Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Accident, Maryland

Town of Accident’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside the Town of Accident limits, Garrett County, Maryland

  • Ordinance adopted July 7, 1997 and effective July 27, 1997; amendments after that date were not checked.
  • Copy located is hosted on the Garrett County website; the Town's own current copy was not located within the research budget.

  “zoning ordinance of accident, maryland as adopted by the mayor and town council of the town of accident on july 7, 1997, with an effective date of july 27, 1997.”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Land inside the Town of Accident limits: five zoning districts named in section 300

  • District boundaries are shown on a zoning map titled 'zoning map - town of accident' attached to the 1997 ordinance; the map itself was not opened.
  • Section 300 names the classes; the dimensional rows below are only for RD and SR.

  “rd rural development district sr suburban residential district tr town residential district tc town center district ec employment center district”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Single family detached dwellings in the RD (rural development) district of the Town of Accident

  • Lot area and width are read from the section 500 table row for RD; the PDF text was extracted without column headers, so the reading is 40,000 sq ft lot area and 100 ft lot width.

  minimum lot area: >= 40000 sq ft · minimum lot width: >= 100 ft

  “rd single family detached dwelling. other structure or use. 40,000 40,000 40,000 n/a 100 100 40 40 10 10 30 30”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Single family detached dwellings in the SR (suburban residential) district of the Town of Accident

    “sr single family detached dwelling. two family dwelling. twin dwelling. mobile home. other structure or use. 20,000 20,000 10,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 10,000 10,000 20,000 n/a 75 75 75 75 75 15 15 15 15 15 8 8 8 8 8 20 20 20 20 20”

• SetbacksSpecified

  Single family detached dwellings in the RD (rural development) district of the Town of Accident

  • Values are read from the table of dimensional requirements (section 500); the PDF text puts the front, side and rear yard columns in that order, so the reading is front 40 ft, side 10 ft, rear 30 ft.
  • Reduced accessory-structure setbacks (section 506) and corner-lot rules (section 508) were not read.

  minimum front yard: >= 40 ft · minimum side yard (each): >= 10 ft · minimum rear yard: >= 30 ft

  “rd single family detached dwelling. other structure or use. 40,000 40,000 40,000 n/a 100 100 40 40 10 10 30 30”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Single family detached dwellings in the SR (suburban residential) district of the Town of Accident

    “sr single family detached dwelling. two family dwelling. twin dwelling. mobile home. other structure or use. 20,000 20,000 10,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 10,000 10,000 20,000 n/a 75 75 75 75 75 15 15 15 15 15 8 8 8 8 8 20 20 20 20 20”

• Building heightSpecified

  Structures in all Town of Accident districts (40 ft in the EC employment center district)

  • Spires, chimneys, water towers, aerials and similar structures not devoted to human occupancy are exempt from the height rule (section 510.b).
  • Signs and other structures stated otherwise in the ordinance are excluded from this general rule.

  maximum height: <= 35 ft (40 ft in the EC district)

  “a maximum height of 35 feet shall apply for structures in all districts, except a maximum height of 40 feet shall apply in the ec district”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Individual mobile or manufactured homes on single lots inside the Town of Accident

  • Must meet the same requirements as a single family detached dwelling.
  • Use table row for individual mobile/manufactured homes shows the code 'se' in the RD, SR and TR columns and 'n' in TC and EC; the table legend defining 'se' was not captured.
  • Mobile/manufactured home parks are a separate use under section 406 and are not covered by this claim.

  “individual mobile/ manufactured home, meeting all of the same requirements as a single family detached dwelling, and also provided that any such home placed within the town after the effective date of this ordinance shall comply with the 1976 or later u.s. department of housing and urban development safety and construction standards for manufactured housing. se se se n n”

• Off-grid sanitationLimited

  Single family detached dwellings with private water and sewage systems inside the RD district of the Town of Accident

  • Permitted in the RD district only, subject to the section 500 dimensional requirements and state and county health department regulations.
  • Not available where another town ordinance requires central sewage or water connection.
  • Private systems elsewhere in the Town are not permitted for non-agricultural principal buildings where central systems are available (section 405).

  “a single family detached dwelling with private water and sewage systems or agricultural building shall be permitted in the rd district, subject to the dimensional requirements in section 500 and state and county health department regulations.”

• Mandatory utility hookupConditional

  Non-agricultural principal buildings inside the Town of Accident

  • Connection to central sewage and central water is required only where those systems are available; the ordinance does not define availability or give a distance.
  • Exception for a single family detached dwelling with private water and sewage systems in the RD district, subject to section 500 dimensional rules and state and county health department regulations.
  • The RD exception does not apply if another town ordinance requires connections to central sewage and/or central water systems.

  “a non-agricultural principal building shall not be constructed following the adoption of this ordinance unless it is served by both central sewage and central water systems, if such systems are available, except:”

Rules another office applies inside Town of Accident

Town of Accident does not set these itself; the county, a health district or the state does, and they apply to every address inside its limits.

• Building in a floodplainRequired

  Development activity in flood-prone areas inside the Town of Accident, under the Garrett County floodplain ordinance

  • Section 513 is headed 'flood-prone areas'; the county floodplain ordinance itself was not opened, so permit and elevation rules are unverified.
  • The Town ordinance adopts the county rule by reference, as amended.

  “all activity shall comply with the garrett county floodplain ordinance, as amended.”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Town of Accident or Garrett County directly.

• Building permit — Building permits for construction inside the Town of Accident
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption from permits inside the Town of Accident
• Building code adopted — Building code adoption inside the Town of Accident
• Inspections — Building inspections for construction inside the Town of Accident
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new construction inside the Town of Accident

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.