The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Beitzel introduces House bill to increase penalty for damaging property boundary markers
* Says problem has been growing over past several years

By The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
MOUNT SAVAGE, Jan. 24 -- Delegate Wendell Beitzel introduced today legislation that would increase the financial penalties for those found guilty of relocating or damaging property boundary markers.

Beitzel, a District 1A Republican, said in his weekly newsletter that "interference with property markers has been a problem in Garrett County, especially within the Deep Creek Lake area. Monuments marking property lines have been destroyed or moved over the years. As a result, surveying grouops have gone to great expense to replace and/or relocate these markers."

Existing law considers the act to be a misdemeanor. Those found guilty are subject to a fine up to $500. House Bill 117, crossfiled in the Senate by Senator George Edwards, would increase the maximum penalty to $2,500. The bill, which Beitzel said more accurately reflects the expense incurred to replace the markers, was read before the House Environmental Matters Committee today.

Beitzel said while the issue can be a problem anywhere in Garrett County, it's especially poignant in the Deep Creek Lake area in the past 11 years. After the state sold land to private landowners in the area to recoup money expended on the purchase of Deep Creek Lake, surveyor Morgan France - now with Century Engineering in Oakland - and others marked all the properties.

"There's been some indication that the monuments are being moved," Beitzel told PhDispatch.com Monday afternoon.

Property owners in Deep Creek Lake must comply with all zoning laws for all new permanent buildings and additions. For full compliance, a surveyor must ensure the builder follows existing setback restrictions and illustrate said compliance on a certified site plan.

But when a property marker gets knocked out or is not well-identified, Beitzel said the resolution to problems can be costly. Beitzel said one constituent was involved in a lawsuit in which two surveyors had marked different boundaries. The landowner ended up losing property in the matter, Beitzel said.

In cases where disputes arise, "a surveyor's got to come in, do the footprint for the building you want to build to make sure you're complying with setbacks," Beitzel said.

Beitzel said the issue came to the forefront through informal conversations with area property owners.

"We need to tighten things down a little bit," Beitzel said. Penalties "should at least cover the cost of relocating and replacing them."