Worcester County, MD Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Section ZS 1-339 sets the standards for home occupations in unincorporated Worcester County, Maryland, where the Department of Development Review and Permitting enforces the zoning title. Ocean City, Berlin, Snow Hill and Pocomoke City run their own codes.

Space limits come first. The occupation must be clearly incidental and subordinate to residential use, and not more than twenty-five percent of the dwelling unit's gross floor area can be used for it. As an alternative, a home occupation not exceeding six hundred square feet in gross floor area can operate in a single accessory building. Outdoor storage, including storage of equipment or vehicles, cannot exceed three hundred square feet and must be screened under § ZS 1-322.

Larger buildings are allowed in three districts. In the A-1, A-2 and E-1 Districts, on parcels greater than eighty thousand square feet in area, an existing accessory building or a single new accessory building for a home occupation can reach three thousand square feet in gross floor area, as amended 7-21-2020 by Bill No. 20-6.

People and sales are limited. All persons engaged in the occupation must reside on the premises except for one outside employee, and day-care homes get two. Nothing other than parts or supplies used in the occupation can be sold or stocked on the premises except what is produced there, or what the Board of Appeals permits by special exception.

Neighbor protections apply. The building and premises cannot visibly change from the outside except for one sign under § ZS 1-324. The occupation cannot create noise, vibration, glare, light trespass, fumes, odors or electrical interference objectionable to neighboring uses, and it cannot generate substantial vehicular or pedestrian traffic. Off-street parking follows § ZS 1-320.

Some uses are excluded. A home occupation does not include a commercial kennel, restaurants, lounges, overnight exterior storage, body piercing establishments or tattoo establishments, as amended 6-15-2021 by Bill No. 21-4. Engaging in agriculture is not a home occupation.