Pole barns and barndominiums in Chester, Maryland.
Building in Chester.
Chester grew from small villages and farms along MD 18. Queen Anne’s County now calls it a loose-knit collection of residential and commercial neighborhoods lacking a traditional center, and its main roads are MD 18 (Main Street), MD 552 (Dominion Road) and US 50/301. It had 5,003 residents in 2020. For anyone adding a building, the land matters most: much of Chester is in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, and parts are in the 100-year floodplain.
Chester is about 52 miles from our Dover office, around a 74-minute drive. The distance doesn’t change how a project runs: drawings and a quote you can read come first, then the county permit, then our crew on site and a project manager who keeps you in the loop. The final balance is due only after the final inspection.
- County
- Queen Anne's County, Maryland
- Population
- 5,003 (2020 Census)
- ZIP code
- 21619
- From our office
- About 1 hr 14 min (52 miles) by car
- Permits
- Queen Anne's County Department of Planning & Zoning, Zoning & Permits Division
- Main roads
- US 50/301, MD 18 (Main Street), MD 552 (Dominion Road)
Permits and rules in Chester.
Chester is unincorporated, so the Zoning & Permits Division of the Queen Anne’s County Department of Planning & Zoning issues the permit. Call (410) 758-4088, or file through the county’s online portal or by email; the office keeps weekday hours of 8:00 am to 3:30 pm. Inside the Critical Area, lot coverage is capped at 15 percent in the Limited Development and Resource Conservation Areas, and it counts more than roofs: driveways, walkways and gravel or stone surfaces all go in the total. Intensely Developed Areas have no cap.
Smaller lots of record from December 1, 1985 or earlier use a sliding scale instead, with mitigation on the larger tiers. In an A flood zone, the county limits accessory buildings to 600 square feet, and one not built to the elevation or floodproofing rules must be wet-floodproofed: parking or limited storage only, flood-resistant materials, anchoring and at least two flood openings. From 300 to under 600 square feet below base flood elevation, a Declaration of Land Restriction is recorded on the deed; under 300, you sign a nonconversion agreement.
Who issues the permit
Queen Anne's County Department of Planning & Zoning, Zoning & Permits Division
- Address
- 110 Vincit Street, Suite 104, Centreville, MD 21617
- Phone
- (410) 758-4088
- Website
- Permit information(opens in a new tab)
Where this comes from
- qac.org (opens in a new tab)
- qac.org (opens in a new tab)
- qac.org (opens in a new tab)
- mdgeodata.md.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 Chester.
Where lot coverage applies, every square foot counts, so Chester projects reward careful sizing: a one- or two-bay garage, a workshop, or a storage building for a boat trailer and yard equipment. On a flood-zone lot, a wet-floodproofed post-frame building under 600 square feet can still shelter vehicles and storage, built with the openings and anchoring the county requires. The Chester Master Planned Development district adds its own standards.
Chester questions.
Have a question about your property? Call 302-399-4420 and we’ll look it up.
Does a gravel driveway count against my lot coverage in Chester?
Inside the Critical Area, yes. Queen Anne’s County counts structures, accessory buildings, driveways, walkways and gravel or stone surfaces toward the 15 percent limit in Limited Development and Resource Conservation Areas. The permit forms include a lot-coverage worksheet, and we work through it with you.
Is there a Chester zoning district with design standards?
Yes. The Chester Master Planned Development district has development standards in the county code and shares a design standards handbook with Stevensville’s planned development district. If your property is in it, we check those standards before the drawings are final.
How long is the drive from Dover to Chester?
Plan on about 74 minutes for the 52 miles from our office at 575 N Dupont Hwy. Chester is part of the Kent Island and Queen Anne’s County area we serve for design, permits and construction.
Let’s plan your building in Chester.
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
- Chester and all of Queen Anne's County