Howard County sets no short-term-rental-specific overnight-guest cap, because it has no STR program. The one residential transient-lodging use it defines — a Bed and Breakfast Inn — is capped at six guest rooms and limited to historic buildings or farms under agricultural preservation easement.
There is no STR occupancy formula (such as two-per-bedroom-plus-two) in the Howard County Code because whole-house transient rental is not a permitted residential use. General occupancy of a dwelling is governed by the definition of 'family' and the Property Maintenance Code standards for floor area per occupant, enforced through the Rental Housing License inspection. The Zoning Regulations do cap the county's only residential-scale transient-lodging use: a Bed and Breakfast Inn may provide sleeping accommodations to transient guests in not more than six guest rooms, and only in a historic building or a building on a farm with an agricultural land preservation easement. Meals may be provided to overnight guests only.
Exceeding the six-guest-room limit, or operating a B&B outside a qualifying historic building or eased farm, is a zoning violation enforced by Planning and Zoning; overcrowding of rental housing is cited by DILP under the Property Maintenance Code.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Howard County allows residential backyard composting and actively promotes it. The county runs a Feed the Green Bin curbside food-scrap collection and sells ...
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Howard County has no ordinance specifically prohibiting or requiring artificial turf for residential yards. Synthetic lawns are generally allowed, but becaus...
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Howard County places no restriction on planting native or pollinator gardens. Maryland's low-impact landscaping law (House Bill 322, 2021) bars homeowners as...
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Howard County does not ban rainwater harvesting. Rain barrels and cisterns are legal and actively promoted through the county's Live Green Howard and stormwa...
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Howard County has no year-round odd/even watering ban. Water use is limited only when the state declares a drought. Under Maryland's Level One Mandatory Rest...
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Howard County's adopted Property Maintenance Code requires exterior premises to be kept free of weeds and rank plant growth, but it applies only to rental an...
See how Howard County's occupancy limits rules stack up against other locations.
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