Worcester County, MD Ordinances (2026)

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, the County Commissioners define Historic Preservation (HP) Districts under § ZS 1-301. Inside one, any exterior change, move or demolition…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, § ZS 1-305(p) caps accessory structures at thirty percent of the required rear yard and requires accessory buildings to sit at least six…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a lot of record can have no more than one accessory apartment, located either in the principal dwelling or in an accessory building within…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, an accessory apartment used as a short-term rental must be rented only in its entirety under § ZS 1-351(b)(3)B, within the same…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, § ZS 1-305(k)(3) allows fences and walls up to four feet in a front yard setback and six feet in a rear or side yard setback. Nothing…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, no owner may rent or offer for rent a house, condo, cabin, hotel or motel room, RV or tent lot as sleeping accommodations without first…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, the County Commissioners can revoke, suspend or refuse to renew a rental license after a hearing for repeated failure to follow license…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, the owner, operator or hosting platform that receives payment for a short-term rental collects the hotel rental tax from the transient…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, every short-term rental structure whose building permit application is received after the effective date of § ZS 1-351 must provide one…

Unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland bans functions and events at short-term rentals outright: weddings, reunions, birthday parties and corporate gatherings of anyone other than…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, § ZS 1-351(b)(3) caps a short-term rental by bedroom: a bedroom holding more than one person needs fifty square feet of clear floor area…

Owners of rental property in unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, apply for a rental license on Department forms with floor plans, a copy of the lease and house rules, and…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, the code official inspects rental dwellings under the Rental Housing Code on his own volition or on complaints, after mailing written…

Any person can report a Rental Housing Code violation in unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, verbally or in writing, to the code official under § BR 3-103(d). The complaint goes…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, the Rental Housing Code requires rental premises to be free from infestation of insects, rodents, vermin or other pests. Foundations…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, the Rental Housing Code requires door locks on all interior and exterior doors entering housing units to be in good repair and capable of…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, the Rental Housing Code bars applying lead-based paint with a lead content of more than five-tenths percent to any surface of a dwelling…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, any group of three or more townhouse units is treated as a multifamily structure when determining automatic fire sprinkler requirements…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, it is unlawful to erect, locate, renovate, alter or demolish a building or structure, or even begin the excavation, until the Department…

Anyone who provides plumbing services in unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland needs a permit from the Department before starting and an inspection of the finished work. Section BR…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, § BR 1-201 applies the Maryland Building Performance Standards to every building and structure that needs a permit and assigns inspections…

No one in unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland can install or service electrical equipment without a permit and an inspection under § BR 2-219. A feeder or branch circuit of one…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, every rental housing unit must have at least one single-station smoke detector in the vicinity of each sleeping area, installed and…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, § PS 1-504(a)(5) of the Code of Public Local Laws allows open burning for recreational purposes such as campfires, provided only unpainted…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, possession of ground-based sparkling devices such as cylindrical or cone fountains is prohibited on top of the fireworks banned by state…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, no one can cause or permit open burning except as the Open Burning Regulations allow. The Control Officer or the Fire Marshal can block…

Worcester County, Maryland, prohibits inhabiting, camping or sleeping on County road roadsides and rights-of-way, County parks, landings, boat ramps, other County-owned property…

In Worcester County, Maryland, entering any County-owned land or facility, including a County park, while it is closed to the public is prohibited unless the County Commissioners…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a person may not stop, stand or park a vehicle on a sidewalk, on a crosswalk or in front of a curb ramp, and may not park in a way that…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a vehicle parked on a two-way roadway must sit parallel to the right-hand curb or edge with its right-hand wheels within twelve inches of…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a commercial, industrial or business use that receives or ships goods by tractor and trailer during normal business hours must provide…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, it is unlawful to possess a junk vehicle, junk vessel or major assembly component for more than thirty days in any one calendar year, with…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, lot coverage in Critical Area Limited Development Areas is limited to fifteen percent of the site under § NR 3-107(c)(6). Lots of one-half…

In the R-1 Rural Residential District of unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a single-family dwelling needs a thirty-five foot front yard setback, a twenty foot setback on each…

In the R-1 Rural Residential District of unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a flat-roofed principal structure tops out at thirty-five feet and a pitched-roofed one at…

A camp meeting, bush meeting or outdoor music festival drawing one hundred or more people in unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland needs a permit from the County Commissioners, and…

The Board of County Commissioners of Worcester County, Maryland has authority to impose a hotel rental tax within every resort area on room or building rental paid by a transient. The…

Anyone acting as an itinerant or door-to-door peddler or salesman in unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland needs a current license from the Sheriff, with a recent photograph…

Worcester County, Maryland, prints thresholds rather than a flat household cap in § PS 2-101. More than five dogs or cats over four months old kept for commercial purposes make a…

Worcester County, Maryland, defines a vicious dog in § PS 2-101 by conduct: vicious tendencies shown by demonstrated behavior, or a dog meeting the state definition of a dangerous dog…

In Worcester County, Maryland, § PS 2-101(i) makes it unlawful to permit a dog, cat or other animal to run at large, and § PS 2-101(s) requires a leash in designated leash areas. The…

In Worcester County, Maryland, § PS 2-102 requires a license for any cat over four months of age, issued after proof of a current rabies vaccination. The license lasts as long as the…

Worcester County, Maryland, sets its sale rules in § PS 2-102(h): any breeder must have puppies and kittens examined by a licensed veterinarian within four weeks of birth, and the…

In Worcester County, Maryland, § PS 2-104 gives the Animal Control Warden or Sheriff responsibility to seize, destroy, and control wild animals, other than deer, causing damage or…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a veterinary clinic in the A-2 Agricultural District needs a special exception under § ZS 1-202(c)(14): a forty thousand square foot lot…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, § ZS 1-349 sorts poultry farms into small, medium and large operations by the number of poultry housing units and tunnel ventilation, caps…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, multi-family, townhouse, commercial and industrial sites must use full-cutoff fixtures for any exterior light of 2,050 lumens or more, and…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, § ZS 1-323(a) states that light trespass (spillover lighting) onto adjacent properties and glare onto roadways are not permitted. All…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, electronic messaging signs cannot exceed five thousand nits during daylight hours or five hundred nits from dusk to dawn, and they need an…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a home occupation gets one permanent sign of no more than four square feet, and no yard setback is required. Section ZS 1-324(c)(1) sets…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a day-care home with up to eight children is a home occupation that escapes the six-hundred-square-foot floor area limit and every…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a home occupation can use no more than twenty-five percent of a dwelling's gross floor area, or a single accessory building of up to six…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, political campaign signs are permitted in all districts and are not restricted as to number under § ZS 1-324(d)(1). Off-premises campaign…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, no new billboards can be erected under § ZS 1-324(d)(3), and a billboard rebuilt after destruction by the forces of nature is barred from…

Worcester County, Maryland makes it unlawful to erect or maintain billboards or any display advertising within five hundred feet of U.S. Route 50 from the bridge at Herring Creek to…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a licensed dry nightclub must be completely enclosed and sound-proofed so that undue, loud or disturbing sounds are not emitted off of the…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, loitering outside the building on any dry nightclub premises is not permitted at any time, and patrons cannot congregate in the parking…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, an adult entertainment business is allowed only by special exception in the I-2 Heavy Industrial District, and its building must stay one…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, every towing service and repair shop that stores wrecked or disabled vehicles must keep each vehicle for no more than ninety days and hold…

Operating a tattoo establishment in Worcester County, Maryland outside incorporated municipalities takes a permit from the County Commissioners, and every tattooist needs a license and…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a cannabis dispensary permitted after July 1, 2023 must keep a minimum separation of two thousand feet from a pre-existing primary or…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, cannabis dispensaries are a special exception use in the C-1, C-2 and C-3 commercial districts. In C-1, § ZS 1-209(c)(15) requires a six…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, cooking food outdoors on other than commercial premises is allowed under the Open Burning Regulations as long as only unpainted or…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, any person can report a zoning violation to the Department, either verbally or in writing, under § ZS 1-120(a). The Department must file…

In Worcester County, Maryland, the erosion and sediment control inspection agency receives complaints and starts enforcement once a violation is confirmed. Under § NR 1-209(c), a…

Worcester County Code § ZS 1-347 is the Worcester County Right to Farm Law. In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a private action over an agricultural or forestry operation on…

In Worcester County, Maryland, no one can begin filling, grading, new construction, a substantial improvement or any other development in or touching a flood hazard area until…

In Worcester County, Maryland flood hazard A Zones, the lowest floor of a new or substantially improved residential building must be elevated to or above the flood protection…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, no one can develop land for residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional use without stormwater management measures that control…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, no one can clear or grade land without an erosion and sediment control plan approved by the Worcester Soil Conservation District, unless…

Anyone building a dock, pier or other waterfront structure on tidal shoreline in Worcester County, Maryland needs a shoreline construction permit under § NR 2-102 before work starts. A…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a lot's owners can hold two yard sales per calendar year without a permit. Any additional sale needs a permit from the Department, no more…

Outdoor watering limits in unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland come from resolutions the County Commissioners adopt once they declare a water supply emergency. Section NR 2-201…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, clearing forest cover in violation of the Worcester County Forest Conservation Law is a civil infraction. After an admission or…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, uncontrolled growth of grass, weeds or other rank vegetation to a height exceeding one foot is a public nuisance under § PH 1-101(a)(1)…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, the Forest Conservation Law makes trees that are part of an historic site, trees associated with an historic structure, designated…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, § NR 1-409 makes forest communities containing species on the federal or Maryland rare, threatened, and endangered lists a retention…

Under § NR 2-201(n), anyone in Worcester County, Maryland who knowingly fails to repair a leak within a reasonable time after discovering it violates the water conservation subtitle…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a dilapidated, burned-out, fallen-down or decayed structure that is unattended, unusable and beyond reasonable hope of rehabilitation is a…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a vacant lot becomes a public nuisance if rubbish, household trash or junk is dumped or accumulated there creating a fire hazard or…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, it is unlawful to dump, deposit, throw or leave litter on any public or private property or in any county waters, or to cause or permit it…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, minor solar energy systems are permitted in every zoning district under § ZS 1-344(d), subject to the setback and height limits of the…

In unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, a private airfield or heliport needs a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals under § ZS 1-345, and the application must…

Under § ZS 1-346, unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland caps noise at 65 decibels by day and 55 at night in the E-1, V-1 and all R Districts, with 67 and 62 in C Districts and 75…