Allegany County, MD Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Section 360-127 sets the county's baseline setback for every structure, in every district, measured from the roadway rather than from a zoning line. Table 3 grades the distance by road classification: 50 feet from the right-of-way along a principal arterial; 50 feet from the right-of-way or 75 feet from the center line on a major arterial; 40 feet from the right-of-way or 65 feet from the center line on a minor arterial; 25 feet from the right-of-way or 50 feet from the center line on other roads and streets in urban districts; and 40 feet from the right-of-way or 65 feet from the center line on other roads and streets in nonurban districts.

Where both a right-of-way and center-line distance are listed, the code applies whichever produces the greater setback, and § 360-142 supplies the index of which roads count as principal, major or minor arterials. Two additional road-adjacent setbacks apply outside Table 3: structures must sit 15 feet from an alley right-of-way or 20 feet from its center line, superseding the side and rear numbers in Table 2 for lots on an alley, and a 50-foot setback (or 25 feet from the right-of-way, whichever is greater) applies from the center line of railroad tracks.

Side and rear yard setbacks for the structure itself come from § 360-126's Table 2 rather than § 360-127: a single-family dwelling needs 8 feet on the side and 25 feet in the rear, figures that hold across every utility configuration in that table. Corner lots get a further cross-reference to § 360-63B(3), and billboards must be set back at least half the distance required for other structures.