zoneoptics
Alexandria, Virginia · General provision

Section 4-900

OfficeAll Alexandria districts0

Dimensional standards

lot requirementsSTREETbuildable areaFront 20 ftRear 8 ftSide 8 ftMin frontage 50 ftMIN LOT AREA5,000 sq ftMAX HEIGHT50 ftMAX FAR1.5MAX DENSITY54.45 du/acMIN OPEN SPACE35%
Plan view of the district’s stated lot requirements. Solid line: the property line. Dashed: the setback lines the ordinance imposes; a building must stay inside the tinted envelope. Drawn from the figures extracted below — illustrative, not a survey.

Lot

Minimum lot areaMinimum lot areaThe smallest parcel on which the district allows anything to be built.
5,000 sq ftsq ftSquare feet. An acre is 43,560 sq ft; a typical suburban lot is 7,000–10,000.
Minimum frontageFrontageThe length of a lot line that touches a public street.
50 ft

Density

Maximum density
54.45 du/acredu/acreDwelling units per acre — the number of homes allowed on each acre of land.
Lot area per dwelling unitLot area per dwelling unitLand required for each home — the same limit as du/acre, expressed per unit instead of per acre.
2,500 sq ftsq ftSquare feet. An acre is 43,560 sq ft; a typical suburban lot is 7,000–10,000.

SetbacksSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.

FrontSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
20 ft
RearSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
8 ft
SideSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
8 ft

Height & bulk

Maximum heightMaximum heightThe tallest a building may be, given in feet, in storeys, or both — whichever binds first.
50 ft
Maximum floor area ratioFloor area ratio (FAR)Total floor area divided by lot area — an FAR of 2.0 permits 20,000 sq ft of floor on a 10,000 sq ft lot.
1.5
Minimum open spaceOpen spaceLand a development must leave unbuilt, sometimes required to be usable or planted.
35%

Uses

Permitted by right26

Conditional / special use33

Extracted standards

8 individual requirements pulled out of this section’s prose, each with the sentence it came from.

Other

  • Location along arterial or collector

    Automobile service stations, car washes and drive through facilities shall only be located along an arterial (100 feet) or primary collector (80 feet) road, including any associated service road.

  • All operations within enclosed building

    All operations, including storage, shall be conducted within a completely enclosed building with the exception of outdoor uses pursuant to this section 4-900 and City Code section 5-2-29, as applicable.

  • Day careDay careSupervised care for children or adults during part of the day. licenses required

    A day care center or commercial school shall obtain all state, federal and local licenses and certificates prior to opening its place of business.

  • Noxious or offensive uses prohibitedProhibitedNot allowed in the district at all, short of rezoning or a variance.

    No use shall be conducted in any manner which would render it noxious or offensive by reason of dust, refuse matter, odor, smoke, gas, fumes, noise, vibration or glare.

  • Day careDay careSupervised care for children or adults during part of the day. pick-up/drop-off plan

    A day care center shall submit for the director's review a pick-up and drop-off plan that adequately ensures the safe transfer of children and creates minimal impact on pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

  • Small appliances only

    Appliance sales, repair and rental shall be limited to small appliances only, such as televisions, radios, lawnmowers, kitchen counter and small electronic appliances and like items which do not exceed one horsepower in size.

  • Tobacco retail proximity restriction1,000 ft

    Retail shopping establishments with a principal use selling tobacco products... are prohibited on property within 1,000 linear feet of a child day care center, or a public or private academic early childhood, elementary, middle, or high school.

  • Window transparencyGround-floor transparencyThe share of a ground-floor street wall that must be windows rather than blank surface.

    The placement or construction of items that block the visibility through windows of the interior of the commercial space from the street and sidewalk... shall be prohibited. All windows shall remain transparent.

From the ordinance

The maximum permitted floor area ratio for residential uses is 1.50. For single-unit, two-unit, and townhouse dwellings only, the maximum density shall not exceed one dwelling unit for each 800 square feet of lot area or 54.45 units for each acre. The maximum permitted height of a building is 50 feet, except that additional height up to a maximum of 77 feet may be approved with a special use permit.
Section 4-900