Maryland limits local building rules near rail stations with frequent service

Local governments must allow mixed-use development, which combines homes with shops, offices, or recreation, and generally cannot require a minimum number of off-street parking spaces. Parking limits cover residential or mixed-use projects within one-quarter mile of a rail station. Mixed-use zoning applies within one-half mile. Stations must average at least hourly service from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Both rules exclude college-campus stations, properties partly outside the applicable distance, and areas zoned for single-family homes on January 1, 2026. Parking minimums remain allowed with a data-supported local parking study completed within three years before the development application and agreement from the Maryland Department of Transportation. The Maryland Department of Transportation must decide within 45 days after receiving the study findings. No decision within that period counts as agreement. The mixed-use rule covers residential land and appropriate commercial land. Local environmental, health, safety, and public-facility rules remain in place. The rules take effect October 1, 2026. The mixed-use requirement applies only to rezonings or actions by local elected bodies on or after that date.

Local governments cannot impose land-use categories, height limits, setbacks, or similar restrictions on covered transportation land. The rule covers land used for transportation and owned by Maryland, Baltimore City, or the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. It must adjoin a rail station averaging at least hourly service from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Maryland Department of Transportation must approve a transit development plan prepared in coordination with the local government. Local governments retain authority over environmental protections, public health and safety, and rules requiring adequate public facilities. This limit on local authority takes effect October 1, 2026.

If neither related law takes effect, counties and municipalities must delay collecting covered building taxes and fees that help pay for public facilities. Covered projects combine homes with other uses in officially designated transit development areas. Rail service must average at least hourly from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. The rule covers counties and municipalities legally imposing these charges. Section 3 takes effect only if neither Chapter 590 nor Chapter 591 becomes effective. If either becomes effective, Section 3 is void. Collection generally waits until construction is complete and occupancy-permit requirements are met. Payment can be required before a final inspection, but no more than 30 days before it. The delay excludes charges imposed to finance county debt incurred on or before January 1, 2026. Local governments may deny, withhold, or revoke permission to occupy the project if payment is overdue under a reasonable deadline they set. The conditional collection rule has an October 1, 2026, effective date.

Eligible newly designated transit development areas automatically receive enterprise-zone status, which places them under state business-incentive rules, unless the responsible local planning body opts out. Areas must be officially designated for transit-oriented development and served by rail averaging at least hourly service from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. For areas designated before October 1, 2026, the local government or multicounty planning agency that requested the transit designation may choose enterprise-zone status. For areas designated on or after October 1, 2026, that body may opt out at designation by writing to the Sustainable Growth Subcabinet. The usual limit on the number of enterprise zones does not block these designations. The rules take effect October 1, 2026. Different local choices apply based on whether the transit area was designated before that date or on or after it.

The Maryland Economic Development Corporation must prioritize redevelopment of covered public land beside rail stations when making infrastructure program loans. The priority applies under the Strategic Infrastructure Revolving Loan Program to land adjoining rail stations and owned by Maryland, Baltimore City, or the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Priority does not guarantee loan approval or funding. The loan priority takes effect October 1, 2026.