Wicomico County, MD Ordinances (2026)

In unincorporated Wicomico County, building a residential swimming pool requires a permit from the Chief Building Official under the county's International Residential Code amendments…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, manufacturing, warehouse and wholesale buildings, hospitals, shopping centers and schools must provide dedicated off-street truck loading spaces…

Wicomico County Code § 197-25 lets the Department of Public Works designate residential streets as permit parking areas and bar non-permit parking during set days and times. Section…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, Wicomico County Code § 197-19 bars stopping, standing or parking where an official sign forbids it, in a posted fire lane, in a disabled space…

An abandoned vehicle left on public or private property in unincorporated Wicomico County is a declared public nuisance under § 174-5. The county gives 30 days' written notice to…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, RVs, campers, boats and boat trailers may be parked or stored in A-1, V-C and residential districts, but they cannot be occupied more than seven days…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, a commercial vehicle under 15,000 pounds gross vehicle weight may park overnight in a residential district, but only one per lot and never in a front…

In unincorporated Wicomico County's V-C and residential districts, no vehicle, operable or not, may be parked in a front yard unless it sits in a driveway or a designated stabilized…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, a dog or cat that has not been spayed or neutered does not go home a third time. Under County Code Section 133-17, if the same owner's unaltered dog…

Wicomico County does not ban retail pet sales; it regulates them. Under County Code Section 133-26, any business selling two or more species of animal to the public as pets must meet…

Unincorporated Wicomico County regulates cats mainly through its trap-neuter-return and nuisance provisions rather than a separate cat-licensing law. Section 133-2 defines a 'community…

Unincorporated Wicomico County does not require every pet to be microchipped, but it mandates microchipping for animals formally determined potentially dangerous or dangerous under §…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, § 133-14 makes it unlawful to let any animal run at large, meaning unleashed on someone else's property or in the traveled portion of a public road…

Unincorporated Wicomico County adopts Maryland's exotic-pet ban directly into its own code. Section 133-6.A makes it unlawful to bring into the state, possess or breed a fox, skunk…

Wicomico County has no breed-specific ban; instead § 133-8 lets the county declare any dog 'dangerous' or 'potentially dangerous' based on its conduct, not its breed. A dangerous dog…

Unincorporated Wicomico County residents may keep poultry for personal use as long as any structural enclosure stays under 256 square feet and meets the district setback in § 225-70…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, veterinary hospitals, animal grooming, kennels and stables are listed as prohibited Type I and Type II home-based businesses under Zoning Code §…

It's unlawful to build, fill, grade or place a manufactured home in a special flood hazard area of unincorporated Wicomico County without a floodplain development permit from the…

Wicomico County defines the flood protection elevation as the base flood elevation plus two feet of freeboard, requires new and substantially improved residential lowest floors to…

New development and redevelopment in unincorporated Wicomico County cannot get a grading or building permit without an approved stormwater management plan meeting the state Design…

Grading more than 5,000 square feet or 100 cubic yards of earth in unincorporated Wicomico County requires an erosion and sediment control plan approved by the Wicomico County Soil…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, individual private piers, docks and boathouses are permitted in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Buffer under § 225-18 of the Critical Area chapter…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, letting an animal disturb a neighborhood's peace with excessive barking, whining or howling is a public nuisance under County Code Section 133-18…

Outdoor musical festivals in unincorporated Wicomico County may not play music for more than four hours in any twenty-four-hour period, and the sound cannot be unreasonably audible…

Unincorporated Wicomico County requires a permit from the Department of Planning, Zoning and Community Development before any electrical work begins, and all installations must meet…

Plumbing work in unincorporated Wicomico County cannot begin until the Plumbing Official issues a permit, with minor faucet and valve repairs exempted; starting work first doubles the…

Anyone who wants to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure in unincorporated Wicomico County, or erect a sign, must first…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, the Housing Code bans applying lead-based paint with more than five-tenths of one percent lead content to any interior or exterior surface of a…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, the Housing Code requires every dwelling door to have proper, securely attached hardware kept in good condition, and bans hasp lock assemblies except…

Unincorporated Wicomico County classifies child care by headcount: a 'center' serves nine or more unrelated children under § 225-25, while family day-care tops out at eight. A day-care…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, a portable, one-level accessory structure of 250 square feet or less skips the building permit if it sits outside a floodplain. Bigger or floodplain…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, an accessory apartment needs Board of Appeals special exception approval under Zoning Code § 225-60 and is capped at one per lot. The unit cannot…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, an accessory apartment only qualifies as a legal use if it sits within an owner-occupied single-family residence or accessory building on a lot of at…

Converting an attached garage into living space in unincorporated Wicomico County creates an accessory apartment, which Zoning Code § 225-60D lists as one of only three approved…

Wicomico County's Fire Prevention Code bans above-ground storage of liquefied petroleum gas and other compressed gases within the fire zone limits the County has established, enforced…

Open fires in unincorporated Wicomico County are controlled by COMAR and enforced by the Health Department, which must issue a written permit before anyone may burn. Burning without a…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, a basement may not be used as a habitable sleeping room unless it meets § 160-46's safety conditions, including a smoke detector installed at the top…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, anyone laying pipes, wires, gas lines, irrigation pipes, driveway improvements, curbs, gutters or sidewalks in the public right-of-way must first get…

Wicomico County never adopted red-light cameras; it authorized school-zone speed cameras under Bill No. 2011-05, codified at Wicomico County Code § 197-36 and former § 197-37. The…

Unincorporated Wicomico County caps weeds at 10 inches on developed and vacant subdivision lots under § 174-1.Q(1). After required cutting, stubble cannot exceed 6 inches, and letting…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, clearing trees on a tract of 40,000 square feet or more before subdivision, grading or a building permit triggers Ch. 126's forest conservation…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, selling or planting invasive running bamboo from the genus Phyllostachys is illegal under Chapter 163, adopted November 5, 2024 by Bill No. 2024-08…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, leaving unscreened appliances or construction debris out in the open on a vacant or developed subdivision lot is a declared public nuisance under §…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, any building the Housing Official finds dangerous or a threat to public health or safety is declared a public nuisance under § 160-40 and must be…

Adult-oriented entertainment establishments with private viewing booths in Wicomico County must meet strict construction and access rules under Chapter 170, Article II, adopted in…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, motor vehicle and small-engine repair, vehicle body work and gasoline stations are banned as Type I and Type II home-based businesses under Zoning…

Wicomico County parks are closed to unauthorized entry from sunset to sunrise under § 179-3.A, with the Director empowered to close areas further for maintenance, safety or…

Flying drones in a Wicomico County park requires following FAA guidelines plus all local, state and federal law under § 179-3.F. Powered model aircraft and rockets need a designated…

Commercial filming and photography on Wicomico County park property splits into two tiers: low-impact shoots need no paperwork, while any higher-impact production needs a permit or use…

Wicomico County's parks chapter flatly bans using cannabis anywhere in a county park, in unincorporated Wicomico County, on top of requiring compliance with all other local, state and…

Wicomico County bans smoking and vaping inside county buildings and indoor park facilities and within 25 feet of building entries, outdoor air intakes and operable windows, and lets…

Reserving an athletic field, court, pavilion or other park space in unincorporated Wicomico County requires a permit from the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism, applied for…

Anyone promoting an outdoor musical festival in unincorporated Wicomico County needs a special entertainment permit from the County's Director of Administration before the event, under…

Door-to-door peddlers and itinerant salespeople in unincorporated Wicomico County must hold a current license from the County Sheriff, costing $25 per year, with exceptions for…

Wicomico County shields agricultural and commercial seafood operations on agricultural land from nuisance and trespass lawsuits over noise, odor, dust or similar impacts, as long as…

Dumping litter, garbage, rubbish or refuse anywhere in unincorporated Wicomico County other than a designated disposal site is unlawful under § 156-3. If nobody sees who did it, the…

Unincorporated Wicomico County runs no curbside pickup. Residents must obtain a Department of Public Works permit to dump household refuse at a county transfer station or the Newland…

Wicomico County defines yard waste as leaves, grass clippings, garden debris and brush, and requires commercial haulers to dump yard waste, brush, trees, tree stumps or shrubs only at…

Wicomico County runs recycling centers that collect paper, plastic, glass, cardboard and metal for reuse, co-located with its convenience centers and operated under the county's…

All Wicomico County solid waste facilities close on six named federal-style holidays unless the county posts otherwise, and convenience and recycling centers can also close for any…

Wicomico County requires every development with a dumpster to site it so it does not burden neighboring properties or public rights-of-way, and every dumpster must be screened on all…

A Wicomico County-designated agent investigates nuisance complaints, entering the property at reasonable times to check whether the alleged nuisance, weeds, junk, unsafe structures…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, altering, using or maintaining any building, structure or premises in violation of the Housing Code (Chapter 160) is a civil infraction. The Housing…

A tenant's report of an unsafe or hazardous condition gives the county's Housing Official reasonable cause to enter and inspect a rental unit under Chapter 160. Confirmed violations…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, the County Council levies a 6% hotel rental tax on transient charges paid to hotels, motels and similar sleeping-accommodation businesses under Code…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, § 126-11 of the Forest Conservation ordinance names historic-site trees, county or state champion trees, and any tree 30 inches or more in diameter…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, § 126-11 of the Forest Conservation ordinance makes trees, shrubs and plants classified as rare, threatened or endangered a priority for retention on…

Wicomico County requires one street tree for every 40 feet of street frontage in residential districts within a Planned Village Conservation District, and the same standard applies…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, tenants renting a lot in a licensed trailer camp (mobile home park) can be evicted only for one of three reasons under Code § 211-9: nonpayment of…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, Chapter 160's Housing Standards set minimum livability rules that apply to every dwelling unit, including rentals: exterior structure and premises…

Retaining walls up to four feet high, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, do not need a building permit in unincorporated Wicomico County under § 117-3E of…

Fences up to eight feet high in unincorporated Wicomico County do not need a building permit under § 117-3E of the County Code, which lists them among the work exempted from the…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, § 160-58 of the Housing Code requires every opening of a half-inch or more that rodents could use to be sealed, and any below-grade or low-level…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, even an accessory home solar system must apply for a county building permit before installation, and any solar facility using more than 2 megawatts…

Election and political campaign signs in unincorporated Wicomico County need no permit under § 225-125.F, but they must be unlighted or only indirectly lit, cannot exceed 32 square…

Holiday displays and lighting in unincorporated Wicomico County are listed in § 225-125.D as a permitted temporary sign, meaning they need no special exception or sign permit, unlike…

Garage and yard sale signs in unincorporated Wicomico County are limited to 4 square feet, one per street frontage, and can go up no more than 5 days before the sale and must come down…

Unincorporated Wicomico County bars outdoor advertising structures within 660 feet of named federal-aid highways like US 50 and US 13, and any billboard that is allowed elsewhere still…

Unincorporated Wicomico County bars any sign that moves, flashes or animates, a blanket rule that rules out digital and electronic billboards. County Code § 225-122A prohibits signs…

Any lit outdoor advertising structure in unincorporated Wicomico County must be indirectly illuminated under § 225-126.B(6), on top of the sign permit, 100-foot setback…

Wicomico County's lighting standards in § 225-73 cap freestanding fixture height by commercial district and require cut-off fixtures once lights aren't attached to a building: 25 feet…

Wicomico County's zoning code bars lighting on one lot from unnecessarily illuminating a neighboring lot in a way that substantially interferes with its use or enjoyment, under §…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, home-based businesses are classified as Type I, II or III by the Zoning Administrator, and every type must stay clearly incidental to the residential…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, family day care is a permitted use on any R-30 Residential District lot of at least one acre under Zoning Code § 225-82. Day-care centers, as opposed…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, a Type I home-based business may not have any customers or employees come to the site at all, and every home-based business is barred from generating…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, cannabis on-site consumption establishments are banned outright, and every other cannabis business must be listed as a permitted use in the county's…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, a cannabis business cannot locate within 500 feet of a school, licensed child-care center, playground, library, place of assembly or public park…

Wicomico County designates Historic Preservation (HP) Overlay Districts under § 225-44 to protect structures and sites of cultural, archeological, social, economic, political…

Unincorporated Wicomico County measures every building setback against the Schedule of District Regulations in § 225-74, but § 225-70 fixes hard numbers for accessory structures: five…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, § 225-71 sets the method for measuring building height, from average finished grade to the roof peak, mansard deck, or mid-point between eaves and…

In the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area of unincorporated Wicomico County, § 125-20H caps man-made impervious surface at 15% of the gross site area, with higher grandfathered limits for…

Wicomico County lets a developer count land dedicated to the county for a park, greenway or bikeway as if it were still part of the tract when calculating residential density under §…