Fairfax County released an online toolkit on Tuesday, Aug. 4, giving McLean and Great Falls residents a four-week window to weigh in on proposed zoning changes that would make it far easier to build backyard cottages and in-law suites on large single-family lots.

The community engagement toolkit invites residents to host neighborhood discussions and submit feedback on proposed changes to accessory living unit rules. The toolkit is open through Aug. 31, according to Board Chairman Jeff McKay, who promoted it on Facebook.

It is the county's next formal step before staff finalize recommendations for a Zoning Ordinance amendment that would reshape how ALUs, basement apartments, guest houses and detached backyard cottages are regulated on single-family lots across the Dranesville District.

What the proposal would change

Under the draft ordinance, detached ALUs would be allowed by right on any lot of 36,000 square feet or more, approved through the routine building-permit process with no Board of Zoning Appeals hearing and no neighbor notice, according to county documents cited in the Fairfax County Times. That threshold covers the R-1 zoning district, which includes large swaths of McLean and Great Falls.

Today, a detached ALU requires a special permit and a two-acre lot. Only about 5% of single-family homes in the county clear that bar.

The proposal would also:

  • Eliminate the owner-occupancy requirement. Property owners would no longer need to live on-site, WTOP reported.
  • Drop the extra parking space currently required when an ALU is established.
  • Remove the separate administrative zoning permit for interior ALUs and detached ALUs on qualifying lots, eliminating the county's ability to track how many units exist.
  • Raise the interior ALU size cap from 800 to 1,200 square feet, while keeping the 40% limit relative to the main home.

Survey results vs. staff recommendations

The county's own community survey found 65% of respondents wanted the owner-occupancy rule kept. Fifty percent said the parking requirement should stay. Staff recommended dropping both.

Staff acknowledged in a June 30 white paper that eliminating the administrative permit would eliminate the county's ability to count how many ALUs exist, but recommended the change anyway to remove what they called a "perceived regulatory barrier."

"We do see ALUs as a valuable tool in the affordable housing tool kit," deputy zoning administrator Casey Judge told WTOP on July 9, when the county first outlined the proposal publicly.

How to participate

The toolkit provides discussion guides, fact sheets and a feedback form. Residents can organize their own neighborhood conversations and submit group or individual comments through the county's ALU amendment page at fairfaxcounty.gov/planning-development/zoning-ordinance/amendments/accessory-living-units.

The McLean Citizens Association's Planning & Zoning Committee has been tracking the proposal. The committee's next meeting is Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom; residents can contact committee Chair Bob Perito at [email protected].