Pole barns and barndominiums in Dorchester County, Maryland.

Outside the incorporated towns, permits come from the Dorchester County Department of Planning & Zoning (Permits, Inspections & Licensing) in the County Office Building, 501 Court Lane, Room 111, Cambridge. Call 410-228-9636 for permits and inspections or 410-228-3234 for the Planning & Zoning main line. Applications go through the County’s OpenGov portal under the Building Permit record type, which covers accessory structures such as a garage or pole building, with a property address or Tax Map and Parcel number. The office is open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and inspections requested by 3:30 p.m. are scheduled for the next business day.

County zoning requires a permit before any building goes up, prebuilt sheds and carports included. The application needs a site plan roughly to scale, based on a survey or deed, showing the lot, the building’s exact location, size, height and use, existing structures and any woods, and the building is staked on the ground before work starts. The permit also waits on Health Department approval of water and sewage disposal, any stormwater or grading permits and approval of a new driveway connection. Under 300 square feet, a building skips the building code but still needs a zoning permit. At 300 square feet and up, the residential code applies, with footings at least 24 inches below grade and hurricane ties on every truss and rafter.

Farm buildings get a real break. County Code 65-4.B says the building code does not apply to the “construction, alteration, addition, repair, removal, demolition, use, location or maintenance of farm buildings,” meaning structures that store farm implements, hay, feed, grain or other products or house poultry, livestock or other farm animals, with no habitable space, no processing or packaging and no public use. Zoning still applies. Agricultural buildings are on the County’s list of projects that need a permit, the fee schedule charges a zoning fee on them but no building-code fee, and electrical and plumbing permits are still required. Farm buildings are exempt from height limits outside the Airport Protection District.

Near the water, two more sets of rules apply. The Critical Area covers land within 1,000 feet of tidal water or tidal wetlands, where County Code Chapter 68 generally keeps new structures out of a buffer of at least 100 feet and caps lot coverage at 15% in Limited Development Areas, with an exemption for farm structures on parcels with approved soil conservation and water quality plans. In the floodplain, the flood protection elevation is the base flood elevation plus 2 feet. Accessory buildings over 899 square feet in an A zone need their lowest floor at or above base flood elevation, and in V and Coastal A zones they are limited to 300 square feet.