19711019 1971-19ORDINANCE NO. 1971-19
AN ORDINANCE amending section ll of the Zoning Ordinance
of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, to add a new zoning
category entitled, 'fP-D Planned Development Zone".
Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Fairfax, Virginia,
that the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, be amended by the
addition of the following regulations in Section 11~
PD Zone
Ae
Uses permitted by right:
1. All uses permitted by right in the R-~ Zone subject to all requirements
and restrictions governing said zone but not subject to the regulations
governing planned development uses in the PD Zone.
B. Planned Development.
1. Permitted Planned Development uses:
a. Residential;
b. Customary home occupations, provided that there are:
(1) No employees other than principal practitioner;
(2) No displays or advertisements.
c. Churches;
d. Public facilities, excluding property yards~and repair facilities;
e. Commercial uses as follows:
(2)
(5)
Office buildings;
Banks, savings & loan associations, and other financial
institutions;
Retail establishments for the sale of works of art, art supplies,
electrical goods and supplies, food and food products, furniture,
decorator supplies, hardware, luggage and leather goods, optical
goods, pets and pet supplies, garden supplies, electronics and
phonograph equipment, books, tobacco, confections, drugs, jewelry,
music, stationery, toys, newspapers and magazines, office supplies
and equipment, medical supplies, clothing and dry goods, flowers
and similar goods and products.
Establishments for the sale or repair or both of household appli-
ances, musical instruments and sporting goods, not including sale
or repair of major motorized equipment.
Barber shops and beauty parlors, shoe repair and polishing shops,
tailor shops, laundromats and establishments for receiving and
distributing articles for laundering or cleaning.
(6)
Cleaning and pressing establishments having not more than four
(4) pressing machines and one drycleaning unit, with a capacity
not exceeding fifty (50) pounds using non-flammable synthetic
cleaning fluid and one (1) shirt pressing unit.
(7) Restaurants with ancillary uses, including live music.
(8) Schools of special instruction not including public dance hall
and riding schools.
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(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
Private clubs and eleemosynary institutions.
Schools of general instruction.
Theaters and bowling alleys (excluding drive-in movie theaters).
Hotel and motel.
Uses permitted with special use permit:
None.
Area, setbacks, height, coverage, density, floor area ratio:
a. Area: area, which shall not be less than five (5) acres in any event,
shall be determined in accordance with standards contained in Section
11. The gross area proposed for development in any PD zone shall be
shown on the preliminary site plan.
b. Setbacks: no minimum requirement. All setbacks shall be determined
in accordance with standards contained in Section 11 and shall be
shown on the preliminary site plan.
c. Height: permitted height of buildings, which shall not exceed one
hundred twenty (120) feet in any event, not including mechanical
equipment which may extend an additional twenty-four (24) feet, shall
be determined in accordance with standards contained in Section 11
and shall be shown on the preliminary site plan.
d. Coverage: maximum coverage permitted of all impervious surfaces in
any PD zone shall not exceed sixty (60) percent of the total gross
acreage. Areas used for swimming pools, bathhouses, tennis courts
and other outside recreational space that is improved with a hard
surface, to the extent that it does not exceed five (5) percent of
the gross acreage, shall not be counted as covered area.
e. Density: the maximum residential density, which shall not in any
event exceed twenty-five (25) dwelling units per gross acre shall be
determined in accordance with standards contained in Section 11 and
shall be computed on the preliminary site plan.
f. Floor area ratio: the maximum gross floor area of all structures
(not including enclosed parking structures), which shall not in any
event exceed one (1) square foot of floor area for each gross square
foot of land within any PD zone as shown on the preliminary site plan,
shall be determined in accordance with standards contained in Section
11 and shall be computed on the preliminary site plan.
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iv. Proposed schedule of development.
d. Preliminary site plan: A preliminary site plan shall include the
following information:
i. total area;
ii. gross area proposed for residential uses and total number of
proposed dwelling units;
iii. approximate gross floor area of all structures and floor area
ratio;
iv. approximate proposed locations of all buildings;
v. proposed use of all structures;
vi. proposed setbacks from all property lines and from all non-
residential structures to the nearest residential structure;
vii. proposed height of all structures within the proposed development;
viii. approximate proposed coverage;
ix. proposed residential density per gross acre of land shown for
residential use on the general development plan;
x. proposed number of parking spaces and location of parking areas;
xi. proposed methods of landscaping and screening;
xii. proposed methods of internal circulation, ingress and egress;
xiii. existing contours per National Oceanic & Atmospheric Adminis-
tration (U$C~GS).
xiv. proposed improvements to adjacent public streets;
xv. all pedestrian walkways;
xvi. proposed common open space.
6. Planning Commission Action: all applications for change of zoning to the
PD category shall be referred to the Planning Commission in accordance
with general law. In addition to holding a public hearing and making a
recommendation to the City Council regarding the proposed change of zoning
as required by general law, the Planning Commission shall hold a public
hearing and make recommendations to the City Council based on the
standards contained in Section 11 of this ordinance regarding approval
of the preliminary site plan. The Planning Commission may hold the two
public hearings together and may defer its recommendations on the proposed
change of zoning until it has prepared its recommendations on the proposed
preliminary site plan to the City Council.
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7. City Council Action: In addition to the public hearing required by
general law on the proposed change of zoning to the PD category, the
City Council shall hold a public hearing on the proposed preliminary
site plan. The two public hearings may be held together and the City
Council may defer action on the proposed change of zoning until it is
satisfied that the proposed preliminary site plan satisfies the standards
contained in Section 11 of this ordinance.
8. Final Site Plan: No building permit shall be issued for the development
of any property in a PD zone until a final site plan has been submitted
and approved in accordance with the requirements of Section 3.17 through
3.180 of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fairfax. In case of conflict
between said sections and the preliminary site plan approved by the City
Council, the preliminary site plan shall control and the final site plan
shall conform to the preliminary site plan approved by City Council.
Any changes in the preliminary site plan shall require approval by the
City Council, with or without public hearing, as the Council may determine.
The Board of Zoning Appeals shall have no authority to vary the provisions
of the preliminary site plan.
9. Expiration of Preliminary Plan: Unless the owner or owners or developers
or their agents of property zoned in the PD category shall apply for and
receive a building permit for one or more structures to be erected in
accordance with the approved preliminary site plan within eighteen months
of the date of action by the City Council changing the zoning of land
to the PD category, the approval of the preliminary site plan shall
expire. Thereafter, no building permit shall be issued for any structure
on said property unless or until the City Council has approved a new
preliminary site plan in accordance with the standards contained in this
ordinance after referral to the Planning Commission, public hearing by
the Planning Commission and public hearing by the City Council. Notice
of the said public hearings shall be given in accordance with Section
15.1-431 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended. The owner or owners
of said property may apply to the Planning Commission for and receive
one 6-month extension of its preliminary site plan provided such extension
is requested thirty days prior to the expiration of said site plan.
10. All uses are subject to installation of streets, curbs, gutters, storm
1971-19
11.
drainage structures, sidewalks, entrances and exits and approval thereof
by the Director of Public Works.
Standards. The following standards shall be applied by the Planning
Commission in recommending and by the City Council in approving a pre-
liminary site plan.
a. The preliminary site plan shall afford adequate protection to adja-
cent and surrounding properties, provide harmonious internal develop-
ment, provide (where appropriate) a diversity of well-planned uses
within the development in accordance with the purposes of this ordi-
nance, provide adequate parking and adequate and safe circulation
and ingress and egress, and shall be so designed that development in
accordance therewith will not adversely affect the health, or safety
or general welfare of persons residing or working in the neighborhood
of the proposed development, will not be detrimental to the public
welfare or injurious to property or improvements in the neighborhood,
and will be in accord with the purposes of this ordinance and the
comprehensive plan of the City of Fairfax.
b. The area included within any single PD zone shall be sufficient in
size to justify planned development of the entire area as a unit in
furtherance of the purposes of this ordinance. The minimum area
required may vary from case to case in order to assure compliance
with these standards and to promote the objectives of this ordinance.
c. The permitted height of buildings and required setbacks from property
lines and required distances between structures within a PD develop-
ment shall be determined in the context of the preliminary site plan
as a whole, adjacent buildings and uses both within and without the
zone, the comprehensive plan of the City of Fairfax, and the other
standards provided for development in this zone. The maximum heights
permitted and the minimum setbacks required may vary from case to case
in order to assure compliance with these standards and to promote the
objectives of this ordinance.
d. Density: The maximum residential density allowed and the maximum
square footage of commercially designated floor space shall be deter-
mined in the context of the preliminary site plan as a whole, shall
not adversely affect adjacent development and shall be consistent with
existing and proposed public facilities and the other standards con-
tained in this ordinance.
6
1971-19
e. Screening: Fences, walls or vegetative screening shall be provided
at the perimeter of planned developments where necessary to screen
improvements, glare, uses or other influences having an adverse impact
either on the planned development or on adjacent property.
f. Commercial uses shall be conducted entirely within enclosed buildings
with no outside display of merchandise and shall be designed to main-
tain and protect the residential character of all neighboring resi-
dential areas including residential areas contained within any PD
zone.
g. Principal vehicular access to a planned development shall be from
streets and roads capable of supporting existing traffic and the
traffic that will be generated by the planned development. Access
points shall be designed to provide smooth traffic flow, controlled
turning movements, and minimum hazard to vehicular or pedestrian
traffic. Merging and turnout lanes and traffic dividers shall be pro-
vided where existing or anticipated heavy flows of traffic indicate
such need. No streets or roads within a planned development shall
connect to exterior streets for through streets.
h. Pedestrian access shall be arranged so as to provide safe and con-
venient routes to and from a planned development. Pedestrian access
routes within a planned development need not be adjacent to, or in
the vicinity of, vehicular access routes. Pedestrian crossings at
the perimeter of development shall be marked and controlled, and where
pedestrians are exposed to substantial vehicular traffic, fencing or
other similar barriers shall be erected to prevent crossing at other
than designated points.
i. Bicycle and bridle paths shall be coordinated with the pedestrian
system and street crossings shall be combined.
j. Traffic visibility, both automotive and pedestrian, shall be preserved
as follows: no impediment to visibility between 2-1/2 and 7 feet
above center line grades shall exist at the intersection of any street
or road within a planned development or at its perimeter within a
triangle beginning at the intersection of right-of-way edges (projected
if round corners exist), thence 50 feet along said edges, thence along
the line connecting those two points.
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k. Where pedestrian access of any kind exists from within a planned
development to a perimeter street or road, without a barrier to
prevent indiscriminate entrance into such street or road, no sub-
stantial impediment to visibility shall be permitted between 2-I/2
and 7 feet above the center line of the street or road or above the
ground level of the access area.
1. Within a planned development, streets, roads, driveways and parking,
loading and service areas shall be designed so as to provide safe
and convenient vehicular access to all uses and facilities. Pedes-
trian ways to be used by substantial numbers of children shall be
located and controlled to minimize contact with vehicular traffic.
Pedestrian passages over and under vehicular routes may be required.
m. Developed recreation space and other open space intended for pedestrian
use and pedestrian oriented structures, such as schools and churches,
shall be accessible from related structures, such as dwellings and
office buildings, with a minimum of street crossings. Where possible,
such uses shall be interconnected by a common pedestrian system.
n. The planned development shall be located in an area for which public
facilities are available and adequate for the uses proposed; pro-
vided, however, that the applicant may provide such facilities
which are not presently available, and written assurance of such
provision shall be included as a part of the preliminary site plan.
o. Within a planned development there shall be adequate space to
permit accessibility to all structures by firefighting and similar
emergency equipment.
p. A planned development shall have adequate parking for all the uses
proposed therein and before allowing any reduction in parking as per-
mitted in Section B '(4) of this ordinance, the City Council shall be
satisfied that a combination of uses will promote dual use of certain
parking spaces at different hours and that all uses proposed will
have adequate parking after said reduction. All required parking
shall be unreserved; provided that the preliminary site plan may be
approved showing certain reserved parking where the City Council is
satisfied that the reserving of said designated spaces will not create
a deficiency in the number of required parking spaces for all uses and
1971-19
that the reserving of the said spaces will not place an undue
hardship on pedestrian travel within the parking area.
q. The developer shall provide for and establish an organization or
other legal entity for the perpetual ownership and maintenance of
any common open sapce and other uncovered areas designated on the
preliminary site plan, including pedestrian ways, play lots,
swimming pools, bathhouses, tennis courts, parking lots and road.
Such organization shall be created by covenants running with the
land, and such covenants shall be included as a part of the final
site plan and subject to approval by the City Attorney and City
Council.
r. When a planned development is to be constructed in stages or units,
the total uncovered area provided at any stage of development shall
bear substantially the same relationship to the total uncovered area
to be provided in the entire planned development as the stages or
units completed or under development bear to the entire planned
development.
s. The performance standards contained in Section 12 shall be met.
t. Where several parcels of land in the same ownership or land in
different ownerships is shown on a preliminary site plan adequate
assurances including, if necessary, covenants running with the land,
shall be provided to assure that the parcels shown w~ll be developed
as a unit.
12. Subdivision: Nothing in this ordinance shall prohibit the subdivision
of land within a PD zone for purposes of sale; provided, however, that
any owner proposing to subdivide property wholly or partly within a PD
zone shall produce satisfactory evidence to the Planning Commission that
such subdivision will not violate any of the standards contained in this
ordinance, and shall submit documents with the preliminary subdivision
plat assuring the continued common use of all parking or other areas shown
on the preliminary site plan for such uses, which documents shall be
approved by the City Attorney and recorded among the land records of
Fairfax County, Virginia, at the same time the approved subdivision plat
is recorded.
Adopted: October 19, 1971.
Attest:
C i ty ~C-1 ~rk