Section 26-61, 26-62, 26-64, 26-65
Dimensional standards
Lot
Density
Height & bulk
Uses
Permitted by right4
- Dwellings, both detached and attached (max 4 units per structure)
- Facilities and structures necessary for rendering utility service
- Public and private forests, wildlife reservations, and similar conservation projects
- Telecommunications towers and related facilities that do not exceed 50 feet in height
Conditional / special use10
- Camps, day or boarding, private or commercial
- Institutions, educational or philanthropic
- Private clubs
- Public or governmental buildings and uses
- Public utilities or public service uses
- Swimming or tennis club or other recreational facility
- Churches, rectories, parish houses, convents and monasteries, temples, and synagogues
- Golf courses
- Railroad rights-of-way
- Business or professional office use in an existing residential structure
Accessory19
- Domestic storage in main building or in an accessory building
- Garage, private
- Home occupations in a main building
- Keeping of small animals, insects, reptiles, fish or birds for personal enjoyment
- Storage of recreational vehicles, utility trailers, boat trailers and similar vehicles
- Swimming pool and game courts, community buildings or clubhouses
- Signs as regulated in division 7 of article 5
- Temporary buildings incidental to construction operations
- Accessory off-street parking and loading spaces
- Office or construction trailers for a period not to exceed one year
- Foster home
- Telecommunications arrays on existing structures
- Family day homes
- Temporary family health care structures
- Tier 1 battery energy storage systems
- Solar energy facility, accessory, ground-mounted
- Solar energy facility, accessory, roof-mounted
- Short-term rental, owner-occupied
- Secondary kitchen
Extracted standards
32 individual requirements pulled out of this section’s prose, each with the sentence it came from.
Density
- Base density1 du/acredu/acreDwelling units per acre — the number of homes allowed on each acre of land.
The base density shall be one (1) residential unit per full acre.
- Maximum density with special exception2 du/acredu/acreDwelling units per acre — the number of homes allowed on each acre of land.
With approval of a special exception, density may be increased to up to two (2) units per acre for this use.
- Maximum density with board approval4 du/acredu/acreDwelling units per acre — the number of homes allowed on each acre of land.
the Board may approve increased density to a maximum of four (4) units/acre.
Design
- Foundation finish material1 boolean
The visible portion of any exterior foundations for new single-family dwellings must be finished with brick, brick veneer, stone, or stone veneer.
- Covered porch or stoop required1 boolean
New single-family dwellings must include a covered porch or stoop on street-facing facades.
Environmental
- Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Areas regulated1 boolean
no more than fifty (50) percent of the acreage determined to be in Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Areas may be included [in density calculation].
Floodplain
- FloodplainFloodplainLand expected to flood at a stated frequency, where building carries extra conditions. regulated1 boolean
The location of ponds, streams, and natural drainage swales, mapped dam break inundation zones, and one hundred-year floodplains ... shall be shown on the conceptual plan.
Height
- Maximum structure heightMaximum heightThe tallest a building may be, given in feet, in storeys, or both — whichever binds first.45 ft
Structures not specifically exempted in section 26-248 shall not exceed a height of three (3) stories or forty-five (45) feet, whichever is less.
- Maximum telecommunications tower heightMaximum heightThe tallest a building may be, given in feet, in storeys, or both — whichever binds first. (by rightBy rightPermitted outright: if the plans meet the written rules, permission cannot be withheld.)50 ft
Permitted by right: shall not exceed fifty (50) feet.
- Maximum telecommunications tower heightMaximum heightThe tallest a building may be, given in feet, in storeys, or both — whichever binds first. (special exception)100 ft
Permitted with a special exception: shall not exceed one hundred (100) feet.
Lot
- Minimum lot size for detached dwellings at density < 2 du/acredu/acreDwelling units per acre — the number of homes allowed on each acre of land.20,000 sqftsq ftSquare feet. An acre is 43,560 sq ft; a typical suburban lot is 7,000–10,000.
The minimum lot size per unit in a District for which development at a density of less than two (2) units per acre has been approved ... shall be twenty thousand (20,000) square feet.
Other
- Conceptual plan required1 boolean
For all residential subdivisions, at the time of rezoning, a conceptual plan must be provided
- Slope threshold for net acreage calculation35 pct
net acreage shall be the total area of the district minus the total of Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Areas and all slopes of thirty-five (35) percent or greater.
- Maximum street light pole heightMaximum heightThe tallest a building may be, given in feet, in storeys, or both — whichever binds first.25 ft
The light poles shall not exceed twenty-five (25) feet in height
- Maximum street light spacing100 ft
placed along the existing thoroughfare along which the district fronts at intervals no greater than one hundred (100) feet apart
- Maximum subdivision acreage25 acresacre43,560 square feet — about the size of an American football field without the end zones.
No residential subdivision may encompass more than twenty-five (25) acres or include more than twenty-five (25) lots.
- Maximum lots in residential subdivision25 lots
No residential subdivision may encompass more than twenty-five (25) acres or include more than twenty-five (25) lots.
- Minimum front-facing garage setbackSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line. from front facade8 ft
Street-facing garage doors on new single-family dwellings ... must be set back at least eight (8) feet from the primary front facade
- Minimum front-facing garage setbackSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line. from front property line20 ft
and at least twenty (20) feet from the front property line
- Minimum common/open spaceOpen spaceLand a development must leave unbuilt, sometimes required to be usable or planted. for density > 1.25 du/acredu/acreDwelling units per acre — the number of homes allowed on each acre of land.15 pct
To be eligible for consideration of density higher than one and one-quarter (1¼) units per acre within the district, a minimum of fifteen (15) percent of the net acreage shall be provided as common space or open space.
- Minimum common/open spaceOpen spaceLand a development must leave unbuilt, sometimes required to be usable or planted. for density > 2 du/acredu/acreDwelling units per acre — the number of homes allowed on each acre of land.20 pct
An additional five (5) percent of the net acreage set aside as open or common space, for a total of no less than twenty (20) percent.
- Minimum common/open spaceOpen spaceLand a development must leave unbuilt, sometimes required to be usable or planted. for density > 3 du/acredu/acreDwelling units per acre — the number of homes allowed on each acre of land.25 pct
An additional five (5) percent of the net acreage set aside as common or open space, for a total of no less than twenty-five (25) percent.
- Minimum common open spaceOpen spaceLand a development must leave unbuilt, sometimes required to be usable or planted. in subdivision10 pct
At least ten percent (10%) of the acreage within the subdivision must be reserved as common open space
- Minimum pedestrian path width4 ft
The paths shall be constructed of permanent materials ... and shall be no less than four (4) feet in width.
- Minimum sidewalk width in subdivision4 ft
A sidewalk or pedestrian pathway that is paved and at least four (4) feet in width must be located on at least one (1) side of all public streets
- Street buffer width along Major Thoroughfare50 ft
A buffer no less than fifty feet (50') in width shall be required along the frontage on any existing or planned road designated as a 'Major Thoroughfare'
- Street buffer width along other public roads25 ft
A buffer no less than twenty-five feet (25') in width shall be required along the frontage of all other existing public roads
- Thoroughfare buffer width in subdivision50 ft
a thoroughfare buffer at least fifty (50) feet in width must be provided
- Public water and sewer required1 boolean
All development within an RS District shall be served by public water and sewer systems
- Street tree ratio in subdivision1 tree per 40 ft
Street trees must be provided at a ratio of one (1) street tree per forty (40) feet of road frontage
- Street tree spacing50 ft
At least one (1) tree, a minimum of two (2) inches in caliper when planted, shall be provided for every fifty (50) feet of street length.
Signage
- Signage standards1 boolean
All signage for residential uses within this district must comply with the standards within article 5 ... applicable to the RS, Single-Family Residential District.
From the ordinance
The base density shall be one (1) residential unit per full acre. The minimum lot size per unit ... shall be twenty thousand (20,000) square feet. Structures ... shall not exceed a height of three (3) stories or forty-five (45) feet. All development within an RS District shall be served by public water and sewer systems.