Fairfax County, Virginia

Located on the western edge of the Washington, D.C., metro area, Fairfax County, Virginia, is home to 1.2 million of the nation’s best educated and most affluent citizens, as well as numerous corporate headquarters and offices and productive agricultural lands.  In Late 2017, Clarion Associates was selected by Fairfax County to lead a team of consultants to complete zMOD, a thorough modernization of its 1970s-era zoning ordinance. The Clarion Team includes Dover Kohl and Partners; Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates; Mosaic Urban Partners;  Greehan, Taves & Pandak; and Urban Interactive Studios.

Phase 1 of this important and challenging project included extensive public engagement to identify strengths and weaknesses of the current regulations and a complete modernization of the County’s complex land use controls.  The Clarion Team restructured the entire ordinance with a more user-friendly and graphically rich format and the revised ordinance was adopted in 2021.  Phase 2 will include an in-depth analysis to revise ”right size” parking, loading, and stacking regulations and other development regulations.