Baltimore City Charter, Article VII, § 114 Department established.
§ 114. Department established.
There is a Department of Transportation, the head of which is the Director of Transportation.
(Res. 04-056, ratified Nov. 2, 2004.)
Department of Transportation
Baltimore City Charter art. VII, div. Department of Transportation
in effectBaltimore City Charter, Article VII, § 115 Director of Transportation.
§ 115. Director of Transportation.
(a) Duties; Qualifications.
(1) The Director shall supervise and direct the Department.
(2) The Director must have substantial administrative experience in transportation or in the delivery of related public service.
(b) Appointment; Term.
The Director shall be appointed, must be confirmed, and serves pursuant to Article IV, § 6 of this Charter.
(c) Salary.
The Director’s salary shall be set in the Ordinance of Estimates.
(d) Employees.
The Director may appoint the employees provided for in the Ordinance of Estimates.
(Res. 04-056, ratified Nov. 2, 2004.)
Baltimore City Charter, Article VII, § 116 Powers and duties of Department.
§ 116. Powers and duties of Department.
(a) In general.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Charter, the Department has the following powers and duties.
(b) Street construction and maintenance.
(1) The Department has charge of constructing and maintaining the streets of the City.
(2) The Department shall:
(i) prepare the plans and perform the work required by Ordinances for opening, extending, widening, straightening, grading, and closing any street in the City; and
(ii) prepare all Ordinances for the opening and closing of streets, attend the hearings on those Ordinances, and perform all administrative functions related to those Ordinances.
(3) Before paving or repaving a street, the Director of Transportation shall give notice in one or more daily City newspapers that, not less than 90 days from the first publication date, the Department will proceed with the paving or repaving and warning all persons to obtain permits for and to complete before that day all work that might involve the digging up of the street.
(4) The Director shall send a copy of this notice to all persons who the Director has reason to believe would be interested in receiving it, but failure to send the notice does not affect the validity of any action taken by the Mayor and the Director t pave or repave a street.
(5) No pavement laid after the publication of the notice may be dug up by any person without a permit issued by the Director. The Director has discretion to issue or withhold this permit, and may attach appropriate conditions and charges to the permit.
(6) Whenever an assessment or charge is to be made against a property for paving a street, alley, or sidewalk, the Department after giving the owner of the property involved due notice and an opportunity to be heard, shall fix the amount of the assessment or charge.
(c) Lighting.
The Department has charge of the lighting of the City.
(d) Conduit system.
The Department may exercise all the powers and shall perform all the duties relating to the conduit system, and has charge of all property and equipment pertaining to that system.
(e) Approval of new streets.
(1) Any person who, in connection with any real estate development, wants to lay out, locate, or construct a street, public or private, within Baltimore City shall, before beginning construction and before selling any land abutting on the street, present to the Department a copy of the plat for the proposed development, as approved by the Planning Commission, showing in detail the proposed streets.
(2) If the plat is approved by the Department, the person shall:
(i) record a copy of the plat, with the endorsements of the Planning Commission and the Department on it, with the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Baltimore City; and
(ii) a certified copy of the recorded plat with the Department.
(f) Street names.
(1) New public streets may not be designated by names until the names have been approved by the Department and entered on the appropriate plats and records of the Department.
(2) If a private street is dedicated for public purposes and the dedication is accepted, or if the title to a private street is conveyed to the City, the Department shall give the street a name, by which it shall be known on all official records of the City.
(3) The name of a public street may not be changed except by ordinance or resolution of the Mayor and City Council
(g) Building numbers.
(1) The Department:
(i) shall determine and fix the number of every new building; and
(ii) may change existing numbers.
(2) The Department shall report each new number or change of number to the owner or occupant of the building.
(h) Street plats and plans.
The Department shall:
(1) adopt rules and regulations regarding plats and plans relating to the location of streets; and
(2) shall prepare these plats and plans as required by the Board of Estimates or by ordinance.
(i) Plats and records – Underground structures.
The Department shall maintain plats and records of tunnels, pipes, mains, sewers, conduits, and other underground structures, both public and private.
(j) Plats and records – Properties.
(1) The Department shall maintain adequate plats and other records of all parcels of real property within Baltimore City.
(2) These plats and records shall include:
(i) the ownership of each parcel; and
(ii) the symbol by which each parcel is identified.
(3) These plats and records shall be the official plats and records to be used by all municipal agencies to identify and determine the location of every parcel of real property within Baltimore City.
(k) System of uniform property identification.
(1) The Department shall maintain a system for the uniform identification of all real property within Baltimore City.
(2) The system shall identify each parcel of real property by a symbol. That symbol shall be used by every municipal agency to identify that parcel, until it is subdivided or the symbol is changed by the Department.
(3) The failure of the Department or of any other municipal agency to identify a parcel of property by its symbol does not affect the validity of any assessment or charge otherwise properly made.
(l) Additional powers and duties.
The Department has the additional powers and duties relating to the construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of streets, to transportation, and to traffic, including powers and duties transferred from other municipal agencies, as are prescribed by law.
(Res. 14-016, ratified Nov. 4, 2014; Res. 08-003, ratified Nov. 4, 2008; Res. 04-056, ratified Nov. 2, 2004.)
Baltimore City Charter, Article VII, § 116A Assessment of benefits and damages.
§ 116A. Assessment of benefits and damages.
(a) Elements of enabling ordinance.
An ordinance to open, extend, widen, straighten, close, or grade any street, alley, or footway in Baltimore City may provide that the benefits assessed may be paid in not more than 5 annual installments, with interest at a rate determined just and proper by the Director of Transportation, with the concurrence of the Board of Estimates, on all deferred installments, accounting from the date that, under subsection (e) of this section, the first annual installment would become in arrears if unpaid.
(b) Notice to Finance, owner.
When the physical work required by the ordinance is completed:
(1) the Department of Transportation shall notify the Director of Finance that the work has been completed; and
(2) the Department of Finance shall give written notice to the property owner:
(i) that the work has been completed;
(ii) that the benefits assessed for the work are due; and
(iii) how the owner may obtain a hearing on the assessment.
(c) Payment for benefits.
If the ordinance does not provide otherwise, all benefits assessed shall be payable, at the option of the property owner, either at once or in 5 equal annual installments.
(d) Damages.
(1) If, in any proceedings, the same person is assessed for benefits and also awarded damages, the damages shall be deducted from the benefits, and the provisions of this section as to payment of benefits apply only to the excess of the benefits over the damages.
(2) The damages awarded to any person in connection with the project shall be payable at the time or times provided in the ordinance.
(3) No part of any street, alley, or footway may be physically opened, extended, widened, or straightened on or over the ground of any person determined by the Department of Transportation to be entitled to damages for the alteration without the written consent of that person, unless the damages have been paid to that person or paid into a special account to the credit of that person.
(e) Lien for benefits; Arrearage.
(1) An assessment by the Department of Transportation on benefitted property is a lien on that property, in the full amount of the assessment, from the date the Department of Transportation notifies the Director of Finance that the physical work required has been completed until the assessment is paid to the Director of Finance.
(2) Benefits assessed or, if payable in installments, the first installment, are due and payable on the date when the Director of Finance notifies the property owner of the assessment, and are in arrears 6 months from that date.
(f) Sale on default.
If the assessment on a property is in arrears, the Director of Finance shall proceed to sell that property in accordance with and subject to the same conditions imposed by the laws governing the sale of real estate charged with the payment of City taxes.
(g) Resale on purchaser’s default.
If the tax-sale purchaser fails to comply with the terms of the sale, the Director of Finance shall resell the property at the risk of the former purchaser.
(h) Refunds of assessment.
If an ordinance providing for the opening, extending, widening, grading, or closing of a street, alley, or footway is invalidated by a court of competent jurisdiction or is repealed, the Director of Finance shall promptly:
(1) refund all assessments paid under the invalidated ordinance; and
(2) pay all expenses incurred, including reasonable attorney’s fees, and for which the City is liable in carrying out the ordinance.
(Res. 08-003, ratified Nov. 4, 2008.)
Baltimore City Charter, Article VII, § 116B Correcting physical obstruction.
§ 116B. Correcting physical obstruction.
(a) Correction required.
Any person who has, in, over, or under a public street in Baltimore City, any building, structure, conduit, drain, main, pipe, track, work, or other physical obstruction that blocks or impedes the work of the Department shall, on reasonable notice from the Department, promptly shift, adjust, or remove it, at that person’s expense, to fully meet the exigencies described in the notice.
(b) Condemnation.
The City is empowered, when the exigencies of the Department’s work require, to secure the condemnation of the physical obstruction as provided in Article II of this Charter.
(Res. 08-003, ratified Nov. 4, 2008.)
Source: City of Baltimore Department of Legislative Reference, City of Baltimore Law Library (codes.baltimorecity.gov; Open Law Library bulk XML)URL: https://codes.baltimorecity.gov/us/md/cities/baltimore/charter/VII/department-of-transportationFetched: 10/25/2026