The Court of Special Appeals ruled that a $45 million judgment against Harford County should not stand, and that the county was reasonably exercising its power to administer orderly zoning for the county. The earlier Circuit Court ruling for the plaintiffs left local governments concerned about irritated would-be developers suing, even many years after the fact, over local land use decisions. MACo and multiple counties joined with briefs on the case, citing fears that a bad precedent could leave the planning and zoning landscape fraught with costs and long-term uncertainty.
