(a) Any restriction prohibiting or limiting the use of water or land areas,
or any improvement or appurtenance thereto, for any of the purposes
listed in subsection (b) of this section whether drafted in the form of
an easement, covenant, restriction, or condition, creates an
incorporeal property interest in the water or land areas, or the
improvement or appurtenance thereto, so restricted, which is
enforceable in both law and equity in the same manner as an easement or
servitude with respect to the water or land areas, or the improvement
or appurtenance thereto, if the restriction is executed in compliance
with the requirements of this article for the execution of deeds or the
Estates and Trusts Article for the execution of wills.
(b) A restriction as provided in subsection (a) of this section may be for
any of the following purposes:
(1) Construction, placement, preservation, maintenance in a particular
condition, alteration, removal, or decoration of buildings, roads,
signs, billboards or other advertising, utilities, or other structures
on or above the ground;
(2) Dumping or placing of soil or other substance or material as landfill,
or dumping or placing of trash, waste, or other materials;
(3) Excavation, dredging, or removal of loam, peat, gravel, soil, rock, or
other material substance in a manner as to affect the surface or
otherwise alter the topography of the area;
(4) Removal or destruction of trees, shrubs, or other vegetation;
(5) Surface use except for purposes of preserving the water or land areas,
or the improvement or appurtenance thereto;
(6) Activities affecting drainage, flood control, water conservation,
erosion control, soil conservation, or fish or wildlife habitat
preservation;
(7) Preservation of exposure of solar energy devices; or
(8) Other acts or uses having any relation to the preservation of water or
land areas or the improvement or appurtenance thereto.
(c) If the restriction is not granted for the benefit of any dominant tract
of land, it is enforceable with respect to the servient land, both at
law and in equity, as an easement in gross, and as such it is
inheritable and assignable.
(d) A restriction provided for by this section may be extinguished or
released, in whole or in part, in the same manner as other easements.
(e) If any grant, reservation, dedication, devise, or gift of any nature
which clearly indicates the maker's intention to subject any interest
or estate in property to public use for the preservation of
agricultural, historic, or environmental qualities fails to specify a
grantee, donee, legatee, or beneficiary to receive the same or
specifies a grantee, donee, legatee, or beneficiary who is not legally
capable of taking the interest or estate, it passes to the Maryland
Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, the Maryland Historical
Trust, or the Maryland Environmental Trust in any proceedings under
§§ 14-301 and 14-302 of the Estates and Trusts Article.
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