Appeals

UniStar Nuclear Energy has asked the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review the rejection of the French-controlled company's bid to build a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant. UniStar filed a petition Monday asking for a hearing before the five member commission on the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's ruling that the company is ineligible for a reactor operating license because federal law bars foreign ownership of a nuclear plant. The licensing board on Aug. 30 gave the company 60 days to find a U.S. partner or its application would be shelved.

Richard Landis is on the right track, battling the Maryland Sate Department of Assessments and Taxation to get fair market value for his Anne Arundel County home. ("Buyers find relief to costly hints of homes' past worth," Dec. 13). Mr. Landis paid $165,000 for his home and was assessed at $268,000, prompting him to appeal his property tax assessment, a similar situation to what my daughter ran into in Montgomery County. My daughter, Alison Whitty, and her husband paid $385,000 for their 1950 brick rancher in Silver Spring but were assessed at $531,000 for it. I helped my daughter go through the appeals process in which she got a meager $30,000 reduction at the first step.

Attorneys for George W. Huguely V are appealing his second-degree murder conviction for beating his ex-girlfriend to death in May 2010. Huguely, a former University of Virginia lacrosse player from Chevy Chase, was convicted in February and sentenced in August to 23 years in prison for the death of Yeardley Love, 22, of Cockeysville. A notice of appeal was filed Tuesday in the Charlottesville Circuit Court, but it does not lay out the grounds for the challenge. Before the sentencing, Huguely's legal team had asked the judge to overturn the verdict, arguing that the trial had been unfair and that the jury received improper instructions.

The Baltimore County Board of Appeals has approved a plan for a 36-unit waterfront condominium on the southeast side in Bowleys Quarters, reversing a hearing officer's ruling issued last year. The board voted 2-1 to approve the Galloway Creek planned unit development (PUD), first proposed by marina owner Milton A. Rehbein in 2006, officially filed in 2007 and tied up in appeals between the courts and county agencies ever since. It appears the dispute will continue, as the chief opponents intend to appeal this most recent decision to the Circuit Court.

Maryland's highest court has cleared the way for the city to move forward with its plans for the long-delayed $152 million Superblock project. The Maryland Court of Appeals dismissed Friday a lawsuit by Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos that challenged the project. In a 4-3 decision, the court said Angelos did not have standing to sue, affirming a Baltimore Circuit Court ruling to dismiss the complaint. Long stymied by legal challenges, the project involves construction of a 269-unit apartment building, a 650-space underground parking garage and shops called Lexington Square near Lexington and Howard streets.

The state's highest court has refused to entertain an appeal by City Councilwoman Helen Holton, clearing the way for the case against her to be heard by a Baltimore City jury in October. Holton was indicted on charges of bribery and a campaign finance violation in the City Hall corruption probe that ultimately led to the resignation of Sheila Dixon as mayor in February. Holton had appealed the decision of a Circuit Court judge who declined to dismiss the campaign finance charge, but the Court of Appeals announced this week that it would not hear her appeal.

George Huguely V, the former University of Virginia lacrosse player convicted last year of drunkenly beating to death his girlfriend Yeardley Love, has asked the Virginia Court of Appeals to review his case. Huguely's attorneys argued in a petition filed Tuesday that the court violated Huguely's constitutional rights. Love, the victim, was from Cockeysville. "The circuit court's response to the intense media interest was to rush through the trial, rather than to ensure that the accused received a fair trial," Craig S. Cooley and Paul D. Clement, the attorneys, wrote in the petition.

The Howard County Council is considering a move to eliminate a widely used approach to challenging decisions on land use, building permits and other matters, a step some activists say sharply curtails the public's right of appeal. At issue is whether people challenging decisions made by the county hearing examiner can get a second full hearing before the Board of Appeals, or whether that panel will only be able to review what the examiner did. The hearing examiner's position has been in place for a decade, as an intermediate step to challenge administrative decisions.

Maryland's highest court upheld Gov. Martin O'Malley's new legislative redistricting map on Friday morning. The Court of Appeals issued an order, but no opinion, denying the claims in three challenges. The order comes only two days after the challenges were argued in court. The order said the judges found the plan, which will take effect with the 2014 elections, passed constitutional muster. The new map shifts the districts of Baltimore County Democratic Sens. James Brochin – whose new district is majority Republican – and Delores Kelley, both of whom objected to the plan.

By a 3-1 vote, Marc Norman lost his latest appeal of plans for a shopping center and supermarket at Turf Valley. The Howard County Board of Appeals discussed Turf Valley residents' fears about the potential for added traffic on the narrow residential road within the 809-acre Ellicott City development for nearly two hours Tuesday night at the George Howard Building. Board member Henry Eigles championed their cause by arguing that the case should be sent back to the Planning Board for more traffic reviews.