Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Washington Grove, Maryland

Town of Washington Grove’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  Erecting, structurally altering, moving, demolishing, enclosing a porch, or installing a pool on land inside Washington Grove town.

  • Ordinary maintenance and repairs may be made without a building permit.
  • Trellis and similar frame structures under 7 feet, clotheslines, and patios and pergolas under 10 feet need no town or county permit.
  • A town-only permit applies to structures no more than 7 feet high with no more than 32 square feet of floor area.
  • Montgomery County permits are also required where article XIII applies.

  “every person before commencing work must obtain a building permit from the washington grove planning commission”

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Washington Grove town limits. The town administers its own zoning ordinance (Article VII, Code of Ordinances).

  • Zones include RR-1, RR-2, RR-3, RR-4 and C-L per section 9.1.
  • Ordinance 2023-08 (effective 2024-04-25) amended the article to permit accessory dwelling units.
  • Montgomery County legislation applies in the town only in the chapters listed in Article XIII.

  “this article may be cited as the washington grove zoning ordinance”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Zone list for land inside Washington Grove town (RR-1, RR-2, RR-3, RR-4, C-L), with a zoning map referenced.

  • The zoning map is a PDF linked from section 9.1 and was not opened.

  “9.1 standard method of development in all zones (view the current zoning map here (pdf)) rr-1 zone rr-2 zone rr-3 zone rr-4 zone c-l zone”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  RR-1 zone inside Washington Grove town (first rural-residential column of the schedule; the main residential district is assumed to be RR-1 and was not confirmed against section 7.2).

  • Minimum width at building line 75 feet.
  • Minimum width at street line 75 feet.

  minimum lot area: >= 11250 square feet

  “minimum lot size area square feet 11,250 7,500 13,900 18,000 8,750 width at building line 75 50 75 85 50 width at street line 75 25 75 15 50”

  3 more reviewed findings on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — RR-2 zone inside Washington Grove town.

    “minimum lot size area square feet 11,250 7,500 13,900 18,000 8,750 width at building line 75 50 75 85 50 width at street line 75 25 75 15 50”

  • District specific (with conditions) — RR-3 zone inside Washington Grove town.

    “ordinance 2019-18 (pdf), effective february 10, 2020, effected the following changes to the minimum lot size standards for the rr-3 zone in section 9.1: the area is reduced from 20,000 square feet to 13,900 square feet, and the width at building line is reduced from 100 feet to 75 feet.”

  • District specific (with conditions) — RR-4 cluster zone inside Washington Grove town (cluster review under section 9.2).

    “minimum lot size area square feet 11,250 7,500 13,900 18,000 8,750 width at building line 75 50 75 85 50 width at street line 75 25 75 15 50”

• SetbacksDistrict specific (with conditions)

  RR-1 zone inside Washington Grove town: main building setbacks.

  • Main building: front 25 ft, sum of two sides 20 ft (each side 10 ft; 15 ft if adjacent to street), rear 15 ft.
  • Accessory building: front 50 ft, side 10 ft if over 15 ft high or 5 ft if under 15 ft high, rear 7 ft.
  • Section 3.14 is referenced for these setbacks and was not opened.

  front setback, main building: >= 25 feet · rear setback, main building: >= 15 feet

  “main building front 25 25 30 30 none side: sum of two sides 20 20 30 30 20 each side 10 10 15 15 none if side is adjacent to street 15 15 15 15 25 rear 15 10 30 30 25 accessory building front 50 60 50 50 none side if height is over 15 feet 10 4 10 10 none if height is under 15 feet 5 4 5 5 none if side is adjacent to street 15 10 15 15 none rear 7 5 7 7 25”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — RR-2 zone inside Washington Grove town: main building setbacks.

    “main building front 25 25 30 30 none side: sum of two sides 20 20 30 30 20 each side 10 10 15 15 none if side is adjacent to street 15 15 15 15 25 rear 15 10 30 30 25”

• Lot coverageDistrict specific (with conditions)

  RR-1 zone inside Washington Grove town: maximum ground covered by buildings.

  • Accessory buildings may cover up to 25% of rear yard in RR-1.

  maximum building ground coverage: <= 25 percent of lot

  “maximum ground covered by buildings all buildings (as % of lot) 25 40 25 25 70 accessory buildings (as % of rear yard) 25 30 25 25 none”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — RR-2 zone inside Washington Grove town: maximum ground covered by buildings.

    “maximum ground covered by buildings all buildings (as % of lot) 25 40 25 25 70 accessory buildings (as % of rear yard) 25 30 25 25 none”

• Building heightDistrict specific (with conditions)

  RR-1 zone inside Washington Grove town: main building height.

  • Main building maximum 2.5 stories or 30 feet.
  • Accessory building maximum 1.5 stories or 20 feet.

  main building maximum height: <= 30 feet

  “maximum height main building stories 2.5 2 2.5 2.5 2 feet 30 30 30 30 40 accessory building stories 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 feet 20 20 20 20 20”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — RR-2 zone inside Washington Grove town: main building height.

    “maximum height main building stories 2.5 2 2.5 2.5 2 feet 30 30 30 30 40 accessory building stories 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 feet 20 20 20 20 20”

• Accessory dwellingsAllowed (with conditions)

  Accessory dwelling units on land inside Washington Grove town.

  • Ordinance 2023-08 amended a number of sections to permit construction and rental of ADUs; the ADU standards were not opened.
  • Under section 2.113, not more than one main building consisting of one dwelling unit may be located on any one lot.

  “ordinance 2023-08 (pdf), effective april 25, 2024, updated a number of sections to permit the construction and rental of accessory dwelling units (adus).”

• Mandatory utility hookupSewer (with conditions)

  New buildings inside Washington Grove town: the plan must show provisions for connection to the WSSC sewer system.

  • The provision is a plan-content rule in the town code; it does not by itself state that connection is mandatory where sewer is unavailable.
  • No water-connection rule was found in the pages opened.

  “every plan for the erection of a new building must show thereon suitable provisions for connection to the washington suburban sanitary commission sewer system.”

• Permit processPartial

  Building permit applications for land inside Washington Grove town.

  • The application must contain the listed owner, lot, plat, and dimension information.
  • Montgomery County permit applications must be accompanied by the county form, with a copy of the approved county permit and plans provided to the town.
  • Process timing and review steps were not confirmed.

  “applications for building permits must be submitted to the washington grove planning commission for approval.”

Still unanswered

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

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permit exemption inside Washington Grove town.
• Inspections — Building inspections for construction inside Washington Grove town.
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new homes inside Washington Grove town.
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling size inside Washington Grove town.
• Living in an RV — RV occupancy on private land inside Washington Grove town.

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.