Board of Appeals

Welcome to the Board of Appeals for Prince George's County, Maryland. The Board of Appeals consists of three members appointed by the County Council. All appeals relating to the respective jurisdictions of the Board of Administrative Appeals and the Board of Zoning Appeals are filed and heard separately. The Board of Administrative Appeals hears appeals from the decisions of the Director of Environmental Resources, the Fire Marshal, the Chief Housing Inspector, the Clean Lot Inspector, the Licensing Officer, the Chief Building Inspector, the Director of the Department of Public Works and Transportation, and from similar administrative agencies. The typical types of administrative appeals filed are from denials of building permits and orders to install fire sprinklers, remove litter and demolish unsafe structures. As the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Board is empowered to grant variances when unusual hardships will be caused to property owners by the strict interpretation of the Zoning Ordinance; review actions and decisions of the Zoning Enforcement Officer, grant extensions of the grace period for the correction or cessation of zoning violations; and review the determinations and decisions of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Department of Environmental Resources, and other County departments and agencies relating to provisions of the Zoning Ordinance. Examples of the types of decisions include variances from setback requirements for construction of building additions, decks and garages; variances from maximum lot coverage requirements; and extension of grace periods to comply with citations for failure to obtain a use and occupancy permit.

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