HERBERT R. O'CONOR, GOVERNOR. 507

appropriate cases, and including the power to summon and
compel attendance of witnesses.

The members of the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be resi-
dents and taxpayers of Baltimore County; the term of office
of those first appointed shall expire on December 31, 1941, and
their successors shall be appointed for the terms of three years
each, subject, however, to removal for cause by the County
Commissioners, after written charges are filed and a public
hearing thereon is held.

(f) Any person or persons, jointly or severally, aggrieved
by any decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals, or any tax-
payer, or any officer, department, board or bureau of the
county, may present to the Circuit Court of the County, a peti-
tion, duly verified, setting forth such decision is illegal, in
whole or in part, specifying the ground of the illegality. Such
petition shall be presented to the court within thirty (30) days
after the filing of the decision in the office of the Board.

Upon the presentation of such petition the court may allow
a writ of certiorari directed to the Board of Zoning Appeals
to review such decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals and
shall prescribe therein the time within which a return thereto
must be made and served upon the relator's attorney, which
shall not be less than ten (10) days and may be extended by
the court. The allowance of the writ shall not stay proceed-
ings upon the decision appealed from, but the court may, on
application, on notice to the Board and on due cause shown,
grant a restraining order.

The Board of Zoning Appeals shall not be required to return
the original papers acted upon by it, but it shall be sufficient
to return certified or sworn copies thereof or of such portions
thereof as may be called for by such writ. The return shall
concisely set forth such other facts as may be pertinent and
material to. show the grounds of the decision appealed from
and shall be verified.

(g) If, upon the hearing, it shall appear to the court that
testimony is necessary for the proper disposition of the matter,
it may take evidence or appoint a referee to take such evidence
as it may direct and report the same to the court with his find-
ings of fact and conclusions of law, which shall constitute a
part of the proceedings upon which the determination of the
court shall be made.

The court shall have the power to affirm the decision of the
Board of Zoning Appeals, or reverse the same, in whole or in
part, and may remand any case for the entering of a proper
order or for further proceedings, as the court shall determine.
All issues in any proceedings under this section shall have the
preference over all other civil actions and proceedings.