Land Development Services Alert:
REMINDER: Land Development Fee Changes Effective July 1, 2024
Land Development Services fee changes effective on July 1, 2024. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved proposed fee adjustments from Land Development Services (LDS) on April 16, 2024, marking the first significant update since 2015. The new fees will better align with the current costs of providing land development services, which have risen due to increased personnel costs and other inflation-related factors.
Building fees (excluding vertical transportation) will experience a 12.5% increase on July 1, 2024. Site-related fees will increase by 5%. A technology surcharge fee that is normally 4% will increase to 7%. There will also be a new code academy surcharge fee of 1% applied to all building records. New fees will also be introduced for pedestrian bridges and minor revisions to site-related plans. See the infographic below for more details on all the fee changes.
All fee changes will apply only to applications submitted after July 1, 2024. Applications filed before these dates will be subject to the fees that were in place at the time of filing. Read more about these changes. To see the amended fees policy document, review Appendix Q.
Fairfax County will start accepting submissions for the James M. Scott Exceptional Design Awards on Monday, May 19. Established in 1984, the awards program celebrates outstanding planning and projects with design features that enhance the experience of site users and visitors. The program aims to raise awareness of both public and private projects.
Design submissions should meet some or all of the following criteria:
Projects completed in Fairfax County within the last five years, since January 1, 2020, are eligible for submission. Submissions must be received by email or mail by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17. More information about submission categories, requirements and the entry form are available on the awards webpage.
Awards are granted in three categories: honor, merit, and honorable mention. A jury of design professionals, including architects, will select the winners and announce them in August.
The James M. Scott Exceptional Design Awards program is sponsored by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and administered by the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development, in cooperation with the county’s Architectural Review Board and the Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
For more information, questions or assistance, contact the Department of Planning and Development at 703-324-1281, TTY 711.
VIEW THE 2024, 40th ANNIVERSARY WINNERS!
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved proposed fee adjustments from Land Development Services (LDS) on April 16, 2024, marking the first significant update since 2015. LDS was directed to increase fees over a two-year period starting on July 1, 2024. The full amount of fees set forth in the Staff Report dated March 5, 2024, will be effective July 1, 2025. The new fees will better align with the current costs of providing land development services, which have risen due to increased personnel costs and other inflation-related factors.
Building fees (excluding vertical transportation) will experience a 12.5% increase on July 1, 2025. Site-related fees will increase by 5%. A technology surcharge fee will rise from 7% to 10%. The code academy surcharge fee will increase by 1% and be applied to all building records. The fees for pedestrian bridges and minor revisions to site-related plans will also increase. See the infographic below for more details on all the fee changes.
All fee changes will apply only to applications submitted after July 1, 2025. Applications filed before these dates will be subject to the fees that were in place at the time of filing. See the amended fees policy document Appendix Q, and see details about zoning fee schedule changes.
The Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, recently signed house bill (HB) 2660 which affects plan review times at various stages of submittal. Beginning July 1, 2025, some review times will change to comply with this new state mandate. Site Development and Inspections Division (SDID) has taken this opportunity to comprehensively assess all review deadlines assigned for various site record types and made updates for consistency, simplification and to comply with HB 2660.
SDID welcomes your comments and input on the review time changes presented in the table below and the draft first submission policy. Please email any comments to LDS SDID Admin by May 28, 2025. We will also hold a virtual community forum for questions and input on Wednesday May 28, 2025, from 10 a.m.-11 a.m. using the link below:
Microsoft Teams
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 277 120 697 073
Passcode: DT7Ze3kr
Dial in by phone
+1 571-429-5982,631861062# United States, Washington
Phone conference ID: 631 861 062#
We have adopted a tiered approach to simplify review times for various records. Below is a summary of the review times that will apply to new applications submitted on or after July 1, 2025. All days are calendar days unless noted otherwise.
|
Review cycle |
Tier 1(1)(6) |
Tier 2(2)(7) |
Tier 3(3)(8) |
Tier 4(4) |
|
SP, SD, PI, MSP |
RPA, RGP, DS, SFP, RP, PKS, WAIV, WQIA, SWOD, FDOT, SR, Revisions to Tier 1 plans |
INF, CON, RGP, BATH, FPUD, EP, SAB, SAN, SIP, SR, Revisions to Tier 2 plans |
SDGP, SPGP, Revisions to Tier 3 plans |
|
|
1st Review Cycle |
40 |
30 |
21 |
14 |
|
1st and 2nd resubmissions |
30(5) |
21 |
14 |
14 |
|
3rd resubmission |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
First submissions are considered “officially submitted” when a minimum submission review (MSR), Gateway Review, or Engineers and Surveyors Institute (ESI) Review has been accepted (when required), and the plan has passed pre-screen review via the Application Submittal task in the Planning and Land Use System (PLUS).
Subsequent submissions are considered “officially submitted” as resubmissions if the scope of the resubmission is equivalent to the prior submission that was reviewed, and if all review comments have been addressed satisfactorily. If substantive changes to the project scope have been made, or design concepts have been significantly changed, the resubmission will be handled as a first submission, subject to Director approval. First submissions will be subject to a new application, first submission fees, and first submission review times.
If more than two years have lapsed since a previous review was completed, the resubmission will be considered a first submission, subject to a new application, first submission fees, and first submission review times.
Plan revisions that significantly change the scope of the project, necessitating a completely new plan review, shall be submitted as a new plan, subject to Director approval.
First submissions are subject to the regulations and policies in effect at the time of submission.
In 2024, Fairfax County implemented new parking regulations in the Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance). To measure the effectiveness and use of the new regulations, county staff created a survey for those who use the parking supply requirements in the Ordinance to determine parking for their projects and site activities. The goal of this survey is to evaluate how industry has adopted the new requirements, whether the requirements have made projects easier to implement, and whether the newly created parking tools are helpful.
The survey will be available until May 31, 2025, and can be accessed at this Parking Survey link. A link can also be found on our LDS Off-Street Parking webpage where other guidance, such as our Parking Calculator and informational videos discussing the new parking requirements, are found.
If you have any questions, please contact Michael Davis, Parking Program Manager, in the Site Development and Inspection Division at 703-324-3065, TTY 711.
Land Development Services (LDS) recently merged the existing Customer Experience Team counter with the Customer Information Center, creating a unified Permitting and Customer Support Center in Suite 324 of the Herrity building. This customer support center is staffed to respond to general queries about the building and site-related permitting process, to address engineering-related inquiries with the building and site engineer of the day, and to assist in depositing checks and money orders for LDS-related services. Previously, these services were dispersed throughout three locations in the building. Customers will find this new central location to be conveniently located with ample directional signs throughout the first floor and third floor.
Permitting and Customer Support Center operating hours:
8 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Mon-Thurs); 9:15 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Fri)
Please note that visitors may not be added to in-person queues past 3:45 p.m. Please plan to arrive before that time.
If you prefer the convenience of calling, emailing or meeting virtually from the comfort of your home or office, our virtual customer service options are detailed on our Meet With Staff web page or you can call us at 703-222-0801, TTY 711.
Land Development Services (LDS) offers a Third-Party Inspections Program which allows private-sector inspections firms to perform certain inspections on residential projects that would otherwise be conducted by the county. A list of inspections eligible for the Third-Party Inspections Program is listed on our website. LDS recently created Third-Party Inspection Reports for all Third-Party Inspection Firms to complete and submit after their inspections have been performed. These reports will help streamline the submission process and provide consistency throughout the Third-Party Inspections Program. A hyperlink to each form can be found on the Third-Party Inspection Program website.
An update to the electronic parking calculator is now available to assist in determining required accessible parking for site approvals in Fairfax County. This calculator continues to be an important tool to determine minimal general parking requirements for land use in the county. With the adoption of county-based accessible parking requirements to Section 6100.4 of the Zoning Ordinance, the calculator has been updated to derive the expected minimum accessible parking for most uses.
There are some residential, health care, and land uses that either require a special calculation based on accessible parking requirements outlined in Chapter 11 Accessibility – 2021 Virginia Construction Code or require no accessible parking. These are excluded from the calculator.
The Electronic Parking Calculator can be accessed through Section 6100.4 of the Zoning Ordinance as well as other key areas within Article 6. In addition, the calculator and training resources associated with the updated regulations are available through the LDS Off-Street Parking webpage.
If you have any questions, please contact Michael Davis, Parking Program Manager, in the Site Development and Inspection Division at 703-324-3065, TTY 711.
This notice provides an update to our October 14, 2024, notice to industry on the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ's) two amendments to the Erosion and Stormwater Management (VESM) Regulation [9VAC25-875], which is the regulation governing the county's Erosion and Stormwater Management Ordinance (Ch. 124.1).
The first set of amendments was published in the Virginia Register of Regulations on October 7, 2024. The original amendment is described by DEQ as correcting technical errors that will improve clarity and certainty by making the VESM Regulation internally consistent, removing outdated requirements, and accurately reflecting requirements in the State Water Control Law. When it is republished, we expect there will be changes to the original proposed amendment. The original amendment and the comments can be viewed on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall at: https://www.townhall.virginia.gov/L/ViewStage.cfm?stageid=10407.
The second set of amendments is scheduled to be published in the Virginia Register of Regulations on December 30, 2024, for a 30-day comment period. The amendments are described by DEQ as amending the VESM Regulation to update sections and requirements that are out of date and burdensome to the regulated community because they do not reflect current practices, technology, or data about land use and nutrient loading. The proposed amendments impact the design of development plans by reducing the allowable phosphorus load from new development to 0.26 pounds/acre/year from the current 0.41 pounds/acre/year, require use of the new Virginia Runoff Reduction Method (VRRM) Version 4.1 spreadsheet to compute the phosphorus load, and require use of updated nonproprietary Best Management Practices (BMP) design standards contained in the Virginia Stormwater Management Handbook. The proposed effective date is July 1, 2025.
You may comment on the amendments in a Town Hall comment forum as soon as they are published in the Virginia Register of Regulations. If you sign up for the Town Hall email notification service, you will be notified when the comment forum opens.
If you have any questions, please contact John Friedman, P.E. with the Site Code Research and Development Branch at 703-324-1773, TTY 711.
As detailed in Technical Bulletins 23-07 and 24-2, the 2021 Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC) became effective January 18, 2024, which replaced the 2018 USBC. The one year grace period, which allows the use of technical provisions of the 2018 USBC, expires on January 17, 2025. All building permit applications submitted after January 17, 2025, must comply with the 2021 USBC.
If you have any residential code change questions, please contact Kyle Kratzer in the Building Division at 703-324-1516, TTY 711. If you have any commercial code change questions, please contact Maryia Lackansingh in the Building Division at 703-324-2655, TTY 711.