Residential Zoning
Build & Subdivide
Every residential district across the two counties we cover, with the dimensional standards and plain answers to the two questions that decide a deal: what it takes to build, and what it takes to subdivide.
One-family & EHO “Missing Middle”
Front & rear 25 ft · up to ~3 stories.
Single-family: meet the district min area + width, hold 25 ft front/rear + combined side yards, stay under coverage & ~3 stories → building permit (no site plan for detached).
2–6 units (EHO): lot in R-5→R-20, not in a GLUP planning district, wide enough for the product → administrative permit, not a rezoning.
Near water: delineate the RPA 100-ft buffer first — it comes out of the buildable envelope before setbacks.
Each new lot must independently meet the district's min area and width, plus street frontage.
Max lots ≈ area ÷ min lot area (R-5 every 5,000 SF, R-10 every 10,000, …), reality-checked against width, frontage, and setbacks.
Combine with EHO to subdivide and put 2–6 units on each lot — the Cedar Ridge play.
Conventional vs. cluster
Every plan needs RPA/RMA delineation · SFD exempt from site plan.
Planned districts trade lot lines for flexibility: PDH (density by subdistrict; $2,520/unit on recreation), PRC (≥ 750 ac, population-based, ≤ 13 persons/ac), PRM (40+ du/ac or 20+ mixed, 20% open), PCC (aging-in-place, FAR 0.40–1.25+). Also R-C (watershed), R-MHP (manufactured, 10/ac). ADU/WDU density bonuses apply R-2 → R-30.
Single-family detached meeting min lot / setbacks / 35 ft is exempt from site plan — building permit only.
Occupancy needs a Residential Use Permit: pass inspections, final-grade + seed/sod, streets to base asphalt, as-built plat within 30 days.
Every plan requires RPA & RMA delineation — the 100-ft buffer is carved out before density counts.
Conventional: each lot ≥ the conventional minimum; shape-factor rules block flag lots. Lots ≈ area ÷ conv. minimum.
Cluster: smaller lots if the tract meets the district's minimum acreage and you dedicate the open-space %.
To raise density (rezone): Generalized Development Plan + stormwater plan + public notice → Planning Commission + Board of Supervisors. Months, not weeks.
We read every parcel through this lens before it reaches you — what it can become by-right, where a rezoning is worth the months, and where the RPA buffer quietly resets the envelope. The deals we bring you are already build-ready because the zoning question is answered first, not last.
Malik Banks · 202.669.9634 · Malik@banksgroupdmv.com
Compiled reference — not the code itself. Fairfax figures come from the seeded ordinance; Arlington reflects The Banks Group's encoded one-family + EHO ruleset. Ordinances change — confirm the current adopted code, overlays, and any proffers/conditions with the county before acting on a parcel. Malik Banks, REALTOR® · The Banks Group · Brokered by eXp Realty, LLC · Licensed in VA, DC & MD · Equal Housing Opportunity.