Charles County, MD Environmental Rules: Boat Dock Permits (2026)

Piers, docks, slips and launching ramps are otherwise-prohibited uses in the Critical Area Buffer, allowed only under § 297-131C(1)(a). Where slips are proposed with new development approved after Charles County's Critical Area Program adoption, the county caps the count at the lesser of two formulas: a shoreline-frontage ratio (1 slip per 50 feet in the Intense and Limited Development Zones, 1 per 300 feet in the Resource Conservation Zone) or a platted-lot density schedule (for example, 15 lots or 75% of lots, whichever is greater, for developments of 16 to 40 platted lots).

In new subdivisions within the Limited Development and Resource Conservation Zones, the Planning Commission decides whether the development uses a shared community pier or individual private piers, and may bar individual piers if they would harm habitat of rare, threatened or endangered species, submerged aquatic vegetation, forest interior dwelling species habitat, historic waterfowl staging areas, or historic shellfish areas. The Commission may also weigh whether a parcel's narrowness, shallowness or topography makes a community pier infeasible. Where a community pier is provided for the development, private piers within that same development are not allowed, and a note on the preliminary plan or final plat must record whether individual piers or a community pier was approved and how many. Shore erosion control and grading tied to pier access also require an approved zoning permit through the Planning Division.