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It may be the end of the road for a landscaping contractor seeking county permission to do business out of a residential neighborhood in Dickerson.
The Montgomery County Board of Appeals denied Butler Landscape Design's special exception request to operate out of a 2.68-acre lot at 21020 Peach Tree Road on Sept. 10. The decision went into effect on Nov. 7. The company has 15 days to ask for reconsideration from the board and 30 days to appeal the decision to Montgomery County Circuit Court, according to the board's written opinion.
Neighbors of the rural property have fought the company since the Virginia-based business, of no relation to the Butler family that owns Butler's Orchard, moved to the site in April 2006. Neighbors say the heavy truck traffic, noise and odor are a nuisance and incompatible with the area.
The site is in the Agricultural Reserve, where landscape contractors must receive a special exception from the Board of Appeals before they can open shop. Butler Landscape Design, which is still working out of the site, did not have a special exception and retroactively began the process of obtaining one in July 2007 after operating there for more than a year.
The board agreed with the county Hearing Examiner's recommendation to deny the request because of the adverse effects the contractor would have on its neighbors, according to the written opinion. The narrowness of the lot, the proximity of a new driveway to a neighboring property and truck traffic and noise would negatively impact residents, the opinion states.
The board voted 4-1 to deny the special exception request, with Boardmember David K. Perdue opposed, according to the opinion.
Traffic at the property, where equipment and landscaping supplies are stored, has slowed, but the trucks are still arriving on a regular basis, according to neighbor Cora Weeks.
"It's not over yet," she said last week.
Susan W. Carter of Miller, Miller & Canby in Rockville, owner Melody Butler's attorney, said last week that she had not spoken to her client about whether to appeal the decision.
The county Department of Permitting Service must wait until all appeals are exhausted until it can take enforcement action, according to zoning investigator Stan Garber. In his time with the department, Garber has had one case go to the Court of Appeals, a process that took three years, he said.
"It's due process," he said. "Unfortunately, those who are affected in the neighborhood, they're affected for a while."
The agency served Butler with a notice of violation on April 27, 2006, informing her that she had 30 days to cease operations, according to DPS documents. Butler failed to comply and was issued a civil citation in June 2006. The case moved to Montgomery County District Court, which issued an order of abatement in April 2007. Butler appealed the notice of violation in Circuit Court, and a status hearing is scheduled Nov. 20.
