Calvert County, MD Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Calvert County's road construction chapter, Chapter 104, treats the sidewalk as an extension of the traveled way rather than a spot for commerce. Section 104-65A first points to the county's own Sidewalk Policy, kept on file with the county and attached as an appendix to the chapter, for the construction and maintenance standards and for who is responsible for upkeep. Section 104-65B then bans four specific uses of 'any part of any sidewalk between the private property line and curb': storing goods, merchandise, or other material; displaying goods or articles for sale or barter; placing any sign or device for advertising purposes; and renting or leasing any part of the sidewalk to sell merchandise on it.

The prohibition sits inside Article XX, General Requirements, alongside the county's parallel rule on fixed obstructions in the right-of-way (§ 104-64), which separately bars driveway enhancements, fences, basketball hoops, and similar nonbreakaway structures from the right-of-way and lets the county remove noncompliant ones by certified-mail notice, billing the cost to the owner. The sidewalk-use ban in § 104-65B is narrower: it targets commercial and advertising uses of the walkway surface itself, not permanent structures, so a business cannot set up a sidewalk sale, an advertising sign, or a rented vending spot along a county road. Because Calvert's incorporated towns run their own codes, this section only reaches sidewalks in the unincorporated county outside Chesapeake Beach and North Beach.