Anne Arundel County requires a building permit for retaining walls over 4 feet (measured from footing) or any wall supporting a surcharge. Walls in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area or in a floodplain face additional review and often require a Maryland-licensed PE seal.
Anne Arundel County Inspections & Permits enforces the 2018 IBC (as amended by Maryland) for retaining walls. Walls 4 feet or less from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, without a surcharge, are exempt from building permit. Walls over 4 feet or any wall supporting a surcharge (driveway, pool, structure, or slope above) require a permit with plans sealed by a Maryland-licensed professional engineer. Drainage (weep holes, geotextile, clean gravel backfill) is required for all walls. Walls in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area 1,000-foot buffer (tidal waters of the Severn, Magothy, South, West, Rhode, and Patuxent Rivers, Chesapeake Bay, Stony Creek, Bodkin Creek) must meet RCA/LDA impervious-cover caps and disturbance limits, and often require Critical Area Commission or county Office of Planning and Zoning review. Walls within a FEMA floodplain must comply with Article 16 floodplain standards and not displace flood storage. Setback: a minimum 2 feet from any side/rear property line is typical; front-yard walls over 30 inches may be limited by sight-triangle rules.
Unpermitted wall: stop-work order, sealed engineering letter required post hoc, double-fee permit, and fines up to $1,000 per day. Critical Area impact: mitigation at 3:1 planting plus penalties up to $10,000 per violation under NR §8-1815.
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