Delaware County, PA Ordinances (2026)

Delaware County issues no home-occupation permit. You apply to your borough, township, or city under its zoning ordinance and the PA Municipalities Planning Code. A true no-impact home…

Delaware County sets no sign rule for home businesses. Signage is governed by your municipality's zoning ordinance under the MPC. State law's 'no-impact home-based business' allows no…

A home daycare in Delaware County is certified by the PA Department of Human Services, not the county. Caring for four to six unrelated children requires a DHS family child care home…

Pennsylvania has no cottage food exemption. To sell home-baked goods you register your home kitchen as a 'limited food establishment' with the PA Department of Agriculture, get…

A residential hot tub or spa is regulated like a pool under the PA Uniform Construction Code's ISPSC 2021, enforced by your municipality. Public or club spas are inspected by the…

Above-ground residential pools are regulated by your municipality under the PA Uniform Construction Code, not by Delaware County. If the pool holds water more than 24 inches deep it is…

Delaware County bars urinating or defecating anywhere in a county park except in the restroom facilities the county provides. The rule is a single sentence inside Chapter 141's list of…

Delaware County treats possessing or smoking 30 grams or less of marijuana in a public space as a civil violation carrying only a $50 fine, not a criminal charge, unless the local…

Delaware County lets its Parks Board designate no-smoking zones inside county parks, covering e-cigarettes and vaping as well as traditional smoking. The rule does not ban smoking…

Delaware County bans alcoholic beverages and controlled substances in every county park, with one narrow exception: County Council can approve alcohol for a specific event at a…

Groups of 10 or more people need an advance permit from the Delaware County Parks and Recreation Department to picnic, hold an event or hold an outing in a county park. Applications…

Motorized vehicles are banned from Delaware County parks, but the County Parks and Recreation Department carves out pedal-assist e-bikes and motorized mobility scooters on trails…

Delaware County's countywide subdivision ordinance bans dirt driveways outright and forces every new residential driveway to carry hard-surface paving from the street edge to a point…

New commercial developments in Delaware County must screen loading areas with an eight-foot solid buffer of plantings, fencing, walls or berms under the county's subdivision design…

Pennsylvania, not the county, defines an abandoned vehicle. Under 75 Pa.C.S. §102, a vehicle is presumed abandoned once it sits inoperable or illegally on public property more than 48…

Delaware County has no countywide overnight on-street parking ban; that is set by each municipality. The one county rule: in county parks, no vehicle may be left parked on park…

Every roll-off or lugger container used to collect waste in Delaware County must be registered with the Solid Waste Management Department and carry a Type R hauling sticker, and using…

Under Pennsylvania Act 101, any municipality with 10,000+ people, or 5,000–10,000 with density over 300 per square mile, must run a source-separation recycling program. Most Delaware…

Dumping trash on roads, another person's land, or the state's waters is a crime under 18 Pa.C.S. §6501 (scattering rubbish) and the Solid Waste Management Act (35 P.S. §6018.610). A…

Delaware County's stormwater chapter is the 1989 Ridley Creek ordinance: it applies only inside the Ridley Creek watershed, only where a municipality has no subdivision ordinance of…

Delaware County's floodplain code sets the "regulatory flood elevation" at the one-hundred-year flood elevation plus a 1.5-foot freeboard safety margin. Chapter 62 requires building…

Delaware County's subdivision ordinance does not set its own numeric erosion and sediment control standards; it sends every project to the municipality's stormwater ordinance and to…

Delaware County's Floodplain Protection Ordinance, Chapter 62, blocks subdivision or land-development approval that would raise the one-hundred-year flood elevation more than one foot…

Delaware County's subdivision ordinance puts sidewalk and pathway maintenance on the property owner whenever the walk sits in a public right-of-way, easement or common area, unless the…

Dogs are allowed in Delaware County parks only on a leash no longer than six feet, and only in areas where dogs are permitted at all; every other animal an owner controls is barred…

County Code § 141-7.A(3) bars feeding any animal or waterfowl in a Delaware County park unless the food is expressly approved by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, closing off the deer…

Delaware County sets no rule on backyard chickens or livestock: this is municipal zoning. Each of the 49 boroughs and townships decides whether hens are permitted, how many, and…

Delaware County bans flying drones, model aircraft, model vehicles and model boats in its parks except in areas the Parks and Recreation Department has designated for that use, or…

Open burning is regulated by PA DEP air rules (25 Pa. Code §129.14) and by each municipality, not by Delaware County. Southeastern PA counties sit in an air basin where open burning of…

Pennsylvania state law, not Delaware County, governs consumer fireworks. Adults 18+ may use them, but never within 150 feet of a building or vehicle, on others' property without…

Vehicle noise is set by Pennsylvania statute, not Delaware County. 75 Pa.C.S. § 4523 requires every vehicle on a highway to stay within the sound level the state prescribes; loud…

Delaware County sets no decibel ordinance. Pennsylvania fixes motor-vehicle decibel limits statewide (67 Pa. Code § 157.11), while general property-line decibel limits, where they…

Delaware County has no countywide quiet-hours law. Each of the 49 municipalities sets its own. Middletown Township, for example, bars unnecessary noise that disturbs neighbors at any…

Delaware County has no outdoor-music ordinance. Live and amplified outdoor music is governed by each municipality. Middletown Township uses a 100-foot audibility limit but exempts bona…

Delaware County sets no leaf-blower rule. Municipalities do. Middletown Township bars power blowers and other domestic yard tools outdoors from one hour after sunset until 8 a.m. the…

Delaware County sets no construction-hours rule; each municipality does. Middletown Township bars construction noise beyond the property line between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and all day on…

Delaware County does not regulate tree trimming on residential streets. In municipalities that have adopted the Pennsylvania Shade Tree Act, a shade-tree commission has exclusive…

Delaware County issues no tree-removal permit. For street trees, the local shade-tree commission controls removal under state law; for private trees, a permit is needed only where a…

Delaware County publishes no lawn-watering schedule. Mandatory outdoor-water restrictions in Pennsylvania take effect only when the Governor declares a drought emergency; the DEP's…

Delaware County does not regulate yard-sale signs on private property. Temporary garage-sale signs are governed by your borough or township sign ordinance, which typically limits size…

Delaware County has no sign ordinance for private property. Political-sign rules (size, number, how long before and after an election) are set by your borough or township zoning code…

Delaware County does not regulate accessory dwelling units. Under Pennsylvania's Municipalities Planning Code, zoning (including whether an ADU or in-law suite is allowed) is set by…

Delaware County, PA sets no building setbacks. Under the PA Municipalities Planning Code, each of the county's 49 boroughs and townships sets its own front, side and rear yard minimums…

Delaware County, PA sets no lot-coverage limit. Under the PA Municipalities Planning Code, each borough or township caps building or impervious coverage by zoning district. In Upper…

Delaware County, PA sets no building-height limit. Under the PA Municipalities Planning Code, each borough or township caps structure height by zoning district. In Upper Darby…

Delaware County parks are open to the public only from dawn to dusk (exception by permit only). No one may remain in a county park after hours unless authorized by the Parks and…

Delaware County, PA levies a Hotel and Short Term Rental occupancy tax. Effective April 1, 2026 the rate is 5%, due on rentals to all persons. Stays over 30 consecutive days…