Maryland Waterfront Residential Real Estate
Considering doing an addition or constructing new residential Maryland real estate on the Waterfront? If so, be aware that the state of Maryland is trying to crackdown on the building of homes in protected buffer zones near the water. In the past, many of these Maryland real estate owners have ignored the laws of building near the shore, and have gotten away with it. In 2005 there were 116 cases involving decks, pools, carports, and homes that were illegally in these buffer zone. Out of these 116 cases 81 cases, had all records available, and in two- thirds of these cases county officials allowed these structures to remain standing. In one case they allowed a deck to remain standing due to the fact that there had already been other similar decks built in the community. In another case there was a pathway that officials allowed to remain standing due to the fact that it gave handicapped access to the pier. Maryland officials now say that each of these offenses has diminished the credibility of Maryland law and at the same time it is depleting these protected areas which have plants that act as a filter for the states water system.
During the month of February Governor Martin O’Malley proposed a bill that would enhance the current penalties for people who build first and then ask later if it was okay. This new proposition by the O’Malley administration would fine homeowners who violate these boundaries or make them replace the trees that they destroyed to add their improvements. Currently there have been several cases where it was ruled that the resident needed to replant trees and other vegetation in an amount that was greater than what they destroyed. If you are a Contractor and are building on these protected areas without the permission you could lose your license. The reason that these proposed changes are so strict is that they were designed to fix the current law by making the repercussions for breaking the law much stricter rather than just following it.
Most people who have taken a boat or have driven across a bridge in this state know that the waterfront is currently heavily developed. This was not how things were supposed to be; in 1984 there was a law that was enacted which made the first 1,000 feet from the water a critical area. With this law there was not supposed to be any sort of development within the first 100 feet from the shoreline. This law applies to the Chesapeake Bay shoreline and downstream including a portion of the Potomac, Patuxent and Severn rivers. The concept behind this law was to conserve a skinny strip of grass, trees, and shrubs that act as a trap for excess dirt and filter out pollutants that cause dead zones.
