Once every four years, the Baltimore County Council allows county residents and businesses to file a petition for zoning reclassification on their property in the county. The open filing period has commenced, and this is your best opportunity to have your property reclassified. Anyone can file a petition for zoning reclassification during the open filing period which expires October 14, 2011. If you fail to file your petition during the open filing period, no reclassification can be made without the planning staff, director, or a member of the Baltimore County Council initiating the procedure, although you can apply for variances or exceptions outside of the reclassification period. New Baltimore County Comprehensive Zoning Maps will be finalized in November 2012.

Principal contractors in Maryland can breathe a sigh of relief – the Maryland Workers’ Compensation law does not make them responsible for the injuries that a subcontractor’s employees suffer on an out-of-state jobsite.  Nor do they have to ensure the subcontractor maintains workers’ compensation insurance policies in multiple states.  You may find yourself asking what the big deal is – after all, principal contractors have never had these requirements.  Maryland’s highest court recently decided that a principal contractor was not liable for the workers' compensation benefits of an employee of its subcontractor, when the employee suffered an accidental injury while working on a jobsite in the District of Columbia.  The employee filed a claim for worker’s compensation benefits in Maryland.  The subcontractor had workers' compensation insurance coverage in the District of Columbia but not in Maryland.  The court had to decide whether the principal contractor or Maryland’s Uninsured Employers' Fund would pay the employee’s benefits.  ...