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

5 governs the "RS" Residential, Suburban District. 5(a) requires a single-family dwelling to sit on a minimum 10,000-square-foot lot with 70 feet of lot width, a 20-foot front yard depth, 8-foot side yards, and a 40-foot rear yard depth. 5 feet of width per family, the same 20-foot front yard, but wider 12-foot side yards (with the exterior side of a semi-detached unit also held to 12 feet), and the same 40-foot rear yard. Non-residential permitted or conditional uses face steeper standards: a 20,000-square-foot lot, 100-foot width, a 40-foot front yard, 25-foot side yards, and a 50-foot rear yard, while banquet and reception facilities must sit on 5 acres with a 300-foot lot width, 50-foot front yard, 100-foot side yards, and a 50-foot rear yard.

5(a) was last amended by Revision 18 on January 16, 2018 under RZ-17-007/ORD-2018-03. A corner lot must hold the specified front yard setback along both street frontages, with the remaining property lines treated as side yards for measurement purposes. 5(b) applies larger minimums instead: a 20,000-square-foot lot with 100-foot width for single-family and semi-detached dwellings, a 40-foot front yard, 12-foot side yards, and a 50-foot rear yard, with two-family dwellings needing 10,000 square feet per family under the same yard dimensions. 4. These figures apply specifically inside the RS district; other residential and business articles (7A, 9, 10, 11, and beyond) each carry their own lot-area, width, and yard tables tailored to that district's density and use pattern.