ADUs in Mt. Rainer, MD

[gte...@gmail.com]

I know PG County prohibits ADUs, however I've heard in select towns like Mt Rainer, MD that's not the case. I'm looking for a home in Mt. Rainer with hopes of building a ADU on the lot. Anyone have any insight into this? 

Thanks!

Greg

[Greg Cantori]

You'll need to call the planning and zoning or permits department - However, there are many ways to create an in-home ADU without special permits, as many have during these times of prohibition, such as creating a 'wet bar' area as the kitchen. Still get electrical and plumbing permits and be sure any 'bedroom' has legal door or window egress so everything remains safe A stand alone ADU is a whole nother issue 

[Ileana Schinder]

Hi Greg,

how are you? I recently had an ADU approved in PG county, exactly at Mr Rainer. It was a renovation of an existing garage/workshop a few blocks from the Arts District.

I was surprised to experience how easy it was! I was bracing myself for a lot of paperwork but turned out simpler than neighboring jurisdictions.

Please reach out to me directly and I'm happy to discuss how the property and the project came to be.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

ileana, the architect

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ileana schinder Architect, AIA, LEED AP BD+C 202-381-7463 www.ileanaschinder.com i...@ileanaschinder.com

[Cheryl Cort]

I'm impressed that Ileana got an ADU approved! She's good at finding a way. I knew that PGC had rolled back ADU in the recent zoning rewrite - which took it away from the towns, like Mt Rainier, that had it. So I guess they didnt completely take it away - since Ileana won approval. 

Prince Geoge's is looking at adding ADUs back to its zoning, along with missing middle housing. However, this will take a couple years.

But - a new state law requires local govt. to adopt regulations authorizing ADUs by Oct. 1, 2026.

Also, the Prince George's Planning Board is quite supportive of ADUs and asking the Planning Dept. to propose regulations. Convincing the elected Council Members could be more challenging, but now there's a state law telling them to do it. 

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Cheryl Cort (she/her)

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On Sat, Jul 26, 2025 at 10:31 AM gte...@gmail.com <gte...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Ileana Schinder]

Hi Cheryl,

PG (so far) is not the most-ADU friendly county however... We had to show how the renovation of the existing garage/workshop was not going to negatively impact the neighborhood. This was easy to do because the building was (literally) RIGHT THERE. Once the building is complete, I would be more than happy to show it to the group. 

In the meantime, the biggest advice is: buy a property with the accessory structure already existing. It helps a lot to show the neutral impact to the zoning code.

Stay tuned for more news soon!

ile

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[Ileana Schinder]

Nice!

Can you send the link of the details of the regulation? I would love to see the new zoning rules.

Cheers!

ile

On Mon, Jul 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM Nancy Roth <na...@nancyeroth.com> wrote:

According to the State Assembly website the law comes into effect on October 1, 2025.

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