Baltimore County, MD Parking Rules: Snow Removal Parking Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- Baltimore County Code Section 18-3-102(e)
- Who develops the plan
- Director of Public Works and Transportation
- Who enforces it
- County Administrative Officer or Chief of Police
- Trigger
- Appropriate weather conditions, not a fixed date
- Scope
- Vehicle standing/parking and traffic movement
Summary
Baltimore County Code Section 18-3-102(e) lets the Director of Public Works and Transportation develop a snow emergency plan regulating vehicle standing, parking, and the movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic on county roads. The County Administrative Officer or the Chief of Police then implements and enforces the plan during actual winter weather.
(e)Snow emergency plan.(1)In accordance with the provisions of Article 3, Title 7, Subtitle 2 of the Code, the Director or the Director's designee, may develop a snow emergency plan for the county which shall include the regulation of motor vehicle standing and parking and the movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic on the county roads.(2)In accordance with the snow emergency plan, the County Administrative Officer, or as the County Administrative Officer's designee, the county Chief of Police, may implement and enforce its provisions during appropriate weather conditions. (1988 Code, §§ 31-1, 31-3, 31-4) (Bill No. 3, § 2, 3-30-1990; Bill No. 196-95, § 1, 12-10-1995; Bill No. 66-01, § 2, 7-1-2004; Bill No. 33-21, § 1, 5-3-2021)
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 29 | Zoning Regulations: Supplement 10).
Full Breakdown
Rather than fixing snow-emergency routes or parking bans directly in the Code, Section 18-3-102(e) gives the Director of Public Works and Transportation, or the Director's designee, authority to develop a snow emergency plan in accordance with Article 3, Title 7, Subtitle 2 of the Code, the county's general regulation-adoption procedure. That plan is what actually designates which roads become snow emergency routes and what parking or standing restrictions apply once the county activates it. Once the plan exists, the County Administrative Officer, or the county Chief of Police as the Administrative Officer's designee, decides when to implement and enforce it, tied to 'appropriate weather conditions' rather than a fixed calendar window.
This sits within Title 3 of Article 18, which otherwise gives the Director broad control over county roads, bridges, and sidewalks, including the authority under Section 18-3-101 to open, maintain, and improve them and under Section 18-3-103 to propose regulations governing their use and the rights of the public. Because the specific parking bans and routes live in the adopted plan and regulations rather than in the underlying statute, the Code itself does not set a numeric penalty for violating snow emergency parking restrictions; that detail is set in the regulations the plan adopts under the county's general rulemaking process.
Violations & Fines
Section 18-3-102 itself does not set a numeric fine for violating snow emergency restrictions; enforcement authority passes to the County Administrative Officer or the county Chief of Police once a snow emergency plan is implemented, with specific penalties fixed in the regulations adopted to carry out that plan rather than in this authorizing section.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I find Baltimore County's actual snow emergency routes?
Who decides when a snow emergency is in effect?
What's the penalty for parking on a snow emergency route during an emergency?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Baltimore County
Compare Baltimore County to another location·View the Maryland parking rules overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.