LEONARDTOWN — The St. Mary’s Board of Appeals has among it’s duties that of acting as a safety valve for citizens who run up against the restrictions on property placed there by the actions of government, but for a Scotland woman who came before the board, she was called a criminal by a local garage owner who moved the board deny her request for an after-the-fact approval.

The applicant who appeared on Thursday night for approval of a sidewalk she built to her pier told the board that she was unaware of any requirement to make her walkway only 3’ wide and instead built it 4’ wide.

"I didn’t know there was any rule for this," said Sheryl Shields, who explained she had sought and obtained permits for her garage and the pier for which the walkway provided access.

The staff didn’t explain to the Board of Appeals why the staff didn’t provide regulations to Shields for the path to the pier when the homeowner applied for the pier permit for her home at Hays Beach in Scotland.

A Land Use and Growth Management staffer told the Board that the applicant didn’t fit in with any of the allowable exceptions to the rule and County Attorney John Norris told the Board that a Court of Appeals decision several years ago ruled that exceptions for persons in wheelchairs are not allowed in the critical area laws.

The homeowner in Thursday’s case had told the Board that her husband was seventy years old and she had thought that the 4 foot width would serve them in the future should they ever be wheelchair bound.

California service station owner Mike Hewitt, who is likely to be a candidate for county commissioner next year, told the Board that they should deny the homeowner’s application.

"You can’t give forgiveness after the crime," said Hewitt.

The staffer at the meeting told the Board that the homeowner can solve the problem by cutting "…six inches off of the concrete walk on one side and six inches off the other".