Charles County, MD Ordinances (2026)

Charles County controls reuse of treated wastewater from the Mattawoman WWTP under a formal reclaimed-effluent allocation policy. Industrial and outdoor users must sign a purchase…

Charles County bars parking heavy commercial vehicles, utility trailers and buses on any public road posted against them, and lets the county add no-truck-parking signs to residential…

Once the state's Superintendent of State Police declares a snow emergency, parking on any posted snow emergency route in Charles County is banned outright, and the Sheriff's Office or…

New single-family houses, duplexes and townhomes built in Charles County with a garage, carport or driveway must include either a fully wired Level 2 EV charging space or an EV-ready…

Charles County bans stopping, standing or parking in front of driveways, on sidewalks, within 20 feet of intersections, in fire lanes, or within 15 feet of a hydrant, and requires…

Charles County limits every lot to one untagged or inoperable motor vehicle, which must sit on a hard surface, be covered, and stay at least six feet from the property line, under…

Recreational vehicles, campers, and boats may be parked or stored in Charles County residential zones only if not used as living quarters or occupied more than seven days in any…

Charles County lets a builder satisfy the energy code's above-code compliance section by meeting the silver rating of the ICC/ASHRAE 700-2015 National Green Building Standard, an…

Charles County requires automatic residential fire sprinklers in new townhouses and one- and two-family dwellings to be designed and installed to NFPA 13D, and forces a whole-house…

Charles County requires a separate footing inspection before pouring deck concrete and a separate framing inspection before any decking is installed on decks with under four feet of…

Charles County lets a childcare facility be classified Occupancy Group I-4 whenever the operation already qualifies as a day care occupancy under the State Fire Prevention Code, an…

Charles County adopted the 2021 International Plumbing Code as part of its Building Code, administered by the Building Code Official in Planning and Growth Management. Local amendments…

Charles County adopted the 2021 International Building Code as "The Building Code of Charles County," effective for all permit applications, and runs it through the Building Code…

Charles County adopted the 2020 National Electrical Code as its Electrical Code. A homeowner who wants to wire their own residence cannot just pull a standard trade permit; they must…

Charles County imposes a 5% hotel rental tax on every short-term stay, and the county code specifically defines a taxable "hotel" to include a dwelling unit and a "broker" to include…

Charles County adopts Maryland's statewide ban on keeping dangerous wild animals as pets: foxes, skunks, raccoons, bears, big cats, wild canids, hybrid crosses, primates and venomous…

Charles County's zoning ordinance treats veterinary hospitals as a use permitted with conditions in most commercial and mixed-use zones, but requires a special exception in rural and…

Charles County sets no flat cap on dogs or cats in an ordinary household, but keeping more than 10 adult animals of any combination without breeding or selling offspring triggers…

Charles County does not single out any dog breed. Instead, Chapter 230 lets the Animal Matters Hearing Board declare an individual animal "dangerous and/or vicious" or "potentially…

Every cat four months or older in Charles County must carry a current county license, proof of rabies vaccination and a wearable tag, and any female cat in heat must be confined so she…

Once the Animal Matters Hearing Board designates an animal dangerous, vicious or potentially dangerous, it can order the owner to have the animal microchipped at their own expense and…

Charles County will not release an unclaimed dog or cat from the Tri-County Animal Shelter for adoption unless it is already sterilized or the adopter signs an agreement guaranteeing…

A grooming shop in Charles County is a "commercial animal establishment" under Chapter 230 and cannot legally bathe, clip or otherwise groom animals for a fee without a county license…

Charles County bars any animal, dogs included, from running at large: off the owner's property without a leash or restraining device on school grounds, public recreation areas, other…

Charles County's zoning ordinance lets residents keep horses, poultry and rabbits as pets on any lot without a special permit, but ties the number of animals to acreage. Small…

Running a business from home in Charles County requires a home occupation (HO) permit, confines the business to 200 square feet (500 in AC, RC, or WCD zones), limits employees to…

Charles County requires that traffic from a home occupation, including customer and third-party delivery vehicles, not change the residential character of the dwelling or the…

Charles County's zoning code defines a "day-care home" as a paid provider's own residence caring for children in place of parental care. The definition caps it at no more than two…

Home-based businesses in Charles County may post one sign advertising the home occupation under Zoning Ordinance § 297-322A, but it can't exceed four square feet, can't be illuminated…

Charles County bans permanent or semi-permanent private structures in the road right-of-way, including fences, basketball hoops, skateboard ramps, boulders and signs. Violators face…

Charles County's Road Ordinance splits sidewalk upkeep by location: the County maintains hiker-biker paths and subdivision sidewalks built inside the County right-of-way, but abutting…

Charles County amends the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code to tighten what counts as a pool barrier. Chain-link fencing must use wire at least 11.5 AWG gauge, mesh fencing…

Charles County requires a $110 swimming pool permit from the Health Department and enforces the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code with local amendments strengthening…

Charles County requires an approved erosion and sediment control plan and a development services permit before any grading in the unincorporated county. The Department of Planning and…

It is unlawful in Charles County to begin any development, grading, new construction, substantial improvement, manufactured-home placement, temporary structure, or watercourse…

Charles County regulates stormwater under Chapter 274 of the County Code, requiring an approved stormwater management plan for new development or redevelopment before a permit issues…

Charles County regulates piers, docks and launching ramps inside the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Buffer under § 297-131. New shoreline subdivisions are capped at one slip per 50 feet…

Charles County defines the 'flood protection elevation' that new and substantially improved buildings must meet as the base flood elevation plus two feet of freeboard, a safety margin…

Charles County has no traffic-signal red-light camera program, but it does run automated school-zone speed cameras and school bus stop-arm cameras through the Sheriff's Office…

Charles County does not issue a separate secondhand-dealer license, but Chapter 269 of the County Code regulates every junk dealer and scrap metal processor doing business in the…

Charles County requires every towing company to hold a Sheriff's Office permit, split into consensual (Level 1, $250) and nonconsensual (Level 2, $500) tiers, and operating without one…

Charles County's zoning code expressly names automobile sales, repair, dismantling, storage, and body shops as unsuitable home occupations, meaning a home occupation (HO) permit will…

Charles County wrote Appendix AO, Tiny Houses, of the 2021 International Residential Code directly into its local Building Code, and separately exempts one-story detached accessory…

A shed or other accessory structure in Charles County's agricultural, rural, or residential zones needs a zoning permit, cannot exceed 50% of the principal structure's gross floor area…

Converting a garage or other accessory building into a living space in Charles County requires county Health Department sign-off on water and sewer service before a zoning permit can…

Charles County allows one accessory apartment per single-family home, in the main house or in a detached accessory building, capped at 300 to 50% of the host structure's floor area…

Charles County treats a dog or other animal that barks or makes harsh, excessive noise disturbing a neighborhood's quiet as a public nuisance under Chapter 230, giving the Animal…

Charles County caps ambient noise by the zoning of whoever receives it: Table 260-1 in Code § 260-3 allows 75 dBA around-the-clock near industrial land, 67 dBA by day and 62 dBA at…

Charles County splits its noise limits into two clocks: daytime runs 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and nighttime runs 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., with the nighttime hours carrying markedly…

Construction and demolition sites in Charles County may run up to 90 dBA between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on weekdays, but outside that window, including all day on weekends, work must…

Aircraft noise is outside Charles County's Noise Control chapter entirely: Code § 260-4(A)(3) exempts aircraft and related operations at airports licensed by the Maryland State…

Charles County exempts state-licensed motor vehicles on public roads from its general noise ordinance, but its zoning code separately treats a residentially parked truck over 15,000…

Charles County's noise ordinance bars operating a sound amplifier or making noise that exceeds 60 dBA daytime and 50 dBA nighttime at a residential property line, under County Code §…

Charles County's Nuisance Abatement Board can order a residential property owner to clear conditions that breed or attract rodents, insects, or reptiles, and the County can do the work…

Charles County's adopted Building Code sets a 12-inch cap on weeds and plant growth under § 224-1.8, amending International Property Maintenance Code § 302.4. Unlike the county's…

Charles County treats a rundown building exterior as a public nuisance under Code § 85-2: broken windows, flaking paint, damaged shutters or rainspouts, and any noncompliant condition…

Charles County residents report unhealthy public nuisances, like accumulated junk or overgrown vegetation, through a written complaint from landowners in the same election district or…

A written complaint from a Charles County tenant starts the clock under § 81-1 of the County Code: the Department of Community Services must have a Code Enforcement Officer inspect the…

Charles County does not require a building permit for a fence up to seven feet tall. Once a fence exceeds seven feet, the owner must obtain a building permit covering the support…

Charles County caps front-yard fences at four feet (six feet if part of a coordinated project design), and rear or side yard fences at eight feet. Tennis court enclosures may reach…

An HOA's authority to fine a member is disputable in Charles County: Code § 247-2 defines a dispute the county's HOA Board may hear as including whether a governing body had authority…

Charles County does not enforce homeowners' association covenants and restrictions directly; a governing body's own authority to require action, alter common areas, or otherwise apply…

Homeowners and associations in Charles County have a set path once a covenant dispute arises under Chapter 247: exhaust the HOA's internal process first, file a written complaint with…

Charles County offers a formal alternative to a lawsuit for HOA disputes: the Homeowners' Association Dispute Review Board, created under Chapter 247 pursuant to Maryland Real Property…

Any development disturbing Charles County's Critical Area Buffer, the vegetated strip protecting tidal shorelines and streams, must replant with native species under an approved Buffer…

Charles County Code § 58-1 controls how garbage and trash move through the county: haulers can only take garbage to incinerators, licensed dumps, or hog farms, and every vehicle or…

Every new Charles County development that needs a dumpster for solid waste must site it under Zoning Ordinance § 297-307 to ease collection and limit nuisance to neighbors, then screen…

Anyone selling or soliciting orders door-to-door in Charles County needs a license under Code § 67-2, issued through the Clerk of the Circuit Court for $100 a year or $25 for a single…

Charles County enforces rental-unit habitability through its Minimum Livability Code, adopted under § 81-1 of the County Code. The standard tracks the state's Statewide Livability Code…

Charles County exempts specific structures, houses of worship, towers, steeples, antennas, roof equipment and industrial towers, from its zone height limits, but only under set…

Charles County's Zoning Ordinance sets out exactly how front, side and rear yard setbacks are measured and where they can be reduced. Front yard depth is measured from the road…

Charles County caps impervious surface on every lot at the impervious surface ratio (ISR) set for that property's zone in the Schedule of Zone Regulations. Buildings, roads, sidewalks…

Charles County bans lighting that unnecessarily illuminates a neighbor's property. Site lighting must come from a concealed, low-intensity source, not spill onto adjoining land, and…

Charles County's § 297-306 lighting standards require site lighting to stay low-intensity, shielded, and non-glaring, with fixture height tied to cutoff type. Full cutoff luminaires…

Charles County's sign ordinance flatly prohibits building any new billboard, of any size, and separately bars illumination or glare from any sign, including surviving billboards, from…

Charles County's zoning code flatly bars manufacturing fireworks, explosives, or gunpowder anywhere in the county, even in its Heavy Industrial (IH) zone, the district built for the…

Charles County imposes a 5% Hotel Rental Tax on every transient charge for sleeping accommodations of 120 days or less under County Code Ch. 281, Art. VI. The definition of "hotel"…

Charles County exempts political campaign signs from any sign permit or fee under Zoning Ordinance § 297-320A, and allows them in every zone. The only substantive limits apply in…

Charles County limits how much of a window can carry signage. Temporary signs taped or posted inside a window or glass door can't cover more than 25% of the transparent surface under §…

Charles County prohibits the erection or construction of any new outdoor advertising sign or billboard, of any size, digital or static, under Zoning Ordinance § 297-321H. Only…

Charles County doesn't require a sign permit or fee for holiday decorations under Zoning Ordinance § 297-320F, which exempts temporary special decorative displays used for holidays as…

Buildings in Charles County's Waldorf Central and Acton Urban Center zones must conform to the architectural guidelines of the Downtown Waldorf Vision Plan and Design Guidelines, a…

Charles County lets residential developments exceed base zoning density in exchange for Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs) under Zoning Ordinance § 297-243. Any project using the…

Cannabis dispensaries may operate with conditions in the BP, CC, CB, IG, IH and PEP Zones under Charles County Code § 297-212, Use 6.04.200, but the county caps licensed dispensaries…

Cannabis dispensaries and processing operations in Charles County must sit at least 1,000 feet from the property line of any school, day-care facility, substance rehabilitation…

Charles County's Core Mixed-Use Zones require one large shade tree per 40 linear feet of street frontage, spaced 35 to 45 feet apart, under § 297-95C(15)(g). Each tree needs either a…

Operating a mobile food truck in Charles County requires a permit from the Planning and Growth Management Department, plus a Maryland Department of Health mobile food service permit…

Mobile food trucks are permitted with conditions on CC, CB, CV, BP, ABP, IG, IH, PEP, MX, TOD, CER, CRR, WC, AUC and RC-zoned sites, on publicly owned sites and facilities, and within…

Small solar energy systems are permitted with conditions as an accessory use in every Charles County zone under § 297-212, Use 7.07.100, but installation requires an approved building…