See § 101 of the Harford County Charter. As a charter county, it "established its own unique set of rules and regulations pertaining to planning and zoning administration." Fallston Meadows Cmty. Ass'n, Inc. v. Board of Child Care of Balt. Annual Conference of Methodist Church, 122 Md. App. 683, 694 (1998). Harford County has vested zoning and planning authority in both the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Director.

According to appellants, the motion to consolidate should have been granted in accordance with Maryland precedent where consolidation was appropriate. Appellants, in support of their argument, cite Anderson House, LLC v. Mayor & City Council of Rockville, 402 Md. 689, 701-03 (2008), where a similarly situation petitioner filed both a complaint and a petition for judicial review and sought to consolidate the cases which was deemed to be an appropriate action by the Court of Appeals. Next, appellants argue that consolidation was appropriate because the two cases arise out of the same facts and were based on the same subject matter, citing Fallston Meadows Community Ass'n, Inc. v. Board of Child Care of Baltimore Annual Conference of United Methodist Church, 122 Md. App. 683, 699 (1998), and Pumphrey, 218 Md. App. at 196. We agree with Siena's assertion that the circuit court could have granted the motion to consolidate prior to hearing the motion to dismiss.