Zoning › Virginia › Arlington County › Arlington

Arlington, VA Zoning

15 districts. 3 overlays.
This profile is an earlier edition — some fields may be incomplete. An updated profile is in progress.

Overview

Worth knowing
  • County (not city) structure — Board of Supervisors authority, not city council
  • Dual-track Form-Based Code (CP-FBC + CPN-FBC) — both OPTIONAL overlays, property owner elects in lieu of base zoning
  • Special Revitalization Districts with dynamic preservation incentives — up to 500% GFA bonus (§9.2)

+ 7 more in Quirks & notes

Districts

res_sf 6res_mf 4mu 3res_th 2
CodeNameCategory Min lotHeight CoverageFAR Du/acParking Setbacks F/S/R
R-20One-Family Dwelling (20,000 sf)res_sf20,000 sf[1]35 ft[2]——2.2[3]—— / — / —
R-10One-Family Dwelling (10,000 sf)res_sf10,000 sf[4]35 ft[5]——4.36[6]—— / — / —
R-10TOne-Family / Townhouse (10,000 sf)res_th10,000 sf[7]35 ft[8]——4[9]—— / — / —
R-8One-Family Dwelling (8,000 sf)res_sf8,000 sf[10]35 ft[11]——5.45[12]—— / — / —
R-6One-Family Dwelling (6,000 sf)res_sf6,000 sf[13]35 ft[14]——7.27[15]—— / — / —
R-5One-Family / Restricted Two-Family (5,000 sf)res_sf5,000 sf[16]35 ft[17]——8.7[18]—— / — / —
R15-30TTownhouse (15-30 du/ac)res_th7,500 sf[19]35 ft[20]——24[21]—— / — / —
R2-7Two-Family / Townhouse (3,500-7,000 sf)res_sf3,500 sf[22]35 ft[23]——6[24]—— / — / —
RA14-26Multiple-Family Dwelling (14-26 du/ac)res_mf6,000 sf[25]35 ft[26]——24[27]—— / — / —
RA8-18Multiple-Family Dwelling (8-18 du/ac)res_mf—35 ft[28]——27[29]—— / — / —
RA7-16Multiple-Family Dwelling (7-16 du/ac)res_mf—35 ft[30]——30[31]—— / — / —
RA6-15Multiple-Family Dwelling (6-15 du/ac)res_mf—35 ft[32]——30[33]—— / — / —
C-O-AMixed Usemu——————— / — / —
C-O RosslynRosslyn Coordinated Mixed-Usemu——————— / — / —
C-O Crystal CityCrystal City Coordinated Mixed-Usemu——————— / — / —

Confidence: confirmed partial under review not found

Overlays

CP-FBC
Columbia Pike Form Based Code
TOD
§11.1

Optional overlay; property owner elects FBC in lieu of base zoning

ground_storyGround story use requirements per Appendix B
usesAppendix B use tables
CPN-FBC
Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Form Based Code
TOD
§11.2

Optional overlay; adopted November 2013

HPO
Historic Preservation Overlay
HP
§11.3

Local historic district designation

reviewDesign review by HALRB (Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board)
scopeLocal historic districts

Adopted building codes

Statewide — VA Uniform SBC

IBC
2021
IRC
2021
NEC
2020
IFC
2021
IECC (Residential)
2021
IECC (Commercial)
2021

Click a code label to open its state-by-state adoption atlas.

Quirks & notes

  • County (not city) structure — Board of Supervisors authority, not city council
  • Dual-track Form-Based Code (CP-FBC + CPN-FBC) — both OPTIONAL overlays, property owner elects in lieu of base zoning
  • Special Revitalization Districts with dynamic preservation incentives — up to 500% GFA bonus (§9.2)
  • Density-encoded RA district naming convention (e.g., RA14-26 = 14-26 du/ac range)
  • Special exception for low/moderate income housing — modified height and density allowances (§6.2.C)
  • FBC ground story use tables located in appendices (Appendix B), not inline in code text
  • HPO with structure-specific density bonuses — case-by-case Board approval (§11.3)
  • No explicit FAR caps in residential districts — lot-based density control only
  • No special fast-track process — all discretionary review via Article 15
  • National Landing (Amazon HQ2 area) — no explicit zoning overlay despite national prominence

Formulas

Definitions

height
Grade to highest point of structure.
lot_coverage
Building footprint / lot area. See §3.2 for bulk/coverage/placement.
far
Not explicitly capped in residential districts; lot-based density control only.
du_ac
Dwelling units per gross acre. Inferred from min lot area where not stated.
impervious_cover
setback_front
Front property line to nearest building face. See §3.2.
setback_side
Side property line to nearest building face. See §3.2.
setback_rear
Rear property line to nearest building face. See §3.2.
parking
Spaces per dwelling unit. See §14.3.

Capacity calculations

max_footprint_sf
lot_area_sf * lot_coverage
max_gfa_sf
lot_area_sf * far
max_units_from_density
lot_area_sf * du_ac / 43560
buildable_width_ft
lot_width_ft - setback_side_ft * 2
buildable_depth_ft
lot_depth_ft - setback_front_ft - setback_rear_ft
buildable_envelope_sf
buildable_width_ft * buildable_depth_ft
max_stories_approx
max_height_ft / 10
max_gfa_from_envelope
min(buildable_envelope_sf * max_stories_approx, max_gfa_sf)
parking_required
units * parking

Massing explorer

Interactive 3D comparison across every district. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, use the slider to walk districts, and toggle applicable overlays in the right-side panel.

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Setbacks (F / S / R)
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Parking
— /unit
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Max density
— du/ac
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Min lot size
— sf
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District Category Height FAR Coverage Setbacks Parking Density Min lot Overlays

Sources & references

Citations
  1. [1] §5.2
  2. [2] §5.2
  3. [3] i
  4. [4] §5.3
  5. [5] §5.3
  6. [6] i
  7. [7] §5.4
  8. [8] §5.4
  9. [9] i
  10. [10] §5.5
  11. [11] §5.5
  12. [12] i
  13. [13] §5.6
  14. [14] §5.6
  15. [15] i
  16. [16] §5.7
  17. [17] §5.7
  18. [18] i
  19. [19] §5.8
  20. [20] §5.8
  21. [21] i
  22. [22] §5.9
  23. [23] §5.9
  24. [24] i
  25. [25] §6.2
  26. [26] §6.2
  27. [27] i
  28. [28] §6.3
  29. [29] i
  30. [30] §6.4
  31. [31] i
  32. [32] §6.5
  33. [33] i

Research status

Data quality

55%completeness67 confirmed15 partial20 inferred
Documented gaps
  • §3.2 Bulk/Coverage/Placement setback values not extracted
  • Commercial district FAR matrix not extracted
  • Parking ratios not extracted (§14.3)
  • Lot coverage percentages require §3.2 review

Known issues

schema:v1-legacypriority:lowdata:gaps-present

Other cities in this state

Nearest-alphabetical profiles. Click through to compare zoning patterns side-by-side.

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