In July, after a 6-year effort to overhaul its Zoning Ordinance, the Chesterfield Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of ZOMod moving it forward to the Board of Supervisors for a public hearing on September 17. The potential adoption of ZOMod represents a substantial change to the landscape of development in Chesterfield that will affect, to some degree, all property within the County and any pending or future development applications.
What is ZOMod?
A locality’s zoning ordinance is a regulatory framework that controls how property may be used and/or developed. In Virginia, a zoning ordinance is the tool by which a locality implements its Comprehensive Plan (i.e., the statutorily required policy document that outlines a locality's goals and strategies with respect to future growth and development). In 2019, Chesterfield County adopted the most recent version of its Comprehensive Plan; however, its zoning ordinance remains outdated with its core elements dating back to the 1970s and, as a result, its standards do not align with current market and development trends.
ZOMod seeks to rewrite Chesterfield’s entire zoning ordinance to implement the goals and strategies of the Comprehensive Plan and create a more user-friendly, flexible, and transparent ordinance that better aligns with modern styles of development while addressing changing conditions, demographics, and needs of the County. After many years of diligent work from County staff and officials, and various stakeholder groups including representatives of the land development industry, ZOMod is now in its final form and awaits a decision by the Board of Supervisors.
As with any comprehensive rewrite to a complex regulatory scheme, the impacts to individual properties and neighborhoods require a case-by-case analysis; however, some of the notable changes included within ZOMod are summarized below.
- New Zoning Districts: ZOMod will create entirely new zoning district classifications throughout the County. Every property located within the County will receive a new zoning district designation that is envisioned to be the nearest equivalent new district.
- Development Standards: The majority of the new zoning districts are drafted in a manner that includes varying sets of development standards or ‘patterns’ within a single zoning district. This is intended to provide optionality within a particular zoning district to accommodate varying types of developments. For example, the Semi-Urban Neighborhood (SU) district, which allows single-family, detached dwelling units, contains three development patterns: Base; Option 1; and Option 2. The base pattern has a minimum lot size of 7,500 sf. The minimum lot size in Option 1 is 6,000 sf while the minimum lot size in Option 2 is 4,500 sf. Each of these ‘patterns’ have varying minimum development standards related to amenity space, lot width, building heights, setbacks, among other items.
- CUPDs/Zoning Deviations: One major aspect of ZOMod is an effort to reduce the reliance on CUPDs that recently became a preferred option for developers to accommodate current development trends that are envisioned by the Comprehensive Plan but could not be achieved under the rigid, outdated standards of the existing zoning ordinance. ZOMod seeks to accomplish this through the careful and detailed creation of new zoning districts that update development standards to accommodate the types of developments and communities being planned in Chesterfield. In turn, ZOMod eliminates the Conditional Use Planned Districts (CUPD) process as a tool for zoning applications to seek relief from existing minimum requirements and replaces it with Zoning Deviations, which function very similar to the existing CUPD process. Because ZOMod aims to achieve more flexibility with respect to development standards (e.g., buffers, lot sizes, building heights, etc.), the expectation is that the development industry’s reliance on the CUPD process to waive or modify certain standards will be reduced or eliminated. However, since it is difficult to project future development trends, ZOMod still includes the Zoning Deviation process to allow applicants to seek deviations from the new standards on a case-by-case basis through approval by the Board of Supervisors.
- Housing Types: ZOMod supports a greater variety of housing types and lot sizes to better reflect the vision of the Comprehensive Plan and current market trends. It includes minimum residential lot sizes that vary from 5 acre lots to 4,500 sf along with varying townhouse, multi-family and condominium options.
- Data Centers: ZOMod proposes to eliminate development of data centers as a by-right option. Moving forward, data centers would only be permitted in the Employment Center (EC) and Employment General (EG) Zoning Districts with a conditional use permit. This follows a trend across many Virginia localities, including Henrico County, that have sought to put limitations on data center development.
- Density: The permitted maximum density in the new zoning districts will be tied to the densities prescribed in the corresponding future land use designations of the Comprehensive Plan.
- Amenity Spaces: Another goal within ZOMod is to increase amenity space throughout the County. Amenity space is defined as land within a development or project design, developed, and maintained for the use and enjoyment of residents, visitors, and/or the general public. A majority of the new zoning districts proposed in ZOMod contain a minimum requirement of amenity space within new projects.
How could ZOMod impact you?
ZOMod will significantly alter the regulatory framework that controls the use and development of property in Chesterfield County. In some instances, it could result in more development options, yielding greater flexibility in the use or development of land. In other instances, it could limit or further constrain development rights. Additionally, previously permitted uses may no longer be permitted, or existing legal uses may become lawful nonconforming uses thereby limiting and restricting future development options with respect to said use.
Understanding how ZOMod affects the use and/or development of your property is essential when assessing the viability of a project or the future marketability of land.
If adopted, the planned effective date of ZOMod is January 1, 2026. County staff are taking steps to facilitate the transition into this new regulatory scheme, making it critical to explore how it will affect pending development applications and proposals.
