Arlington County Zoning Ordinance: Districts, Variances, and Appeals

The Arlington County Zoning Ordinance is the rulebook that controls what you can build and how you can use any piece of property in the county. It sorts every parcel into a zoning district, sets the physical limits on structures (height, setbacks, lot coverage, floor area), lists which activities are allowed by right and which need a permit, and spells out how to apply, appeal, and what happens if you ignore the rules. Its authority comes from Title 15.2, Chapter 22 of the Code of Virginia, which lets localities regulate land use, building size, and density.¹

Before you plan anything, find your district on the official Arlington County Zoning Map. Everything else in the ordinance flows from that designation.

Zoning Districts in Arlington

Residential districts cover most of the county’s land. One-family districts like R-5 and R-6 are reserved primarily for single-family homes, each with its own minimum lot size. R-6, for example, requires lots of at least 6,000 square feet.² Multiple-family districts (the RA series, such as RA8-18 and RA6-15) allow apartment buildings and higher-density housing.

Commercial and mixed-use districts permit office space, retail, restaurants, and other business activities, often alongside residential units. Specialized districts handle particular purposes, including the S-3A Special District and the P-S Public Service District for institutional and government uses.³

Form-Based Code Along Columbia Pike

Properties along the Columbia Pike corridor can also be developed under a Form-Based Code (FBC). Instead of focusing on separating uses, the FBC regulates building form: height, placement, facade design, sidewalk standards, and architectural features. The community vision calls for mid-rise, mixed-use buildings up to six stories along the Pike frontage, stepping down near adjacent neighborhoods, with buildings up to 10 or 14 stories possible at the corridor’s east and west ends.⁴

The FBC generally allows more density than traditional by-right zoning and offers a faster approval process than full site plan review. In exchange, developers must meet mandatory affordable housing requirements and energy-efficiency standards.⁴

Setbacks, Height, and Lot Coverage

Article 3 of the ordinance sets the physical envelope for any structure: how far from property lines, how tall, how much lot coverage. Articles 4 through 6 add district-specific requirements for public, residential, and multiple-family zones.³

Setbacks are the most common trip-up for homeowners planning additions. In R-6, side yards must total at least 18 feet, with a minimum of 8 feet on one side.⁵ Front yard setbacks and street-facing requirements are calculated separately and vary with lot configuration. Getting these wrong is one of the fastest routes to a denied permit or an enforcement action mid-construction.

Lot coverage caps how much of a parcel can be covered by buildings and impervious surfaces like driveways and patios. Floor Area Ratio (FAR) limits total building square footage relative to lot size. The two interact: you can be under your lot coverage cap and still exceed your FAR, or the reverse. Commercial zones enforce FAR limits particularly tightly.

What You Can Do on Your Property

Article 12 lists the activities allowed in each district and the conditions attached to them.³ Uses fall into two groups. By-right uses are permitted automatically because they fit the district (a single-family home in a residential zone). Conditional uses require a Use Permit, which means a public hearing and County Board approval. Daycare centers, private schools, and certain commercial activities in mixed-use zones commonly need one.⁶

Home Occupations

You can run a professional business from home under Arlington’s home occupation rules, which limit things like employee count and client visits so the activity stays secondary to the residential use. The permit costs $82.⁷

Short-Term Rentals

Short-term rentals (think Airbnb) are treated as an accessory use. The ordinance defines one as lodging for compensation for fewer than 30 consecutive days, and the host must be the owner or tenant of the dwelling, which must be the host’s primary residence.⁸ The accessory homestay permit is $110.⁷

Accessory Dwelling Units

Arlington permits one accessory dwelling unit per lot in single-family residential zones, on parcels of at least 4,000 square feet. Detached ADUs can run up to 1,000 square feet; attached units cap at 850 square feet. Owner occupancy is not required. The application fee is $565, plus a potential $376 parking survey fee.⁷

Nonconforming Buildings and Uses

When zoning rules change, some properties end up out of compliance through no fault of the owner. A house built too close to the property line under older rules, or a business operating in a zone later rezoned to residential, becomes a legal nonconformity. Arlington lets these continue under two conditions: the nonconforming feature hasn’t been discontinued for more than two years, and it hasn’t been expanded or enlarged.⁹

Break either condition and the nonconforming status is lost permanently; the property must then come into compliance with current zoning. For nonconforming uses, the status is extinguished if the nonconforming building is altered or removed.⁹

Virginia law carves out an exception for natural disasters. If a building is damaged by a natural disaster or other act of God, the owner has the right to rebuild to the original condition, provided a building permit is obtained and work begins within two years (four years if the area is under a federal disaster declaration).¹⁰

Variances and the Board of Zoning Appeals

When strict application of the rules creates a genuine hardship tied to the physical characteristics of a specific property, the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) can grant a variance. The BZA can modify requirements for lot dimensions, coverage, bulk, height, setbacks, and building placement.¹¹

To qualify, the applicant must show a hardship rooted in a physical condition of the property or its improvements, and at least one of the following:

Strict application of the ordinance would unreasonably restrict use of the property.
The hardship stems from a physical condition that existed when the ordinance took effect.
The variance provides a reasonable modification for persons with a disability.

Beyond that, the BZA must find that the applicant acquired the property in good faith and did not create the hardship, that the variance won’t substantially harm adjacent properties, that the situation isn’t so widespread that an ordinance amendment would be more appropriate, and that the variance won’t effectively change the permitted use or zoning classification.¹¹ That last point matters more than people expect. A variance adjusts dimensional standards; it cannot authorize a use the ordinance doesn’t allow in your district.

BZA fees depend on the request. A modification to an existing one-family home starts at $805 for the first ordinance subsection involved, with $163 for each additional subsection. A variance for a new single-family dwelling starts at $4,179. All other uses begin at $5,779.⁷

How to Apply

All zoning applications run through the Permit Arlington online portal. You create an account, select the application type, upload plans and supporting documents, and pay electronically. The system handles building permits, BZA variance and use permit applications, and other zoning requests.¹²

What to Prepare

You’ll need to confirm your zoning district on the county’s interactive GIS map. Most applications require a certified survey plat showing accurate property boundaries and existing structures, plus detailed site plans with exact dimensions. BZA applications also require a statement of justification explaining the hardship, a disclosure of everyone with a financial interest in the property, and evidence of neighborhood outreach.¹¹

Document rules are strict. Each plan sheet uploads as a separate PDF; bundled multi-page drawing sets will be rejected. Files cannot be encrypted or password-protected. Every sheet needs a 3-inch by 3-inch blank space in the upper-right corner for the county’s approval stamp.¹³

Site Plan Review for Larger Projects

Larger developments go through a more intensive site plan review. After an initial technical review by county staff, a Site Plan Review Committee is formed with Planning Commissioners, advisory group representatives, civic association members, and neighborhood representatives. The committee typically holds at least two public meetings, roughly 90 days after the application is accepted.¹⁴

Public notices go out at least 10 calendar days before the Planning Commission and County Board hearings. The Planning Commission holds a public hearing and votes on a recommendation; the County Board makes the final decision, including any conditions of approval.¹⁴

Common Application Fees

Fees from the FY2026 schedule for common filings:

Home occupation permit: $82
Accessory homestay permit: $110
Zoning verification permit: $218
ADU permit: $565, plus a potential $376 parking survey fee
BZA variance for existing home modification: $805 for the first subsection
County Board Use Permit (Type I): $7,227
County Board Use Permit (Type III): $14,069 plus $6,207 DES fee

A 10% automation enhancement fee is added on top of all charges.⁷

Penalties for Violations

Arlington uses a graduated approach, starting with civil penalties and escalating to criminal prosecution if needed. The first violation carries a $200 civil penalty. Each subsequent violation can draw a fine of up to $500, though no person can be cited more than once in any 10-day period. Total civil penalties for violations arising from the same set of facts cannot exceed $5,000.¹⁵

Once civil penalties reach $5,000, the county can shift to criminal prosecution. A criminal conviction for a zoning violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $10 to $1,000. If the violation continues past the compliance deadline, each additional 10-day period counts as a separate misdemeanor, with fines of $100 to $1,500.¹⁵ Virginia’s statewide framework mirrors these caps, with a maximum civil penalty of $200 for an initial summons and $500 for each additional one.¹⁶

Violations in historic overlay districts carry a steeper potential penalty: up to twice the assessed market value of the property, including both structure and land. The Zoning Administrator can also seek inspection warrants from a magistrate when there’s probable cause to believe a violation exists.¹⁵

Federal Limits on What the Ordinance Can Do

Arlington’s zoning power ends where federal law begins. Two statutes matter most in practice.

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act prohibits local governments from imposing zoning rules that place a substantial burden on religious exercise unless the government can prove the burden serves a compelling interest and is the least restrictive way to achieve it.¹⁷ A zoning rule that treats a church, mosque, or synagogue less favorably than a comparable secular assembly can be challenged under the Act.

The Fair Housing Act bars zoning practices that discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability. Arlington cannot use zoning to exclude group homes for people with disabilities from residential neighborhoods, deny permits based on who is expected to live in a development, or refuse reasonable zoning accommodations needed to give people with disabilities equal access to housing.¹⁸ These federal guardrails rarely surface in routine permit applications, but they set hard limits on how far any local zoning scheme can go.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia Title 15.2 Chapter 22 – Planning, Subdivision of Land and Zoning
2
Arlington County. Arlington County Zoning Ordinance
3
Arlington County, Virginia. Arlington County Zoning Ordinance
4
Arlington County. Form Based Code Applications
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Arlington County. Residential Interior Lot Setbacks
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Arlington County Virginia Government. Arlington County Zoning Ordinance
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Arlington County. Planning and Zoning Fee Schedule
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Arlington County Virginia Government. Short-Term Housing Rentals
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Arlington County Virginia Government. Nonconforming Buildings and Structures
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Virginia Law. Virginia Code 15.2-2307 – Vested Rights Not Impaired
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Arlington County. BZA Use Permits and Variances
12
Arlington County Government. Permit Arlington
13
Arlington County. Permit Arlington – Online Submission Guidelines
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Arlington County. Site Plan Review Process
15
Arlington County. Section 37 – Violations and Penalties
16
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 15.2-2209 – Civil Penalties for Violations of Zoning Ordinance
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 2000cc – Protection of Land Use as Religious Exercise
18
U.S. Department of Justice. The Fair Housing Act