It is the intent of this section to minimize
problems which may arise from animal uses in residential districts
and to provide suitable standards for protection of health, safety,
or welfare of residents and preservation of those districts from indiscriminate
raising of animals.
A. Animal uses in residential districts permitted:
(1) Livestock. Horses, cows, ponies, donkeys, burros and
other domestic animals may be kept, raised or bred for the use and
enjoyment of persons residing on the lot involved, provided that only
one such animal shall be permitted for each 15,000 square feet of
land area.
(2) Domestic pets. Cats, dogs, rabbits or other generally
recognized domestic pets may be kept or bred by persons residing on
the lot for their use and enjoyment.
(3) Fowl. Ducks, quail, turkeys, squabs or pigeons may
be raised for the use of persons residing on the lot involved.
(4) Animals, without qualification as to type or number,
may be kept, raised, bred and sold on any bona fide farm as defined
in this chapter.
(5) These permitted use provisions for animals in residential
districts are meant to apply only outside of the dwelling on an individual
lot and are not intended to restrict the type or number of animals
within a dwelling.
B. Uses prohibited: The keeping, raising or breeding
of any animals or fowl for sale as a business or commercial activity
is expressly prohibited under all circumstances.
C. Animal quarters. All enclosures shall be contained
entirely within the rear yard of a lot and shall be so constructed
as to provide maximum protection against noise and odor to adjacent
property.
D. Setback requirements. Animal enclosures shall be located
not less than five feet from an abutting rear property line or 10
feet from an abutting side property line.
Unless otherwise permitted or required by this
chapter:
A. Building materials or supplies, and stockpiles of
sand, gravel, stone or other materials, either in a natural or altered
state, shall be set back 25 feet from all property lines.
B. Outside storage for sales of equipment; machinery;
consignment sales; boats; mobile, modular or manufactured homes; utility
trailer and any other such items, excluding those parked in a parking
lot, as required by this chapter, shall be set back:
(1) Ten feet from all side and rear property lines; and
(2) Twenty-five feet from any property line abutting any
public accessway, including any nonaccess highway.
C. District requirements.
(1) C-1 Select Commercial and LB-2 Light Business and
Residential District. The outside storage of materials and open lot
display of any kind shall not be permitted.
(2) C-2 General Commercial and C-3 Regional Commercial
Districts. The unenclosed outside storage of used equipment, materials,
tires or inoperable vehicles shall be prohibited. All storage areas
shall be screened from view. Such prohibition shall not apply to the
outdoor display of merchandise.
D. See §
225-146 for landscaping of outside storage requirements.
E. Open top
storage structure.
[Added 10-4-2022 by Bill No. 2022-10]
(1) Definitions.
DAF RESIDUALS
Organic by-product material created at an animal processing
facility or rendering facility, including material collected by means
of a dissolved air flotation process.
LIQUID ORGANIC SOIL AMENDMENT
A State of Maryland approved liquid organic soil amendment
produced from poultry or animal processing or rendering process, including
DAF residuals via a dissolved air flotation process.
OPEN TOP STORAGE STRUCTURE
An open or partially open structure, whether above ground,
partially above or below ground level or a lagoon type structure,
used for the storage of an agricultural product, by-product, soil
amendment and/or DAF residuals.
(2) Open top structure storage of a liquid organic soil amendment and/or DAF residuals as defined above is prohibited in all zoning districts, except as provided in Subsection
E(3) below. This prohibition is prospective.
(3) The
prohibition stated herein shall not prohibit storage at the processing
location where legally created, nor a farmer or farming business from
temporarily storing liquid organic soil amendment and/or DAF residuals
in a mobile, closed container for a period of not more than 45 consecutive
days during the application process, provided that the land on which
it is stored is in the Wicomico County Agricultural-Rural A-1 Zoning
District and that the stored material is applied to the same land
on which it is stored.
[Added 10-4-2022 by Bill No. 2022-10]
A. Open top
storage structure.
(1) Definitions.
As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
DAF RESIDUALS
Organic by-product material created at an animal processing
facility or rendering facility, including material collected by means
of a dissolved air flotation process.
LIQUID ORGANIC SOIL AMENDMENT
A State of Maryland approved liquid organic soil amendment
produced from poultry or animal processing or rendering process, including
DAF residuals via a dissolved air flotation process.
OPEN TOP STORAGE STRUCTURE
An open or partially open structure, whether above ground,
partially above or below ground level or a lagoon-type structure,
used for the storage of an agricultural product, by-product, soil
amendment and/or DAF residuals.
(2) Open top structure storage of a liquid organic soil amendment and/or DAF residuals is prohibited in all zoning districts, except as provided in Subsection
A(3) below. This prohibition is prospective.
(3) The prohibition stated herein shall not
prohibit storage at the processing location where legally created,
nor a farmer or farming business from temporarily storing liquid organic
soil amendment and/or DAF residuals in a mobile, closed container
for a period of not more than 45 consecutive days during the application
process, provided that the land on which it is stored is in the Wicomico
County Agricultural-Rural A-1 Zoning District and that the stored
material is applied to the same land on which it is stored.