Zoning Ordinance Rewrite Change Highlights - Chapter 2: Zoning Districts

Chapter 2 of the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance outlines the bulk regulations, such as lot size, floor area ratio, lot coverage, density, building height, yards, setbacks, and district size; mix of uses; and design standards for each of the county’s 51 zoning districts. Considering a primary goal of the Zoning Ordinance Rewrite project has been to implement the Loudoun County 2019 Comprehensive Plan, which includes the General Plan, the zoning districts are grouped largely by General Plan Policy Area: 

  • Urban 
  • Suburban 
  • Transition 
  • Rural 
  • Joint Land Management Area 
  • Office and Industrial 
  • Planned Unit Development (PUD) 
  • Legacy

The new Zoning Ordinance does not cause any property to be automatically remapped, which means no changes to existing zoning districts or district boundaries resulted from the adoption of a new ordinance. Any future changes to zoning districts would be accomplished through the county’s Zoning Map Amendment process, if requested by the landowner. 

Review the county’s zoning district map to see where zoning districts are located throughout the county. 

Zoning Districts Carried Forward from the Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance 

The new Zoning Ordinance carries forward 18 zoning districts from the previous ordinance (Revised 1993 Zoning Ordinance) that closely resemble the place types in the General Plan. Regulations for these zoning districts are updated to better realize the development patterns and housing attainability envisioned in the plan. The Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance now aligns zoning districts with the “place types” identified in the General Plan where possible. (The “place type” helps identify appropriate land uses based on context, such as providing guidance on the look and feel of places and their form and character, including development patterns, streetscapes, and design features that make places and environments visually distinctive and functional for people.) 

  • Agricultural Rural (AR-1 and AR-2) 
  • Commercial Center-Neighborhood Center (CC-NC)  
  • Commercial Center-Community Center (CC-CC)  
  • Commercial Center-Small Regional Center (CC-SC) 
  • General Industry (GI) 
  • Industrial Park (IP) 
  • Joint Land Management Area (JLMA-1, JLMA-2, ad JLMA-3) 
  • Office Park (OP) 
  • Mineral Resource-Heavy Industry (MR-HI) 
  • Town Center (TC) 
  • Transitional Residential (TR-1, TR-3, and TR-10) 
  • Transit Related Center (TRC) 
  • Urban Employment (UE) (formerly named “Planned Development-Transit Related Unemployment Center”)

New Unmapped Zoning Districts  

The new Zoning Ordinance includes eight new zoning districts to implement the General Plan place types not already captured in the zoning districts that are carried forward from the current ordinance. These new districts, which are listed below, are not yet mapped and will only be mapped upon approval of a rezoning application submitted by a property owner to the county for consideration.  

  • Suburban Neighborhood (SN-4 and SN-6)  
  • Suburban Compact Neighborhood (SCN-8, -16, and -24) 
  • Transition Small Lot Neighborhood (TSN) 
  • Transition Compact Neighborhood (TCN) 
  • Transition Community Center (TCC) 

Planned Unit Development  

One important addition in the new Zoning Ordinance is another new, unmapped zoning district called the Planned Unit Development (PUD) Zoning District, which may be located in all zoning districts except for those within the Rural Policy Area. The PUD district allows for an innovative, fully customizable proposal provided it implements the place type where the property is located. This innovative development option did not exist under the previous Zoning Ordinance and will be particularly useful for infill projects. 

Legacy Districts  

The zoning districts listed below do not closely resemble the place types in the General Plan and are categorized as Legacy Zoning Districts. Legacy Zoning Districts are included in the new Zoning Ordinance to protect previously approved projects. The names of these 25 zoning districts and regulations remain the same as in the previous zoning ordinance. These districts will not be allowed to expand beyond existing boundaries, as these zoning districts are intended to phase out in the long term, but projects can develop as approved, and approved concept development plans can be amended.  

  • Agricultural Residential (A-3) 
  • Agricultural (A-10) 
  • Commercial Light Industry (CLI) 
  • Countryside Residential (CR-1, CR-2, CR-3, and CR-4) 
  • Joint Land Management Area (JLMA-20)  
  • Multifamily Residential (R-24) 
  • Planned Development-Rural Village (PD-RV)  
  • Planned Development-Active Adult/Age Restricted (PD-AAAR) 
  • Planned Development-Commercial Center (Regional Center) (PD-CC(RC)) 
  • General Business (GB) 
  • Planned Development-Housing (PD-H)  
  • Planned Development-Mixed Use Business (PD-MUB) 
  • Planned Development-Research and Development Park (PD-RDP) 
  • Rural Commercial (RC)  
  • Planned Development-Special Activity (PD-SA) 
  • Single Family Residential (R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, and R-8) 
  • Townhouse/Multifamily Residential (R-16) 
  • Transitional Residential (TR-2)

Review additional details in the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance.

Last updated 12/18/2023