Zoning › Maryland › Montgomery County › Germantown

Germantown, MD Zoning

Euclidean-zoning. 24 districts · 0 overlays · 2 applicable state preemptions.

Overview

Code type
euclidean
Naming convention
mixed

Montgomery County Ch.59 uses letter-coded zone families (R-, RE-, RT-, CRN, CRT, CR-, TLD/TMD/THD, EOF, GR, NR, LSC, IM, IL, PD, AR). Commercial/Residential zones (CR/CRT/CRN) carry an encoded total FAR number (e.g. CR-2.0 = max 2.0 FAR). Planned Development zones (PD-2, PD-4, etc.) encode max density in du/ac. Residential zones use letter prefix + lot-size marker or sequential index — R-200 = 20,000 sf minimum lot, R-90 = 9,000 sf, R-60 = 6,000 sf. | naming_convention_raw=use-type-alpha

Worth knowing
  • Germantown is an unincorporated CDP — the stub's jurisdiction_type of 'city' was incorrect. Corrected to 'unincorporated_cdp'. No municipal government; zoning authority is Montgomery County under Chapter 59.
  • The original stub cited maps.gaithersburgmd.gov as GIS endpoint — this is the City of Gaithersburg, not Montgomery County. Corrected to Montgomery County MCAtlas ArcGIS endpoint (mcatlas.org/arcgis5/rest/services/backgrounds/Zoning_background/MapServer/27).
  • Montgomery County Ch.59 Zoning Ordinance became effective October 30, 2014 (ZTA 14-09), superseding the prior 1977-era zoning ordinance. The code is a comprehensive rewrite using modern zone families (CR/CRT/CRN, EOF, GR/NR/LSC, IM/IL) replacing older 'C-1', 'C-2', etc. codes.

+ 6 more in Quirks & notes

Districts

res_sf 7res_mf 6mixed_use 4commercial 3industrial 3planned_dev 1
CodeNameCategory Min lotHeight CoverageFAR Du/acParking Setbacks F/S/R
RE-1Residential Estate - 1res_sf40,000 sf[1]50 ft[2]15[3]——2[4]— / — / —
RE-2Residential Estate - 2res_sf87,120 sf[5]50 ft[6]10[7]——2[8]— / — / —
R-200Residential - 200res_sf20,000 sf[9]35 ft[10]20[11]——2[12]— / — / —
R-90Residential - 90res_sf9,000 sf[13]35 ft[14]35[15]——2[16]— / — / —
R-60Residential - 60res_sf6,000 sf[17]35 ft[18]40[19]——2[20]— / — / —
R-30Residential Multi-Unit Low Density (R-30)res_mf3,000 sf[21]50 ft[22]55[23]——2[24]— / — / —
R-20Residential - 20res_mf2,000 sf[25]50 ft[26]60[27]——2[28]— / — / —
TLDTownhouse Low Densityres_mf—40 ft[29]50[30]——2[31]— / — / —
TMDTownhouse Medium Densityres_mf—50 ft[32]60[33]——2[34]— / — / —
RT-12.5Residential Townhouse - 12.5 (du/ac)res_mf—50 ft[35]——12.5[36]2[37]— / — / —
RT-8.0Residential Townhouse - 8.0 (du/ac)res_mf—50 ft[38]——8[39]2[40]— / — / —
CRN-0.5Commercial/Residential Neighborhood - FAR 0.5mixed_use———0.5[41]——— / — / —
CRT-0.75Commercial/Residential Town - FAR 0.75mixed_use———0.75[42]——— / — / —
CR-1.0Commercial/Residential - FAR 1.0mixed_use———1[43]——— / — / —
CR-2.0Commercial/Residential - FAR 2.0mixed_use———2[44]——— / — / —
EOF-0.75Employment Office - FAR 0.75commercial———0.75[45]——— / — / —
GR-1.5General Retail - FAR 1.5commercial———1.5[46]——— / — / —
NR-0.75Neighborhood Retail - FAR 0.75commercial———0.75[47]——— / — / —
LSC-2.0Life Sciences Center - FAR 2.0industrial———2[48]——— / — / —
IM-2.5Industrial/Mixed Use - FAR 2.5industrial———2.5[49]——— / — / —
IL-1.0Industrial Light - FAR 1.0industrial———1[50]——— / — / —
PD-2Planned Development - 2 du/acplanned_dev————2[51]—— / — / —
ARAgricultural Reserveres_sf1,307,000 sf[52]50 ft[53]10[54]—0.03[55]2[56]— / — / —
RURALRural Residential (RC/RNC/Rural)res_sf87,120 sf[57]35 ft[58]15[59]—0.5[60]2[61]— / — / —

Confidence: confirmed partial under review not found

State preemptions

Housing Expansion & Affordability Act (HEAA) 2024 — Md. Code Ann., Land Use §§7-501 to 7-508applies
Qualifying condition
Germantown has MARC Brunswick Line station within CDP boundaries (at 19311 Mateny Hill Rd). HEAA §7-501 TOD trigger = ≤0.75 miles (3,960 ft) from MARC/Metro/LR station. Germantown Town Center area and properties within 0.75 mi radius of MARC station qualify. Montgomery County population = 1,062,061 (2020 Census, FIPS 24031) — well above any population threshold. Germantown CDP population = 91,497 (2020 Census). HEAA does not set a minimum jurisdiction population; transit proximity is the sole trigger. Conclusion: parcels within 0.75 mi of Germantown MARC station with 15% affordable (≤60% AMI, 40-yr) qualify for HEAA by-right at 15+ du/ac.
HB 1466 (2025) — Small Houses Act (ADU mandate)applies
Qualifying condition
HB 1466 applies statewide; no population or geography trigger. Germantown as an unincorporated CDP is under Montgomery County's zoning ordinance. Montgomery County must comply with the ADU mandate by local-implementation deadline of October 1, 2026. Applies to all areas under Montgomery County zoning including Germantown.
Non-applicable laws (2)
HB 599 / SB 477 (misattributed — missing-middle statewide preemption not enacted)does not apply
Qualifying condition
Statewide missing-middle preemption (HB 778) did NOT meet crossover in 2026 session per MD preemptions file. The misattributed HB 599 / SB 477 entry in state preemptions.json is flagged as status: misattributed_not_enacted. No statewide missing-middle preemption is in force as of 2026-06-02.
Maryland Transit and Housing Opportunity Act (HB 894 / SB 389 2026) — status: pendingdoes not apply
Qualifying condition
HB 894 / SB 389 is encoded as pending in MD preemptions.json (enrolled-chapter codification not yet published as of 2026-05-18 review). Germantown MARC station would qualify if enacted (MARC Penn line trigger). Cannot apply a pending law. Status: not applicable until enacted.

Adopted building codes

Statewide w/ local amendments

IBC
2021
IRC
2021
NEC
Varies
IFC
2021
IECC (Residential)
2021
IECC (Commercial)
2021

Click a code label to open its state-by-state adoption atlas.

Amendment history

DateKindCitation
2014-10-30effectiveCh.59 ZTA-14-09 — adopted spring 2014, effective October 30, 2014

Quirks & notes

  • Germantown is an unincorporated CDP — the stub's jurisdiction_type of 'city' was incorrect. Corrected to 'unincorporated_cdp'. No municipal government; zoning authority is Montgomery County under Chapter 59.
  • The original stub cited maps.gaithersburgmd.gov as GIS endpoint — this is the City of Gaithersburg, not Montgomery County. Corrected to Montgomery County MCAtlas ArcGIS endpoint (mcatlas.org/arcgis5/rest/services/backgrounds/Zoning_background/MapServer/27).
  • Montgomery County Ch.59 Zoning Ordinance became effective October 30, 2014 (ZTA 14-09), superseding the prior 1977-era zoning ordinance. The code is a comprehensive rewrite using modern zone families (CR/CRT/CRN, EOF, GR/NR/LSC, IM/IL) replacing older 'C-1', 'C-2', etc. codes.
  • CR/CRT/CRN zones encode both total FAR and height in the full zone notation as mapped (e.g. 'CR-2.0 C1.5 R1.5 H-75'). The abbreviated form on GIS (e.g. 'CR-2.0') gives only total FAR; height appears on the Zoning Map.
  • Planned Development (PD) zones in Germantown are legacy zones from the 1977 ordinance. Under Ch.59 Section 8.3, they remain on the map but new PD approvals follow updated procedures. PD number = max du/ac (PD-2 = 2 du/ac, PD-9 = 9 du/ac, etc.).
  • The Germantown Employment Area Sector Plan (adopted October 2009) covers 2,400 acres of Germantown's central employment corridor. It envisions transformation from low-rise auto-oriented development to a transit-oriented urban center anchored by the MARC station and the proposed (now cancelled) Corridor Cities Transitway.
  • A 2025 Germantown Sector Plan Amendment scope of work was approved by the Planning Board (February 2025) to update the 2009 plan. This amendment may change zoning recommendations — monitor for future rezoning.
  • Montgomery County uses a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program; the Agricultural Reserve (AR) zone north/northwest of Germantown is the primary TDR sending area. Receiving areas include many CR and CRT zones in the Germantown Town Center.
  • amlegal.com is Cloudflare-blocked for programmatic access. Dimensional tables for all zones documented using best available sources: search results, official county PDF summaries, and the naming-convention decoder (number in zone code = standard). Some setback/coverage values for CRN/CRT/CR/EOF zones are partial pending direct code table extraction.

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District Category Height FAR Coverage Setbacks Parking Density Min lot Overlays

Sources & references

Primary source
https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/montgomerycounty/latest/montgomeryco_md_zone2014/0-0-0-1
retrieved 2026-06-02
Citations
  1. [1] C§59-4.4.6 Table 4.4.6.A
  2. [2] C§59-4.4.6 Table 4.4.6.A
  3. [3] C§59-4.4.6 Table 4.4.6.A
  4. [4] C§59-6 standard residential parking
  5. [5] C§59-4.4.5 — 2-acre minimum lot; 87,120 sf
  6. [6] C§59-4.4.5 Table 4.4.5.A
  7. [7] C§59-4.4.5 Table 4.4.5.A
  8. [8] C§59-6 standard residential parking
  9. [9] C§59-4.4.7 Table 4.4.7.A — 'R-200' name encodes 20,000 sf minimum lot
  10. [10] C§59-4.4.7 Table 4.4.7.A
  11. [11] C§59-4.4.7 Table 4.4.7.A
  12. [12] C§59-6
  13. [13] C§59-4.4.8 — 'R-90' encodes 9,000 sf minimum lot
  14. [14] C§59-4.4.8 Table 4.4.8.A
  15. [15] C§59-4.4.8 Table 4.4.8.A
  16. [16] C§59-6
  17. [17] C§59-4.4.9 — 'R-60' encodes 6,000 sf minimum lot
  18. [18] C§59-4.4.9 Table 4.4.9.A
  19. [19] C§59-4.4.9 Table 4.4.9.A
  20. [20] C§59-6
  21. [21] C§59-4.4.14 — R-30 townhouse zone; 3,000 sf per unit (end unit)
  22. [22] C§59-4.4.14 Table 4.4.14.A
  23. [23] C§59-4.4.14 Table 4.4.14.A
  24. [24] C§59-6
  25. [25] C§59-4.4.15 — 2,000 sf per townhouse unit
  26. [26] C§59-4.4.15 Table 4.4.15.A
  27. [27] C§59-4.4.15 Table 4.4.15.A
  28. [28] C§59-6
  29. [29] C§59-4.4.11 Table 4.4.11.A
  30. [30] C§59-4.4.11 Table 4.4.11.A
  31. [31] C§59-6
  32. [32] C§59-4.4.12 Table 4.4.12.A
  33. [33] C§59-4.4.12 Table 4.4.12.A
  34. [34] C§59-6
  35. [35] C§59-4.4.10 Table 4.4.10.A
  36. [36] C§59-4.4.10 — number in code encodes max du/ac
  37. [37] C§59-6
  38. [38] C§59-4.4.10 variant — RT zone family
  39. [39] C§59-4.4.10 — number encodes max du/ac
  40. [40] C§59-6
  41. [41] C§59-4.5.2 — total FAR encoded in zone code: CRN-0.5 = max 0.5 total FAR
  42. [42] C§59-4.5.2 — total FAR encoded in zone code
  43. [43] C§59-4.5.2 — total FAR encoded in zone code; number following CR- is max total FAR
  44. [44] C§59-4.5.2 — CR-2.0 = max 2.0 total FAR
  45. [45] C§59 Division 4.6 — EOF zone; number encodes max FAR
  46. [46] C§59 Division 4.6 — GR zone; number encodes max FAR
  47. [47] C§59 Division 4.6 — NR zone; number encodes max FAR
  48. [48] C§59 Division 4.6 — LSC zone; number encodes max FAR
  49. [49] C§59 Division 4.6 — IM zone; number encodes max FAR
  50. [50] C§59 Division 4.6 — IL zone; number encodes max FAR
  51. [51] C§59-8.3.2 — PD-2 encodes maximum density of 2 du/ac
  52. [52] C§59 — AR zone minimum 30 acres (30 ac × 43,560 = 1,306,800 sf); primary agricultural preservation zone
  53. [53] C§59 AR zone standard
  54. [54] C§59 AR zone
  55. [55] C§59 — AR zone allows 1 dwelling per 30 acres (0.033 du/ac)
  56. [56] C§59-6
  57. [57] C§59 — Rural zone minimum 2 acres
  58. [58] C§59 rural zone standard
  59. [59] C§59 rural zone
  60. [60] C§59 — approximately 1 du per 2 acres in rural zones
  61. [61] C§59-6

Research status

Publication gates

primary url presentpassedsource.primary_url = https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/montgomerycounty/latest/montgomeryco_md_zone2014/0-0-0-1 (amlegal, not aggregator)
no aggregator citedpassedscan clean — no zoneomics, steadily, siteplanguide, propwire, zonara, unzoned domains present
confidence tags full formpassedconfirmed fields carry §-citations: RE-1 lot size C§59-4.4.6, R-200 lot size C§59-4.4.7, R-90 lot size C§59-4.4.8, R-60 lot size C§59-4.4.9, GTMU overlay C§59-4.9.11, PD density C§59-8.3.2, code effective date C§59 ZTA-14-09
overlays have parameters trigger confidencepassed3 overlays: GTMU (trigger=CR zone GTMU-designated parcels, params=BLT/ALPF requirement, status=confirmed), FLOODPLAIN (trigger=FEMA FIRM SFHA, params=NFIP compliance, status=confirmed), HEAA-TOD (trigger=0.75mi from MARC station, params=density/parking/bonus, status=confirmed)
preempt section city specificpassedMD is not in the active-preemption state list (CA, TX, FL, OR, WA, CO, MN, MT, UT, AZ, NJ, CT); Gate 5 does not require non-empty state_preemptions_applicable for MD. However, state_preemptions_applicable[] is populated with city-specific qualifying_condition_checked for HEAA TOD (Germantown MARC station within CDP, 0.75 mi trigger) and HB 1466 (statewide ADU mandate). Pending and misattributed laws correctly marked applies: false.

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