount which may be released upon the completion of each such phase; a release by which the person making the deposit relieves the County Finance Director, the County Commissioners, and any other officer or employee of Queen Anne's County of any responsibility resulting from the insolvency, delinquency, or other defalcation of a financial institution in which a cash deposit is held, if such institution is authorized to accept deposits under the laws of the State of Maryland; and such other terms as the Planning Commission deems appropriate. The agreement may provide for a maintenance guarantee and shall not provide that more than 85% of the original amount of the deposit be refunded prior to final completion of the required improvement.
C. 
Deposit of funds. Cash deposited under an agreement shall be deposited with the County Finance Director, who shall give his official receipt therefor, stipulating that said cash has been deposited subject to the provisions of this section and the terms of the agreement. In the event of any default under the terms of the agreement, any interest earned on the deposit shall be added to the amount of the original guarantee then held by the Finance Director and shall be fully available for purposes of satisfying that default; otherwise, interest earned on the deposit shall be refunded to the owner or developer at the time of final release hereafter provided.
D. 
Releases generally. No cash deposited with respect to a performance guarantee shall be released, in whole or part, until a release covering the work completed has been filed with the Planning Director and signed by the contractors and persons who furnished materials with respect to the required improvement, habitat protection, or enhancement measure indicating that they have been paid for such work and materials. The Planning Director may rely conclusively upon a document which purports to contain such release and to be signed by all such persons and is accompanied by a statement under oath by the owner or developer that such represents a complete list of all persons required to sign such release.
E. 
Partial releases. After notice from the owner or developer that a phase has been completed, the Planning Director shall inspect the required improvement, habitat protection, or enhancement measure and, if he finds that the terms of the agreement have been fulfilled in a satisfactory manner with respect to that phase, shall certify that fact in writing to the County Finance Director. Upon such notification, the County Finance Director is hereby authorized to refund to the owner or developer the amount which may then be released under the terms of the agreement.
F. 
Final release. After certification by the Planning Director that the required improvement, habitat protection, or enhancement measure has been fully completed in accordance with the terms of the agreement, the Planning Commission may authorize that the remaining portion of the cash deposit be refunded to the owner or developer or may direct that all or part of it continue as a maintenance guarantee.
Whenever authorized surety furnished by an owner or developer (including, in the case of a bond or letter of credit, the company or institution which issued the authorized surety) shall be deemed by the County to be insufficient or unsatisfactory, the owner or developer, within 10 days after notice to that effect, shall furnish and deliver new authorized surety to the County, in the same penalty and on the same conditions and in a form satisfactory to the County. This duty shall continue on the part of the owner or developer whenever and so often as the County shall require new authorized surety. If the owner or developer fails to furnish such authorized surety within 10 days after said notice, no further work shall be performed by the owner or developer and no inspections, approvals, or amendments to plans shall be given by the Planning Director or Planning Commission until satisfactory bonds have been furnished.
A. 
Generally. At any time after any authorized surety is given and prior to the time when the County Commissioners have taken any action to enforce an authorized surety, the Planning Commission may, for good cause shown by the owner or developer, permit the amendment of any authorized surety in accordance with this section. Such request shall be filed, in writing, with the Planning Director. As used in this section, an amendment includes the filing of new or substituted authorized surety.
B. 
Reasons. An amendment shall be permitted only when it is shown to the satisfaction of the Planning Commission that specified circumstances have arisen which were unforeseen at the time when the original authorized surety was accepted; that such circumstances were beyond the reasonable control of the owner or developer; that the amendment will have not had an adverse effect upon, or unduly delay, satisfactory completion of the required improvement or the project to which it relates; and that the amendment will have no adverse effect upon the public health, safety and welfare or any other purposes of this Chapter 14:1.
C. 
Terms. Amendments shall be consistent with the purposes and terms of all provisions of this article which relate to original authorized surety and shall be evidenced in the same manner as an original authorized surety.
D. 
Effect of section. The right of an owner or developer to request that an authorized surety be amended, or the filing of any such request, shall not delay or otherwise affect in any manner the right of the County Commissioners to enforce an authorized surety, including an amended authorized surety, at any time prior to the time when it has been actually amended in accordance with this section.
The developer, applicant or other person seeking approval has sole responsibility for the preparation of covenants, obtaining all required signatures and paying all costs of recordation.
A. 
General. Any development or development activity which involves the establishment of any covenant required by this Chapter 14:1 shall not be finally approved until all such covenants are submitted by the developer and are found by the Planning Commission to fulfill all requirements of this Chapter 14:1 which require or authorize covenants. All covenants shall be approved as to form and legal sufficiency by the attorney to the Planning Commission prior to recordation. The approvals of the Commission and its attorney shall be in writing and placed on the face of the instrument containing the covenants.
B. 
Modification. The provisions of this Chapter 14:1 which require covenants shall be waived or modified by the Planning Commission to the extent, if any, to which they are prohibited by the Maryland Homeowners Association Act (now codified as Title 11B of the Real Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland).
A. 
Form. All covenants shall be included in a written instrument, signed and acknowledged by all covenantors, in proper form to be recorded among the land records of Queen Anne's County and, in addition to any provisions required elsewhere in this Chapter 14:1, shall contain the provisions required by this section.
B. 
Description of land. The instrument shall describe each subject area by a metes and bounds description prepared by a registered land surveyor or specific reference to an area designated on a plat, prepared by a registered land surveyor, which has been previously recorded, or is to be recorded at the same time as the instrument containing the covenants.
C. 
Title. The instrument shall contain a specific reference to the date and place of recording of each instrument by which each covenantor holds legal or equitable title to each subject area or otherwise has the right or authority to execute the instrument.
D. 
Description of restrictions. The instrument shall contain covenants which fully define the manner and rights of use of any land which is made subject to a covenant.
E. 
Nature and scope of covenants. The instrument shall contain express provisions that:
(1) 
Each covenantor has been fully compensated for any restrictions or other covenants which restrict or otherwise affect any land to which a covenant relates;
(2) 
All covenants are made by each covenantor for himself and for his heirs, successors, personal representatives, and assigns and are binding upon each covenantor and his heirs, successors, personal representatives, and assigns;
(3) 
All covenants run with and bind all land within the subject area;
(4) 
All covenants are enforceable by the County Commissioners of Queen Anne's County or any department, agency or other public body empowered by law or ordinance to enforce the zoning laws of Queen Anne's County; and
(5) 
No covenant may be amended or changed in any manner without prior written approval of the Planning Commission or other agency or person duly authorized by the County to approve such change or amendment.
F. 
Additional provisions. Any instrument containing covenants may include one or both of the following:
(1) 
As to any person who is a covenantor solely by reason of the fact that he holds a mortgage, deed of trust, or other lien or encumbrance on any part of the subject area, a provision that the covenants are executed by such person solely for the purpose of subordinating such mortgage, deed of trust, or other lien or encumbrance to the lien, operation and effect of the covenants and that such covenantor has no personal responsibility, unless he thereafter becomes a lot owner, as to all or any part of the subject area.
(2) 
Provisions which impose other restrictions upon any part of the subject area or impose other duties upon lot owners, if such additional provisions are not inconsistent with the covenants required by this Chapter 14:1 or other provisions of this Chapter 14:1 and are expressly identified in the instrument as being different from those imposed in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter 14:1.
After approval by the Planning Commission, the Planning Director shall deliver the instrument containing the covenants to the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Queen Anne's County, together with the required fees furnished by the developer, applicant or other person for whom the covenants were approved. The Planning Director shall immediately notify such person in writing of such recording.