zoneoptics
Alexandria, Virginia · District

R-12

R-12 Zone
ResidentialSingle FamilyAll Alexandria districts0

Dimensional standards

R-12 lot requirementsSTREETbuildable areaFront 35 ftRear 10 ftSide 10 ftMin width 80 ftMIN LOT AREA12,000 sq ftMIN FRONTAGE60 ftMAX HEIGHT30 ftMAX FAR0.3
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.
12,000 sq ftsq ftSquare feet. An acre is 43,560 sq ft; a typical suburban lot is 7,000–10,000. (0.28 acacre43,560 square feet — about the size of an American football field without the end zones.)
Minimum lot widthLot widthHow wide a lot must be, usually measured at the front setback line.
80 ft
Minimum frontageFrontageThe length of a lot line that touches a public street.
60 ft

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

FrontSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
35 ft
RearSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
10 ft
SideSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
10 ft

Height & bulk

Maximum heightMaximum heightThe tallest a building may be, given in feet, in storeys, or both — whichever binds first.
30 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.
0.3

Uses

Permitted by right10

Conditional / special use6

Accessory1

Prohibited1

From the ordinance

The R-12 zone is established to provide and maintain land areas for low density residential neighborhoods of single-unit, two-unit, and multi-unit up to four units dwellings on 12,000 square foot lots.
Article III, Sections 3-201 to 3-206