A simmering conflict between Howard County’s Board of Appeals and two County Council members erupted this week with claims of political interference and a wave of resignations.

Three of the appeals board’s five members — Chair Gene Ryan, Vice Chair Lynn Foehrkolb and Felita Phillips — plan to resign by the end of the year, Ryan announced this week. Appeals member Robyn Harris said she is considering doing the same.

The members outlined their grievances in resignation letters that the county declined to release, maintaining that they are personnel matters not subject to public disclosure. Foehrkolb could not be reached for comment. Phillips declined an interview request.

“The independence of our Board is under attack,” Ryan said in a news release confirming the resignations. He accused two County Council members, Democrats Liz Walsh and Deb Jung, of interference and retaliation as the board considered high-profile cases involving their constituents.

Ryan also claimed that Jung attempted to coerce his vote on a land-use appeal during the Maryland Association of Counties’ conference this past summer in Ocean City.

Jung and Walsh denied any wrongdoing and said it was wholly appropriate for them to support residents at appeals board proceedings. They said they have their own concerns with how board members conducted themselves.

“I don’t think it’s necessary for whatever is going on here to be a public feud,” Jung said. “It feels a little manufactured to me.”

Walsh, who has criticized the three board members, suggested that those who plan to leave by Dec. 31 should “get out now.”

There’s nothing in the county code prohibiting someone from submitting their resignation to be effective at a later date, County Solicitor Gary Kuc said at a council meeting Monday night.

The turnover is significant for Howard County property owners. The Board of Appeals mainly deals with disputes related to zoning and land use, which are major issues for a county valued for its proximity to the Port of Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and travel arteries such as Interstate 95, and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

The rift comes weeks after the County Council declined to renew the contract of hearing examiner Katherine Taylor, a decision that she said took place behind closed doors and appeared politically motivated.

Taylor noted that she had handed down decisions in two contentious cases: a go-kart track built on a western Howard County property without permission and a land-use dispute involving Manor Hill Brewing in Ellicott City and its neighbors.

What happens next with the Board of Appeals is unclear. The council and the appeals board were to meet in a special closed-door session this past Thursday to discuss performance expectations, the resignation of one or more board members and legal advice from counsel regarding a personnel matter, according to a public agenda.

Filling board vacancies falls to County Council members, each of whom nominates one person from their respective districts. Ryan acknowledged that the departures will likely leave the five-person body facing “immediate operational uncertainty.”

The exodus caps months of tension among county leaders, three of whom are on the ballot next year. Walsh and Jung are running for Howard County executive and Ryan, a Republican, is seeking the council’s District 5 seat.

Over the summer, the appeals board sought to overhaul its rules and regulations, an effort that stalled at the County Council. Around the same time, the board ruled on several controversial cases, including on the unsanctioned go-kart track in Highland, the dispute between Manor Hill Brewing and its neighbors, and a development plan for the aging Hickory Ridge Village Center,

The disputes drew Walsh’s and Jung’s attention to appeals board members, whom they saw as combative with the county’s Office of Law, which is assisting the Board of Appeals until a principal attorney is hired.

“They disrespect county attorneys and listen to whatever comes out of the mouth of certain land use attorneys,” Walsh said. “It’s craziness. We’ve allowed it to fester, and it keeps getting worse.”

Ryan acknowledged that the board had concerns about the advice coming from the Office of Law and believed counsel had overstepped, such as in the questioning of witnesses at proceedings and determining what details to enter in the record. Courts have upheld the Board of Appeals decisions, he said, adding that council members are in a position to change the law if they don’t like how it’s being interpreted.

The conflict crossed a line in August, Ryan said, at a private Maryland Building Industry Association event during the MACo conference. Jung’s chief of staff, China Williams, snapped a photo of Ryan talking to an attorney for chemical company W.R. Grace & Co. The attorney was involved in a high-profile appeal that the board was considering.

Ryan claims that a woman, who identified herself as working for Jung’s county executive campaign, approached him and said, “That’s a really bad look if these photos come out.” He also claims that Jung, who sided with residents in opposing W.R. Grace’s plans for a pilot plastics recycling plant near their neighborhood, later told him, “Better watch how you vote.”

Jung said she only spoke briefly to Ryan at the event and never about his vote.

“Absolutely not,” Jung said. She referred questions about the photo to her staffer.

Williams said she took the picture to illustrate what she saw as a lack of impartiality in the W.R. Grace case. The photo was addressed during the Aug. 21 Board of Appeals meeting, she said.

Ryan described the interaction as “extortion” and said Jung and her staff’s actions were “completely inappropriate.”

“I had people picketing my house at one point,” he said. “This is just weird to another level.”

If nothing changes between the County Council and the Board of Appeals, Harris said, she doesn’t believe she can be effective on the board and might resign as well.

“I’m trying to be the neutral voice of reason to see how we can get everybody’s issues resolved amicably and fairly,” Harris said.

Marisa McCurdy, the fifth member of the appeals board, said she’s committed to carrying on the work.

“It seems like it’s in transition,” she said.