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Anti-auto legislation in Howard Co. Maryland


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Might anyone have additional information to the following?

Howard county MD passed (13 April 04) restrictive legislation that will affect our persuite of any part of the automobile hobby.

We may not build a detached garage larger than 600 sf (in Eastern Howard) & 800 sf (in Western Howard) which is about the size for a useful two car garage.

Also we may have only one registered Historic plate vehicle per property. Even if it is inside and hidden from all view.

This has gotten me very angry as I was about to break ground on a nice sized four car detached garage, and add to this ... I have three legal Maryland registered Historic vehicles.(legal in the state of Maryland, just not legal in Howard Co. Maryland)

How do these bad ideas get put into law??? (a frustration question only).

More importantly ...what can be done about it?????? I tried contacting SEMA but, I did not get far.

If we can't have a building to put the cars in, and we can't have them outside, and we are restricted on how many we can have, ... what's next?

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Guest imported_jmarsicano

Not sure how Maryland works... but you should contact your STATE Representative or STATE Senator. They can help you.

Joe

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I really don't see how a local government can dictate how many historic plates you can have. State law ALWAYS supersedes local law.

Contact Maryland's DMV and make sure they're aware of this little stunt. I think a few well-placed letters and phone calls from the higher authority will convince them to back off.

How does stupid legislation get passed? It's because we elect stupid people or those with agendas to office. Elect stupid people with agendas, and bad law gets passed.

You need to start writing letters and making calls to the people who passed this law. Hold their feet to the fire and make sure they know you will work to unseat them next election. Get the whole AACA Region and other car folk behind it- there is power in numbers, and one thing any politician fears is defeat at the polls. They also get tired of being bugged about things, and if you bug them enough they'll start listening to your concerns. Just be professional and courteous about it.

Don't think it will work? A Confederate heritage group I belong to unseated Gov. Roy Barnes of Georgia using the same tactics. After his defeat, Barnes admitted he "underestimated the power and convictions of this group".

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I've thought about moving, ... but, that is not real easy to do.

We all react to either the 'fight or flight' instints and at my age and with all that I've put into my "nest" I don't want to leave, ... so, that leaves 'fight the *astards'. I've contacted SEMA, my Councilman, my State Senator, and this forum. Also, I never have been in the circle of activest political or otherwise and therefor I don't know what level of progress is acceptable or what to expect. I just want to build my four car garage on my Howard Co. MD property, but that looks to be years away. So at a agressive rate of creating one project a year ... that means that at minimum one,two or three of my projects just bit the dust... the thought of this really gets to me.

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  • 3 weeks later...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> State law ALWAYS supersedes local law. </div></div>

As anyone who lives in a "dry" county can assure you, this is most certainly NOT true. As I understand it (and there may be some mitigating laws in MD that I'm not aware of) these Bozos were perfectly within their rights to enact this stupidity. Local officials can outlaw guns or red soda pop if they feel they have justification.

But therein is the rub. How in the <span style="font-style: italic">hell</span> was this justified? How could someone who owns more than one registered "Historic Vehicle" be considered an impediment to the progress of an entire county, let alone an individual community? This makes no sense. crazy.gif

If this legislation is exactly as described, I'd suggest that there are a few county commissioners and local land use officials that are due a little aggressive correspondence. The first group I'd contact would be your local real estate brokers association. They'll be a little upset to find that a relatively wealthy class of clientele has just been legally excluded from using their services. Of course the next step would be to organize the local car club members who now find themselves criminally defined. I wouldn't be surprised to find a few of them in county service! You might even find a few verbose individuals employed in the legal arts. smirk.gif

There is no way such a restrictive law could practically be applied on a county-wide basis. These guys have hell to pay. mad.gif

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