Washington County, MD Ordinances (2026)

Washington County, Maryland's Zoning Ordinance flatly bars turning a garage, shed or other accessory building into living quarters. Section 4.10(b)(1) makes it unlawful countywide…

Washington County's Zoning Ordinance lets a single-story utility or storage shed of 100 square feet or less sit just 8 feet from any lot line, far closer than the standard…

Washington County's Zoning Ordinance caps industrial sound at a residential property line to 55 decibels continuous and 60 decibels impact under Section 18.97(b). Commercial lines…

Washington County's Planned Industrial District zoning exempts temporary construction noise from the county's decibel limits only between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., under Zoning…

Washington County's Zoning Ordinance allows animal hospitals, veterinary clinics, and kennels without outside runways as a principal permitted use in the BG Business, General District…

Washington County's zoning ordinance lets a homeowner keep up to two domestic animals as pets in an accessory 'Private Stable,' but the structure has to sit at least 100 feet from any…

Washington County, Maryland's Right to Farm Ordinance bars nuisance and trespass lawsuits against a farm on Agricultural Land as long as it follows Generally Accepted Agricultural…

A farm operating on agricultural land in Washington County cannot be sued as a nuisance for interfering with neighboring use or enjoyment of property, as long as it follows Generally…

Washington County lists rainwater harvesting as an approved environmental site design (ESD) stormwater treatment practice for new development. Developers may use cisterns and storage…

Washington County's Subdivision Ordinance regulates tree removal tied to land development outside incorporated towns. The Planning Commission reviews proposed subdivisions for tree…

Washington County, Maryland requires owners of improved land along county roads to cut and remove briars, undergrowth, bushes, and weeds by June 15 each year. If an owner fails to…

In Washington County, Maryland's Residential, Suburban (RS) zoning district, a single-family dwelling on public water and sewer needs a 20-foot front yard, 8-foot side yards, and a…

Washington County's Rural Business (RB) zoning district caps lot coverage at 65 percent under Zoning Ordinance Section 5E.5(e). The RB floating zone applies once the Planning…

Washington County, Maryland caps residential building height at forty feet for the principal structure and twenty-five feet for accessory buildings in the "RU" Residential, Urban…

Washington County confines adult bookstores, adult mini-motion picture theaters, and other adult entertainment venues to special exceptions in the BG Business, General District, and…

Washington County, Maryland requires every junk shop and second-hand store to log each purchase of used goods in a permanent book, open to police inspection, before buying items like…

Washington County, Maryland caps what a licensed pawnbroker can charge on a pledge loan: up to 5% for 30 days on loans of $25 or less, 3% on larger loans, with mandatory receipts and…

Depositing solid waste anywhere but an approved County acceptance facility is banned under the Solid Waste Collection Licensing Ordinance, with a civil fine up to $1,000 for a first…

Washington County's landfill turns away bulky waste that has not been broken down first. County code lists "intact bulky wastes" among the materials barred from any county sanitary…

Any company that hauls household trash in Washington County must also collect recyclables. The Solid Waste Collection Licensing Ordinance requires a hauler who collects municipal solid…

Anyone in the business of collecting trash in Washington County needs a county license first. The Solid Waste Collection Licensing Ordinance requires any hauler, including one who…

State law gives Washington County's commissioners the power to regulate recycling and to punish contamination. The Code of Public Local Laws lets the County Commissioners adopt an…

Washington County will not let yard waste go into the trash. Under Section 3.5.1 of the Solid Waste Collection Licensing Ordinance, no one may dispose of yard waste by mixing it with…

Washington County's Zoning Ordinance sets no fixed maximum height for residential fences and walls. Section 23.3(c) exempts fences and walls from the building setback lines and yard…

Washington County requires any retaining wall built in connection with land disturbance to appear on the grading plan filed with a grading permit application. Walls taller than three…

New and substantially improved residential structures in Washington County flood hazard areas must have their lowest floor elevated to or above the Flood Protection Elevation, which is…

Washington County requires stormwater management measures for any development disturbing 5,000 square feet or more of land under Article 3 of its Stormwater Management Ordinance…

Washington County bans any filling, grading, new construction, substantial improvement or manufactured-home work within a mapped flood hazard area until a county floodplain permit is…

Washington County bars land disturbance without approved erosion and sediment controls under its Stormwater Management, Grading, Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance. A grading…

Washington County's Livability Code requires any painted surface in a rental or residential structure that presents a potential lead-paint health hazard to be abated. Surfaces intact…

Washington County, Maryland requires a building-intentions report before anyone erects a new building or an addition worth $1,000 or more, under Code of Public Local Laws Section…

Washington County, Maryland zoning treats a registered nursery school or child care center as only an incidental accessory use, never a stand-alone use, under Zoning Ordinance Section…

Every exterior door on a Washington County rental unit must carry a single-cylinder deadbolt for keyed entry from outside and a thumb latch on the inside, and all door hardware must…

Washington County, Maryland requires anyone doing electrical work to be a licensed Master or Restricted Electrician, and bars unlicensed individuals or firms from even obtaining a…

Washington County's zoning ordinance allows a resident to park or store a recreational vehicle, trailer or boat in a rear yard, side yard or driveway, but outdoor storage must sit at…

Washington County's zoning code requires every off-street loading area to be designed for the delivery vehicles it serves and bars developers from putting one in a front yard, but it…

Washington County, Maryland bars parking an unregistered motor vehicle or unregistered trailer on any county highway, road, or other county property. The Sheriff can impound a vehicle…

Washington County, Maryland forbids stopping, standing, or parking a vehicle so as to impede traffic or threaten public safety on any county road, highway, alley, or public parking…

Washington County, Maryland prohibits parking tractor-trailers, alone or in tandem, on any public or private street within its Residential, Suburban (RS) zoning district. The Zoning…

Washington County's Forest Conservation Ordinance requires developers to leave rare, threatened or endangered trees and plants undisturbed, along with any tree designated a national…

Inside the Urban Growth Area or Town Growth Areas, developers meeting forest conservation obligations may plant street trees only from the county's approved Appendix P list, and those…

The Livability Code requires at least one smoke detector in every sleeping area of a structure, wired or installed to alarm occupants inside the unit, and owners must keep every…

Washington County bans burning trash as a way to get rid of it unless a permit is issued first. The Solid Waste Collection Licensing Ordinance defines open burning as combustion that…

Emergency generators are exempt from Washington County's industrial noise ceiling while running for a facility's essential operations during an emergency or a power interruption, under…

Washington County can order the owner of abutting property to pave, repair, or maintain a public sidewalk, and can bill the cost as a lien if the owner refuses after 30 days' notice…

Washington County requires every new outdoor light fixture to be fully shielded and directed downward with a full cutoff housing, and scales pole-light height to distance from housing…

Washington County requires illuminated outdoor advertising signs to sit at least 1,000 feet from any dwelling, hospital, nursing home or school, double the 500-foot buffer for a…

Washington County caps light spilling onto a neighboring residential lot at 0.5 footcandles measured at the boundary, bans unshielded fixtures and mercury vapor lamps outright, and…

Washington County, Maryland lets any residence operate as a registered Family Day Care Home without a separate zoning permit under Zoning Ordinance Section 4.15. The home must register…

Washington County, Maryland lets a home business operate as a zoning-exempt "Home Occupation" only if it does not generate vehicular parking, freight, delivery, or other nonresidential…

Washington County, Maryland caps a home business sign at one sign of ten square feet, and that single sign needs no zoning permit at all. The Zoning Ordinance's sign division lists the…

Washington County, Maryland allows a "Home Occupation" as an accessory use in residential zoning districts, without a special exception, so long as it stays under 2,500 square feet of…

Washington County, Maryland makes it a misdemeanor to loiter in a public place, or a place open to the public, in a way that blocks traffic, harasses someone, or risks a breach of the…

Washington County bars alcohol at its solid waste sites entirely. Section 4.5 of the Solid Waste Collection Licensing Ordinance states that no person shall possess or consume any…

Washington County, Maryland treats rooftop and freestanding solar arrays as an accessory use in every zoning district under Zoning Ordinance Section 4.25. Freestanding systems must sit…

Washington County, Maryland classifies parades as an "Entertainment Event" once expected attendance tops 250 people, and no one may hold a Special Event, including a parade, without…

Washington County, Maryland treats fairs, carnivals, and bonanzas as "Entertainment Events" once expected attendance exceeds 250 people, requiring the organizer to obtain a Special…

Washington County lets residents put up election signs without a zoning permit, imposing only one condition: the sign cannot interfere with traffic visibility, unlike other no-permit…

Washington County bans new outdoor advertising signs entirely within 1,000 feet of nine named highway corridors, including I-81, US 40, US 340 and MD 68, and caps every legal billboard…

Washington County's Livability Code makes it unlawful for a property owner to rent or lease a housing unit unless the structure and premises comply with the Code's minimum standards…

Anyone who suspects a rental property in Washington County is violating the Livability Code can bring it to the Permits and Inspections Department's Code Official, who is authorized to…

Washington County's Code Official may condemn, placard, or order the vacating of any structure found unsafe or unfit for human occupancy under the Livability Code. The county can…

Washington County's Livability Code assigns extermination duty by building size: single-unit rental tenants must exterminate insects, rodents, and other pests themselves, while owners…

A Washington County tenant may ask the Code Official to inspect a rental unit for Livability Code violations, and the property owner may not evict the tenant solely because of that…