Site plans in Maryland

What makes a Maryland site plan different

Maryland has no statewide site plan approval and no state land use permit. Site plan approval sits with the 23 counties, Baltimore City and the incorporated municipalities. What sets the state apart is how many state programs attach conditions to a plan before the local body can sign it. Five of them change the drawing itself.

1. A 1,000-foot overlay decides waterfront parcels

The Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area covers land within 1,000 feet of tidal waters and tidal wetlands, under Natural Resources Article Title 8 Subtitle 18 and COMAR Title 27 ^{[1, 8]}. Land is classed as an Intensely Developed Area (IDA), Limited Development Area (LDA) or Resource Conservation Area (RCA), based on land uses existing on December 1, 1985 for the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area and June 1, 2002 for the Atlantic Coastal Bays ^[1]. The Critical Area measures lot coverage, not just impervious area: gravel, stone, shell, impermeable decking, pavers and permeable pavement all count ^[1]. The minimum buffer is 100 feet landward from mean high water, the landward edge of tidal wetlands or the top of bank of tributary streams, and it may be expanded to as much as 300 feet for contiguous sensitive areas, highly erodible soils or steep slopes ^[9].

Anne Arundel County states the working numbers: LDA and RCA development must hold impervious surface to between 15 and 31 percent of the site, a minimum 100 foot buffer applies, forest clearing is limited and replaced, and unforested developments must establish 15 percent of the site in forest ^[10]. IDA development is subject to the 10% Rule, a pollutant load reduction requirement ^[11]. A classification changes only through growth allocation, from a reserve equal to five percent of the jurisdiction's RCA land less federal property and tidal wetlands, and Habitat Protection Area requirements survive the change ^[8]. The county does not have the last word: in Smith v. County Commissioners of Kent County the Court of Appeals held that a county's growth allocation approval is not a final action subject to judicial review, because the Critical Area Commission may modify, reject, delay or preclude it ^[12]. On a waterfront parcel the lot coverage cap and the buffer, not the base zoning, usually set the yield.

2. Forest conservation reaches almost every commercial parcel

The Forest Conservation Act applies to any project of 40,000 square feet or more that requires a subdivision, grading or sediment control permit; those projects submit a Forest Stand Delineation and a Forest Conservation Plan for approval before proceeding ^[2]. 40,000 square feet is 0.92 acre, so very few commercial site plans fall below it. Under COMAR 08.19.03.01, "forest" means a biological community dominated by trees and other woody plants covering 10,000 square feet or more, and a tract with less than 15 percent of its net tract area in forest must be afforested up to at least 15 percent for specified land use categories ^[13]. That planting obligation comes out of the developable area, and it bites hardest on cleared farmland and vacant commercial pads. The Forest Preservation and Retention Act of 2023 (SB 526 / HB 723) revised the framework, and the Legislative Services analysis notes the holding in CBF v. CREG Westport Developers I that a forest conservation plan approval with a variance was a final decision appealable to the circuit court ^[14]. Local names differ: Frederick County calls its program the Forest Resource Ordinance, and Harford County administers it under Chapter 267 Article VI of its Zoning Code.

3. Stormwater is settled in the layout, not the pond

The Stormwater Management Act of 2007 (Environment Article §§4-201 to 4-215) and COMAR 26.17.02 require Environmental Site Design (ESD) to the maximum extent practicable, with structural practices only where absolutely necessary ^[15]. COMAR 26.17.02.02 defines that standard as exhausting all reasonable opportunities for ESD planning techniques and treatment practices ^[16]. COMAR 26.17.02.08 then requires every county and municipal ordinance to make the developer demonstrate ESD, including maintaining 100 percent of the average annual predevelopment groundwater recharge volume and limiting soil disturbance, mass grading and compaction ^[3]. Baltimore County describes the state-mandated sequence as three submissions, the concept, development and final stormwater plans ^[17]; it adds a 50 percent impervious reduction, or equivalent water quality management, for redevelopment, and issues no grading or building permit until the sediment control and stormwater plans are signed ^[18]. The engineer of record designs the ESD practices; the preliminary layout has to leave room for them from the first draft, which is why stormwater as a site plan variable matters more here than in most states.

4. Two counties approve site plans through a bi-county commission

In Montgomery and Prince George's counties the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), not county government, holds site plan approval. In Montgomery the Planning Board approves the site plan after preliminary plan approval and before building permits issue, and the Planning Board hearing must occur within 120 days of intake acceptance ^[19]. Building permits issue from the Department of Permitting Services, which enforces the Certified Site Plan under a memorandum of understanding, with forest conservation excluded ^[20]. In Prince George's the Planning Board approves site plans, permits issue from the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement, and M-NCPPC checks permit plans for zoning conformance ^[21]. Montgomery adds a parallel utility clock: WSSC will not process the utility application until the applicant has submitted a Hydraulic Planning Analysis through WSSC's own ProjectDox review and cleared prescreen ^[22].

5. State highway access waits for local approval

A permit from MDOT SHA is required for any access onto a State highway, and SHA approves the location, design geometry, drainage requirements and paving cross section of the entrance ^[23]. SHA directs developers to begin local development approval before submitting anything to Access Management, with the local planning and zoning office forwarding the submittal to SHA; access submittals go to the District Engineer ^[24]. Local reviewers often want SHA's position before they sign, so the entrance has to be settled early, and the permit clock starts later than many schedules assume.

Approval layers: local, state and federal

The local sequence usually runs concept, preliminary, then final or site development plan ^{[19, 29]}. A mid-size commercial plan typically moves in this order:

1. Concept and feasibility: zoning, Critical Area status, forest stand delineation scope and the ESD concept ^{[1, 2, 3]}.
2. Pre-application with the local planning office; Montgomery requires a pre-submission meeting for sketch plans ^[30].
3. Forest Stand Delineation and Forest Conservation Plan approved before the project proceeds ^[2].
4. Concept, development and final stormwater plans in sequence ^[17].
5. The local filing, then a hearing or an administrative decision.
6. Parallel reviews: the Joint Federal/State Application to MDE, SHA access through the local planning office, and WSSC in Montgomery ^{[27, 24, 22]}.
7. The 20-CP Notice of Intent, then the building permit from the county permitting agency ^[4].

For how the concept, preliminary and final stages differ, see preliminary vs final site plan.

Who prepares, seals and submits

All three design boards sit under the Maryland Department of Labor.

COMAR 09.21.02.03 also lets a Maryland architect seal prototype standard drawings prepared by an out-of-State architect, where the Maryland licensee reviewed, adopted, coordinated and integrated them; that matters for national retail, quick-service and fuel rollouts ^[33]. At its October 2025 meeting the surveying board discussed fraud and the misuse of surveyor seals obtained through online platforms ^[35].

Local reviewers restate the rule. Howard County's Site Development Plan process requires a Maryland registered engineer or architect to prepare the plans and supplemental documents, including the forest stand delineation and conservation plan, wetlands analysis, floodplain study, noise study, sight distance analysis, storm drain and retaining wall computations and the adequate public facilities road test ^[36]. Worcester County's Technical Review Committee comments require a Maryland registered architect to seal plans ^[37].

A preliminary site plan is the layout those professionals build on: the disposition, buildings, drives, parking, pads and units, and the yield, organized with a site data table that tests coverage, setbacks and parking against the zoning and the Critical Area. The studio holds no seal. The client's engineer of record adds the ESD and stormwater design, the erosion and sediment control plan, the SWPPP, the SHA entrance design and the utility work; the qualified professional of record prepares the forest stand delineation and conservation plan; the surveyor supplies the boundary and topographic base. Who prepares a site plan sets out the split.

Statewide overlays

Top jurisdictions: process, fees and timelines

Montgomery's site plan fees vary by project specification, and Montgomery Planning publishes the schedule ^[19]. For the Washington suburbs as a market, see the Washington, D.C. metro analysis.

Asset registries for the classes the studio plans

The Lee County, Florida marina model project shows how slip counts and water depth shape a marina plan, and marina and coastal overlay requirements covers the federal layer that sits over the MDE license.

Timelines and bottlenecks

• SHA sequencing. SHA wants local approval first and routes submittals through the local planning office, while local reviewers often want SHA's position before they sign ^[24]. The entrance is settled with the District Engineer's office early.
• Forest conservation scheduled late. In Harford County the concept plan cannot be approved until the forest stand delineation is approved. Statewide, a project over the threshold submits the delineation and conservation plan for approval before proceeding ^[2]. Afforestation to 15 percent of net tract area comes out of the plan if it is found late ^[13].
• Environmental concept approval as a gate. Worcester County requires stormwater concept approval before Technical Review Committee review at Step II ^[62]; Baltimore County bars grading and building permits until the sediment control and stormwater plans are signed ^[18]; Carroll County requires an approved Environmental Site Delineation before site plan submittal ^[61].
• Adequate public facilities. Howard County places a residential SDP on hold where housing unit allocations or school capacity are unavailable ^[36].
• Growth allocation. A county's approval is not final until the Critical Area Commission acts ^[12].
• Utility clocks. In Montgomery the WSSC Hydraulic Planning Analysis must clear prescreen before the utility application is processed ^[22].

Proof points: decisions on the record

• Growth allocation is not final at the county. Smith v. County Commissioners of Kent County holds that a county's growth allocation approval is not a final action, because the Critical Area Commission may still modify, reject, delay or preclude it ^[12].
• Forest conservation approvals can be litigated. CBF v. CREG Westport Developers I treated a Harford County forest conservation plan approval with a variance as a final decision appealable to the circuit court ^[14].
• Anne Arundel County's own expectation. The county tells applicants that first-submittal approval is rare and to assume a minimum of 180 days per stage, at both stages ^[6]; read together, a two-stage commercial plan carries two of those cycles.
• Grading ahead of architecture. Prince George's detailed site plan for infrastructure covers grading, stormwater management, tree conservation areas, sediment and erosion control and utilities, and lets that work proceed before the regular detailed site plan ^[46].
• Seal misuse on the board's agenda. The surveying board's October 2025 meeting addressed surveyor seals obtained through online platforms ^[35].

Where a preliminary plan fits in Maryland

Maryland jurisdictions run defined early stages: Montgomery's sketch and pre-preliminary plans, Baltimore County's concept plan and Community Input Meeting, Anne Arundel's sketch plan, Harford's concept plan and Charles County's conceptual subdivision plan before the Planning Commission ^{[30, 47, 29, 58, 59]}. Each stage asks the same first questions: what fits outside the buffer and under the lot coverage cap, how much forest the plan keeps or plants, where ESD practices sit, and how many units or square feet remain. A site plan drawn at that stage answers them before the engineering spend, and the same drawing goes to the lender and the general contractor for pricing. The site plan consultant and site plan architect pages explain how the studio works with the engineer and architect of record, and where unsealed site plans are accepted sets out which review stages take a concept plan before the sealed set.

Neighboring regimes differ: Delaware adds a state pre-application review, and West Virginia leaves zoning optional in most counties. Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia border the state as well. The full list is on service areas.

By Viola Sauer, Principal, Innowave Studio