Allegany County, MD Ordinances (2026)

Keeping chickens or other poultry and livestock in the R-1 District of unincorporated Allegany County requires a lot of at least two acres under § 360-102. Agricultural uses generally…

A veterinary clinic cannot operate as a home-based business in unincorporated Allegany County. Section 360-88.C of the Land Development chapter lists veterinarian clinics, alongside…

Allegany County has no breed ban; instead § 225-13 targets any individual dog that is fierce, dangerous or vicious, including one that has bitten a human, requiring confinement in a…

Any business that grooms dogs for pay in unincorporated Allegany County is legally a "kennel" under § 225-1, so it must hold a current kennel license under § 225-19 before opening…

Every dog in unincorporated Allegany County must carry a current license and stay under restraint, meaning leashed, in a vehicle, or on the owner's own property, under § 225-7; dogs…

Cats don't need a license or tag the way dogs do in unincorporated Allegany County, but § 225-20 still requires every cat owner to keep proof of current rabies immunization, and lets…

Allegany County does not force every pet owner to spay or neuter, but any dog or cat adopted from the county animal shelter must be sterilized within 30 days of adoption, or within 30…

Unincorporated Allegany County requires approved stormwater management plans for new and redevelopment projects under County Code § 360-49: no one may develop residential, commercial…

In the unincorporated area of Allegany County, Maryland, grading and construction sites must meet numeric slope limits under County Code § 360-44: finished slopes can't exceed a 2:1…

In unincorporated Allegany County, County Code § 325-3D makes it unlawful to fill, grade, build, place a manufactured home, or alter a watercourse in any flood hazard area identified…

Unincorporated Allegany County requires new and substantially improved buildings in flood hazard areas to have their lowest floor at or above the flood protection elevation, defined in…

Allegany County's nuisance ordinance sets fixed clocks for appealing a Health Officer order to abate: an appeal within five days of the order, a hearing within 10 days of that appeal…

In unincorporated Allegany County, nuisance code complaints go to the Director of Environmental Health, who acts as the "local enforcement official" under Code Chapter 400. Once a…

Chapter 400 of the Allegany County Code defines the conditions the Environmental Health Division treats as a public nuisance in the unincorporated county and in Barton and Lonaconing…

In unincorporated Allegany County, parking within 15 feet of the center line of a posted snow emergency route is unlawful from November 1 to April 15 whenever an inch or more of snow…

Allegany County limits commercial vehicle parking at a residence in the R-1 District to one vehicle, kept off the public right-of-way. In every other district, § 360-88.E lets a…

Allegany County's off-street parking standards at § 360-139 require nonresidential development in the zoned areas of unincorporated Allegany County to provide loading and unloading…

Unincorporated Allegany County bans storing junk, including inoperable or dismantled vehicles, on public rights-of-way or on private land unless it sits inside an enclosed structure, a…

In unincorporated Allegany County, an accessory dwelling unit is only a zoning right in the B-1, B-2 and I Districts, and only as a use tied to a commercial or industrial building on…

A shed or other residential accessory structure in unincorporated Allegany County may sit only in the side or rear yard, never the front yard in urban districts, under § 360-129A, and…

Running an automobile repair business from home in the R-1 or R-2 Districts of unincorporated Allegany County requires a special exception from the Board of Appeals, not just a…

Chapter 487 requires every tattoo and body-piercing studio in Allegany County to hold a Health Department permit before opening, meet detailed sanitation and floor-plan standards, and…

In the zoned areas of unincorporated Allegany County, an adult use, defined to include adult bookstores, adult theaters, live entertainment and massage parlors, needs a special…

Allegany County allows home occupations in every zoning district, business or residential, under § 360-88 of the Code, but the use must stay invisible from the street: no exterior…

A home occupation in unincorporated Allegany County must provide off-street parking for its own employees, customers and incidental traffic under § 360-88.E, sized to the county's…

Running a day-care as a home occupation is permitted in every zoning district in unincorporated Allegany County, including R-1 and R-2, under County Code § 360-59's definition of home…

A home occupation in unincorporated Allegany County can display a sign no larger than six square feet under § 360-137D, the same size cap the code sets for a temporary residential…

A residential solar energy system in unincorporated Allegany County is exempt from a land use permit if it's mounted on an existing building, though it must still meet setback and…

Responsibility for Allegany County sidewalks splits by how they were built. For sidewalks built with a state or County road project, abutting owners handle surface upkeep like leaves…

In the unincorporated areas of Allegany County, § 461-22(B) bars parking vehicles on sidewalks or using them to store materials or waste receptacles, and the identical "shall not be…

Unincorporated Allegany County requires all plumbing work to follow the Maryland State Plumbing Code, 1984 Edition, adopted as the county's Official Plumbing Code under § 415-2. New…

Unincorporated Allegany County requires electrical work to meet NFPA 70, the National Electric Code, which § 255-1D of the Building Construction chapter adopts by reference as part of…

Allegany County's Building Code adopts NFPA 13D as the installation standard for sprinkler systems in one- and two-family dwellings and manufactured homes under § 255-1(I), and Chapter…

In unincorporated Allegany County, a building permit under Chapter 255 of the County Code is not just paperwork: County Code § 360-59 defines it as a process running through…

Unincorporated Allegany County requires a building permit for most new construction under Chapter 255, but County Code § 360-62C exempts additions or new buildings of 100 square feet…

Allegany County has no county-wide decibel ordinance; the only numeric noise limits in the Code apply to licensed salvage yards under § 446-7(H). Operators may not exceed 75 dBA in…

Excessive barking that disrupts an inhabited area's peace and quiet is a Chapter 225 violation under § 225-15, enforceable as a civil infraction, with hunting-dog barking specifically…

Allegany County bars police from using red-light or speed cameras, defined in the Code as "traffic law photo-monitoring devices," to catch or prove violations of county traffic…

Allegany County doesn't separately regulate homeowners installing rain barrels or cisterns for their own yards, but its stormwater ordinance treats rainwater harvesting as an approved…

Allegany County's nuisance code does not ban home composting: § 400-2D(1) exempts a properly maintained compost pile from the rule that otherwise treats an accumulation of manure…

In unincorporated Allegany County, owners of property abutting a public sidewalk must keep the surface clear of leaves, weeds, and snow under Chapter 461, Article III. The duty applies…

Chapter 475 lets Allegany County's Codes Inspector declare a vacant, structurally unsound building an 'unsafe structure' and order the responsible party to repair or raze it. Owners…

Allegany County taxes manufacturing machinery and equipment as its own personal-property class under Chapter 492, Article I, assessing it at 0% of value rather than the standard…

Allegany County protects farmers inside its designated Agricultural Preservation Districts: normal farm uses, equipment operation at any hour, ordinary husbandry noise and odor, and…

Section 400-3 of the Allegany County Code protects agricultural operations from nuisance claims: a farm and its appurtenances cannot be deemed a public or private nuisance, even when…

In the zoned areas of unincorporated Allegany County, Table 2 of Allegany County Code § 360-126 caps most principal residential structures, including single-family dwellings and mobile…

Every structure in unincorporated Allegany County, regardless of use or zoning district, must clear the road setback distances in Table 3 of Allegany County Code § 360-127 before it…

Unincorporated Allegany County requires a license before anyone sells or solicits orders door to door under Chapter 342, Hawkers and Peddlers, with narrow exceptions for farmers…

Unincorporated Allegany County's zoning code sets no numeric height cap on fences under § 360-129D; instead it bans any new fence, wall, plant or barrier to vision within 20 feet of a…

Open burning in unincorporated Allegany County is only lawful with a valid permit from the Allegany County Health Department; § 400-2 of the Nuisances chapter treats burning unapproved…

Along Interstate 68 in unincorporated Allegany County, § 360-137C lets a commercial on-site sign in the B-1, B-2, GU or I District rise to 72.5 feet, far above the normal sign-height…

In the zoned areas of unincorporated Allegany County, Zoning Chapter 360, § 360-137F requires that all outdoor lighting be shielded and focused on the site it serves so it does not…

Allegany County's Livability Code lets an occupant of a rental unit in the unincorporated county trigger an inspection by reporting an alleged violation in writing to the local…