Oldtown

Allegany County (Western Maryland, county seat Cumberland, ~65,000 residents; Appalachian Plateau in the upper Potomac watershed) regulates land use through the Allegany County Code Chapter 360 (Land Development), Part 4 (Zoning, Articles XIII through XXII), originally adopted by the Board of County Commissioners 9-25-1981, effective 10-26-1981 (Ch. 141 of the 1984 Code). Accessory dwelling units are governed by a discrete code section — Chapter 360, Article XVI (Supplementary Use Regulations), § 360-87 (Accessory dwelling units) — with the cross-cutting accessory-structure setback and yard rules in Chapter 360, Article XVIII, § 360-129. Allegany County is one of only a handful of Maryland counties that does NOT impose countywide zoning on every unincorporated parcel; outside the limited zoned districts, agricultural and forested parcels are subject to building, floodplain, sediment-and-erosion, and stormwater regulation but not use-district zoning. The separately-mapped LaVale Zoning District (unincorporated, west of Cumberland) is the legacy LaVale Zoning Ordinance carried forward by Allegany County Code Chapter 131 — administered by Allegany County in the same manner as Ch. 360 Part 4. The City of Cumberland (county seat, ~20,000 residents), the City of Frostburg (~8,500 residents), the Town of Westernport, the Town of Lonaconing, the Town of Luke, the Town of Midland, and the Town of Barton operate their own municipal zoning codes; the county code does not reach inside their corporate limits. Maryland's statewide ADU preemption — HB 1466 / SB 891 (2025), effective 2025-10-01 with a 2026-10-01 local-compliance deadline — establishes a state ADU floor that Chapter 360 § 360-87 must conform to.

• Allegany County Code Chapter 360 (Land Development), Part 4 Zoning, Article XVI § 360-87 (Accessory dwelling units)
• Allegany County Code Chapter 360, Part 4 Zoning, Article XV § 360-80 (Table of Permissible Uses)
• Allegany County Code Chapter 131 (LaVale Zoning District)
• Maryland Accessory Dwelling Units (Small Houses) Act of 2025 — HB 1466 / SB 891

State-floor overlay: Maryland HB 1466 / SB 891 (2025) establishes a state ADU floor: counties and municipalities cannot prohibit or unreasonably restrict ADUs on lots with a primary single-family-detached dwelling, and the unit may not exceed 75% of the primary dwelling's size. Allegany County Chapter 360 § 360-87 must conform by 2026-10-01.

Allegany County is a non-coastal, mountainous Appalachian-Plateau county. The most consequential ADU overlay regulation is the FEMA NFIP floodplain administered by the county under Chapter 325 (Floodplain Management) — the Potomac River and its tributaries (Wills Creek, Evitts Creek, Georges Creek) cut through the central county and produce mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas along the river corridors and in downtown Cumberland (Cumberland experienced a catastrophic 1936 flood; floodwall infrastructure was completed 1959). The Chesapeake Bay Critical Area does NOT apply (Allegany County is upstream of tidal water). Allegany County is NOT in California's coastal-commission regime (irrelevant) and does NOT have a state-administered coastal zone. Wildland-fire risk is moderate (substantial state and federal forest land — Green Ridge State Forest, Savage River State Forest, portions of the Potomac State Forest, plus C&O Canal NHP); no county-administered WUI overlay analogous to California's State Responsibility Areas, but Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service issues open-burning advisories and the county's Building Code (Ch. 255) regulates construction in interface areas through fire-resistance assemblies in the IRC. Historic-district overlays exist within incorporated Cumberland (Downtown Cumberland Historic District; Washington Street Historic District), but those are city-administered, not county-administered. The County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program; CRS class status should be confirmed at intake.

• flood-zone
• other
• historic-district

Allegany County issues residential building permits for parcels in unincorporated territory through a combined Building Permit + Land-Use Permit process administered by the Allegany County Department of Community Services, Planning & Zoning Division. As stated on the county's Building Permits page: 'Within the jurisdiction of Allegany County, Unincorporated, a Building Permit is always combined with the Land Use Permit.' Beginning 2025-01-01, all Building and Land-Use permit applications are submitted online through Cloudpermit (https://us.cloudpermit.com/login). The Building Permit governs Maryland Building Performance Standards (currently adopting the 2006 IBC / 2006 IRC with state and local amendments, codified as Allegany County Code § 255 — the 2007 Building Code of Allegany County); the Land-Use Permit governs structural placement, ground grading, and environmental concerns. Allegany County does NOT employ in-house building inspectors — 'inspections are conducted by private, third party inspection agencies,' arranged and paid for by the applicant or contractor. This is unusual for Maryland and shifts inspection cost and scheduling outside the county fee schedule. ADU plan review is processed as a residential building permit with a zoning-compliance check under Chapter 360 § 360-87 (for parcels in a zoning district) or as a building-only permit for parcels outside any zoning district. On-site sewage (OSDS) permits for non-sewered parcels are issued by the Allegany County Health Department; this is the most common path for rural ADUs given the county's limited sewer reach (Cumberland, Frostburg, LaVale Sanitary District, and the corridors along US 220 and MD 36).