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Charles County, MD Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

Heavy Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified August 2026

Key Facts

Prohibited use
Manufacture of explosives, fireworks or gunpowder
Governing section
Charles County Code § 297-92C(10)(f)
Zone
Heavy Industrial (IH) Zone
Base penalty
Up to $300 fine or 90 days jail
Civil penalty range
$50 first offense up to $500 per offense
Enforcer
Charles County Zoning Officer and County Attorney
Exceptions
None; use expressly prohibited, not special-exception

Summary

Charles County's zoning code flatly bars manufacturing fireworks, explosives, or gunpowder anywhere in the county, even in its Heavy Industrial (IH) zone, the district built for the county's largest-scale processing operations. The ban sits under § 297-92C's list of more than two dozen high-hazard manufacturing uses "expressly prohibited," alongside arsenals, blast furnaces, and acid production, with no special-exception route around it.

These county ordinances apply to unincorporated areas of Charles County. Incorporated cities within the county may have their own rules that take precedence over county-level regulations.

C. Special regulations. The following heavy industrial uses and others of a similar nature are expressly prohibited. ... (10) Manufacture of any of the following: ... (f) Explosives, fireworks or gunpowder.

Full Breakdown

" Even there, § 297-92C declares a long list of uses "expressly prohibited," not merely discouraged or subject to special exception: arsenals, blast furnaces, boiler works, distillation of bones, landfills, fat rendering, forge plants, and incinerators among them. Item (10) extends the ban to manufacturing more than two dozen specific hazardous products, and subsection (f) names "explosives, fireworks or gunpowder" outright. The same list bars manufacturing acids, insecticides, matches, tar products, and petroleum refining or storage beyond tank-car quantities, so fireworks sit alongside the county's other most dangerous industrial processes rather than being singled out as a stand-alone fire-safety measure.

Because the prohibition is written into the special-regulations framework rather than the Table of Permissible Uses' special-exception (SE) column, a fireworks manufacturer cannot apply for a variance or special exception to locate in Charles County; the use is barred outright in every zoning district, including IH itself. A property owner or business found operating such a facility faces the chapter's general enforcement scheme at § 297-4: the Zoning Officer, County Commissioners, or an adjoining property owner may seek an injunction or other court order to force compliance, and the County Attorney prosecutes civil zoning citations, with each day the violation continues counted as a separate offense.

Violations & Fines

Operating a prohibited manufacturing use under § 297-92C is enforced as a general zoning violation under § 297-4: a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $300 fine, up to 90 days in the County jail, or both, with each day of continued violation a separate offense. Charles County also layers on civil penalties starting at $50 for a first offense and rising to $500 for each subsequent offense, plus the option of an injunction or abatement action pursued by the Zoning Officer or County Attorney.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a fireworks manufacturing plant open anywhere in Charles County?
No. Charles County Code § 297-92C(10)(f) lists manufacturing explosives, fireworks, or gunpowder among the uses "expressly prohibited" in the Heavy Industrial Zone, the only zone built for large-scale processing. Because the prohibition isn't a special-exception item, there's no variance path around it; the use is barred countywide, in every zoning district Charles County maintains.
Does this rule cover selling or setting off consumer fireworks?
No. Section 297-92C(10)(f) addresses only manufacturing fireworks, explosives, or gunpowder as an industrial land use. It says nothing about retail sale, possession, or personal discharge of consumer fireworks, which fall under separate state fire-safety and licensing law rather than this zoning chapter.
What other uses are banned alongside fireworks manufacturing?
The same § 297-92C list bars arsenals, blast furnaces, landfills, fat rendering, incinerators, and manufacturing acids, insecticides, matches, tar products, and several dozen other hazardous goods. Fireworks sit in that company as one line item among the heavy-industrial uses Charles County has decided no property in the county may host.
What happens if someone violates the ban?
Charles County treats it as a general zoning violation under § 297-4: a misdemeanor carrying up to a $300 fine or 90 days in jail, plus escalating civil penalties from $50 to $500 per offense, with each day of continued violation counted separately. The County Attorney or Zoning Officer can also seek a court injunction.

Sources & Official References

Other rules in Charles County

All Charles County rules

How Charles County compares: Cities Where Fireworks Are Banned or Heavily Restricted·Compare Charles County to another location·View the Maryland fire regulations overview

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