Maryland Land Use Section 6.01

      (a)      A planning commission may, after adopting the transportation element of the plan of the territory within its subdivision jurisdiction or of any major section or district of its jurisdiction, periodically:

            (1)      Conduct surveys to locate street lines and any other part of the transportation element; and

            (2)      Make a plat of the area or district surveyed, showing the land which the planning commission recommends be reserved for future dedication or acquisition for public streets and any other part of the transportation element.

      (b)      (1)      Before adopting the plat, a planning commission shall hold a public hearing.

            (2)      Not less than 10 days before the hearing, the planning commission shall publish notice of the time and place of the hearing, with a general description of the district or area covered by the plat, in a newspaper of general circulation in the local jurisdiction in which the district or area is located.

      (c)      After the public hearing, the planning commission may transmit the plat, as originally made or as amended by the commission, to the local legislative body, with the commission's estimate of the schedule under which the lands shown on the plat as street locations should be acquired by the local jurisdiction.

      (d)      After receiving the transmitted plat from the planning commission, the local legislative body may, by resolution:

            (1)      Approve and adopt the plat;

            (2)      Disapprove the plat;

            (3)      Modify the plat with the approval of the planning commission; or

            (4)      If the planning commission disapproves the plat, by a favorable vote of not less than two-thirds of the entire membership of the local legislative body, modify the plat and adopt the modified plat.

      (e)      (1)      In the resolution adopting the plat, the local legislative body shall fix the period of time for which the street locations shown on the plat shall be reserved for future taking or acquisition for public use.

            (2)      After the plat is adopted, the clerk of the local legislative body shall:

                  (i)      Transmit one attested copy of the plat to the county recorder of each county in which the platted land is located; and

                  (ii)      Keep one copy of the plat for public examination.

      (f)      (1)      The approval and adoption of a plat reserves the street locations on the plat for future taking or acquisition for public use.

            (2)      The approval and adoption of a plat does not constitute:

                  (i)      The opening or establishment of a street; or

                  (ii)      The taking of any land for the purpose of creating a street, a public use, or a public improvement.

            (3)      (i)      At any time, a planning commission may negotiate for or secure from the owner of any land reserved for the location of a street:

                        1.      A release of claims for damages or compensation for the reservation of the land; or

                        2.      An agreement indemnifying the local jurisdiction from claims by others for damages or compensation.

                  (ii)      A negotiated release or agreement shall bind the landowner executing the release or agreement and the landowner's successors in title.

      (g)      (1)      At any time after the filing of a plat with the county recorder and during the period specified for the reservation, a planning commission and the owner of any land containing a reserved street location may agree to modify the location of the lines of the proposed street.

            (2)      An agreement to modify shall include a release by the landowner of any claim for compensation or damages caused by the modification.

            (3)      After the release is executed, the planning commission may make a plat corresponding to the modification and transmit the plat to the local legislative body for approval.

            (4)      If the modified plat is approved by the local legislative body, the clerk of the local legislative body shall transmit an attested copy of the modified plat to the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the local jurisdiction is located.

            (5)      The modified plat shall replace the original plat.

      (h)      At any time, the local legislative body may, by resolution, abandon any reservation and certify the abandonment to the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the local jurisdiction is located.