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

Town of Pittsville’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  Uses marked 'P' (permissible) in the zoning use table inside Pittsville town

  • Construction may proceed after the building permit issued by the town.
  • Uses marked SE need a special exception from the board of appeals instead.
  • This is the zoning-side permit; the building-code permit process was not found.

  “the letter "p" means that the use is permissible in the indicated zone with a building permit issued by the town.”

• Local zoningPresent

  Land inside Pittsville town's corporate limits

  • The ordinance opened is the 2022-04 final PDF on the town website; its adoption date was not visible in the opened text.
  • Search results (not opened) list later amendments: Ordinance 2023-02 (special exception use in the Central Business District), Ordinance 2024-02 (zoning map amendment), and an Official Zoning Map dated 2026. These were not verified and must be checked before relying on the 2022 text.
  • A separate Town ordinance version dated 11/21/2022 also appeared in search results and was not opened.

  “this ordinance shall take effect and become enforceable immediately upon its adoption by the town commissioners of pittsville.”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Zoning districts of Pittsville town

  • Districts named in the 2022 ordinance tables: SR, CR, CM, MH, CBD, RC and MUE. Later map amendments were not verified.

  “§ 58. table of height, area, and bulk requirements. minimum lot requirements lot area per lot dwelling lot zoning district area unit width sr detached single-family dwellings 6,500”

• Minimum dwelling sizeSpecified

  Dwellings that qualify as a single-family dwelling under the Pittsville zoning definition

  • This is a definition threshold for what counts as a single-family dwelling, not a separate minimum-size standard for all dwellings.
  • Dwellings under 500 square feet do not meet this definition; how they are classified was not found in the opened text.

  minimum livable gross floor area, single-family dwelling: >= 500 square feet

  “single-family dwelling - a detached dwelling unit designed for or used exclusively for residential purposes by one family or housekeeping unit, having at least 500 square feet of livable gross floor area.”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Detached single-family dwellings in the SR Single-Family Residential district inside Pittsville town

  • Table of height, area, and bulk requirements (§ 58). The extracted text does not print the unit label for lot area; 'square feet' is inferred from the column heading and must be checked on the PDF.
  • The same row lists a dwelling-unit area of 6,500 and a lot width of 60; the two-family/duplex row is 7,000 lot area.
  • Lot-area rules for lots of record (§ 55) and lot-combination rules (§ 50) were not reviewed.

  minimum lot area, detached single-family (SR): >= 6500 square feet (inferred) (§ 55 lots of record and § 50 lot-combination rules not reviewed) · minimum lot width, detached single-family (SR): >= 60 feet (inferred)

  “sr detached single-family dwellings 6,500 6,500 60 two-family and duplex dwellings 7,000 3,500 65”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • District specific (with conditions) — Detached single-family dwellings in the CR Central Residential district inside Pittsville town

    “cr detached single-family dwellings 5,000 5,000 50 townhouse dwellings 2,000 2,000 20”

• Living in an RVProhibited

  Living, sleeping, or business use of a recreational vehicle that is parked or stored on residential property inside Pittsville town

  • Applies to parked or stored RVs. Temporary parking up to 10 days in any 30 consecutive days is allowed (§ 94.c).
  • Not more than one recreational vehicle may be parked or stored in the rear or side yard of a residential lot unless the planning commission approves (§ 94.b).
  • RVs must be owned by the occupant or owner of the property (§ 94.d).
  • The dwelling definition excludes an RV from the term 'dwelling'.
  • Use of an RV on a lot under some other lawful approval was not researched.

  temporary parking period: <= 10 days in aggregate per 30 consecutive days (§ 94.c temporary parking)

  “g. no parked or stored recreational vehicle may be used for living, sleeping, or business purposes.”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Manufactured homes used as a detached house in Pittsville town

  • Allowed as a detached house only where the manufactured home meets the standards in § 72 (manufactured homes, double-wide) and the other use-table rules.
  • The mobile home residential (MH) district is governed by § 78; its permissions were not verified.
  • The permissible-use table (§ 48.a) lists mobile, modular and manufactured homes; district columns in the extracted text are not reliably aligned, so zone-by-zone permission was not confirmed.

  “this category includes modular homes and manufactured homes that meet the standards outlined in § 72 standards.”

• Accessory dwellingsLimited

  Accessory dwelling units in the SR, CR and CM zoning districts inside Pittsville town

  • Permitted only in the SR, CR and CM districts.
  • No more than one accessory dwelling unit per lot.
  • An ADU may be on a lot with a detached single-family unit only; not on a lot with a two-family dwelling, townhouse or multi-family dwelling.
  • Must comply with the § 59 standards (location, design standards and others); the design subsections were only partly extracted.

  accessory dwelling units per lot: <= 1 units

  “an accessory dwelling unit shall be permitted in the sr, cr, and cm districts. there shall be no more than one accessory dwelling unit per lot”

Rules another office applies inside Town of Pittsville

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

• Septic permitRequired

  Septic systems installed on or repaired at properties inside Pittsville town

  • Statewide requirement; applies inside Pittsville town as it does elsewhere in Maryland.
  • A septic system construction permit must be obtained before the system is installed or repaired; the permit is administered through the Maryland OneStop portal.
  • Estimated application cost on the OneStop page is $150.00 to $500.00 (an estimate, not an official fee schedule).

  estimated application cost: 150.00 - 500.00 USD (estimated cost shown on OneStop page)

  “any individual or property owner who desires to have a sewage disposal (septic) system installed on their property or requiring repair to an existing system must get a septic system construction permit.”

Still unanswered

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

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption for work inside Pittsville town
• Building code adopted — Building code adopted for construction inside Pittsville town
• Inspections — Building inspections for construction inside Pittsville town
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificates of occupancy for new buildings inside Pittsville town
• Setbacks — Front, side and rear setbacks by district inside Pittsville 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.