Land Development Services

Land Development Services (LDS) Site Development and Inspections Division (SDID) welcomes the Forest Conservation Branch (FCON) into SDID.  FCON moves from the County’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) to LDS.  This change will afford more collaboration amongst review disciplines and streamline the plan review process by designating forest conservation review as an “inside agency” in the expedited review process. The transfer became effective February 2023 and allows more direct collaboration between Forest Conservation review staff and the SDID site review staff.

FCON administers Fairfax County’s Tree Conservation Ordinance during the development review process. According to the ordinance, “The conservation (i.e., preservation and planting) of trees during the land development process will protect, sustain, and enhance the county's urban forest resources.” The services provided by FCON are an integral part of the land development process and include reviewing rezoning plans, infill lot grading plans, site plans, and conducting site meetings and inspections. Urban foresters use the latest science and engage with the development community to find innovative solutions to the growing challenges facing our changing urban forest.

Prior to this organizational change, DPWES-UFMD participated in the expedited review program (ESI Designated Plans Examiner (DPE) Program) as an outside agency in a similar way to VDOT and Fairfax Water Authority. Forestry review will now be conducted as an “inside agency” under the DPE program. The Planning and Land Use System (PLUS) and DPE program will reflect this change after April 1, 2023.

For questions about this change, please email Matthew Hansen, SDID Division Director or call 703-324-1698, TTY 711.

Flood Awareness Week is March 12-18 in Fairfax County. There is no better time to issue this important reminder. Storms have the potential to produce heavy rains that could lead to localized flooding, so it is vital for construction site workers to check their erosion and sediment controls before a storm.

Here are some vital steps to take:

• Know where drainage patterns cross your site. Flooding may occur where drainageways cross your site.
• Ensure that all erosion and sediment controls are properly installed and rid of any damages to lessen the impact of erosion runoff that could impact nearby properties, roadways and adjacent waterways.
• Thoroughly inspect your sites to ensure that silt fences are properly entrenched, sediment traps and basins have adequate storage, trash containers are covered, and chemicals and other potential pollutants are stored in a protected area.

After the weather system has moved out of the area:

• Inspect your site’s erosion and sediment controls for any damages.
• Make repairs if necessary.
• Clean up any offsite contamination immediately with the advisement of your site inspector.

• Fairfax County Stormwater Management Ordinance
• Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Regulations
• The Public Facilities Manual

The Planning and Land Use System (PLUS) is the web-based platform for all land use applications. Land Development Services’ (LDS) building and site records transitioned to PLUS on Oct. 21, 2022. Enhancements and fixes continue to make the platform as user-friendly and efficient as possible. Your feedback, along with feedback from our staff, allows us to continue improving the system.

January’s Top Ten PLUS fixes for LDS customers:

Building

1. Corrected the residential trades permit logic associated with the Digital Plan Room which had erroneously required uploading plans for permits when plans were not required.
2. Created permit history “Workflow Routing Slip Report” to allow customers to see the workflow history for a permit.

    

3. Enhanced the internal tool used to route building inspectors’ daily workloads.
4. Created a programming script to generate older elevator certificates.
5. Corrected the building permit card to include the listed Mechanic Lien Agent.

Site

6. Corrected missing parcel data on converted records as well as other conversion related items.
7. Updated Licensed Professional requirement to optional and created a selection for professional wetland delineator on Water Quality Impact Assessment (WQIA) and RPA delineation records.
8. Updated PLUS to allow customers to add multiple contacts for each record. Allows for unlimited billing and secondary contact options. (Once application is submitted, additional contacts will need to be added by staff.)
9. Enabled a ‘Pay Fees’ option for customers to pay certain site-related fees without logging into PLUS. Find more information about this enhancement in this recent Letter to Industry.
10. Made several enhancements to the site inspections process in PLUS to help speed the inspection resulting time in PLUS, freeing staff to complete more inspections.

We will continue to develop and release improvements to the PLUS system to refine its functionality.

Although we have completed development improvements over the past several months, we welcome your feedback for future enhancements. If you have ideas to improve the system, please take a moment to enter them here: LDS Customer PLUS Feedback Form.

Helpful PLUS Resources:

• LDS PLUS Support
• The LDS Permit Library
• PLUS known issues and solutions
• Schedule a one-on-one, virtual appointment with LDS staff
• YouTube videos
• Upcoming Webinars
  • Feb. 15 -- Upload Plans and Documents into PLUS
  • March 8 -- Search for Information in PLUS
  • March 22 -- Scheduling Building Inspections in PLUS

All fees for first and subsequent submissions of site plans, subdivision plans, public improvement plans, floodplain studies, and rough grading plans can now be paid without the need for the payer to be logged into the Planning and Land Use System (PLUS).

Here are the steps:

1. Make sure you have the record ID of the plan to which you want to make a payment.
2. Go to PLUS without logging in.
3. Once in PLUS, put the record ID into the search bar.  

    

4.  After the record pops up, click on the down arrow next to “Payments” and select “Fees.”

    

5. A new screen will pop up showing the outstanding fees. Toward the right of the fees is the option to “Pay Fees.”

    

6. A new screen will pop up, if the fees shown accurately represent your record, select “Continue Application” at the bottom of the screen.

    

7. A new screen will provide information about payment options including Credit /Debit Card or E-check. Select the option you are using and then select “Submit Payments” at the bottom of the screen.

    

8. After selecting “Submit Payments” you will be directed to a secure checkout page to complete your transaction. If you need help at this point, please call 804-318-4133 or email customerservice@virginiainteractive.org.

For all other site permit types that are subject to flat fees such as infill lot grading (INF) plans and soils reports, the payer needs to login to PLUS.

For assistance using PLUS, please visit the LDS PLUS Support page.

The 2023 Unit Price Schedule (UPS) will go into effect on March 1, 2023. This formulaic change reflects a 4.9% increase linked to inflation as published in the Engineering News-Record 2023 Construction Cost Index (published in January 2023). Affected submittals include the following: 

• New bond requests.
• Replacement bond requests. 
• Bond extension requests.
• Bond reduction requests.
• New conservation deposit requests.
• Replacement conservation deposit requests. 
• Future construction deposit requests.

In the case of development agreement extension and replacement requests, if the estimated value using the 2023 UPS exceeds the existing posted amount, the county will require supplemental security before approval of the request. As noted above, all bond reductions must be calculated using the 2023 UPS.  

The 2023 UPS will be available at the Forms & Publications Library on March 1, 2023.

If you have any questions, please contact Morgan Wolfe in the Bonds and Agreements Center at 703-324-1519, TTY 711. 

When a land development project is initiated in Fairfax County, improvements to the public infrastructure, such as streets, sidewalks, utilities and other bondable items, may be required. Learn more about Bonds and Agreements.

Approved by:
William D. Hicks, P.E., Director
Department of Land Development Services
12055 Government Center Parkway, Suite 659
Fairfax, Virginia 22035
703-324-1780

Release 4 of the Planning and Land Use System (PLUS) will launch Oct. 31, 2022, and will replace the existing land use, plan review, inspections and complaint systems (including FIDO, PAWS and ProjectDox). In preparation for PLUS, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted amendments to Appendix Q – the Land Development Services (LDS) Fee Schedule of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Code of Ordinances, on Dec. 7, 2021.  Several of those fees will become effective with the implementation of PLUS on October 31. Find the new fees at Appendix Q .

The revised fees will be assessed to applicable plans and permits submitted on or after October 31, with the exception of site-related pre-submission fees which will not be assessed on any plan filed prior to October 31 nor on any resubmission or revision of that plan filed after October 31. (Please note that the transition to PLUS on October 31 will require FIDO, PAWS, ProjectDox and PLUS to be inaccessible starting on Friday afternoon October 21. Consequently, it will not be possible to submit plans or permit applications between Friday evening October 21 and Monday morning October 31)    

For background information, a copy of the staff report and amendments can be found at:
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/landdevelopment/public-facilities-manual-and-code-amendments.

Fairfax County Land Development Services (LDS) has updated the Resource Protection Area (RPA) Exemption/Exception Request Coversheet.

The latest revision clarifies forms and documents required for different types of applications. As a reminder, submitters should always reference the link to the online form to ensure the latest version is being used when submitting.

All LDS forms can be found on the Forms & Publications Library.

Please contact LDS Site Development and Inspections Division (SDID) at 703-324-1720, TTY 711 or LDS SDID Admin with any questions about requirements for RPA applications.

The Department of Land Development Services (LDS) developed a new 3rd Party Construction Inspection Checklist and Certification form for underground detention chambers submitted to meet the detention requirements for development plans. This checklist supplements the existing 3rd Party Construction Inspection Checklist and Certification forms tailored to other stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) already available in the LDS Forms library.

The 3rd Party Construction Inspection Checklist and Certification forms are required for underground detention chambers installed in Fairfax County. A checklist must be certified and submitted before issuance of the occupancy permit and release of the conservation deposit. Previously, underground detention chambers were certified using checklist forms not tailored specifically for this facility type. This new checklist form is specifically written for small detention-only facilities.

On August 5, 2022, LDS issued Technical Bulletin 22-06 “Localized Flooding Mitigation Policy for Residential Infill Development Detention Requirements.” The policy also published new county-approved BMP designs, including an underground detention chamber. This new checklist is suitable for certifying the as-built information for these underground detention chambers and for similar facilities even if not designed using the Simplified Infill Detention Method.

Please contact Yosif Ibrahim, Residential Infill Development Branch Chief, with general questions, or your assigned site inspector, if you have questions related to using this checklist for a specific project.

Effective immediately, zoning documents, including Conceptual Development Plans and Final Development Plans (CDPs/FDPs), are not required to be submitted as plan sheets within site-related plans governed by approved zoning cases.

For all resubmissions of currently pending site-related plans, Land Development Services (LDS) requires CDP/FDP sheets be replaced with blank sheets bearing a note:

“Sheet intentionally left blank. See approved entitlement application number _____________.”

Please revise the sheet index of any impacted plan with a reference to the approved zoning case.

This change is being made recognizing that the Planning and Land Use System (PLUS) will utilize linked records that will obviate the need for including CDPs/FDPs within site related plans. This change is being immediately implemented to reduce file sizes of site records in advance of data conversion into PLUS.

For any questions, please email Matthew Hansen, Director, LDS Site Development & Inspections Division.

The Chesapeake Bay is one of the world’s most productive coastal water bodies, and it collects water from county streams and rivers. The Board of Supervisors declared June 4-12, 2022, as Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week to increase understanding of this important estuary and the role it plays in our environment. Read the full story on Fairfax County’s NewsCenter.