Annapolis, MD (March 27, 2008) - County Executive John R. Leopold announced today that he has signed an Executive Order, that, effective tomorrow, will create a nine-person task force to study erroneous permit approvals to reduce the inconvenience and expense to permit applicants who proceed with construction activity based on wrongly-issued permits. "I am frustrated that the current county law precludes me from providing equity to citizens who incur expenses based on the unintentional, but erroneous actions of the Department of Inspections and Permits," said County Executive Leopold. "The purpose of the task force is to provide other legal remedies that would be helpful to citizens in these instances." Currently citizens have the right to seek variances from the Administrative Hearing Officer Steve LeGendre if they are unhappy with an inspection or permit application decision, and can appeal to the Board of Appeals if dissatisfied with the ruling of the Hearing Officer. According to Executive Order 27, the Task Force for the Study of Erroneous Permit Approvals will serve as an advisory body to the County Executive and will consist of nine individuals appointed by the County Executive including the Director of the Inspection and Permits, who will serve as the Chair of the Task Force, a representative of the Anne Arundel County Chapter of the Homebuilders Association of Maryland, and three citizen representatives. Within 90 days of the issuance of the order, the Task Force will be responsible for studying the problem of erroneously-issued permits and the effects on applicants, recommending a means of reducing the adverse impacts on applicants, and suggesting any legislative change that be necessary in order to reduce inconvenience and expense to applicants. | 
