Fairfax County Urban Design Guidelines

Reston Streetscape

Design Guidelines provide detailed urban design and streetscape guidance that enhances the vision laid out in the Comprehensive Plan. They are intended to be used by citizens, developers, property owners, designers, Fairfax County staff, the Planning Commission, and the Board of Supervisors when proposing, designing, or reviewing development projects. The contents of the Guidelines are flexible to adapt to site-specific conditions and to encourage innovative solutions. For example, the Comprehensive Plan depicts the general configuration of streets including the location and size of sidewalks, bike lanes, transit facilities, and street trees, while the Guidelines build on the Plan’s recommendations so that streetscapes provide multiple benefits such as placemaking, stormwater, and tree canopy.

Draft Updates to Volume 1 Urban Design Guidelines are Available for Review

We are updating the Volume 1 Urban Design Guidelines for CRDs and CRAs to reflect the lessons learned since their original publication in 2018. The updates incorporate the latest best practices, fresh design reference examples, alignment with updated county policies and plans, and improvements in both readability and ADA accessibility.

Cover, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Street & Streetscape Design
Chapter 3: Parks & Open Space
Chapter 4: Building Design
Chapter 5: Parking & Access
Chapter 6: Additional Placemaking Elements
Chapter 7: Interim Development Conditions
Appendix: Tree Planting Details, Suggested Tree and Plant Lists, Alternative Tree Planting Details, Sustainable Design Toolbox, Reference Materials

Appendix to All Urban Design Guidelines on Street Trees

Starting in February 2023, street trees in Fairfax County's Activity Centers are eligible to receive 10-Year Tree Canopy Credit. The Appendix to Urban Design Guidelines includes:

Methods to calculate canopy credit that incentivize large soil volumes
An Alternative Minimum Standard for planting street trees at constrained sites
Minimum and maximum tree sizes at the time of planting

Perpetual maintenance and replacement agreements are required.

For more details visit: https://www.fcrevite.org/specialprojects/urban-design-guidelines

Annandale: District Design Guidelines

Signage
The Volume II: District Design Guidelines for Annandale contains written and visual ideas for the design of streets, site and building form, lighting, signage, and generally provides design direction to enhance the appearance of the Annandale Commercial Revitalization District (CRD). The Volume II: District Design Guidelines is a companion document to the Volume I: Urban Design Guidelines for Fairfax County Revitalization Districts and Areas.

These two volumes of guidance are to be used together when proposing, designing, or reviewing development projects.

Project Highlights

The Volume II: District Design Guidelines for Annandale were endorsed by the Board of Supervisors on June 22, 2021.

The District Design Guidelines serve as a complement to the existing Comprehensive Plan vision for the Annandale Community Business Center (CBC) through its detailed urban design and streetscape guidance that is to be used by owners, developers, citizens, and Fairfax County: staff, Planning Commission, and Board of Supervisors when proposing, designing, or reviewing development projects.

Whether a development requires zoning or site plan approval or is being developed by right, developers are encouraged to abide by these Guidelines to assist in implementing the community vision for Annandale. Links to the individual chapters, and the complete document, are available below.

Volume II: District Design Guidelines for Annandale

Complete Document
Chapter 1: Cover, Table of Contents, and Introduction
Chapter 2: Site and Building Design
Chapter 3: Street Network
Chapter 4: Public Realm Elements

Background: Update of the Annandale Urban Design Guidelines

Creation of the Volume I: Urban Design Guidelines for Fairfax County Revitalization Districts and Areas in 2018 resulted in the need for a redesign and update of the Annandale Urban Design Guidelines, which were originally published in 2011.

Volume I applies to all County CRDs and Commercial Revitalization Areas (CRAs) and includes broad urban design recommendations for streets, parks, landscaping, building exteriors and placemaking features.

Part of the update of the Annandale Urban Design Guidelines into the new Volume II: District Design Guidelines for Annandale included the removal of redundant text covered in Volume I. The new guidelines retain district-specific recommendations and add elementss related to public art, revised streetscape materials, and complete street sections provided in other design guidelines.

For More Information:

Department of Planning and Development
Community Revitalization Section

Email: revitalization@fairfaxcounty.gov
Phone: 703-324-9300

RELATED RESOURCES

2011 Annandale Urban Design Guidelines

Comprehensive Plan Area I: Annandale CBC

Zoning Ordinance

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