Pole barns and barndominiums in Blades, Delaware.
Building in Blades.
Blades was first known as Bladesville, after railroad employee James Blades, and was incorporated as the Town of Blades in 1915. It sits on the south bank of the Nanticoke River, opposite Seaford, and shares Seaford’s 19973 ZIP code. The Nanticoke River Marina (BEDCO) and Hardin Hall and the Park Pavilion are local landmarks, and US 13 and DE 20 serve the town.
Blades lies 39 miles from our Dover office, close to an hour’s drive at about 54 minutes. The Town’s rules for detached buildings are specific, down to the distance from a neighbor’s house, so we measure the lot before we draw. Then we file with the Town first and the County second, build, and keep you posted.
- County
- Sussex County, Delaware
- Population
- 1,179 (2020 Census)
- ZIP code
- 19973
- From our office
- About 54 minutes (39 miles) by car
- Permits
- Town of Blades Department of Code Enforcement (Town Hall)
- Main roads
- US 13, DE 20
Permits and rules in Blades.
Get the Town permit first. The Town of Blades Department of Code Enforcement (Town Hall), 20 West Fourth Street, (302) 629-7366, handles local code compliance review and inspections, and the Town’s forms page says to obtain its building permit before the Sussex County permit. Blades is also on the County’s inspection list, so Sussex County reviews the plans, inspects the work and grants the certificate of occupancy. Plans or a sketch go in triplicate, and a Town permit expires after 12 months.
The posted Land Development Ordinance, adopted in 2004, sets out Table 8-4: a detached garage goes in the rear yard with 5-foot side and rear setbacks, 10 feet from the main building and 20 feet from a dwelling on an adjacent residential lot, with a 15-foot height limit and no more than 25% coverage of the rear yard. Other detached accessory buildings get 2-foot side and rear setbacks and a 12-foot height limit, with the same separations and coverage limit. We confirm later amendments with the Town.
Who issues the permit
Town of Blades Department of Code Enforcement (Town Hall)
- Address
- 20 West Fourth Street, Blades, DE 19973
- Phone
- (302) 629-7366
- Website
- Permit information(opens in a new tab)
Where this comes from
- blades.delaware.gov (opens in a new tab)
- blades.delaware.gov (opens in a new tab)
- blades.delaware.gov (opens in a new tab)
Permit details checked October 2026. Rules change, so we confirm the current requirements for your parcel before anything is drawn.
What people build around Blades.
A marina on the Nanticoke sits in town, so a garage or storage building deep enough to hold a boat is a practical choice, as long as it stays within the 15-foot garage height and the 25% rear-yard limit. A workshop or shed fits the 12-foot limit for other accessory buildings. If the lot falls in the Flood-Prone overlay, mapped from the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map, Article 12 construction standards apply.
Blades questions.
Have a question about your property? Call 302-399-4420 and we’ll look it up.
Do I go to the Town or the County first in Blades?
The Town. Its forms page says to get the Town building permit first and the Sussex County permit second. Plan review, inspections and the certificate of occupancy then come from the County, while the Town’s Code Enforcement handles local code review.
What happens if I start building before the Blades permit?
The Town doubles the permit fee when construction starts without a permit. Permits expire after 12 months, so we time the application to the build. Nothing goes up until both the Town and County permits are issued.
Do you work in Blades?
Yes. Blades is about 54 minutes away by car, roughly 39 miles from 575 N Dupont Hwy in Dover, and it sits right across the river from Seaford, which we also serve.
Let’s plan your building in Blades.
Tell us what you’d like to build and where, and we’ll come back with drawings and a free quote.
- info@pbuincde.com
- Office
- 575 N Dupont Hwy, Dover, DE 19901 (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
- Hours
- Mon to Fri, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
- We build in
- Blades and all of Sussex County