Wicomico County, MD Accessory Structures: Garage Conversions (2026)

Under § 225-60D, Wicomico County treats a garage conversion as a way of creating an attached accessory apartment, alongside converting existing living area, attic or basement, adding new floor area, or building a new principal dwelling with an internal unit. The conversion does not skip the underlying special exception requirement in § 225-60B: the property must already hold a detached single-family or two-family dwelling, and the Board of Appeals must approve the apartment before it is occupied. Once converted, the space is subject to the same design standards as any other accessory apartment: exterior finish materials, roof pitch, trim, window proportions and eave projections must visually match the principal dwelling, and the finished unit cannot exceed 50% of the principal dwelling's living area.

Section 225-60D(2) adds an entrance rule specific to attached conversions: only one entrance may face the street on the facade of the principal dwelling, unless the dwelling already had additional street-facing entrances before the garage was converted; entrances that do not access from ground level, such as those from balconies or decks, are exempt from this limit. Parking displaced by the garage conversion must be replaced consistent with the off-street parking standards in Part 10 of the Zoning Code. Converting a garage without the special exception, or occupying it before final approval, is enforced the same way as any other unpermitted accessory apartment, through the Department of Planning, Zoning and Community Development.