Howard County, MD Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

403 defines a 'play vehicle' to include a skateboard and similar devices, and, citing the authority in Maryland's Transportation Article § 21-1103, it lets a person ride a bicycle, play vehicle, or unicycle on a sidewalk or pathway anywhere the County has jurisdiction. 403(b) lists 13 specific roads in historic Ellicott City where the section does not apply, including Main Street between the Patapsco River and Ellicott Mills Drive, Court Avenue, Church Road, Emory Street, Saint Paul Street, Maryland Avenue, Mulligans Hill Lane, Old Columbia Pike, Hamilton Street, Forrest Street, Merryman Street, and Hill Street.

Those narrow, historic sidewalks in the flood-prone downtown core don't get the countywide sidewalk-riding allowance, so a skateboarder or cyclist there is riding without the protection this section otherwise provides. 403(d), and where such signs are posted, riding there is off-limits regardless of the general rule. 402, though that requirement is written around bicycles rather than skateboards specifically. 404: a first violation of any provision in this subtitle is a Class E civil offense, and a second violation within 12 months of the first escalates to a Class D civil offense, both handled under Title 24 of the County Code's civil penalty framework rather than as a criminal matter.