Zoning

The Purpose of Zoning

Zoning in the City of Hagerstown regulates the use of land and structures to promote the public health, safety, and welfare of all citizens.

The city is divided into various zoning districts to direct certain land-use activities into specific areas. There are a variety of residential, commercial, mixed-use, and industrial classifications, as well as special overlay districts for the conversion of non-residential properties, planned developments, and historic districts. The following are the zoning districts in the city:

  • AT – Agricultural Transition.

    It allows limited residential, some limited Ag-related commercial, and whatever farming was occurring on the land when the property was annexed into the city. At present, we have one AT-zoned property, a single-family home on Jefferson Blvd.

  • RMOD – Residential, Moderate Density.

    Single-family and two-family neighborhoods on the city's outer edges (e.g., North End, South End, Greenwich Park, outer part of the West End, Carroll Heights).

  • RMED – Residential, Medium Density.

    More dense single-family, two-family and townhouse neighborhoods between the outer edges and downtown and also in newer developments at the outer edges of the city (e.g., inner West End, between downtown and North End, East End, S. Prospect Street, Londowntowne, Hager’s Crossing, Collegiate Acres, Cortland Manor, Cortland Villas).

  • RH – Residential, High Density.

    A higher-density residential neighborhood that allows all types of housing but has typically been where new apartment complexes are built (e.g., Cortpark, Longmeadow Apartments, Bradford Manor, Summerland Manor, The Reserve at Collegiate Acres, Kenley Village, etc.).

  • RO – Residential Office.

    Relatively high density residential with some office mixed-in district. Usually an area with large old homes converted to apartments or offices (e.g., N. Potomac Street north of Church Street, King Street, S. Potomac Street south of Baltimore Street).

  • CC-MU – City Center Mixed-Use.

    The downtown area allows dense mixing of residential, commercial, and light manufacturing uses in the same neighborhood.

  • N-MU – Neighborhood Mixed-Use.

    A mixed-use zoning district that allows a less intense version of the CC-MU (E Baltimore Street, Potomac/Oak Hill triangle).

  • CL – Commercial Local.

    Low intensity neighborhood commercial area (e.g., corner of Cleveland and Jefferson, south side of Washington Square, west side of Pennsylvania Avenue below cemetery, etc.).

  • CG – Commercial General.

    It allows all types of commercial uses except big box retail (e.g., Dual Highway, Eastern Boulevard, Best Buy shopping center, South End shopping center, Railway Lane, etc.).

  • CR – Commercial Regional.

    Allows commercial uses typically found in regional shopping center, including big box retail – over 75,000 sf (e.g., the Center at Hagerstown, Longmeadow Shopping Center, Stone House Square, Wesel Boulevard commercial area, Martin’s shopping center on Dual Highway, etc.)

  • POM – Professional Office Mixed-Use.

    It is mainly an office park area with limited retail and restaurants permitted (e.g., Light Business Park, MKS Business Park, Florida Avenue, Mill Street, E. Antietam east of Cannon, etc.).

  • I-MU – Industrial Mixed-Use.

    Allows blending of lower intensity industrial with some amount of commercial.

  • IR – Industrial Restricted.

    It allows offices and less intense manufacturing and warehousing. It is usually located adjacent to residential (e.g., Lee and Sycamore Street area, N. Prospect Street, Prospect Avenue, MD 58 west of I-81, Industrial Park).

  • IG – Industrial General.

    Allows our most intense industrial operations (e.g., E. First Street, Mitchell Avenue, old railroad properties, Hagerstown Business Park, land behind South End shopping center, etc.).

  • INST - Institutional

    . A zone reserved for public and not-for-profit uses on more significant properties and campuses, such as parks, schools, cemeteries, and medical facilities.

  • PUD – Planned Unit Development.

    An overlay zone that is approved with a plan of development (through a public hearing process) that allows for mixing of residential densities and a limited amount of commercial uses. Hager’s Crossing is a PUD. This can no longer be requested.

  • PUD-V – Planned Unit Development.

    An overlay zone that is approved with a plan of development (through a public hearing process) for mixed use developments designed in a village format on a central green, and includes a mixture of commercial uses and varying housing types. Overlay must be at least 10 acres.

  • PUD-R – Planned Unit Development.

    An overlay zone that is approved with a plan of development (through a public hearing process) for mixed use developments designed on a "main street" design, mixing commercial, light industrial and varying housing types, including "main street" buildings with upper level apartments, that is the focal point of the surrounding area. Overlay must be at least 15 acres in area.

  • C – Conversion District.

    An overlay zone that is approved with a plan of development (through a public hearing process) for adaptive reuse of a multi-story, older non-residential building in certain zoning districts. The old factories on Pope Avenue and in City Park are Conversion Districts.

  • LC – Local Conversion District.

    An overlay zone approved with a development plan (through a public hearing process) for small, non-conforming buildings in residential areas. This overlay zone was approved for Potomac Dental on Potomac Avenue.

  • HD – Historic District.

    An overlay zone over historic neighborhoods that requires review and approval of exterior building plans by the City’s Historic District Commission. The City has four local historic districts – downtown, S. Prospect Street, Potomac-Broadway, and Oak Hill.

  • L- Landmark.

    An overlay zone for a single historic property that requires review and approval of exterior building plans by the City’s Historic District Commission. The City has seven local landmarks – Alms House, stone house next to old Giant Eagle shopping center, and five privately-owned residential properties.

All development within the city must conform to the standards established per the Zoning Ordinance and the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (Articles 4 and 5 of the Land Management Code, respectively). The Land Management Code establishes issues like setbacks, building heights, lot area, buffers, and other requirements.

Rezoning Requests

Property owners who feel that their neighborhood's character has changed or that a mistake has been made in the original zoning of their parcel may apply for a Rezoning to change the classification to reflect the character of the neighborhood and/or parcel. This process involves public hearings before the Planning Commission and the Mayor. Approval of the overlay zones follows this process, although without the “change or mistake” basis for approval required for regular rezonings.

Appeals

Everyone has the right to appeal the findings of the zoning administrator to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). In addition, if something unique about the property creates a hardship for the owner, a Variance to setback, etc., requirements can be sought from the BZA. Those uses identified as Special Exception in the various zoning districts must be approved by the BZA through a “no worse on this property than any other similarly zoned property” test.


Related Resources

Contact Us

For further explanation of what a particular zoning designation means, please contact the Planning Office at (301) 739-8577, extension 138, or email planning@hagerstownmd.org.