Stair and Porch Railings in Essex, MD

Garden Lots and an Aircraft Plant

Essex was first sold in 1909 as ten blocks of garden lots by the Taylor Land Company, on a peninsula between the Back River and the Middle River. It boomed when the nearby Glenn L. Martin aircraft plant grew to more than 53,000 workers in World War II. The older blocks around the Eastern Boulevard business district, Mace Avenue and Marlyn Avenue are where front-step and porch railings come up; along the creeks it is waterfront decks.

The Critical Area Covers a Lot of Essex

About 22 percent of Essex is water, and the peninsula turns to marsh at its bay end. Land within 1,000 feet of tidal water or tidal wetlands falls in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, and Baltimore County requires a building permit for every deck in the Critical Area regardless of size. The county's small-deck exemption simply does not apply there. With the Back River on one side and the Middle River on the other, a large share of Essex lots sit inside that band.

Railings Are Not on the Exempt List

Even off the water, Baltimore County's list of work that needs no permit does not include railings. If you are replacing a deck or porch railing in Essex, assume the county's Permits, Approvals and Inspections office should be asked first. Pier railings in particular are worth confirming before work starts, since piers bring their own floodplain questions.

Railing Work in Essex

From the streets near CCBC Essex and Cox's Point Park to the Back River and Middle River waterfronts, and near Ballestone Mansion, the jobs we see most are step and porch railings, waterfront deck guards in cable or glass, repairs to corroded posts, metal railings, interior stairs and handrail upgrades.

Essex Railing Questions