A Violation of Sewer Rights Is Not a Violation of Constitutional Rights
In 2014, a land owner in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland (Kevin Quinn who owns Queen Anne’s Research and Development Corp.) sued the County and the Maryland Department of the Environment (“MDE”) in federal court due to the fact that Mr. Quinn’s property was excluded from the Southern Kent Island Sewer Project service area. In a ruling this month from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Mr. Quinn’s case has been dismissed.
Mr. Quinn (a Kent Island resident for over 30 years) filed a suit objecting to County Ordinance 13-14 and Resolution 14-07, passed under the Southern Kent Island Sewer Project. Mr. Quinn sought sewer service through the lawsuit because – he alleged – the plans created by Queen Anne’s County and Maryland to limit access interfered with his constitutional rights. The the 2011 Queen Anne’s County Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plam excluded Mr. Quinn’s property. Thus, Mr. Quinn also alleged that MDE violated Mr. Quinn’s Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution by approving the Quinn’s-property-excluding 2011 Queen Anne’s County Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan.
On August 13th, the U.S. District Court granted Queen Anne’s County’s and MDE’s motions to dismiss Mr. Quinn’s lawsuit. The Court ruled as follows:
“While the challenged action does cause some economic harm associated with the loss of individual unrestricted rights of access to the private beachfront and certain Transferrable Development Rights of each individual lot, the Court finds that the lots are not stripped of all beneficial use because they are simply developable as larger residential lots,”
“Indeed, inherent in the title when Quinn invested in his properties on South Kent Island was the implied limitation that he would have to provide his own water and sanitary waste disposal,”
Simply because Mr. Quinn’s property was excluded by the Southern Kent Island Sewer Project did not mean that his constitutional rights were violated or that he could successfully sue to include his property into the Project. Thus, the court dismissed the lawsuit.
Property, real estate, and environmental issues can create many legal concerns for companies and individuals. The litigation attorneys at Longman & Van Grack can assist companies and individuals through many of these problems. Call us at (301) 291-5027 to speak with an attorney.
