Printer
TextFAQs: Land and Soils
The answer depends on the type of home improvement project you are
planning and the location of your home.
The Chespeake Bay Preservation
Ordinance is designed to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay
and its tributaries by requiring wise resource management practices in
the use and development of environmentally sensitive land features. At
the heart of the Bay Act is the idea that land can be used and developed
in ways that minimize impact on water quality.
Certain areas of the county have been designated Chesapeake Bay
Preservation Areas and divided into Resource Protection Areas (RPAs) and
Resource Management Areas (RMAs). The ordinance does not apply to home
improvement projects if you are planning an interior alteration or if you
are in a RMA. Most of the county is in a RMA.
The ordinance does apply if you are disturbing land in a RPA. Contact
the Site and Addressing Center at 703-222-0801, TTY 711, to
determine if you are in an RPA. If your home is near water, it may lie
within an RPA.
You do not need a land disturbing permit unless your project:
- Disturbs more than 2,500 square feet, (includes 10 feet added to each side of the perimeter of the footprint of your project), or
- blocks existing drainage patterns, or
- requires more than 18 inches of cut or fill. (This refers to cut or fill left outside after project completion and excludes the cut or fill that is part of a completed structure. Cut or fill is soil that is removed or added in order to create the desired contour or flatness in an area of land.)
For further information regarding Fairfax County policies, you may call
the Site and Addressing Center at 703-222-0801, TTY
711.
After construction is complete, request the release of the Conservation
deposit in writing to the Site and Addressing Center, 12055 Government
Center Parkway, Fairfax, Virginia, 22035-5504. Submit a completed Federal
W-9 form with this letter.
Once the request is received, an inspection will be conducted to verify
conformance with the approved grading plan and to ensure that the lot is
properly stabilized.
After the inspector has approved the release of the escrow, the Site and
Addressing Center will prepare the escrow release voucher. The
Department of Finance will release the funds by check. This process may
take four weeks.
Yes, some soils are of poor quality and may not be suitable for
supporting certain types of structures. Poor or problem soils are soil
types that may have a high water table, expansive clays, low shear
strength or other poor qualities. If your property contains a problem
soil, you may need to hire a geotechnical engineer to investigate the
soil and a structural engineer to design the foundation system for a new
structure.
To determine what types of soil are on your lot, you may call the Site
and Addressing Center at 703-222-0801, TTY 711, and one
of the technicians can check the county soil maps and determine the
type(s) of soil on your lot and give you some general information
regarding the soil types in Fairfax County. You also can look up the soil map and soil type(s) using
the tax map number of your lot (tax map numbers can be found on the Real Estate
Assessment Information Site).
Website Survey 