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CHESAPEAKE ISLE

Building & changes to your home

Planning a fence, addition, shed or tree removal? Check here first.

Do I need approval?

Yes, for almost any permanent change to the outside of your home or lot. Inside work doesn’t need it. The Architectural Review Committee (ARC) must approve these before work starts:

  • New homes, additions, porches, attached garages and other exterior renovations
  • Sheds, detached garages, pole barns, retaining walls and other outbuildings
  • Decks, patios, gazebos, pergolas and pavilions
  • Pools, hot tubs and spas
  • Driveways and grading
  • All new or replacement fences, even ones that don’t need a County permit
  • Roof-mounted solar panels

Docks, piers and riprap in the water aren’t reviewed by ARC, but they need a Cecil County permit.

How to apply

  1. Check the rules. Read the Residential Land Use Application below to see if your project is allowed. Not sure? Ask the ARC chair.
  2. Get a County permit if you need one. The application lists which projects need a Cecil County permit, with links.
  3. Fill in the application. Attach your County permit application (if required) and any drawings, a sketch of where it goes on your lot, and other documents ARC asks for. You can apply while you wait for the County, but ARC won’t approve until you have the County permit.
  4. Send it to the ARC chair.

What happens next

  • ARC members review your application within 14 days. They may visit your property.
  • The chair tells you within 21 days of applying whether it’s approved, rejected or needs more information.
  • If it’s rejected, you can appeal to the Board in writing within 30 days. The Board will give you its decision within 60 days of the rejection.
  • Need an exception to a CICA standard? ARC considers variances case by case and sends its recommendation to the Board for a vote. Variances from County rules go to the County.

Once work starts, the outside must be finished within six months. Any change to approved plans needs ARC’s written OK first.

Key standards

Homes

  • Single-family homes only, one per numbered lot, no taller than 35 feet. Modular homes are allowed. Mobile and manufactured homes (single- or double-wides) are not.
  • Minimum living space: 1,400 sq ft for one story, 1,800 sq ft for one and a half stories, 2,000 sq ft for two or more.
  • Setbacks: at least 35 feet from the front property line and 12½ feet from the others. Covered porches count, uncovered decks don’t. Corner lots have two fronts and two sides.

Decks, sheds and other structures

  • At least 10 feet from side and rear property lines.
  • Should match the home’s style and color, and can’t be more than half the home’s square footage.
  • Can’t be lived in, and can’t be built on a lot without a home.

Fences

  • Maximum height: 7 ft behind the house, 6 ft at the side, and in front 5 ft for open fences or 4 ft for solid ones.
  • Posts and rails face inward. Gates on the property line open into your yard.
  • Not allowed: barbed wire, cloth, electric or poultry wire, and chain link except in special cases.
  • To build right on the property line, your neighbor must sign off. A survey is recommended.
  • Send ARC a sketch with the fence’s location, height, material and style. A photo helps.

Other rules

  • Solar panels must be roof-mounted and flush. Ground-mounted panels aren’t allowed.
  • Screen above-ground tanks with shrubs or grasses.
  • No tents, trailers, shipping containers or temporary buildings on a lot. A shed, dumpster or construction trailer can stay during the six-month build, but never on the road or shoulders.
  • Don’t change the road shoulders (the right-of-way) without ARC’s permission. CICA may require a driveway drainage pipe.
  • Call Miss Utility (811) before you dig. Remove construction signs within 30 days of finishing, and repair any damage to community roads.

Trees and the Critical Area

Most of Chesapeake Isle is inside the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, which reaches 1,000 feet from the water. If your lot is in it, removing any tree needs Cecil County approval, and fines can run to thousands of dollars. The County compares aerial photos to spot changes.

Check the Critical Area map below to see if your lot is in it. For questions, call Cecil County Land Use and Development Services at 410-996-5220. The tree-removal application asks for your plot plan and photos of the trees.

Questions about a project?

Mike Beiter chairs the Architectural Review Committee.

Ask the Architectural Review Committee

Official documents