Pole barns and barndominiums in Chestertown, Maryland.
Building in Chestertown.
Chestertown is the Kent County seat and home of Washington College, founded in 1782. The town began in 1706 at the navigable head of the Chester River and became one of colonial Maryland’s six Royal Ports of Entry, and the Sultana, a reproduction colonial schooner, is based here today. Its historic district, with more than fifty Georgian-style town houses near the river, has been a National Historic Landmark since 1970.
In town, the first stop is the Town Office. Outside town limits, it’s the Kent County Department of Planning, Housing and Zoning, where every shed and pole building needs a permit and Middle Department Inspection Agency inspects. We work out which applies to your land, draw the building and an organized quote, and manage the permits from there.
- County
- Kent County, Maryland
- Population
- 5,532 (2020 Census)
- ZIP code
- 21620
- From our office
- About 55 minutes (36 miles) by car
- Permits
- Town of Chestertown, Town Office (Zoning Department)
- Main roads
- MD 213, MD 20, MD 291, MD 289
Permits and rules in Chestertown.
Chestertown is incorporated and runs its own zoning, so Kent County’s 2025 Unified Development Ordinance doesn’t reach inside town limits. Start at the Town of Chestertown, Town Office (Zoning Department), 118 North Cross Street, (410) 778-0500. The town has a Zoning Administrator, a Planning Commission that meets the third Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and a Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Maryland Department of Labor lists the Chestertown Town Manager as the local building-code contact.
Confirm the rest of the sequence with the Town Office: whether the building permit comes from the town or from Kent County once zoning signs off, and which inspection agency does the work. We settle that before drawing. If your lot is in the historic district, the Chestertown Historic District Commission, which meets the first Wednesday of the month at 4:00 p.m., may need to see the project too.
Who issues the permit
Town of Chestertown, Town Office (Zoning Department)
- Address
- 118 North Cross Street, Chestertown, MD 21620
- Phone
- (410) 778-0500
- Website
- Permit information(opens in a new tab)
Where this comes from
- msa.maryland.gov (opens in a new tab)
- kentcounty.com (opens in a new tab)
- labor.maryland.gov (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 Chestertown.
Inside town, a detached garage or workshop may sit near the historic district or the Chester River, where parts of town fall in the Critical Area and parts in a FEMA flood zone, so we check both maps for your lot. Out in Kent County, grain farming sets the pace: the county ranked second in Maryland for grain and oilseed sales in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, and equipment buildings, hay storage and horse barns fit there under county rules.
Chestertown questions.
Have a question about your property? Call 302-399-4420 and we’ll look it up.
Does Kent County zoning apply in Chestertown?
No. Kent County’s Unified Development Ordinance covers only unincorporated land, so inside town limits the Town of Chestertown sets the zoning rules. We start with the town’s Zoning Department and confirm whether any county step follows.
Does a garage in the historic district need approval?
It may. Chestertown has a Historic District Commission that meets the first Wednesday of each month at 4:00 p.m., and the district has been a National Historic Landmark since 1970. Which outbuildings it reviews isn’t something we assume, so we ask the town early.
How far is Chestertown from your office?
Chestertown is 36 miles from 575 N Dupont Hwy in Dover, about 55 minutes by car, and the Kent County farms around it are inside our service area too, from Galena to Rock Hall.
Let’s plan your building in Chestertown.
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
- Chestertown and all of Kent County