Pole barns and barndominiums in Cecil County, Maryland.

Outside Elkton and Rising Sun, the Permits & Inspections Division of the Cecil County Department of Land Use & Development Services issues building permits from the County Administration Building, 200 Chesapeake Blvd., Elkton, MD 21921, 410-996-5235. Applications go through the county’s OpenGov portal, using the Residential Accessory Structures application for sheds, detached garages and residential pole buildings. A $10 technology fee is due at application, and the permit fee before the permit is issued: $0.25 per square foot for residential pole buildings and garages on the posted schedule. Only the owner, an authorized representative or a licensed contractor may apply.

The plot plan is drawn at 1 inch = 40 feet or 1 inch = 100 feet and shows all buildings, the new building’s use and distances, the well or water meter, septic or sewer and the driveway. On well and septic properties, the Health Department co-reviews outbuildings and checks foundations within 30 feet of a well, according to its 2015 guidance. Cecil cut the frost-protection exception for small accessory buildings from 600 to 400 square feet, so anything larger needs frost-protected footings, and the footing inspection covers pier holes. Permits expire one year after issuance, and work must start within 180 days.

Cecil gives farm buildings no building-permit exemption. The Zoning Ordinance requires a permit for any building, and agriculture is exempt only from the separate Zoning Certificate. Farm structures go on the Agricultural Building application: buildings that house farm implements, hay, grain, poultry, livestock, silos, manure pits or horticultural products, and are not a home, a processing workplace or a public space. Fees drop to $0.15 per square foot (minimum $50), a flat $50 for non-dwelling structures on legitimate farms of 20 acres or more, and $0 for structures of 5,001 square feet or more on Agricultural Preservation District land.

Cecil’s Critical Area buffer is wider than the state minimum: at least 110 feet from tidal water, tidal wetlands and tributary streams, and 200 feet in the Resource Conservation Area, and a new outbuilding generally can’t go in it. Lot coverage in the Limited Development Area is limited to 15 percent. In the floodplain, any development needs a county floodplain permit and buildings go 2 feet above base flood elevation. Accessory buildings in A zones are capped at 600 square feet, and one of 300 to 600 square feet below base flood elevation needs a Board of Appeals variance and a recorded nonconversion agreement.