Charles County, MD Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Section 297-27 of the Zoning Ordinance lists the exceptions and modifications to the height limits otherwise fixed for each zone. Houses of worship, private schools, hospitals and high-rise apartment dwellings are not bound by the zone's height cap, but the front, side and rear yards on that lot must be increased by at least one foot for every two feet the structure exceeds the zone's height limit, tying extra height directly to extra setback. Towers, steeples, flagpoles, and radio and television antennas are exempt outright, as are roof structures such as gable roof systems with approved living space, parapets, fire walls, bulkheads, water tanks, scenery lofts, solar panels and ventilating fans needed to operate the building.

Industrial-type structures, towers and monuments, fire towers, hose towers, cooling towers, silos, grain elevators and gas holders, are also exempt from the zone height limit, but only if they do not occupy more than 25% of the parcel area and are set back at least 50 feet from every lot line. The same section separately caps fences and walls: four feet in front yards for single-family detached homes (six feet if integral to a coordinated project design), eight feet in rear and side yards, and up to 12 feet for tennis court fencing, with a building permit required only for fences and walls over seven feet.