Abutting: Touching, adjoining, or having a common boundary. Refer to Figure 12.A-1.

Figure 12.A-1. Abutting

Figure 12.A-1. Abutting

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Access: A means of approach or admission.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Accessory Snack Bar or Refreshment Stand: See Snack Bar or Refreshment Stand, Accessory.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Active Channel: The area of the stream channel that is subject to frequent flows (approximately once per 1 and 1/2  years), and that includes the portion of the channel below where the floodplain flattens.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Adaptive Reuse: Repurposing of an existing structure that meets the eligibility requirements of Section 4.09.B. to accommodate new uses while preserving the structure. This often involves improving existing structures to allow for modern design and programming them for the new use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Adjacent: Abutting or directly on the opposite side of a dedicated public road. Refer to Figure 12.A-2.

Figure 12.A-2. Adjacent

Figure 12.A-2. Adjacent

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Adjacent Steep Slopes: Very Steep Slopes located within the first 50 feet from the edge of a stream or floodplain. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Adult Day Care: A licensed establishment for 4 or more aged, infirm, or disabled adults, operated during a part of the day only, that provides supplementary care and protection of individuals who reside elsewhere. This does not include:

1. A.

   Establishments licensed by the State Board of Health or the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; or

2. B.
   Dwelling units where an individual cares only for persons related to them by blood or marriage.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Adverse Impact: An impact that creates, imposes, aggravates, or leads to inadequate, impractical, unsafe, or unhealthy conditions on a site or degrades or damages environmental or cultural resources on a site proposed for development or on off-site property or facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Affordable Dwelling Unit (ADU): A dwelling unit for rent or for sale that is regulated pursuant to Section 9.01 and Chapter 1450 of the Codified Ordinances.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Affordable Dwelling Unit (ADU) Program: The ADU​​​​​​​ Program governs the provision and administration of ADUs, establishment of ADU prices and price controls, eligibility requirements for the ADU Program, and the structure and operation of the Affordable Dwelling Unit Advisory Board (ADUAB).​​​​​​​ The ADU Program is implemented pursuant to Section 9.01, and​​​​​​​ Chapter 1450 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County​​​​​​​.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Affordable Housing Unit (AHU): A dwelling unit for rent or for sale developed pursuant to 1 of the following funding programs:

1. A.
   Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) (also known as Virginia Housing) Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program;
2. B.
   Section 8 New Construction (New Construction), Substantial Rehabilitation (Substantial Rehabilitation) and/or Loan Management Set-Aside (LMSA) Program (also referred to as Section 8 project-based rent assistance);
3. C.
   U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 221(d)(4) program that meets the Section 3.1.12, Definition of Affordable Housing included in the HUD Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guide, Revised March 19, 2021, as amended from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing - FHA Commissioner ("HUD 221(d)(4) Affordable");
4. D.
   HUD Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program;
5. E.
   HUD Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program;
6. F.
   United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Section 515 Multifamily Housing Direct Loan Program;
7. G.
   USDA Section 538 Multifamily Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program;
8. H.
   Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) programs administering National Housing Trust Fund monies, State Housing Trust Fund monies, or federal HOME funds; or 
9. I.
   Other similar funding programs as approved by Zoning Administrator in consultation with the Loudoun County Department of Housing and Community Development.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Affordable Housing Unit (AHU) Program: The AHU Program governs the provision and administration of AHUs. The AHU Program is implemented pursuant to Section 9.03.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Agricultural Cultural Center: An establishment that educates the public about agricultural activities and/or the heritage and culture of agricultural activities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Agricultural Education or Research: An establishment that:

1. A.
   Investigates, tests, and demonstrates agricultural products and processes, including biotechnical agriculture, veterinary, soil, plant, and animal sciences; or
2. B.
   Trains or educates persons in products and processes related to agriculture, horticulture, or animal husbandry.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Agricultural Processing: The processing and/or preparation of agricultural products, including changes to the physical state or form of the agricultural product.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Agricultural Structure: A structure used primarily for agricultural purposes in which the use is exclusively in connection with the production, harvesting, storage, drying, or raising of agricultural commodities, including the raising of livestock.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Agriculture: A use and classification characterized by general active and ongoing agricultural activities, including agronomy, aquaculture, biotechnical agriculture (including education parks for biotechnical agriculture or a demonstration facility), forestry, fisheries, honey production, silviculture, and similar uses. Agriculture includes farming activities, including the cultivation of crops, animal husbandry, harvesting, cleaning, sorting, and bundling of agricultural product.

Accessory uses may include offices, storage areas, and repair facilities related to agriculture uses.

Agriculture includes:

1. A.
   A direct market business for sale of products produced onsite-including but not limited to PYO (pick-your-own); and
2. B.
   "Community Supported Agriculture" (CSA), defined as an area of land managed and maintained by an individual or group of individuals to grow and harvest food and/or horticultural products for shareholder consumption or for sale or donation.

Agriculture does not include:

1. A.
   A grocery store or the retail or wholesale sale of products remotely related to the production of agricultural products; or
2. B.
   Preparatory functions such as grading or creation of planting beds through stockpiling of dirt or other means that do not result in an active and ongoing agricultural activity within 30 days.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Agriculture, Bona Fide:  Agriculture conducted in accordance with the standards of Section 4.08.01.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Agriculture Support Uses (Direct Association ​​​​​​​with On-Site​​​​​​​ Agricultural Activity)​​​​​​​: Uses that provide support and services to agricultural, horticultural, and animal husbandry activities, which are limited to and that operate in conjunction with and on the site of ongoing agricultural, horticultural, or animal husbandry uses. These uses include: agricultural processing; agri-education; animal care businesses; commercial wineries; custom operators (haymaking, brush hogging, crop storage, hauling, fencing, barn construction); equestrian event facilities; horse trails or networks; farm co-ops; farm based tourism events; farm markets; farm machinery repair; feedlot (for ongoing, on-site, animal husbandry activities); nurseries, commercial; pet farms; products combining recreation with consumption of agricultural products; portable sawmills; small business uses; stables; stables, private; wayside stands; wetlands mitigation banks; and similar uses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Agriculture Support Uses (Standalone): Uses and activities that provide support and services to agricultural, horticultural, and animal husbandry activities, either on the site of the agricultural, horticultural, or animal husbandry activity or off-site. These uses include: agricultural research facility; animal care businesses; central farm distribution hub for agricultural products; equestrian event facilities; horse trails or networks; farm machinery repair; farm machinery sales, rental and service; feed and farm supply centers; nurseries, commercial; and similar uses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Agritainment:  Events and activities that allow for recreation, entertainment, and tourism that are in conjunction with on-going agricultural activities on-site (examples include corn mazes and hayrides).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Airport/Landing Strip: Any area of land or water that is used or intended for the landing and taking off of aircraft, and any appurtenant areas that are used or intended for accessory uses. Accessory uses may include runways, taxiways, aircraft storage and tie-down areas, hangers, public terminal buildings and parking, helicopter pads, and support activities such as airport operations, air traffic control, and dusting services. For purposes of this definition, "aircraft" means a device that is used or intended to be used for flight in the air, such as an airplane or helicopter.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Alley: A right-of-way that provides secondary and/or service access for vehicles to the side or rear of abutting properties whose principal frontage is on another street. Alleys are not roads for purposes of meeting primary access requirements.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV): A small motor vehicle with 3 or 4 wheels designed for recreational use on various types of terrain.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Amend or Amendment: Any repeal, modification, or addition to a regulation; any new regulation; any change in the number, shape, boundary, or area of a district; or any repeal or abolition of any map, part thereof, or addition thereto.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Amphitheater: A place, not enclosed in a building, having a stage and seating for performances, concerts, and the like, with the seating for spectators arranged largely within a natural or artificial grade in the land such as a hillside or depression. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Animal Care Business: An enterprise that provides care and services for livestock or other farm animals, such as, but not limited to, animal grooming, dental, blacksmithing, and massage, but that is not a kennel or an animal hospital.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Animal Hospital: A place for the medical care of animals. The boarding of animals at an animal hospital is limited to that incidental to the hospital use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Animal Husbandry: Uses characterized by the active and on-going propagation, rearing, exercising, feeding, milking, housing, controlling, handling, or general care of livestock. The conduct of the foregoing activities with respect to animals that are not livestock (e.g., companion animals, pets, or non-domesticated (wild) animals) is not considered animal husbandry.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Animal Services: A Use Category that includes uses related to the provision of services and treatment to animals.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Antiques, Art, and Crafts: An establishment that sells items such as furniture, household wares and decorations, and related articles that have value and significance because of factors such as age, rarity, historical significance, design, and sentiment, sells handcrafted items by local artisans, or displays or sells works of art.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Application, Active: Any Zoning Map Amendment application, Zoning Modification application, Concept Plan Amendment application, Special Exception or Minor Special Exception application, Site Plan application, or Preliminary or Record Subdivision application that the County has officially accepted for processing and such application has not had processing suspended either by request of the applicant or by having no contact or activity occur in regard to the application by the applicant and has been placed on inactive status pursuant to Section 10.01 of this Zoning Ordinance or deemed inactive pursuant to the Land Subdivision and Development Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Application, Inactive: Any Zoning Map Amendment application, Zoning Modification application, Concept Plan Amendment application, Special Exception or Minor Special Exception application, Site Plan application, or Preliminary or Record Subdivision application officially accepted by the County for processing but that has had processing suspended either by request of the applicant or by having no contact or activity occur in regard to the application by the applicant and has been placed on inactive status pursuant to Section 10.01 of this Zoning Ordinance or deemed inactive pursuant to the Land Subdivision and Development Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Application, Reactivated: Any Zoning Map Amendment application, Zoning Modification application, Concept Plan Amendment application, Special Exception or Minor Special Exception application, Preliminary or Record Subdivision application, or Site Plan application that was classified as inactive and that the applicant subsequently notifies the County in writing of their desire to have the application brought to final decision.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Arboretum: See Cultural Facility.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Arborist or Urban Forester: A person trained in arboriculture, forestry, landscape architecture, horticulture, or related fields and experienced in the conservation and preservation of native and ornamental trees.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Archery: A structure designed for the use of crossbows, slingbows, arrowguns, bows and arrows, or pneumatic guns as defined by Code of Virginia. [Note: Code of Virginia § 15.2-915.4. defines pneumatic gun as "any implement, designed as a gun, that will expel a BB or a pellet by action of pneumatic pressure" including "a paintball gun that expels by action of pneumatic pressure plastic balls filled with paint for the purpose of marking the point of impact."]

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Area Median Income (AMI): The annually estimated area median income developed by the United States Census Bureau for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD HUD Metro Fair Market Rent (FMR) Area (DC-VA-MD FMR Area) as determined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) (also known as Virginia Housing) and other State agencies, and local governments to determine eligibility for assisted housing programs for an area. Loudoun County is part of the DC-VA-MD FMR Area. Also known by HUD as Area Median Family Income (AMFI).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Art Studio: The workshop of an artist, writer, craftsperson, or photographer, but not a place where members of the public come to receive instruction on a more than incidental basis or to sit for photographic portraits.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation: Uses that are generally commercial and provide indoor or outdoor entertainment for consumers. Accessory uses include offices, storage of goods, outdoor storage, parking, snack bar or refreshment stands, caretaker’s quarters, and maintenance facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Auction: An establishment where the property of others, such as objects of art, furniture, and other goods (except livestock), are offered by a broker or auctioneer for sale to persons who bid on the items in competition with each other at scheduled sales periods or events.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Auction Facility, Livestock: An establishment where the public may consign livestock for sale by auction open to public bidding or sell livestock on a commission basis, consisting of pens or other enclosures and related facilities where livestock is received, held, and kept for sale at auction and shipment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Automobile Service Station/Automotive Service Station: See Vehicle Service Station.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Automobile Sales Lots: See Vehicle Sales.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Aviation: Uses characterized by facilities for the operation and maintenance of aircraft, including airports, hangars, runways and landing strips, flight schools, and fueling facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

A-Weighted Sound Level: The sound pressure level in decibels as measured on a sound level meter (SLM) using the A-weighting network. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Bank or Financial Institution: A business where the primary occupation is financial services such as banking, savings and loans, loan offices, check cashing, and currency exchange outlets. It does not include financial services such as investment companies, loan companies, credit and mortgage, insurance services, or brokerage firms.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Banquet/Event Facility: A use in which the principal function is hosting private parties at which food and beverages are served to groups of people. The use has facilities for the refrigeration and preparation of food or provides facilities for food through a caterer. Banquet/Event facilities, held indoors or outdoors, may also be an accessory component of other uses such as, but not limited to: Restaurants, Hotels, Rural Resorts, Conference and Training Facilities, and similar uses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Bed and Breakfast Homestay: An ​​​​​operator or manager-occupied private dwelling in which overnight accommodations are provided to the public and that may include a room for meetings and private parties as an accessory use. The frequency and volume of paying guests is intended to be incidental to the primary use of the property as a private residence. Accessory structures may be used for guest lodging.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Bed and Breakfast Inn: A lodging use that provides overnight accommodations to the public and may include rooms for meetings and private parties as an accessory use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Bedrock: Rock formation that underlies a surface covering such as soil or extends through the soil as a rock outcrop.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Berm: A landscaped earthen mound intended to screen, buffer, mitigate noise, and generally enhance views of parking areas, storage areas, or required yards particularly from public streets or adjacent land uses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Best Management Practices: Methods and practices that are the most effective and practical means of preventing or reducing the amount of pollution generated by non-point sources (NPS) to a level compatible with established water quality goals. Best management practices may be applied in no-build buffers to protect streams and to control the design and operation of stormwater management improvements, lakes and ponds, silviculture, farming, restoration efforts, and development in and around stream corridors and water supply sources as further defined in the Facilities Standards Manual (FSM).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Biotechnical Agriculture: Agriculture that uses biotechnical methods to modify living cells or organisms to produce substances or perform processes.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Block: That property abutting 1 side of a street and lying between the 2 nearest intersecting streets or the nearest intersecting or intercepting street and railroad right-of-way, unsubdivided acreage, river or live stream between any of the foregoing and any other barrier to the continuity of development. A block may contain an alley.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Board of Supervisors or Board: The Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County, Virginia.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Botanical Garden: See Cultural Facility.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Brewery, Limited: A brewery licensed as a Limited Brewery in accordance with Code of Virginia § 4.1-206.1, as amended, and subject to Section 4.08.05.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Buffering or Screening: Any device or natural growth, or a combination thereof, that serves as a barrier to vision, light, or noise between adjoining properties, wherever required by this Zoning Ordinance and further defined herein and the Facilities Standards Manual (FSM). Whenever used for screening or buffering purposes, "natural growth" must be taken to mean coniferous or deciduous trees, bushes, and shrubbery.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Building: A structure, whether portable or fixed, having 1 or more stories, vertical surfaces, and a roof, designed primarily for the shelter, support, or closure of persons, animals, or property of any kind.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Building and Landscaping Materials Supplier: A business that sells building materials or landscaping where the majority of sales are wholesale transactions to other firms, not retail sales.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Building, Accessory: A building located on a lot, the use of which is associated with the principal building, and that is located upon the same lot as the principal building.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Building, Civic: A structure that is used for community purposes, such as churches, community/recreation centers, service organizations and libraries, and located on a civic-use lot.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Building Height:  The vertical distance from the ground to the top of a building measured in accordance with Section 7.01.06.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Building, Principal: A building or buildings used for the principal use of the property.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Bus or Bus Services: Transit and commuter services to include commuter bus, local bus, paratransit bus, Bus Rapid Transit, and Silver Line bus routes.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Business Support Services: Establishments primarily engaged in rendering services on a fee or contract basis to the business, commercial, industrial, or institutional community, such as advertising; typical business maintenance; employment service; management and consulting services; travel agent; protective services; equipment rental and leasing; commercial research; development and testing; photo finishing; printing service; central mailing services; and personal supply services. A "printing service" means a retail establishment that includes a quick print shop or the operation of offset printing and other related equipment, such as, but not limited to, paper cutters, collating machines, multicolored press equipment, plate burners, binding, and photographic developing equipment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Camp, Day and Boarding: A lodging use type defined as the following:

1. A.
   Camp, Day: A lot, tract, or parcel of land operated as either a commercial or non-commercial establishment in which seasonal facilities are provided for all or any of the following: camping, picnicking, boating, fishing, swimming, outdoor games and sports, and activities incidental and relating to those activities. Day Camp does not include miniature golf grounds, golf driving ranges, mechanical amusement devices, or structures for housing guests.
2. B.
   Camp, Boarding: Same as Day Camp, except that structures for the lodging of guests may be provided.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Campground: An outdoor facility designed for overnight accommodation of human beings in tents, rustic cabins, and shelters for recreation, education, naturalist, or vacation purposes. Accessory uses include office, retail, and other commercial uses commonly established in those facilities and related parking structures.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Capital Improvements Program (CIP): The Loudoun County plan for expenditures for physical facilities of government, such as costs for acquisition of land or interests in land; construction of buildings or other structures, including additions or major alterations; construction of highways or utility lines; fixed equipment; landscaping; and similar expenditures.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Caretaker or Guard Residence: A dwelling unit on a site intended for use as a dwelling for a caretaker accessory to the particular purpose of the principal use on the same site. The caretaker’s residence must be accessory to that principal use. This includes a single-family dwelling accessory to a permitted or Special Exception use. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Carport: Any space outside a building and contiguous thereto, wholly or partly covered by a roof, and used for the shelter of motor vehicles. A carport may have a side enclosure that is more than eighteen inches in height, exclusive of required supports and the side of the building to which the carport is contiguous.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Car Share: A short-term (by the hour or day) motor vehicle rental service use that provides vehicles that may be rented by its members, typically as a means to supplement mass transit facilities. Reserving a short-term motor vehicle takes place remotely rather than at an on-site sales office. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Car Wash: A use consisting of an establishment engaged in the commercial washing of motor vehicles by hand or by using production-line, automated, or semi-automated methods for washing, whether or not employing a chain conveyor, blower, steam-cleaning, or similar mechanical devices, including car detailing services.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Cemetery: A use consisting of any land or structure used or intended to be used for the interment of human remains, including columbaria and mausoleums. A cemetery may include administrative offices, maintenance buildings, and storage structures. This use also includes any land or structure used or intended to be used for the interment of pet animal remains.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Child Day Center: A use consisting of a licensed establishment other than a child day home, that offers care, protection, and supervision of children for compensation only for part of any 24-hour day. This includes nursery schools, kindergartens, or other facilities for which the purpose is primarily educational or recreational.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Child Day Home: A use consisting of a licensed establishment located in a dwelling unit that offers care, protection, and supervision for compensation to more than 4 non-resident children only for part of any 24-hour day. For the purpose of this definition, “non-resident children” means children that are not the childcare provider's own children and children not residing in the home. Pursuant to the Code of Virginia, an establishment that offers care, protection, and supervision for compensation to 4 or fewer non-resident children is considered accessory to a dwelling unit.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Civic, Social, and Fraternal Meeting Place: An establishment of a private non-profit organization, including fraternal organizations, that provide social, physical, recreational, educational, agricultural, or benevolent services. Such establishment must not be operated for the purpose of carrying on a trade or business, and no part of the net earnings must inure to the benefit of any members of such organization or any other individuals; provided, however, that employees may be paid reasonable compensation for services rendered.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Civic Use: Public or quasi-public uses in residential or nonresidential areas that are accessible to the public and primarily serve as gathering or meeting areas for the immediate community or reserved as open space that provides a community amenity or promotes environmental or ecological functions. Civic uses may be public buildings; defined space in residential, commercial, or mixed-use buildings; or outdoor space constructed to accommodate community gatherings. Such uses typically include churches, schools, libraries, community centers, amphitheaters, and Owners Association meeting space or club houses. Civic Uses include Active Recreation Open Space, Passive Recreation Open Space, and Community Open Space.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Closed Depression: In a limestone area, a distinctive bowl-shaped depression of varied sizes in the land surface. It is characterized by internal drainage and an unbroken ground surface.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Cluster Subdivision Option (AR Districts Only): A design option for the subdivision of an Originating Tract that permits a higher residential density and smaller lot sizes than the other subdivision options, and includes 1 or more larger lots suitable for agriculture, horticulture, and/or animal husbandry uses, other rural economy uses, or common open space.

(ZOAM-2020-0002, 06/12/2024)

Effective on: 3/12/2025

Cluster Development (CR and Suburban Zoning Districts Only): An arrangement of structures on adjoining lots in groupings allowing closer spacing than would be generally permitted under Zoning Ordinance requirements, where at least 20% of the lots have less than the required minimum lot area, which is compensated by maintenance of equivalent open space, either elsewhere on the lot or in the form of commonly owned open space. All land not included within lots or required for public or private streets must be maintained as commonly owned open space. Commonly owned open space must be designed to constitute a continuous and cohesive unit of land that may be used for active or passive recreation by residents and must be reasonably accessible to all permitted uses and all residential units within the development.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County, Virginia: The code identifying the laws, rules, regulations, and standards of Loudoun County.  Also referenced to as the "Codified Ordinances."

Effective on: 1/1/1901

College or University: An institute of higher education that is authorized by the Commonwealth to award associate, bachelor, or higher degrees, and that may include on-campus student, faculty, and/or employee housing facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Commercial:​ A use classification that collectively defines workplace, office, retail, and restaurant uses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Commercial Strip Development: A linear, commercial development pattern along a road that includes 3 or more of the following characteristics: predominance of single-story buildings, either standalone or connected; parking between the building and the road; limited reliance on shared access points; broad road frontage; a lack of connection to an existing settlement, (e.g., village centers or neighborhoods) except by road; lack of coordination with surrounding land uses; and lack of connection to a pedestrian and bicycle network/limited access for pedestrians.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Common Open Space Lot: A type of lot that may be created under the AR-1 or AR-2 District Cluster Subdivision Option.

(ZOAM-2020-0002, 06/12/2024) 

Effective on: 3/12/2025

Community Center: A place, structure, area, or other facility used to provide fraternal, cultural, social, educational, or recreational programs or activities, such as an Owners Association facility. This includes swimming pools, tennis courts, and similar facilities that are open to the public or a designated part of the public, and may be publicly or privately owned.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Community Garden: A site gardened collectively by a group for producing herbs, fruits, vegetables, flowers, or other ornamental foliage for personal use, consumption, or donation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Companion Animal:  Any domestic or feral dog, domestic or feral cat, nonhuman primate, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit not raised for human food or fiber, exotic or native animal, reptile, exotic or native bird, or any feral animal or any animal under the care, custody, or ownership of a person or any animal that is bought, sold, traded, or bartered by any person.  No agricultural animal, game species, or animal regulated under federal law as a research animal will be considered a companion animal for the purposes of this chapter. The keeping of such animals is permitted as an accessory use to a dwelling unit.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Companion Animal/Pet Grooming: A commercial establishment that provides grooming services for companion animals or pets. Services may include cleaning, cutting, styling, or maintaining of animal’s skin, coat, hair, or feathers. This use does not include the boarding or overnight stay of animals. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Composting: The manipulation of the natural aerobic process of decomposition of organic materials to increase the rate of decomposition, which produces compost.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Composting Facility: A Solid Waste Management Facility that is located, designed, constructed, and operated to compost yard waste as defined by Code of Virginia § 10.1-1400 to a stabilized organic product so that it does not pose a present or potential hazard to human health or the environment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Comprehensive Plan: The official document, commonly referred to as the General Plan and Countywide Transportation Plan, or elements thereof, adopted by the Board of Supervisors, intended to guide the physical development of the County or a portion thereof. Such plan, including maps, plats, charts, policy statements and/or descriptive material, must be that adopted in accordance with Code of Virginia § 15.2 2226.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Concept Development Plan (CDP): Part of a Zoning Map Amendment (ZMAP) or Zoning Concept Plan Amendment (ZCPA) application. The CDP may consist of both a visual and a written representation depicting the layout and/or design of the development, and all associated proffers. When the CDP is approved through the legislative process, the CDP then becomes binding on the developer and his successors in interests.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Conference and Training Facilities: Facilities used for business or professional conferences, seminars, and training programs. Facilities may include accommodations for sleeping, eating, and recreation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Congregate Housing: Establishments primarily engaged in providing any of the following housing services:

1. A.
   Short term emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or child abuse;
2. B.
   Temporary residential shelter for the homeless, runaway youths, and patients and families in medical crises;
3. C.
   Transitional housing for low-income individuals and families;
4. D.
   More than 8 individuals with mental illness, intellectual disability, or developmental disabilities reside, with 1 or more resident or nonresident staff persons;
5. E.
   More than 8 aged, infirm, or disabled persons reside, with 1 or more resident counselors or other staff persons; or 
6. F.
   Special care, treatment, training, or similar purposes not listed above, on a temporary or permanent basis, including orphanages.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Conservancy Lot: A lot, excluding the hamlet/cluster lots, open space and/or hamlet green/square, that will remain as a large parcel(s), the bulk of which is in permanent open space easement and a portion of which may be designated a building area.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Contiguous: In the context of a subdivision, a group of parcels where each parcel abuts at least 1 other parcel in the group and the boundaries of such parcels are capable of being connected by a continuous line around the entire group. Does not include separate parcels located on opposite sides of a dedicated public road. In the context of single-family attached and multifamily stacked dwelling units, a group of dwellings where each dwelling abuts at least 1 other dwelling in the group and the footprints (both below and above ground) of such dwellings are capable of being connected by a continuous line around the entire group. Refer to Figure 12.C-1.

Figure 12.C-1. Contiguous

Figure 12.C-1. Contiguous

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Continuing Care Facility: This type of facility may consist of 3 types of care or any 1 or 2 types:

1. A.
   Independent Living: A facility providing self-sufficient living and that may be affiliated with or located near health care facilities;
2. B.
   Adult Assisted Living: A facility for people who cannot live independently and who need assistance with daily chores and housekeeping; and/or
3. C.
   Nursing Home: A facility for individuals who require specialized nursing care on a regular basis but who do not need to be hospitalized.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Contractor:  An establishment engaged in:

1. A.
   The installation and servicing of items such as air conditioners, electrical equipment, flooring, heating, painting, plumbing, roofing, tiling, or ventilation;
2. B.
   The planting and maintenance of gardens, grounds, and yards, such as landscape contractors and lawn maintenance services;
3. C.
   Construction and demolition services;
4. D.
   Maintenance services such as carpet cleaning, carpentry, roofing, exterminator, glazing, janitorial services, electrical repair, plumbing, heating and air conditioning (sales and service), upholstery, painting and paper hanging, sign painting, or rug cleaning; or
5. E.
   Remediation services such as septic tank services, remediation and cleanup of contaminated buildings, mine sites, soil, or groundwater, integrated mine-reclamation activities, including demolition, soil remediation, wastewater treatment, hazardous substance removal, contouring land, and revegetation, or asbestos, lead paint, and other toxic material abatement.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Contributing: Helping, assisting, or adding to the historical integrity, historic architectural qualities, or archaeological qualities of the subject Historic Overlay District (HOD) and/or the said Historic Overlay District's historic associations. The Zoning Administrator, or the Zoning Administrator's designee, establishes what is considered contributing to a HOD. See Non-Contributing.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Convenience Store: Establishments that retail a limited line of goods that generally includes milk, bread, soda, beer and wine, packaged food and snacks, and household products, but not fuel sales for vehicles. Characterized by the rapid turnover of customers and a high traffic/trip generation. Accessory uses include food preparation for carry-out or on-site consumption (with seating).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Convenience Store (with Gasoline Sales): Establishments that include the activities listed in the definition of "Convenience Store," and that may include fuel for vehicles, electric vehicle charging spaces, and/or a car wash.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Convention or Exhibition Facility: A building or structure with a convention hall, auditorium, arena, meeting rooms, and/or exhibition area, designed to accommodate conventions, trade shows, meetings, and/or displays, and related support services, and that does not include accommodations for sleeping.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Conversion Condominium: A condominium containing structures that before the recording of the declaration were wholly or partially occupied by persons other than those who have contracted for the purchase of condominium units and those who occupy with the consent of such purchasers.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Country Club: A land area and structures containing a club house, dining and/or banquet facilities, conference rooms, spa, fitness or recreational facilities, available to members and their guests for a membership fee. A Country Club must include an equestrian facility and/or a golf course and may include swimming pools, tennis courts, squash courts, stables, and riding facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Country Inn: A business operated in 1 or more structures that offers overnight accommodations and may include rooms for meetings and private parties in a predominately rural area. A Country Inn may include a full-service restaurant for overnight guests, the general public, meetings, and private parties.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

County: Loudoun County, Virginia.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Court: An open, unoccupied space, other than a yard with a building or group of buildings, that is bounded on 2 or more sides by such building or buildings, and every part of which is clear and unobstructed from its lowest point to the sky, except for landscaping, if any.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Covered Activities: For the purposes of Sections 5.04, 5.05, and Chapter 6, Covered Activities include all of the following:

1. A.
   Land Development Applications.

   1. 1.
      Legislative: All Zoning Amendments, Special Exceptions, Minor Special Exceptions, Commission Permits, Certificates of Appropriateness, Variances, and Zoning Modifications reviewed for approval by the Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, Board of Zoning Appeals, or Historic District Review Committee.
   2. 2.
      Administrative: All Subdivisions (including preliminary subdivision plats), Site Plans, grading permits, construction plans and profiles, and Zoning Permits and building permits that involve land disturbing activities, and modifications reviewed for approval by the Zoning Administrator.
2. B.
   Land Disturbances or Land-Disturbing Activity. Land Disturbances or Land-Disturbing Activities include, but are not limited to: cutting; filling; clearing; excavation; grading; construction; reconstruction; investigations (such as test wells); and the location, sourcing, and construction of water supply systems under Chapter 1040 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County.
3. C.
   Uses in Chapter 3.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Craft Beverage Manufacturing: A small-scale brewery manufacturing no more than 15,000 barrels of beer per calendar year, licensed in accordance with the Code of Virginia § 4.1-206.1., as amended, or a small-scale distillery manufacturing no more than 36,000 gallons of distilled spirts, licensed in accordance with Code of Virginia § 4.1-206.1., as amended. Accessory uses may include tasting rooms at which the consumption of beer or distilled spirts manufactured on-site occurs, accessory food sales occur, and beer and/or distilled spirits manufactured on-site are sold.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Crematorium: A building with a furnace for cremating dead bodies, either animal or human.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Crest:  The uppermost line of a mountain or chain of mountains from which the land falls away on at least 2 sides to a lower elevation or elevations.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Cultural and Government Facilities: Public or nonprofit facilities displaying or preserving objects of interest or providing facilities for 1 or more of the arts or sciences or provision of government services. Accessory uses may include parking and storage areas.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Cultural Facility: Museums, arboretums, botanical gardens, and nature preserves, nature study areas, and interactive science and technology centers. These facilities may, as an accessory use, include related office, retail sales, hosting of events, or scheduled classes in the same subject matter as is permitted for exhibits. 

1. A.
   Botanical Garden: A place where documented collections of living plants are grown, exhibited, or labeled for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display, education, or passive recreational purposes. A botanical garden does not include the harvest of plants or their produce.
2. B.
   Arboretum: A botanical garden that specializes in trees, shrubs, or other woody plants. 
3. C.
   Nature Preserve/Nature Study Area: A place preserved as natural place set aside to observe or study wildlife, flora or fauna, and where structures and changes to the landscape are limited to facilities that enable study or observation (such as benches, trails, markers or observation platforms).  
4. D.
   Museum: An institution for the acquisition, preservation, study, and exhibition of works of artistic, historical or scientific value.
5. E.
   Interactive Science and Technology Center: A facility (indoors, outdoors, or both) that provides access for members of the public to interactive exhibits that promote an understanding of science, nature, engineering, architecture, technology, or any mixture of these subjects. Access may be granted on a scheduled or unscheduled basis, or both, for a fee or for free.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Cultural Tourism: Land areas used for visitation for cultural, natural, or agricultural education. This includes the following as defined below:

1. A.
   Agritourism or farm-based tourism: A commercial enterprise that links agricultural production and/or processing with tourism in order to attract visitors to a farm, ranch, or other agricultural business for the purposes of entertaining and/or educating the visitors and generating income for the farm, ranch, or business owner.
2. B.
   Eco-tourism: Establishments that focus on tourism, visitation, and observation of or education about natural history, indigenous ecosystems, native plant or animal species, natural scenery, or other features of the natural environment. Eco-tourism may include cultural activities related to those activities or work projects that tend to conserve or safeguard the integrity of a natural feature, habitat, or ecosystem. Facilities for eco-tourism may include recreational outfitters. Eco-tourism tends to result in a minimal or positive impact on the features observed or visited or tends to produce economic benefits from conservation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Data Center: An establishment engaging in the storage, management, processing, and/or transmission of digital data, and housing computer and/or network equipment, systems, servers, appliances, and other associated components related to digital data operations.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Data Center Mechanical Equipment: On-site exterior machines used to sustain and/or provide energy for the operations of a Data Center. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Day Care Facilities: See Adult Day Care, Child Day Center, and Child Day Home.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Decibel: A unit for measuring the volume of sound using the A-weighting network on a sound level meter. Decibel may be expressed as dB, dB(A), dBA, dba, or db(A).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Decommission, Solar Facility: The removal and proper disposal of solar energy equipment, facilities, or devices on real property. It must include the reasonable restoration of the real property upon which such solar equipment, facilities, or devices are located, including (i) soil stabilization and (ii) revegetation of the ground cover of the real property disturbed by the installation of such equipment, facilities, or devices.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Density: The amount of residential and/or nonresidential development permitted, as determined by the individual district regulations within Chapter 2.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Density, Gross Residential: The number of units divided by the total area of the tract.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Developable Land: Any vacant land areas capable of being developed with buildings and infrastructure.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Development: Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, structural alterations or relocations of existing buildings, and enlargements of, additions to, changes in and relocations of existing uses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Development Permit: Written approval issued by an authorized official, empowering the holder thereof to do some act not forbidden by law, but not allowed without such authorization. Examples include, but are not limited to, building, zoning, occupancy, and grading permits.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Diabase Rock: A fine- to medium-grained dark-colored igneous rock that is a good source for crushed stone for road and building construction.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dog Park: A park that provides a variety of recreational amenities for dogs and persons that may include benches, parking, restrooms, and water fountains. If dogs are to be unleashed, the area must be fenced.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Donation Drop-off Box: An unattended portable container, receptacle, or similar device or structure that is located outside of a building and intended or used for the holding of charitable or for-profit donated items by the general public and may include, but not be limited to clothing, shoes, furniture, books, or other salvageable personal property with the collection of donated items made at a later date or time. This term does not include recycling drop-off centers or mobile containers that require licensing for transport on authorized roadways.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dormitory, Seasonal Labor: A structure located on the same property as an active agricultural, horticultural, or animal husbandry operation, used for the purpose of housing persons on a seasonal basis who are not members of a family as defined in the Zoning Ordinance and who derive all or part of their income during their occupancy from labor performed on the active agricultural, horticultural, or animal husbandry operation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Drive Aisle: A circulation route through a parking lot for vehicular traffic that provides access to parking spaces and may connect to a driveway. Also referred to as travelway aisle in the Facilities Standards Manual.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Driveway: A space or area specifically designated and reserved on a lot for the movement of vehicles within a lot or from a lot to a street.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dry Cleaning Plant: Establishments primarily engaged in mechanical cleaning of or supplying, on a rental or contract basis, laundered garments, including linens, diapers, industrial work uniforms and related work clothing (such as protective (flame and heat resistant) and clean room apparel), dust control items (such as treated mops, rugs, mats, dust tool covers, and cloths), and shop or wiping towels. Also known as "industrial launderers."

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dustless Surface: A surface with a minimum of either 2 applications of bituminous surface treatment, concrete, bituminous concrete, or equivalent paving material approved by the County and to be maintained in good condition at all times.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Accessory: A dwelling or apartment within or detached from the principal structure or other principal use, the use of which is associated with and subordinate to the principal structure or use and that is located upon the same lot as the principal structure or use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Duplex: A type of single-family attached building that is 1 of a group of 2 contiguous and abutting single-family attached dwelling units within a building, with each dwelling unit being located on a separate lot and separated from the other dwelling unit by a wall with no openings that serves as a generally vertical boundary between both dwelling units and with each such dwelling unit extending from ground to roof, with no dwelling unit directly above another dwelling unit. Each duplex dwelling unit may consist of multiple floors or levels, with each unit having its own ground floor external entrance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Live/Work: A designation applicable to a single-family detached or single-family attached dwelling, that permits the dwelling unit to have a ground floor business use that is permitted in the zoning district.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Multifamily: One of a group of dwelling units in a multifamily attached or multifamily stacked residential structure. For purposes of this Zoning Ordinance, multifamily dwelling includes any unit that does not meet the definition of single-family attached or single-family detached.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Multifamily Attached: One of a group of dwelling units contained within a building, where each dwelling unit in the building is separated from other dwelling units within the building by a vertical wall and a ceiling/floor, with each dwelling unit generally consisting of a single floor or level, and each such unit being accessed by 1 or more common entrances leading directly from the outdoors at ground level, except that a ground floor dwelling unit may have its own ground floor external entrance. The dwelling unit may be separately transferable and capable of being individually owned, such as a condominium, or offered for rent. Each such dwelling unit within the multifamily building may be referred to as a “multifamily dwelling unit” or “attached multifamily dwelling unit”, and such dwelling units may include various floor plans, such as studio/efficiency units, and floor plans with 1 or more bedrooms. Attached multifamily dwelling units are commonly referred to as garden style, mid-rise, and high-rise condominiums/apartments.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Multifamily Stacked: A vertical and horizontal grouping of dwelling units, where at least 1 dwelling unit within the grouping contains 2 or more stories and is situated over or under another dwelling unit. Each unit has its own ground floor external entrance or shares its entrance with only an adjacent unit. Stacked multifamily dwelling units are commonly referred to as stacked townhomes, one over twos, and two over twos.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Quadruplex: A type of single-family attached dwelling that is 1 of a group of 4 contiguous single-family attached dwelling units within a building, arranged or designed in a manner that does not meet the definition of townhouse, attached to at least 1 of the other quadruplex dwelling units in the building, with each dwelling unit being located on a separate lot and separated from other dwelling units by 1 or more walls with no openings that serve as a generally vertical boundary between the dwelling units, and with each such dwelling unit extending from ground to roof, with no dwelling unit directly above another dwelling unit. Each quadruplex dwelling unit may consist of multiple floors or levels, with each unit having its own ground floor external entrance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Single-Family Attached: A duplex, triplex, quadruplex, or townhouse dwelling unit.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Single-Family Detached: A dwelling unit designed for and occupied by 1 family only and not structurally connected or attached to any other dwelling and with each building having a separate lot, with minimum dimensions required by district regulations.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Temporary: A structure that is installed temporarily for use as a dwelling while a residence is being constructed. ​​​​​Such structure must be removed within 1 month of the completion of construction on the primary residence.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Tenant: A dwelling located on the same property as an active agricultural, horticultural, or animal husbandry operation, occupied by a person or persons other than the owner of the lot on which it is located, who during their occupancy, is employed by and derives income from labor performed on the active agricultural, horticultural, or animal husbandry operation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Townhouse: A type of single-family attached dwelling that is 1 of a group of 3 to 8 contiguous and linearly arranged single-family attached dwelling units within a building, each of which abuts at least 1 of the other townhouse dwelling units in the building, with each dwelling unit being separated from other dwelling units by a wall with no openings that serves as a generally vertical boundary between the dwelling units, with each such dwelling unit extending from ground to roof, with no dwelling unit directly above another dwelling unit. Each townhouse dwelling unit may consist of multiple floors or levels, with each unit having its own ground floor external entrance or sharing its entrance with only an adjacent unit.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, Triplex: A type of single-family attached dwelling that is 1 of a group of 3 contiguous dwelling units within a building, arranged or designed in a manner that does not meet the definition of townhouse, attached to at least 1 of the other triplex dwelling units in the building, with each dwelling unit being located on a separate lot and separated from other dwelling units by 1 or more walls with no openings that serve as a generally vertical boundary between the dwelling units, with each such dwelling unit extending from ground to roof, with no dwelling unit directly above another dwelling unit. Each triplex dwelling unit may consist of multiple floors or levels, with each unit having its own ground floor external entrance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling Unit: One room or rooms connected together, constituting a separate unit for a single-family owner occupancy or rental or lease, and physically separated from any other rooms or dwelling units that may be in the same structure, and containing independent cooking, sanitation, and sleeping facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Easement: A grant of interest in real property by the owner to, or for the use by, an abutting landowner, the public, or another person or entity, including both easements appurtenant and easements in gross.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Ecological Integrity: Maintenance of the structure and functional attributes characteristic of a particular locale, or ecosystem, including normal variability.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Ecosystem: A complex network of organic communities and their interaction with their environment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Eco-tourism: See Cultural Tourism.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Education: Facilities for the education of students, including public and private schools at the primary, elementary, middle, or high school level, vocational and technical schools. Accessory uses include play areas, cafeterias, recreational and sport facilities, auditoriums, and before- or after-school day care.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Educational or Research Facilities Use Related to the Agriculture, Horticulture, and Animal Husbandry Uses in the District: A facility for the investigation, testing, or demonstration of, or for training or educating persons in, products and processes related to agriculture, horticulture, or animal husbandry, including biotechnical agriculture, veterinary, soil, plant, and animal sciences.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Electric Generating Plant and Transmission Facility/Utility Generating Plant or Transmission Facility: A plant for the production of electricity, including appurtenant yards, equipment, and facilities for the storage of fuels, water, utility lines, exhaust stacks, and/or utility substation. This use does not include solar facilities.   

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Electric Vehicle Charging Space: An automobile parking space that includes an electrical component assembly or cluster of component assemblies (battery charging station) designed and intended to transfer Level 2 charging (as defined by the United States Department of Energy) electric energy by conductive or inductive means from the electric grid or other off-board electrical source to a battery or other energy storage device within a vehicle that operates, partially or exclusively, on electric energy, and is marked to indicate that such spaces are reserved for the sole use by plug-in electric vehicles.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE): Devices that provide electric power to a vehicle in order to recharge the vehicle's batteries. EVSE systems include the electrical conductors, related equipment, software, and communications protocols that deliver energy to the vehicle.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Emergency: Any occurrence or set of circumstances involving actual or imminent physical trauma, property damage, or loss of electric or phone services that requires immediate action. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Energy Storage Facility: Energy storage equipment or technology that is capable of absorbing energy, storing such energy for a period of time, and redelivering energy after it has been stored.

1. A.
   Energy Storage, Utility Scale: One or more devices, assembled together, capable of storing energy in order to supply electrical energy at a future time, greater than 600kWh in nameplate capacity.
2. B.
   Energy Storage, Site-Specific: One or more devices, assembled together, capable of storing energy in order to supply electrical energy at a future time, less than or equal to 600kWh in nameplate capacity. Storage devices are an accessory use located on the property providing the energy generation source. This does not include energy storage facilities or devices associated with Solar Facility, Utility Scale.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Enfront: To face or to be opposite across a street.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Entertainment Facility: An establishment where the primary source of revenue is derived from live or recorded performances shown or played for the amusement of an audience.  Examples include music clubs and dance halls.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Equestrian Event Facility: An establishment engaged in equine activities and events including teaching equestrian skills, participating in equestrian competitions, exhibitions, or other displays of equestrian skill (such as polo, dressage, and show jumping). Accessory uses may include offices, storage areas, caretaker’s quarters, and caring for, breeding, boarding, riding, or training horses associated with the Equestrian Event Facility use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Erected: Constructed, reconstructed, moved, or structurally altered.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Establishment: A business, institution, place, or entity that operates or hosts a use, including any business, trade, or occupation. This includes all buildings, structures, land, facilities, or equipment engaged in operating the use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Extractive Industries:  The excavation, mining, dredging, or stripping of land or earth, including quarrying or borrow pits; or the extraction of groundwater (Water Extraction). "Quarrying" means commercial or industrial stone quarries or operations involving removal from a site of natural accumulations of sand, rock, soil, or gravel. "Stone quarrying" includes appurtenant structures such as crushers, screeners, and washers. Accessory uses include:

1. A.
   Crushing, treating, washing, and/or processing of materials, accessory to a quarry operation, when conducted on the same property;
2. B.
   Manufacturing of concrete block, cinderblock, or pre-formed concrete products, accessory to an approved quarry use;
3. C.
   Retail sales of crushed stone or architectural stone products, accessory to an approved quarry use; and
4. D.
   Concrete batching plants or asphalt mixing plants consistent with Section 4.06.03 (Extractive Industries).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Façade: The exterior wall of a building exposed to public view or a wall viewed by persons not within the building.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Facilities Standards Manual: The Loudoun County Facilities Standards Manual.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Facility: A building, structure, place, amenity, or piece of equipment that is provided or reserved for a particular use or purpose.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Family: A group of people living together consisting of:

1. A.
   One or more persons related by blood or marriage together with any number of natural, foster, step, or adopted children, domestic servants, nurses, and therapists and no more than 2 roomers or boarders; or
2. B.
   No more than 4 persons, not related by blood or marriage; or
3. C.
   Any group identified in Code of Virginia § 15.2-2291.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Farm-based Tourism:  See Cultural Tourism.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Farm Co-Op: A facility used by an organization of farm producers for co-operative technical and marketing assistance. A farm co-op may include a central marketplace where farmers can deliver products for pick-up by consumers but is not a wholesale distribution center.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Farm Distribution Hub: A place where farmers can deliver agricultural products for pick-up by consumers or wholesalers, but not including a central place operated by a farm co-op where farmers can deliver products for pick-up by consumers (see Farm Co-op). Farm distribution hub does not include such uses as trucking operations, stockyards, auction houses, slaughterhouses, canneries, or other processing facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Farm Machinery Sales and Service: An establishment for the sale, rental, and/or service of equipment normally or routinely used on farms and gardens, and related parts, tools, and accessories, but not of non-farm equipment or materials.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Farmers Market: A principal use that includes the sale of unprocessed and/or processed aquacultural, horticultural, and/or agricultural products. Examples include nursery stock, perennials, annuals, bulbs, mulch, compost, dried flowers, Christmas trees and greens, fresh produce, honey, cider, and similar aquacultural, horticultual, or agricultural products.

1. A.
   Farmers Market, On-Site Production: A use that includes the sale of products that are grown and processed on-site.
2. B.
   Farmers Market, Off-Site Production: A use that includes the sale of products that are grown and/or processed off-site. The use may or may not be located on the site of ongoing aquacultural, horticultural, or agricultural activity. This use may include the sale of products from 1 or more vendors.
3. C.
   Farmers Market, Temporary: A temporary use in which stands or sales areas are set aside and rented or otherwise provided that includes the sale of products that are grown and/or processed on-site or off-site and is permitted for no more than 3 days per week per location. A Temporary Farmers Market does not include permanent structures and requires approval of a temporary Zoning Permit by the Zoning Administrator subject to Section 10.04.C.3. A Temporary Farmers Market may include temporary retail and the sale of products from 1 or more vendors.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Fee Simple Ownership: The complete ownership interest in real property; the ownership of the entire “bundle” of rights attached to real property.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Feed and Farm Supply Center: A commercial establishment engaged in the provision of animal feed, bedding and accessories, and farm and garden supplies (such as seed, fencing, hardware, pesticides, and fertilizer) to agricultural, horticultural, and/or animal husbandry operations. Also known as a “feed-and-seed” store.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Feedlot: An enclosure (including a lot, yard, building, or corral) in which animals fed for slaughter are confined, that is used for more than 30 days in a 1-year period, with or without an area for the raising of crops, forage, or other vegetation and where animals fed for slaughter are allowed to graze or feed. A feedlot does not include any area where animals are held for slaughter by a processor for a period of 30 days or less.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Fenestration: An architectural feature that provides a real, functional opening that allows light to pass or filter through; or faux opening (a decorative veneer giving the appearance of an opening) in the building façade, through the installation of curtain walls or recessed or protruding windows or doors.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Fire and/or Rescue Station: Facilities for the provision of local rapid response emergency services such as firefighting and mobile medical emergency services, including areas for the storage and maintenance of emergency vehicles and equipment and housing and feeding of emergency personnel.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Fiscal: Of or relating to public revenues, public expenditures, and public debt; public financial matters.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Flex Building: A building designed to accommodate a combination of uses, the exact proportions of each use being subject to user needs over time and the applicable zoning district. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Floor Area, Gross: The sum of the total horizontal areas of the several floors of all buildings on a lot, measured from the interior faces of exterior walls. When calculating Gross Floor Area, include:

1. A.
   Basements;
2. B.
   Elevator shafts and stairwells at each story;
3. C.
   Floor space used for mechanical equipment with structural headroom of 6 feet, 6 inches or more;
4. D.
   Penthouses;
5. E.
   Attic space, whether or not a floor has actually been laid, providing structural headroom of 6 feet, 6 inches or more; and
6. F.
   Interior balconies and mezzanines.

Gross floor area does not include:

1. A.
   Cellars or outside balconies that do not exceed a projection of 6 feet beyond the exterior walls of the building; and
2. B.
   Parking structures below or above grade and rooftop mechanical structures.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Floor Area Ratio (FAR): A number or percentage, derived by dividing the gross floor area of the buildings on any lot by the lot area in square feet. The floor area ratio multiplied by the lot area in square feet produces the maximum amount of floor area that may be constructed on such lot.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Focal Point: An identifiable space centered in a community and conveniently accessed by its residents that serves as a place for gathering and communicating neighborhood identity, such as a central park, plaza, or green (including village green and town green).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Food and Beverage Sales/Service: A use category composed of facilities for serving prepared food or beverages for consumption on the premises, other than in a private residence or accessory to a principal use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Food Preparation: An establishment for small-scale production of food and beverages for off-site consumption, including delivery services and catering services. This classification excludes food production of an industrial character (See Manufacturing, General). 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Foot Candles: A unit of illumination; technically, the illumination at all points 1 foot distant from a uniform point source of 1 candle power.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Forestry: The planting, growing and harvesting of trees, but not including sawmilling or other processing of trees or parts thereof.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Frontage: The portion of a lot that abuts a road. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Functionally or Economically Obsolete: The use for which a structure was originally constructed is no longer viable, necessary, or productive, or the structure for which the original use was constructed is functionally inadequate, causing the structure to no longer be used for the original intent, have a high rate of vacancy, and/or be in a state of disrepair. Examples could include historic schools, churches, agricultural buildings, and fraternal organization meeting halls.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Funeral Home: An establishment used primarily for human funeral services and may or may not include facilities on the premises for embalming and performing autopsies or other surgical procedures.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Garden: A plot of cultivated ground adjacent to a dwelling, devoted in whole or in part to the growing of herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables for consumption by the household residing in the dwelling.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Garden, Native Plant: A planted type of Public Garden where the majority of the plants are native plants.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Garden, Public: A publicly accessible planted area that may also include paths, seating areas, and other hardscape features, and is maintained for the primary purpose of public gathering space, public passive recreation, and/or public environmental education, research, or conservation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Geotechnical Report: A study of bedrock and soils used to help determine potential safe development that is prepared according to standards in the Loudoun County Facilities Standards Manual.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Golf Driving Ranges: A limited area on which golf players do not walk, but onto which they drive golf balls from central driving tees. A golf driving range may contain outdoor lighting. A golf driving range may have, as an accessory use, a putting or chipping green, miniature golf course, baseball batting cages, an accessory snack bar or refreshment stand, and/or equipment rental of items pertaining to golf and baseball.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Government (General): Any area, building, or structure held, used, or controlled exclusively for public purposes by any department or branch of the Federal Government, Commonwealth of Virginia, or the Loudoun County government. For purposes of the Use Tables, "government (general)" includes only uses defined above that are not otherwise listed in the Use Tables.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Green: A non-paved public open space within the Town Center Core of a TC Zoning District, a residential development, or other mixed-use development containing a well-defined green space with landscaped areas. A green is a type of Community Open Space.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Green Roof: A Green Roof is either of the following:

1. A.
   Solar Roof: A solar roofing system that generates reusable energy, and such reusable energy accounts for at least 2.5% of the total electric energy used by the building to which the solar roofing system is attached; or
2. B.
   Vegetative Roof: A roofing system designed in accordance with the Virginia Stormwater Management Program's standards and specifications for green roofs, as set forth in the Virginia Stormwater BMP Clearinghouse, in which at least 50% of the total roofing area is vegetative.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Green-Wall: A vertically constructed element of a structure or building that is functionally designed with a primary purpose of accommodating or featuring living plants across the surface area of the subject structure or building plane.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Greenway: A network of natural corridors that connect areas of open space. It follows natural land or water features, like ridges or rivers, canals, or human landscape features such as an abandoned railroad or historic sites.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Ground Passenger Transportation (e.g., Taxi, Charter Bus):  Establishments that provide passenger transportation by bus, charter bus, automobile, limousine, van, or shuttle. Some services (such as taxi) are not operated over regular routes and on regular schedules. Examples include charter bus, special needs transportation, taxicab owner/operators, taxicab fleet operators, or taxicab organizations. This use includes fleet services that store, maintain, repair, fuel, and service 2 or more vehicles owned by a single commercial or public entity. This use does not include publicly operated bus or transit systems.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Groundwater: Any water, except capillary moisture, beneath the land surface in the zone of saturation or beneath the bed of any stream, lake, reservoir or other body of surface water, whatever may be the subsurface geologic structure in which such water stands, flows, percolates, or otherwise occurs.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Group Living: Uses characterized by the residential occupancy of a structure by a group of persons that does not meet the definition of Household Living. Tenancy is arranged on a weekly or longer basis, and the size of the group may be larger than a single family. Generally, Group Living structures have a common eating area for residents. The residents may receive care, training, or treatment at the place of residence, and caregivers may or may not also reside at the site. Accessory uses commonly associated with Group Living are recreational facilities and vehicle parking for occupants and staff.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Guest Room: A habitable room used or intended to be used for sleeping purposes only on a transient basis. A guest room may have its own or a common bathroom and is not permitted to have independent kitchen facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Habitat: The place or environment where animals or plants naturally or normally live and grow.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Hazardous Substance: Any material that poses a threat to human health and/or the environment. Typical hazardous substances are toxic, corrosive, ignitable, explosive, or chemically reactive. Such substances must include any substance designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be reported if a designated quantity of the substance is spilled in the waters of the United States or is otherwise released into the environment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Headwaters: The source of a stream or river.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Health and Fitness Center: An establishment offering or providing facilities for, and instruction in, general health, physical fitness, and controlled exercises including weightlifting, calisthenics, and aerobics. A Health and Fitness Center may include a spa or sauna as an accessory use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Health Care: Facilities principally engaged in providing services for health maintenance and treatment of mental or physical conditions. Accessory uses may include offices, meeting areas, on-site eating facilities for employees, laboratories, parking, and maintenance facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Health Official: The Director of the Loudoun County Department of Health, or his designated deputy; Health Officer.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Heavy Equipment: Bulldozers, dump trucks, and similar pieces of large equipment and their accessories. The term includes any vehicle associated with a business not included in the definition of business vehicle. A trailer used for transporting heavy equipment is considered accessory to the equipment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Heavy Equipment and Specialty Vehicle Sales and Accessory Service: Buildings and premises for the sale, rental, and servicing of trucks, buses, boats, recreational vehicles, taxicabs, ambulances, mobile homes, trailers, and farm and construction machinery or equipment. This category must not be deemed to include automobile sales and accessory service establishment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Heliport or Helistop: An area, either at ground level or elevated on a structure, licensed or approved for the landing and takeoff of helicopters and that may include accessory parking, waiting room, fueling, and maintenance equipment (heliport). This includes an area designed to accommodate touch-down and lift-off of helicopters to pick up and discharge passengers or cargo. This use does not include operation facilities other than 1 tie-down space and additional facilities required by law, ordinance, or regulation (helistop).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Historic Resource: A historic resource is a property or structure that has 1 of the following historic designations:

1. A.
   Designated as or a contributing resource in a National Historic Landmark;
2. B.
   Listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places or a contributing resource in a historic district listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places;
3. C.
   Listed or eligible for listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register or a contributing resource in a historic district listed or eligible for listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register; 
4. D.
   Listed on the Loudoun County Heritage Register or a contributing resource in a historic district listed on the Loudoun County Heritage Register; or
5. E.
   Designated as 1 of the following types of Historic Overlay Districts (HOD) pursuant to Section 10.10.08:

   1. 1.
      Loudoun County Historic Site (HS) District;
   2. 2.
      Contributing resource in a Loudoun County Historic and Cultural Conservation (HCC) District; or
   3. 3.
      Contributing resource in a Loudoun County Historic Roadways (HR) District.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Historic Setting: The exterior portion of a historic resource or property that contributes to the historic significance or character of the historic resource. Examples include walls, walkways, trees, gardens, relationship of a historic structure to the road, and relationship of a historic structure to landforms or topography. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Home Occupation: A business, profession, occupation, or trade conducted for gain or support within a residential building or its accessory buildings. A Home Occupation use is incidental and secondary to the use of the buildings for dwelling purposes and does not change the residential character of such buildings. (See 3.03.E. for Home Occupation standards).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Horse Trails or Networks: Paths or trails maintained for the purpose of horseback or other animal-mounted recreational riding, but not including racetracks.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Horticulture: The active and ongoing cultivation and production of orchard, garden, or nursery crops on a small or large scale, including the production of Christmas trees, field-grown crops, specialty crops, flowers, fruit, grapes (vineyard), market gardening, nursery stock, nuts, ornamental plants, sod, vegetables, and similar horticultural uses; and the cultivation of that produce by means of biotechnical or genetic engineering techniques. Horticulture does not include preparatory functions such as grading or creation of planting beds through stockpiling of dirt or other means when those preparations do not result in an active and ongoing horticultural activity within 30 days.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Hospital: Any licensed and Commonwealth of Virginia accredited health care institution with an organized medical and professional staff and with inpatient beds available around-the-clock whose primary function is to provide inpatient medical, nursing, and other health-related services to patients for both surgical and nonsurgical conditions and that usually provides some outpatient services, particularly emergency care.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Hotel/Motel: Any single building or group of buildings, combined or separated, containing 20 or more lodging units.  This use may include features such as conference rooms, a restaurant, accessory snack bar or refreshment stand, or swimming pool or exercise room that would attract clientele other than transient guests.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Hours of Operation: The time period during which an activity or enterprise is active, including any times during which the activity is open to customers or other members of the public, employees are present and working, deliveries are made, or equipment (other than utilities or ordinary indoor appliances) is being actively operated on the site.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Household Living: Uses characterized by the residential occupancy of a dwelling unit by a family, whether owned by the occupant or otherwise where tenancy is arranged on a month-to-month or longer basis. Accessory uses may include recreational activities, caring for pets, gardens, personal storage structures, hobbies, and parking of occupants’ vehicles.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Hydrogeological Report: A study of groundwater, its location and prevalence that is prepared according to standards in the Facilities Standards Manual (FSM).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Illumination, External: Illumination by a light source that is external to the object or structure that contains the illuminated surface.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Illumination, Halo Lit: Illumination created by concealing the light source behind three-dimensional opaque letters, numbers, or other characters of a sign, resulting in the nighttime perception of a halo around the silhouette of each character. This is also referred to as "reverse channel" or "reverse lit" illumination. A halo lit sign is not considered an internally illuminated sign.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Impermeable Surface: Any material such as paved parking areas, sidewalks, or trail surfaces, that prevents absorption of storm water in or through such surface but must not include permeable or "pervious" paving materials.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Impulsive Sound: Sound of a short duration, usually less than 1 second, with an abrupt onset and rapid decline. Examples of sources of impulsive sound include, but are not limited to, punch press, discharge of firearm, and explosive blasting.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Incremental Addition: An addition to an existing Zoning District made in conformance to the Zoning District's regulations and that is not required to meet the minimum zoning district size.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Industrial Storage: A fixed installation where any of the following are stored, either for subsequent transshipment to a smaller fixed installation or for pick-up by truck for transport to the site where the product will be used by the consumer:

1. A.
   Oil and gas storage;
2. B.
   Petroleum products;
3. C.
   Natural gas;
4. D.
   Coal;
5. E.
   Lumber;
6. F.
   Building material;
7. G.
   Construction equipment;
8. H.
   Empty solid waste vehicles and containers; or
9. I.
   Building materials.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Industrial/Production Use: A use classification that includes nonresidential and noncommercial employment uses such as, but not limited to, mining, milling and manufacturing.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Infrastructure: A use classification that includes the basic installations and facilities on which new development depends. The public infrastructure includes public roads and public water and sewer lines.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Inoperable Vehicle: A motorcycle or motor vehicle, trailer, or attachment thereto that is required by the Commonwealth of Virginia to display current license plates and/or meet safety standards, as evidenced by display of an approved inspection sticker, which motorcycle, vehicle, trailer, or attachment therefore does not display said license plates and/or approved inspection sticker.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Institutional Use: A use category that includes public or private health, recreational, or educational uses such as parks, schools, libraries, hospitals, and camps.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Intensity: Physical measures of the scope and scale of land use, including building height, bulk, and coverage. The most common measurement of intensity is Floor Area Ratio (FAR).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Interactive Science & Technology Center: See Cultural Facility.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Invasive Plant: Plant species intentionally or accidentally introduced by human activity into a region in which they did not evolve and cause harm to natural resources, economic activity, or humans, plus any plant from any of the following categories.

1. A.
   Plants shown on the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Virginia Invasive Plant Species List.
2. B.
   Plants shown on the United States Department of Agriculture's official source for invasive or noxious plant species.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Junkyard: Any "automobile graveyard" or "junkyard" as defined by Code of Virginia § 33.2-804 excluding sanitary landfills or garbage dumps.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Karst/Sensitive Environmental Feature Setback: An area established from the edge of a karst/sensitive environmental feature, in which land disturbance is restricted.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Karst Features or Karst/Sensitive Environmental Features: Karst landforms including but not limited to caves, sinkholes, rock outcrops, perennial sinking streams, significant fissures/cracks, vadose shafts, or other karst anomaly associated with calcareous geologic formations.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Karst Terrain: A type of terrain characterized by closed depressions and/or sinkholes, caves, rock pinnacles, and underground drainage, resulting from solution of limestone and dolomite bedrock.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Kennel: Any establishment or use in or at which 5 or more companion animals or pets over the age of 6 months are trained, fostered, boarded (including day care services), held for adoption, or handled. A kennel does not include any establishment whose principal use is grooming, any animal hospital, or pet shop.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Kennel, Indoor: Any kennel that is within a completely enclosed commercial facility with no outdoor activity in which companion animals are confined or penned proximate to each other, except for the primary purpose of grooming, or wherein any owner engages in boarding, breeding, letting for hire, training for a fee, or selling dogs, cats, or other companion animals.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Landfill Water Service District: A specific area designated for water service by central water supply system, the boundaries of which are determined by the County of Loudoun as shown on the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority Water and Sewer Lines map.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Landfill, Sanitary: A publicly owned and controlled, engineered land burial facility for the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment, or disposal of solid waste. Associated uses may include a debris landfill, a transfer station, Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), vegetative waste management facility, and/or an incinerator. It must mean a facility so located, designed, and operated that it does not impose a present or potential hazard to human health or the environment, including pollution of air, land, surface water, or ground water.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Landscape Architect: An individual who is recognized by the State and who is registered with the state department of professional and occupational registration as a "landscape architect".

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Landscaped Open Space: An area that must include appropriate grassing of the area, placement of shrubbery and trees, walkways, and appropriate grading so as to render the required open space area aesthetically pleasing.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Land Subdivision and Development Ordinance: The Land Subdivision and Development Ordinance of Loudoun County, adopted by the Board of Supervisors to establish subdivision and site development plan standards and procedures for the unincorporated areas of Loudoun County.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Ldn: The term for "yearly day-night average sound level", which means the 365-day average, in decibels, for the period from midnight to midnight, obtained after the addition of 10 decibels to sound levels for the periods between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Ldn 45 db(A): The term for the required level of noise attenuation in residential structures, expressing a required yearly interior day-night average sound level of 45 decibels or less.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Legacy Zoning District: An existing ​zoning district that does not align with Place Types of the General Plan that is retained to continue implementing the zoning district existing prior to adoption of this Zoning Ordinance (December 13, 2023) and avoid using more than 1 Zoning Ordinance.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Library: Establishments that maintain collections of documents (e.g., books, journals, newspapers, music, and recorded information regardless of its physical form and characteristics) and facilitate their use to meet the informational, research, educational, or recreational needs of the general public or their user. These establishments may also acquire, research, store, preserve, and generally make accessible to the public historical documents, photographs, maps, audio material, audiovisual material, and other archival material of historical interest. All or portions of these collections may be accessed electronically. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Light Post Banner: See Sign, Light Post Banner. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Limestone: Geologic formation that is highly water-soluble and is characterized by numerous underground caves and surface sinkholes; it is a natural groundwater aquifer and good water supply source. Limestone consists of a conglomerate of various small rocks cemented together with a carbonate matrix and containing calcareous geologic formations. In appearance, it is very similar to concrete.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Livestock: Animals, especially farm animals, raised for use, profit, or enjoyment including horses and very small equine, bison, cattle, pigs, mules, sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas, emus, poultry (including egg-producing poultry), and other similar domesticated animals. Livestock does not include animals meeting the definition of Companion Animal.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Live/Work Dwelling: See "Dwelling, Live/Work." 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Limestone Overlay District: Limestone Overlay District, as defined in Chapter 5.05 of the Zoning Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lodging:  A use classification composed of uses intended for living and sleeping only on a transient basis.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lodging Unit: Rooms or connected group of rooms forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used for living and sleeping only on a transient basis. Each lodging unit must have its own bathroom and may contain independent kitchen facilities.   

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot: A parcel of subdivided land occupied, or to be occupied, by 1 or more buildings and accessory buildings, and open space, and other requirements of the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance. "Lot" includes the words "plot" and "parcel". The term "lot" does not include land identified on a legally recorded subdivision plat filed among the land records of the circuit court, as an "outlot" as referenced in Section 1.03.04.A.4.

Figure 12.L-1. Lot Types

Figure 12.L-1. Lot Types

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot Area: The total horizontal area included within the rear, side, and front lot lines or street lines of the lot, excluding any streets or highways, whether dedicated or not dedicated to public use, but including off-street automobile parking areas and other accessory uses. "Lot area" does not include portions under water, except where the total area of a body of water is within the lot or where the width included as part of the area of the lot does not exceed 30 feet.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Civic: Land area within a Village Center Subdistrict in the PD-RV Zoning District, so designated on the Concept Development Plan, upon which structures may be erected for community use, enjoyment and benefit.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Concave: A lot that has 1 side curving inward from the street on which the lot fronts.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Convex: A lot that has 1 side curving outward toward the street on which the lot fronts.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Corner: A lot abutting on 2 or more streets at their intersection, where the interior angle of the intersection does not exceed 135 degrees.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot Coverage: The percentage of a lot area occupied by the ground area of principal and accessory buildings or structures. Multifamily and nonresidential parking structures below or above grade, stand-alone mechanical structures, and uncovered decks are excluded from lot coverage.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Depth of: The average horizontal distance between the front lot line and the rear lot line, measured along a perpendicular line.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Interior: Any lot other than a corner lot, but including a through lot.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Irregular: A lot, usually but not always with sole access from a Class III road or private road, that is so located, shaped, or oriented to adjacent lots that application of general measurement methods or dimensional yard requirements of the district in which located serve no significant public purpose, and/or with location of yards by type (front, side and rear) not logically determined by nor related to yard patterns on nearby regular lots. Yard requirements for regular lots must be followed where possible.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot Line: Where applicable, a lot line coincides with a street line. Where a lot line is curved, all dimensions related to said lot line are based on the arc.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Outlot: A parcel of land identified on a legally recorded subdivision plat, subject to a permanent open space easement or dedicated to an Owners Association, and that does not meet lot area and lot width requirements.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Record: The land designated as a separate and distinct parcel recorded among the land records of the circuit court.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Regular: A lot with direct access to a Class I, Class II, or Class III road, so located, shaped, and oriented to adjacent lots as to be reasonably adapted to application of general measurements indicated in Section 7.01, and with location of yards by type (front, side, rear, and special) logically determined by, and related to, adjacent street or streets and adjacent yard patterns. A regular through lot has frontage on two Class I, Class II, or Class III roads.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, Through: An interior lot fronting on 2 parallel, or approximately parallel, roads.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot Width: See Frontage.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Machinery and Equipment Sales and Services: An establishment engaged in the sale, rental and servicing of trucks, buses, boats, recreational vehicles, taxicabs, ambulances, mobile homes, trailers, and farm and construction machinery or equipment. This does not include automobile sales and accessory service activities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Maintenance and Repair Services: An establishment providing repair services for personal and household goods, such as household appliances, computers, television, audio or video players or equipment, office machines, furniture, leather goods, and knife sharpening. This term excludes building maintenance services and maintenance and repair of automobiles and other vehicles and equipment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Major Recreational Equipment: Recreational vehicles (RVs), travel trailers, pickup campers, motorized dwellings, tent trailers, boats and boat trailers, houseboats, and the like, and cases or boxes used for transporting that recreational equipment, whether occupied by that equipment or not.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Management Buffer: An area designed to protect a stream or river and its associated floodplain from adverse upland development impacts. The “50-foot management buffer” is included within the River and Stream Corridor Resources. See Riparian Protection Buffer.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Manufactured Home: A structure constructed and subject to the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, which is:

1. A.
   Transportable in 1 or more sections;
2. B.
   8 feet or more in width and 40 feet or more in length in the traveling mode, or is 320 or more square feet when erected on site;
3. C.
   Built on a permanent chassis; and
4. D.
   Designed to be used as a single-family dwelling unit, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities.

A manufactured home includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure. A manufactured home does not include units built prior to June 15, 1976 (known as "mobile homes"). 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Manufacturing and Production: Facilities for the processing, fabrication, packaging, or assembly of goods, including small-scale production and production by hand. Accessory uses may include offices, in some instances eating facilities for employees, outdoor storage associated with the use, repair facilities, and caretaker’s quarters.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Manufacturing, General: Manufacturing of products, from raw, recycled or secondary materials, including bulk storage and handling of those products and materials, or crushing, treating, washing, and/or processing of materials. This use includes incidental finishing and storage. 

This use does not include any activity listed under Manufacturing, Intensive or establishments that crush, treat, wash, and/or process sand, rock, soil, or gravel (See Extractive Industries).

Examples of general manufacturing include the manufacture or production of the following goods or products:

1. A.
   Apparel (including clothing, shoes, dress making, and leather products);
2. B.
   Appliances;
3. C.
   Commercial bakeries;
4. D.
   Communication or computer equipment;
5. E.
   Drugs, medicines, pharmaceutical;
6. F.
   Electronic and computer products (including communication or computer equipment);
7. G.
   Electrical equipment or machinery;
8. H.
   Fasteners and buttons;
9. I.
   Feed and grain; 
10. J.
    Food/baking (including coffee roasting, creameries, ice cream, ice, frozen food, confectionery, and  beverage);
11. K.
    Food and beverage processing, canning, and storage;
12. L.
    Gaskets;
13. M.
    Household appliances;
14. N.
    Industrial controls;
15. O.
    Machinery (including farm and industrial machinery); 
16. P.
    Mattresses;
17. Q.
    Medical equipment and supplies;
18. R.
    Mill work and similar woodwork;
19. S.
    Manufactured and modular homes and components;
20. T.
    Office supplies;
21. U.
    Optical goods;
22. V.
    Photographic equipment;
23. W.
    3-D printing;
24. X.
    Textiles (including dyeing, laundry bags, canvas products, dry goods, hosiery, millinery); and
25. Y.
    Tobacco products.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Manufacturing, Intensive: Manufacturing or industrial enterprises with significant external effects, or that pose significant risks due to the involvement of explosives, poisons, pesticides, herbicides, or other hazardous materials in the manufacturing or other process. Examples of intensive manufacturing include the manufacture or production of the following goods or products:

1. A.
   Asphalt mixing plant;
2. B.
   Batteries;
3. C.
   Chemicals (including chlorine, corrosive acid, cosmetics, disinfectants, fertilizer, insecticides, and poisons);
4. D.
   Concrete mixing plant;
5. E.
   Explosives;
6. F.
   Industrial gases (such as acetylene);
7. G.
   Lime and gypsum products;
8. H.
   Medicines and pharmaceuticals;
9. I.
   Nonmetallic mineral products (such as concrete and concrete products and glass);
10. J.
    Paint (including lacquer and varnish);
11. K.
    Paper;
12. L.
    Primary metals;
13. M.
    Petroleum products; and
14. N.
    Plastic, rubber, and synthetic resins.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Market Area: The area from which an enterprise draws its customers on a regular and anticipated basis. Influencing the size of the area are variables such as, but not limited to, type of product being marketed, surrounding land uses, and neighboring road network.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Market Rate Dwelling Unit: A dwelling unit in which the sale or rental price is not controlled by the Affordable Dwelling Unit (ADU) Program or the Unmet Housing Needs Units (UHNU) Program.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Material Recovery Facility: A solid waste management facility that collects mixed solid wastes and manually or mechanically separates recyclable materials to be marketed and disposes of all non-recyclable wastes to a permitted facility, or a solid waste management facility for the collection, recovery, and processing of materials, such as metals, paper or glass, from solid waste for the production of a fuel from solid waste, including a solid waste transfer station.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Maximum Extent Feasible: A determination by County staff that all possible efforts to comply with a regulation or minimize potential harmful or adverse impacts have been undertaken by an applicant, and that no feasible and prudent alternative exists. Economic considerations may be taken into account but must not be the overriding factor in determining “maximum extent feasible.”

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Medical Care Facility: An establishment, whether or not licensed or required to be licensed by the State Board of Health or the State Hospital Board, by or in which facilities are maintained, furnished, conducted, operated, or offered to prevent, diagnose, or treat human disease, pain, injury, deformity, or physical condition, whether medical or surgical, of 2 or more non-related mentally or physically sick or injured persons; or for the care of 2 or more non-related persons requiring or receiving medical, surgical, or nursing attention or service as acute, chronic, convalescent, aged, or physically disabled.

This use includes an intermediate care facility, intellectual disability facility, outpatient surgery center, birthing facility, diagnostic imaging facility, radiation therapy facility, dialysis facility, medical/physical rehabilitation and trauma unit, reproductive healthcare services facility, or related institution or facility that offers treatment on an outpatient basis.

This use may be operated for profit or nonprofit, privately owned, or operated by a local government unit.

A medical care facility does not include a medical office or a hospital. ​​​​​​

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Metes and Bounds: A method of describing the boundaries of land by courses and distances.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Metrorail Station: All passenger facilities, structures, stops, shelters, bus zones, properties, and rights-of-way that are owned, leased, held, or used by the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority for the purpose of providing public light-rail transportation services.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Micromobility Devices: A range of small, lightweight vehicles operating at speeds typically below 15 mph and driven by users personally (unlike rickshaws), including but not limited to bicycles, e-bikes, electric scooters, electric skateboards, shared bicycle fleets, and electric pedal assisted (pedelec) bicycles.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Mill, Feed and Grain: An establishment that produces food or feed for animal (non-human) consumption from grain, grain byproducts, alfalfa, or other ingredients.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Mini-Warehouse: A building consisting of individual, small, self-contained units that are leased or owned for the indoor storage of business and household goods or contractors' supplies.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Mitigation Measures: Methods used to alleviate or lessen the adverse impacts of development.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Mixed-Use Residential: For purposes of Section 7.05.03, is any dwelling unit located in any of the following zoning districts listed in Chapter 2: TRC, TC, or PD-MUB. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Mobile Vendor: An establishment, including any employee or agent of another, who sells or offers to sell, barter, or trade from a mobile vehicle such as a food truck.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Model Home: A building having the physical characteristics of a residential dwelling existing for the purpose of display or advertising in connection with the sale of units in a residential development. The ultimate intended use for such a model is as a dwelling.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Moderately Steep Slope Area: Naturally occurring land areas with slopes from 15% to 25%. The Steep Slope Standards do not apply to slopes created by permitted land disturbing activities, such as, but not limited to, building and parking pad sites; berms; temporary construction stock-piles; and road-side ditches.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Motorcycle: A motor vehicle designed to travel on not more than 3 wheels in contact with the ground. The operator must hold a valid driver’s license with a Class M designation or a motorcycle driver’s license.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Moving and Storage: Establishments that provide moving and storage services and over the road transportation of cargo using motor vehicles, such as trucks and tractor trailers, including the storage and holding of cargo and storage containers.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Museum: See Cultural Facility.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Native Plant: Any plant specified as “Native” in the Facilities Standards Manual (FSM), plus any plant from any of the following categories.

1. A.
   Regional Native: Plants (including their cultivars) shown on the USDA Plant List of Accepted Nomenclature, Taxonomy, and Symbols (PLANTS) Database naturally occurring within the state of Virginia or the states of West Virginia or Maryland. 
2. B.
   Northern Virginia Native: Plants (including their cultivars and excluding any hybrid species) shown on the USDA PLANTS Database naturally occurring within the state of Virginia in any of the following areas: Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Fauquier County, Clarke County, Arlington County, or the City of Alexandria.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Natural, Environmental, and Heritage Resources: All natural, environmental, and heritage resources as identified under Chapter 3 of the Loudoun County General Plan, as well as those protected by overlay districts and development standards of the Zoning Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Natural Heritage Resources: Natural Heritage Resources are rare, threatened, and endangered plant and animal species; exemplary natural communities, habitats, and ecosystems; that are listed under the Natural Heritage Resources database provided by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Division of Natural Heritage Resources.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

National Historic Landmark: A district or structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places and considered to be of unusual importance to American history, architecture, archaeology, and/or culture.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

National Register of Historic Places: A register of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archaeology and/or culture that is maintained by the Federal Secretary of the Interior.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Naturally Occurring: Areas of land, landforms, slopes, and features existing in nature and not made or caused by human manipulation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Nature Preserve/Nature Study Area: See Cultural Facility.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Neon: A source of light supplied by a glass tube that is filled with neon gas, argon, mercury, or other inert gas that produces ultraviolet light, and bent to form letters, symbols, or other shapes. Neon includes all tubular light sources that employ a charged gas to illuminate a tube that glows, similar gas-activated tubular light systems that emit colors, and other tubular light sources (including fiber optics) that are used to form letters and shapes.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Net Metering/Net Energy Metering: Measuring the difference between the electricity distributed to and the electricity generated by a customer-generator that is fed back to the distribution system during the applicable billing period. The purpose of which allows customers to interconnect their solar energy systems to the utility grid and offset their utility electricity purchases by receiving a bill credit for excess energy generated by their solar energy system that is exported to the grid.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Nonconforming Use: Any use lawfully being made of any land, building, or structure, other than a sign, on the effective date of the Zoning Ordinance, or any amendment to it rendering such use nonconforming that does not comply with all of the regulations of the Zoning Ordinance, or any amendment hereto, governing use for the zoning district in which such land, building, or structure is located.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Non-Contributing: Not helping, assisting, or adding to the historical integrity, historic architectural qualities, or archaeological qualities of the subject Historic Overlay District (HOD) and/or the said Historic Overlay District's historic associations. The Zoning Administrator, or the Zoning Administrator's designee, establishes what is considered non-contributing to a HOD. See Contributing.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Non-Habitable: Space in a structure that is not used for living, sleeping, eating, or cooking, such as, but not limited to, garages, toilet compartments, closets, utility spaces or similar areas. Commercial and industrial structures do not have habitable space.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Non-Point Source Pollution: Pollutants carried in stormwater runoff, including but not limited to sediments, nutrients, animal waste, pesticides, salt and toxins, that cannot be traced to a specific point source and whose point of entry into a stream cannot be determined.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Non-Profit Organization: An incorporated organization or group whose charter prohibits profit-making endeavors and that enjoys tax exemption privileges.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Nursery, Commercial: An agricultural/commercial establishment where plants, landscape materials, soils, and accessory products are sold on a retail basis.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Nursery, Production: An agricultural establishment where plants are grown for resale on a retail or wholesale basis for only those plant materials grown on-site.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Nursing Home: A place devoted primarily to the maintenance and operation of facilities for the treatment and care of any person suffering from illnesses, diseases, deformities, or injuries not requiring extensive and/or intensive care that is normally provided in a general hospital or other specialized hospital.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Office, Medical: An establishment (including any room, studio, clinic, suite, or building) where individuals licensed in the State practice medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, chiropractic, podiatry, physical therapy, psychiatry, clinical psychology, reproductive healthcare services, or other health-related professions on an out-patient basis. This use does not include a hospital, veterinary service, or animal hospital.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Office, Professional: Any room, studio, suite or building wherein the primary use is the conduct of a business such as, but not limited to: accounting, correspondence, research, editing, administration or analysis; or the conduct of a business by sales representatives or manufacturers' representatives; or the conduct of a business by professionals, such as engineers, architects, land surveyors, artists, musicians, lawyers, accountants, real estate brokers, insurance agents, urban planners, and landscape architects. A Professional Office does not involve manufacturing, fabrication, production, processing, assembling, cleaning, testing, repair or storage of materials, goods and products; or the sale and/or delivery of any materials, goods or products that are physically located on the premises. A Professional Office does not include a medical office, veterinary service, or animal hospital.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Official Notice: A sign that provides the general public, property owner, or other interested parties of government actions, orders, or directions, such as a public hearing, stop-work orders on a property that is non-compliant or in violation of the Zoning Ordinance, or similar items.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Officially Accepted: The date that County staff deems an application ready for review when (i) minimum submission requirements identified on the application checklist have been satisfied as determined by the applicable County department staff or waived pursuant to the applicable policies, and (ii) the application fee has been received by the County.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Off-Site: Describing a location or an area of land that is proximate to a parcel of land defined as "on-site". Off-site means not on site; that is, outside the lot or parcel that is the subject of a given land use application.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

On-Site: Within a lot or parcel that is the subject of a given land development application.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Open Space: Areas of trees, shrubs, lawns, grass, pathways, and other natural and man-made amenities set aside for the use and enjoyment of residents, visitors and other persons, unoccupied by structures, buildings, or facilities other than those permitted by the applicable Open Space type, and accessible to and adequate for persons and functions it is designed to serve. Generally, open space is intended to provide light and air and is designed for either scenic or recreational purposes. There are 4 Open Space types permitted under Section 7.02: Open Space, Agricultural; Open Space, Community; Open Space, Active Recreation; and Open Space, Passive Recreation. Open Space must be provided as Commonly Owned Open Space where required under Section 7.02.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Open Space, Active Recreation: Open space provided for active recreation. If located on commonly owned open space, Owners Association-owned recreational structures, buildings, and facilities may be open to the public for a fee, provided the intent of the open space requirements is maintained. Examples include golf courses and sports pavilions where the primary users of such structures, buildings, and facilities are said association's members, but outside users must be secured for economic viability.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Open Space, Agricultural: Open space provided for agriculture that is protected by conservation easement in accordance with Section 7.02. See also, Agriculture and Open Space. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Open Space, Commonly Owned: Open space that is owned and managed by an Owners Association and restricted for the use and enjoyment of such association's members and invitees.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Open Space, Community: Open space provided for outdoor gathering places, such as plazas, pocket parks, gardens, public art, and amphitheaters. See Plaza, Civic Use, and Open Space.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Open Space, Passive Recreation: Open space provided for passive recreation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Optional Overlay: See Overlay District.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM): That line on the shore established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by physical characteristics such as a clear, natural line impressed on the bank, shelving, changes in the character of soil, destruction of terrestrial vegetation, the presence of litter and debris, or other appropriate means that consider the characteristics of the surrounding areas. Refer to Figure 12.O-1.

Figure 12.O-1. Ordinary High Water Mark

Figure 12.O-1. Ordinary High Water Mark

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Originating Tract: A lot or parcel of land in the AR-1 or AR-2 Zoning District that will be the subject of a subdivision through either the “Principal/Subordinate” or “Cluster” subdivision options as identified in the Zoning Ordinance. This designation is for the purpose of establishing a base density of development to implement these 2 subdivision options.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Ornamental Grass: Grasses that are grown for their aesthetic value and are generally low maintenance plants resilient to harsh conditions but do not include turf grasses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Outdoor Sales, Accessory: An unenclosed area where the primary purpose of the area is for the retail sale of merchandise. Such sales and or display area must be accessory and subordinate to a permitted principal use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Outdoor Storage: The holding or storage, in an unroofed area, of any goods, junk, materials, or merchandise in the same place for more than 24 hours.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Outdoor Storage/Storage Yard, Accessory: The holding or storage of merchandise, goods, vehicles, equipment or materials as an accessory use to the permitted business. All outdoor storage is required to be enclosed by a fence, wall, landscaped berm, or the like.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Outdoor Storage, Vehicles: The holding or storage of operable new or used automobiles, trucks, buses, snowmobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, light aircraft, mobile homes, trailers, farm machinery, major recreational equipment, or construction machinery or equipment. The storage of inoperable vehicles or equipment is considered a vehicle storage and impoundment yard. This definition includes the storage of fleet vehicles, or vehicles owned or operated by the business on the site, on a lot for more than 24 hours. This use does not include the incidental storage of fewer than 10 vehicles owned by a business on the site for up to 48 hours or on Saturdays and Sundays.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Overlay District: A zoning district superimposed on another. There are two types of overlay districts:

1. A.
   Standard Overlay: This is an overlay district that is superimposed on a base (or "underlaying") district, and where the regulations of both districts apply to the use and development of the property. In other words, the land subject to the overlay district may be used as permitted in the underlying district only if, and to the extent that, the use is also permitted in the overlay district. Unless otherwise provided, overlay districts are standard overlay districts unless otherwise provided in the regulations applicable to that district. Standard overlay districts are established in Chapter 5.
2. B.
   Optional Overlay: An “optional overlay” is where the property owner may elect to proceed under the regulations of the overlay district rather than the other district, and the other district no longer governs the use or development of the property after this election is made.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Owners Association: A nonprofit organization operating under recorded land agreements through which: (i) each lot and/or homeowner, condominium owner, or business owner is automatically a member, and (ii) each lot or owner is automatically subject to a charge for a proportionate share of the expenses for the organization's activities, such as maintaining a common property, and (iii) the charge if unpaid becomes a lien against the property. This includes a property owner's association as defined in Code of Virginia § 55.1-1800.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Parcel: A lot that is owned and recorded as property of the same person or controlled by a single entity.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Park, Community: A park that provides a variety of small-scale, localized recreational facilities, such as playgrounds, tot lots, volleyball courts, basketball courts, tennis courts, and un-lit playing fields, designed to be within a short distance of the primary users.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Park, Passive: A park that provides recreational uses, such as hiking, nature observation, and picnicking, that do not require constructed facilities and make use of areas that are largely left in their natural state except for basic facilities as bathrooms, benches, picnic tables, and trails.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Park, Regional: A park that provides a large recreation area that serves an entire region and may include multiple jurisdictions. Regional parks are usually large in size and often include areas of natural quality suitable for outdoor recreation activities such as golfing, picnicking, boating, fishing, swimming, camping, and hiking. May also include restroom and parking facilities and a snack bar or refreshment stand, accessory. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Parking Facility: A lot or structure that offers parking as an accessory or principal use of the premises pursuant to 4.07.03. This includes any part of a shared parking arrangement approved pursuant to Section 7.06.08. A parking facility is not used to store dismantled or wrecked motor vehicles, vehicle parts, or junk, or as an automobile sales lot. 

1. A.
   Accessory: The area used for surface or structured parking of motor vehicles that meets the minimum standards of the Zoning Ordinance and the Facilities Standards Manual (FSM) and that is an accessory use to the principal use or structure on the lot or site. Surface parking includes on and off-street parking.

   1. 1.
      Parking Area: The area for the parking of motor vehicles including adequate driveways, if necessary, to connect such space with a public right-of-way. 
2. B.
   Principal: Surface or structured parking provided for motor vehicles as a principal use.

   1. 1.
      Off-Street Parking Facility, Free-Standing: A lot, or portion thereof, used for the storage or parking of 6 or more motor vehicles where service or repair facilities are not permitted. This can include valet parking of motor vehicles for a fee on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis as a principal use with accessory services, such as auto detailing.
   2. 2.
      Commuter Parking Lot: An off-street, ground-level area, usually surfaced and improved, for the parking, on a daily basis, of commuter vehicles. Often established in conjunction with mass transit arrangements and car-pooling programs.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Pedestrian and Bicycle Network: A pedestrian and bicycle network may also be referred to or include sidewalks, shared use paths, pedestrian walkways, on-street bicycle facilities, and/or Non-motorized User Circulation Systems (NUCS) pursuant to the Facilities Standards Manual (FSM).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Pedestrian-Oriented Uses: Uses, particularly Commercial or Public/Civic/Institutional uses, located at the ground level and the façade of the ground level floor includes architectural elements that activate a streetscape, including an entrance and predominance of glass, and other elements such as awnings, arcades, cornice, or frieze.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Pedestrian Walkway: A right-of-way developed for use by pedestrians, including sidewalks, bicycle paths, jogging and walking trails, and plazas.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Perennial: Ornamental herbaceous plants that persist for many growing seasons.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Perennial Headwaters: Perennial headwaters are Perennial Streams of the Catoctin Creek and the Goose Creek originating in the Blue Ridge, Short Hill, and Catoctin Mountains.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Perennial Sinking Stream: A stream that flows year-round on the surface with an established flora and vegetation that sink underground. Groundwater is the primary source of water for stream flow. Perennial stream “means a body of water depicted as perennial on the most recent U.S. Geological Survey 7-1/2-minute topographic quadrangle map (scale 1:24,000) or identified by a method, established in guidelines approved by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, that does not require field verification.”

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Perennial Stream: A stream with flowing water year-round during a typical year, including the Catoctin Creek, Goose Creek, Limestone Branch, Piney Run, Broad Run and their tributaries, as well as any unnamed streams discharging into the Potomac River. The water table is located above the stream bed for most of the year. Groundwater is the primary source of water for stream flow. Runoff from rainfall is a supplemental source of water for stream flow.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Performance Standards: A set of criteria or limits relating to nuisance elements which a particular use or process may not exceed.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Performing Arts Center: A facility for the viewing of performing arts with a seating capacity of 8,000 persons or greater. A Performing Arts Center is a type of theater.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Permeable: Describes materials that permit water to enter the ground by virtue of their porous nature or by large spaces in the material.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Personal Instructional Services: A facility primarily devoted to giving instructions in music, drama, art, dance, martial arts, sports, tutoring and test preparation, office administration, computer and data technology, cosmetology, drafting, real estate, banking, health care, or other special subjects. This does not include a child day center, child day home, or horseback riding school, however designated.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Personal Services: Establishments primarily engaged in providing services, including the care of persons or their apparel. This use includes dry cleaning and garment services, repair services (not otherwise listed), linen supply, diaper service, coin-operated laundries, photographic studios, beauty shops, barber shops, shoe repair, spas, clothing rental, locker rental, opticians, and tailors.

Establishments for the mechanical cleaning of garments, articles or goods of fabric, including linen, diaper, or uniform cleaning, containing more than 3,000 square feet of gross floor area are regulated as a Dry Cleaning Plant.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Pet:  See Companion Animal. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Pet Farm: A facility in which livestock, farm animals, and other animals are kept for public exhibition, viewing and contact, regardless of compensation, and may include related accessory uses and activities such as gift shops, picnic areas, and recreational activities. A pet farm does not include retail pet stores and kennels, horse races, and such activities as State and County fairs, livestock shows, rodeos, field trials, and horsing events.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Pet Shop: A retail establishment where companion animals are bought, sold, exchanged, or offered for sale or exchange to the general public, and is operated in accordance with the Code of Virginia, Title 3.2.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Photovoltaic (PV): Materials and devices that absorb sunlight and convert it directly into electricity.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Planned Development: An area of a minimum contiguous size, as specified by the Zoning Ordinance, developed according to plan as a single entity and containing 1 or more structures with appurtenant common areas. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Planning Commission or Commission: The Planning Commission of Loudoun County, Virginia.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Playground/Play Space: An area or space where recreational equipment is installed for play by children; a "tot-lot."

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Plaza: A paved public open space of at least 900 square feet surrounded by streets and/or buildings. A plaza may contain amenities such as benches, landscaping, water features, variation of ground levels, or artistic works. Driveways or other facilities providing vehicular access to a use permitted in the district where the plaza is located are not permitted within or around the perimeter of a plaza. A plaza is a type of Community Open Space.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Police Station or Substation: Any building or part of a building designated by a chief of police or sheriff to be used as a police or sheriff’s station or substation and at which duly authorized officers perform law enforcement functions.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Porch: The term includes any porch, veranda, gallery, terrace, portico, deck, patio, or similar projection from a main wall of a building, covered by a roof, other than a carport. An "unenclosed porch" is a porch with no side enclosure (other than the side of the building to which the porch is attached) that is more than 18 inches in height, exclusive of screens. Any portion of a screen that may be replaced by a window or other solid material is not considered to be unenclosed.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Postal Services: Retail sales or business services establishment to facilitate the transmittal and receipt of letter, bulk, and package mail. Postal services do not include a United States Postal Service facility, which is a Government (General) use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Preservation Farm Lot: A type of lot that may be created under the AR-1 or AR-2 District Cluster Subdivision Option that contains a minimum amount of Prime Farmland Soils, if such soils are present within the Originating Tract.

(ZOAM-2020-0002, 06/12/2024) 

Effective on: 3/12/2025

Prime Farmland Soils: For the purposes of this Zoning Ordinance, the following soil mapping units are considered as Prime Farmland Soils within Loudoun County and are shown on the Loudoun County Geographical Information System (WebLogis): 3A, 13B,17B, 23B, 28B, 31B, 43B, 45B, 55B, 71B, 76B, 90B, 93B, 94B, and 95B.

(ZOAM-2020-0002, 06/12/2024) 

Effective on: 3/12/2025

Principal Lot: One of the types of lots permitted within the Principal/Subordinate Subdivision Development Option. Permitted density is assigned to the Principal Lot for purposes of tracking the number of lots that can be subdivided within the development. The Principal Lot may be further subdivided up to the maximum number of lots assigned to the Originating Tract of the subdivision.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Principal/Subordinate Subdivision Option: A division of land in which a maximum lot yield is calculated for an Originating Tract based on the gross acreage of such tract. The Principal/Subordinate Subdivision Option results in the creation of 1 Principal Lot and 1 or more Subordinate Lots. Lots are served by individual well and septic systems located on the subject lot.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Printing Plant: A commercial/light industrial use devoted to printing or bookbinding, including related large-scale storage and transshipment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Printing Service: A retail establishment that includes a quick print shop or the operation of offset printing and other related equipment, such as, but not limited to, paper cutters, collating machines, multi-colored press equipment, plate burners, binding, and photographic developing equipment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Private Club or Lodge: A structure or facilities owned or operated by an organization of persons for special purposes, such as the promulgation of sports, arts, literature, politics, but not operated for profit, and excluding churches, synagogues, other houses of worship, and also excluding structures and uses associated with commercial or non-commercial outdoor recreation. Adult entertainment is not be permitted at a private club or lodge.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Private Parties: Events that are not open to the public and are by invitation only.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Property Line, Front: A line running along the front of a lot, from side lot line to side lot line, separating the lot from any street right-of-way or street easement. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Protected Corridor: (also “Protected River and Stream Corridor”) A Protected Corridor is an area of natural or established vegetation along a stream or river that may be sensitive to changes.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Public Facilities: Public parks, playgrounds, trails, paths, and other recreational areas and other public open spaces; scenic and historic sites; schools and other public buildings and structures.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Public Hearing: Meetings of the Board of Supervisors, Board of Zoning Appeals, and Planning Commission held expressly for the purpose of soliciting comments from the general public in accordance with requirements of the Code of Virginia.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Public Safety: Uses for the provision of public safety and emergency response services, to include fire and/or rescue stations and police stations or substations. Typically, these uses need to be located near the area where services are provided. In some instances, employees are present on site around the clock. Accessory uses may include offices, parking, and areas for maintenance of emergency vehicles.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Public Service Center and Storage Yard: A facility owned by a public utility, public agency, or private road company that may include business offices, a dispatching center, and fenced yard for the storage of vehicles and materials related to the maintenance, construction, and repair of a utility transmission line, substation service line and other such facilities. The service and storage yard may include shop facilities for the servicing and repair of equipment. Similar facilities owned by a public agency or private road company for maintenance of roads and interchanges are included in this definition.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Public Transit: Any vehicular or rail transportation system owned or regulated by a government agency, used for the mass transport of people.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Public Use: A use that includes any area, building, or structure held, used, or controlled exclusively for public purposes or deemed essential for a public purpose, such as housing at affordable prices for the workforce, by any department or branch of the Federal Government, Commonwealth of Virginia, or the Loudoun County government.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Public/Civic/Institutional Use: A use classification that includes assembly, death care services, government, education, medical, and arts, entertainment, and recreation uses. Examples include community center, funeral home, government, library, hospital, medical office, art studio, and park uses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Qualified Professional: A professional who is accredited by or registered with a professional group operating within the scope of his/her license that is acceptable to the County.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Radio, Radar and/or Television Tower: A structure for the transmission of broadcasting of radio, TV, or radar signals.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rainwater Harvesting: The collection and storage of rain collected on a site. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Receiving Property: The lot or parcel, or for mixed-use residential, the affected dwelling unit, that is the recipient of the subject sound. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Record Plat: A map or a chart of a lot, lots, or subdivision, filed among the land records of the circuit court.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Recording Studio: A specialized facility for the recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Recreation, Active: Outdoor areas dedicated to leisure-time activities, usually of a formal nature and often performed with others, requiring equipment and taking place at prescribed sites or fields. Examples include sports courts, ballfields, golf courses, playgrounds, tot lots, and swimming pools. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Recreation, Indoor: An enclosed or semi-enclosed building, tent, or structure designed to accommodate gatherings of human beings for games (such as bowling alleys), athletics, cultural activities, martial arts, archery, rides, and the like. Accessory uses include office, retail, and other commercial uses commonly established in those facilities, related parking structures, mechanical or electrical amusement devices, accessory snack bar or refreshment stands, and equipment sales or rentals. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Recreation, Outdoor or Major: Any establishment in which seasonal facilities directly related to outdoor recreation are provided for all or any of the following: skating rink (outdoor), picnicking, boating, fishing, swimming, outdoor games and sports, animal-mounted trail riding, mountain biking, and related activities. Accessory uses may include accessory snack bar or refreshment stands, offices, retail and other commercial uses commonly established in those facilities, lodging for customers engaging in recreational activities onsite, and related parking structures. This use does not include a stand-alone outdoor shooting range or track for motorized vehicles of any type, however defined. This use includes any of the following:

1. A.
   Amusement or Theme Park: A facility, indoor or outdoor, designed for entertainment purposes which may include structures or buildings, motorized or non-motorized rides, games, booths for the conduct of sporting events or games, and constructed land features such as lakes, hills, or trails.
2. B.
   Country Club: A land area and structures containing a club house, dining and/or banquet facilities, conference rooms, spa, fitness facilities, or recreational facilities, available to members and their guests for a membership fee. Examples of accessory uses include equestrian facilities, golf courses, swimming pools, tennis courts, squash courts, pickleball, archery, or miniature golf.
3. C.
   Fairground: A parcel or tract of land used as the site of any fair, exposition, or public display.
4. D.
   Golf Course: A tract of land laid out with at least 9 holes for playing the game of golf and improved with tees, greens, fairways, and hazards, and that may include a clubhouse and shelter.
5. E.
   Golf Driving Range: A limited area on which golf players do not walk, but onto which they drive golf balls from central driving tees. A golf driving range may contain outdoor lighting. A golf driving range may have, as an accessory use, a putting or chipping green, miniature golf course, baseball batting cages, a refreshment stand, and/or equipment rental of items pertaining to golf and baseball.
6. F.
   Sports Stadium, Complex, Arena, or Sports Field: A facility, indoor or outdoor, designed for professional or amateur sporting events, exhibitions, shows, or convocations.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Recreation, Passive: Outdoor areas dedicated for leisure-time activities that do not involve active recreation. Passive recreation involves less energetic activities such as walking, hiking, horseback riding, sitting, picnicking, card or table games, fishing, and observing nature. Passive recreation uses have fewer potential impacts on the site and on surrounding land uses. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Recreational Vehicle Park: An outdoor facility designed for overnight accommodation of human beings in motorized vehicles, rustic cabins and shelters, or trailers for recreation, education, naturalist, or vacation purposes. These may include accessory office, retail, and other commercial uses with related parking structures. This use does not include a Manufactured Housing Land Lease Community.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Recreational Vehicle Unit: A travel trailer, pick-up camper, motorhome, tent trailer, or similar device used for temporary housing.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Recyclable Materials: Any material separated from the waste stream for utilization as a raw material in the manufacture of another product. This includes both source-separated material and mechanically separated material. Recyclable materials include, but are not limited to, newspapers, office paper, glass, metals, plastic and corrugated cardboard.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Recycling Collection Center: A collection site operated by a governmental entity, non-governmental entity, a for-profit company, or a non-profit organization, for the acceptance by contribution, offering, redemption, or purchase of recyclable materials from the public. These centers may contain permanent or semi-permanent buildings, or structures, and typically consist of portable containers that can be emptied and readily moved. This term does not include donation drop-off boxes.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Religious Assembly: A structure or group of structures intended for regular gatherings of people to attend, participate in or conduct religious services and other related activities and associated accessory uses. Associated accessory uses may include religious instruction classrooms, church offices, counseling programs, private school, youth programs, parking, child and adult day care facilities, summer camps, recreational facilities, caretaker’s quarters, food bank, thrift shop, sale of religious items, and cemeteries.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Religious Housing: A housing facility where the residents are limited to members of a specific religious order, and where the housing arrangement is designed and intended to further the religious beliefs of that order. Examples include monasteries or convents. This does not include a dwelling unit reserved for a priest or minister of a religion (such as a parsonage, manse, and rectory), which are classified in accordance with the residential uses defined separately in this section.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Renewable Energy: Energy generated from solar, wind, water, or geothermal sources.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Research and Development: An establishment (such as a laboratory) for general research, scientific research, development and/or training. Activities include the invention, discovery, study, experimentation, evaluation, identification, verification, design preparation, or production of products, new technologies, techniques, or processes. Research and development functions include the repair, storage, sale, and resale of materials, goods, and products relating to the research and development use. This may include the assembly, integration, and testing of products in a completely enclosed building incidental to the principal use of scientific research, development, and training.  Does not include data centers.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Residential: A use classification composed of group and household living uses. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Residential Cluster Lot: A type of lot located within an AR-1 or AR-2 District Cluster Subdivision Option.

(ZOAM-2020-0002, 06/12/2024) 

Effective on: 3/12/2025

Resource Area Width: The total width of any Floodplain Overlay District (FOD) areas, and any areas of Adjacent Steep Slopes.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Resource Recovery: The process of obtaining materials or energy, particularly from solid waste.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rest Home, Nursing Home, Convalescent Home: An extended or intermediate care facility licensed or approved to provide full-time convalescent or chronic care to individuals who, by reason of advanced age, chronic illness or infirmity, are unable to care for themselves.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Restaurant: Any establishment that provides as a principal use the preparation and sale of food and/or beverages in a state ready for consumption within the establishment or off-premises and may or may not include a drive-through facility, subject to Section 4.04.10. A Snack Bar or Refreshment Stand, Accessory is not a Restaurant.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Restaurant, Rural: Any establishment that provides as a principal use the preparation and sale of food and/or beverages in a state ready for consumption within the establishment or off-premises.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Retail, Construction Establishment: Buildings or land used for sale of construction materials at retail or for the rendering of construction services including, but not limited to, coal, wood, and lumber yards.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Retail, General: An establishment engaged in the sale of merchandise to the general public. Examples include department stores, food stores, pharmacies, newsstands, candy shops, gift shops, craft shops, hardware stores, household appliance stores, furniture stores, florists, or music stores. This does not include wood or lumber yards. A general retail use may include accessory maintenance or repair services for merchandise sold on the premises.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rezoning: A change in zoning district designation for a parcel or group of parcels adopted by the Board of Supervisors.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Ridge: A landform¹ at the highest elevation of a drainage divide for the major watersheds mapped by the County or the elongated crest or series of crests at the apex or uppermost point of intersection between 2 opposite slopes or sides of a mountain.

Ridge Feature:² A landform that principally encompasses the primary mountain ridges above the critical elevations of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shorthill Mountain, and Catoctin Range, respectively, and is visible from the public right-of-way. 

¹National Cooperative Soil Survey. Title 430 – National Soil Survey Handbook. Title 430 – National Soil Survey Handbook, Part 629 – Glossary of Landform and Geologic Terms: https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/OpenNonWebContent.aspx?content=41992.wbaTitle%20430%20%E2%80%93%20National%20Soil%20Survey%20Handbook. 

²Ridge Feature data is displayed illustratively under the Environmental layers in WebLOGIS: https://loudoun.gov/weblogis.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Riparian: An area of land contiguous to a stream, river, lake, or wetland that contains vegetation that, due to the presence of water, is distinctly different from the vegetation of adjacent areas.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Riparian Forest: A strip of land along a river or stream where forest and vegetation help to protect water quality, filter pollutants, regulate water temperature, enhance aquatic and wildlife habitats, and provide aesthetic value to the river or stream. Also called a riparian forest buffer when part of a larger stream buffer.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Riparian Protection Buffer: River and Stream Corridor Resources (RSCR) buffer area that is a minimum 50 feet in width and measured beginning from and extending landward from the greatest extent of the RSCR Floodplain, Adjacent Steep Slopes, as indicated in Table 6.01-1.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

River and Stream Corridor Resources: Certain water resources and associated land areas.

1. A.
   Resource Area.

   1. 1.
      Rivers and Streams.
   2. 2.
      Floodplain (including Major Floodplain and Minor Floodplain).
   3. 3.
      Adjacent Steep Slopes.
2. B.
   Buffer Area.

   1. 1.
      Riparian Protection Buffer.
   2. 2.
      Variable Riparian Preservation Buffer.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rivers and Streams: A natural, flowing course of water draining 100 acres or greater.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road: Includes the terms "street", "avenue", "way", "court", "drive" and the like. Pedestrian elements such as sidewalks and trails are allowed within road rights-of-way to the extent allowed by the Virginia Department of Transportation or this Zoning Ordinance. An alley is not a road.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Centerline of: A line established as a centerline of a road by any State, County, or other official agency or governing body having jurisdiction thereof and shown as such on an officially adopted or legally recorded map or, if there be no official centerline, a line running and lying midway between the road right-of-way lines. Where road lines are indeterminate and a pavement or a traveled way exists, the centerline is assumed to be a line midway between the edges of such pavement or traveled way.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Class I: Roads that were part of the State-maintained highway system at the time of adoption of the 1972 Zoning Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Class II: Roads meeting Virginia Department of Transportation's specifications and acceptable for maintenance by the State, bonded as provided in the Loudoun County Subdivision Ordinance, or roads accepted in the State-maintained highway system after the effective date of the 1972 Zoning Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Class III: A non-State maintained road that meets the design standards contained in the Facilities Standards Manual.  This includes private roads.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Crossing of the Floodplain or Road Crossing: Any public road, private road, or driveway traversing a floodplain generally perpendicular to the flow of the drainageway.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Local: A public road with a limited through function, predominantly providing access to individual lots. Local roads are an outlet for neighborhoods, or may link neighborhoods, to the collector road network. Local roads are characterized by low traffic volumes and low speeds.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Major Arterial: A public road, designed to carry substantial amounts of high-speed regional traffic, usually requiring at least 4 lanes for through traffic, and generally planned for restricted or controlled access. Routes 7, 15, and 50 are examples of major arterial roads.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Major Collector: A public road generally serving an intra-county and, in some situations, an inter-county function. Major collectors carry traffic from individual developments to arterial roads. New major collectors are planned for controlled access, with turn lanes at all entrances. Major collectors are often 4, and sometimes 6, lanes. However, existing rural major collectors may be as few as 2 lanes. Examples of urban major collectors include Route 640 and Ashburn Village Boulevard. Routes 734 and 621 are examples of rural major collectors.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Minor Arterial: A public road designed to perform a regional, as well as a local, function connecting communities or other arterials across State or County boundaries. Traffic volumes generally require a minimum of 4 through lanes, although some existing minor arterials may have only 2 through lanes. Minor arterials have limited or controlled access, with signals at important intersections and stop signs on side roads. Route 9 is an example of a minor arterial road.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Minor Collector: A public road generally serving several different neighborhoods and providing a linkage to the major collector roads. This category of road allows for traffic mobility and individual, or combined, lot access. Minor collectors may be 2 or 4 lanes and receive local and private roads.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Private: A privately owned road designed and constructed in accordance with the Facility Standards Manual (FSM) for direct access to individual lots, with the owners of said lots or an Owners Association responsible for its maintenance. Includes private access easement roads and private streets as defined in the Land Subdivision Development Ordinance (LSDO) and Facilities Standards Manual (FSM).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Road, Public: A Class I or II Road. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rock Outcrop: Any rock exposed at or above the ground surface that is attached to the underlying bedrock.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Roofline: The lowest portion of a pitched or flat roof visible from a public right-of-way or adjacent property.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rooming and Boarding: A group living use for 5 or more occupants that do not meet the definition of family, where sanitary facilities may be shared, a common cooking facility must be provided, and individual cooking facilities are prohibited. Tenancy is provided on at least a month-to-month basis. Examples include single room and/or shared occupancy units, rooming and boarding houses, and off-site student, faculty, and/or employee housing facilities (e.g., dormitories, and/or fraternity and sorority houses).  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Cluster Lot: A type of lot located within an AR-1 or AR-2 District cluster subdivision.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Economy Cluster Lot: A type of lot located within an AR-1 or AR-2 District Cluster Subdivision Option.

(ZOAM-2020-0002, 06/12/2024) 

Effective on: 3/12/2025

Rural Economy Conservation Lands: One of the 2 required elements of a residential cluster option development within the AR Zoning District located outside of the cluster portion and intended to accommodate rural economy and open space uses as permitted in the underlying zoning district.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Economy Lot: A type of lot located within an AR-1 or AR-2 District Principal/Subordinate Subdivision Option. A minimum of 1 Rural Economy Lot is required to be located within any AR-1 or AR-2 Principal/Subordinate Subdivision Option. 

(ZOAM-2020-0002, 06/12/2024)

Effective on: 3/12/2025

Rural Economy Uses: An array of agricultural, horticultural, and animal husbandry uses; tourist attractions and services; and other commercial businesses listed as permitted or permissible uses in the AR-1 and AR-2 Districts that are dependent on the rural land base for its agricultural productivity, scenic quality, and rural character to sustain business activities.

(ZOAM-2020-0002, 06/12/2024)

Effective on: 3/12/2025

Rural Resort: A private establishment consisting of a detached structure or structures located in a rural setting in which lodging units are offered to transients for compensation as the principal use, along with conference and meeting facilities, restaurant and banquet facilities, and recreational amenities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Retreat: A use, compatible with agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, open space and/or historic preservation, that is engaged in the study, testing, design, invention, evaluation, or development of technologies, techniques, processes, or professional and consulting services, and education and training related to those subjects and services. Rural retreats may be used for basic and applied research services and education where the inquiry process is conducted in a manner similar to that of institutions of higher learning or management consulting firms. Rural retreats may include buildings or structures for associated training programs, seminars, conferences, and related activities. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Village Center Subdistrict: The portion of the Rural Village (RV) zoning district designated for pedestrian friendly, mixed-use development, consisting of single-family detached, townhouse, apartment, storefront, workplace, and civic uses on the Concept Development Plan.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Village Commercial Area: Land within the Rural Village Center designated primarily for commercial, apartment, and civic uses on the Concept Development Plan.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Village Conservancy (VC) Subdistrict: Land within the Rural Village (RV) zoning district, surrounding the Village Center subdistrict, that is placed in an open space easement to offset the increased density in the Village Proper (VP).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Village Residential Area: The land area within the Village Center subdistrict designated primarily for single-family attached and detached and civic uses on the Concept Development Plan.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Village Satellite Conservancy Subdistrict: Land within the Rural Village Zoning District that does not adjoin the Village Conservancy, and is placed in an open space easement to offset the increased density in the Village Proper.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Rural Village Workplace Area: The land area within the Village Center designated for employment uses on the Concept Development Plan.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sawmill: A mill for sawing timber or logs into boards or lumber.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Scenic River: Rivers, streams, runs and waterways that are designated according to the Code of Virginia.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

School, Private: An establishment that meets State requirements for providing any kindergarten, primary, and/or secondary educational course and does not secure the major part of its funding from any governmental agency. Such use must not include an establishment for the instruction of adults, a day care establishment, a childcare center, a childcare home, or an in-home school for the purposes of instructing children of the family of the household. Parking of school buses on-site must be considered an accessory use to a school.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

School, Public: An establishment for the education of students, at the primary, elementary, middle, or high school level, including vocational, and technical schools, owned and/or operated by Loudoun County/Loudoun County School Board, and public charter schools. Accessory uses include, but are not limited to, play areas, cafeterias, auditoriums, parking of school buses, and recreational and athletic facilities/fields (lighted or unlighted).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

School, Trade: A establishment offering courses or training in vocations such as welding and metal fabrication, pipefitting, automobile body and engine repair, construction equipment operation, building trades, truck driving, airplane maintenance, and mechanical and electrical equipment/appliance repair.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

School, Vocational: See School, Trade.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Screening: Refers to any landscaping, screening, buffering, fencing, or other barrier as required by this Zoning Ordinance. See Buffering or Screening.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Setback: The minimum distance measured in horizontal linear feet by which any building or structure must be separated from the point of reference (e.g., lot line, right-of-way, or building).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Setback, Perimeter: The boundary of a development contained within a Site Plan or development plan as required by Section 7.01.07.B.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sewage Disposal System, Individual: A complete private system for the collection, treatment and/or disposal of sewage approved by the Loudoun County Health Department and located on the lot served unless permitted to be located off-site under Section 7.08.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sewage Treatment Plant: See Utility, Major.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sewer, Public: A central, community, or municipal wastewater treatment system for the collection, treatment, and disposal of sewage.

1. A.
   Central Sewer: The sewage treatment system for Eastern Loudoun County owned and operated by Loudoun Water.
2. B.
   Community Wastewater System: A wastewater treatment system for the collection, treatment and/or disposal of wastewater operated by Loudoun Water that is designed to serve small scale development, including clusters, in conformance to Section 7.08. Such system may serve only 1 lot, where a community system is required by Chapter 4 for a specific use.
3. C.
   Municipal Sewer System: A sewage treatment system that is owned or operated by one of the incorporated towns within Loudoun County.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sewer Pumping Station: See Utility, Minor.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Shared-Use Path: An asphalt trail designed to serve pedestrians, cyclists, and Micromobility Devices. When along roadways, shared-use paths are physically separated from motorized vehicular traffic and located either completely outside of the public right-of-way and within a public access easement, or completely within the public right-of-way, provided transitions between the two may be necessary at road crossings and other areas.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Shooting Range, Indoor:  A sport shooting range, as defined by the Code of Virginia, that occurs inside a fully enclosed structure.  [Note: Code of Virginia § 15.2-917 defines this as "an area or structure designed for the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes, skeet, trap, black powder, or any other similar sport shooting."]

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Shopping Center: Any group of 2 or more commercial uses of a predominately retail nature which:

1. A.
   Are designed as a single commercial group, whether or not located on the same lot;
2. B.
   Are under common ownership or management;
3. C.
   Are connected by party walls, partitions, canopies, or other structural members to form 1 continuous structure or, if located in separate buildings, are interconnected by walkways and accessways designed to facilitate customer interchange between the uses;
4. D.
   Share a common parking area; and
5. E.
   Otherwise present the appearance of 1 continuous commercial area.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Shoreline: The top of the streambank, which is defined in engineering terms as the water surface elevation of the 2-year storm event.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Short Term, Recurring Zoning Violation: Any violation of this Zoning Ordinance of a type that is typically of a relatively short duration or susceptive of regular recurrence. Violations in this classification are deemed to include, but are not limited to, inoperable vehicles, commercial vehicles parked in residential districts, parking of vehicles on an unpaved surface, exceeding maximum occupancy limitations for residential dwelling units, violations of sign regulations, and violations related to permitted and or non-permitted temporary or seasonal sales.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Short-Term Rental, Commercial Whole House: The renting of a not otherwise occupied single-family detached dwelling unit or a not otherwise occupied accessory dwelling unit that is accessory to a principal single-family detached dwelling unit, in which the entire dwelling unit is used for providing overnight accommodations for a period of fewer than 30 consecutive days in exchange for a charge for the occupancy or other consideration. A Short-Term Rental, Commercial Whole House use located in a single-family detached dwelling is counted as a dwelling unit for purposes of density calculations.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Short-Term Rental, Residential Accessory: The renting of a portion or the entirety of a dwelling unit as an accessory use to a principal dwelling unit for a period of fewer than 30 consecutive days, and no more than 180 days per calendar year, in exchange for a charge for the occupancy or other consideration. The Operator must occupy the dwelling unit that the Short-Term Rental, Residential Accessory use is accessory to for a minimum of 185 days out of the calendar year.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Shrub: A deciduous or evergreen multi-trunked, woody plant that usually attains a mature height of no more than 10 feet. Preferred species are provided in the Facilities Standards Manual.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign: Any visual display that comprises letters, words, numerals, figures, logos, trademarks, symbols, emblems, devices, or illustrations, or any combination thereof, which is used to advertise, identify, display, direct, or attract attention to a property, business, product, service, person, object, institution, idea, organization, event, location, or entertainment. A Sign includes the background structure. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Animated: Any sign or part of a sign that changes physical position or light intensity by any movement, rotation, strobing, illumination or other means, or that gives the visual impression or illusion of movement, rotation, illumination or rotation. An animated sign may not be a Digital Sign.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign Area: The area within a continuous perimeter enclosing the limits of a sign. The sign area includes any frame or other material or color that forms an integral part of the display or is used to differentiate the sign from the sign background against which it is placed. Sign area excludes the base, structural supports, or uprights on which the sign is placed. See Section 8.11. When a sign has 2 sign faces, only 1 sign face counts as the sign area. If the faces of a 2-sided sign are different sizes, the larger face counts as the sign area.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Art Display: A hand-carved or hand-cast work expressing creative skill or imagination in a visual form that is intended to beautify or provide an aesthetic influence on a public area. An Art Display may include a three-dimensional statue that is placed in a park, courtyard, lawn, or similar area for public display.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Attached: A sign that is mounted, painted, affixed, or otherwise secured to the wall of a building or structure. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Awning: A type of attached sign that is mounted on, painted on, affixed, or otherwise attached to an awning or canopy that is attached to a building.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign Background: The surface on which a sign is mounted, painted, affixed, or otherwise attached.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Backlight: An illuminated sign, where the source of illumination is located on the back of the sign or on the interior of an enclosed sign.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Banner: A type of prohibited sign made of cloth, paper, vinyl, bunting or the like, intended to be hung either with or without frames.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, De Minimis: Any sign with an area no greater than 2 square feet.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Development Entry: A sign located along the entry from a collector or arterial street where the parcel is developed or subdivided for multifamily dwellings, or nonresidential or mixed uses with multiple occupants or tenants.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign Development Plan: A graphic representation showing a detailed plan of all freestanding and attached signs, art displays, and murals proposed for a particular structure, lot, or development. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Digital: Any sign that displays digital copy, including any illuminated sign on which the illumination is not kept stationary or constant in intensity and color when the sign is in use, including any light emitting diode (LED) or digital panel, and which varies in color or intensity. In the sign industry, digital signs are also referred to as dynamic signs, changeable electronic variable message signs (CEVMS), electronic message centers (EMCs), etc.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Entry: A development entry sign or subdivision entry sign.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign Face: The display surface or portion of the sign used for visual display.  

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Feather: A type of prohibited sign made of flexible material in the shape of a feather, quill, sail, blade or teardrop, and mounted on a solid or flexible pole or cord. These are sometimes referred to as “quill signs” or “sail banners.”

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Freestanding: Any sign placed upon or in the ground and not attached to a building. A Freestanding Sign includes ground signs, pylon signs, pole signs, entry signs, and sidewalk signs.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Government: A sign erected and maintained by or under the direction of the County, the Virginia Department of Transportation, other governmental authorities, or a court officer in accordance with the law. Examples of government signs include, but are not limited to, official notices, traffic signs, directional signs, and historical markers.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Ground: A sign supported by uprights or braces placed upon or in the ground and not attached to any building. A ground sign includes any pylon sign and does not include a pole sign, entry sign, or sidewalk sign.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign Height: The height of a sign is computed as the linear measurement from the base of the sign at normal grade to the top of the highest attached component of the sign. If the land is uneven at the base of the sign, the elevation at the halfway point (middle) of the sign at the base must be used. Normal grade is the lower of (i) existing grade prior to construction, or (ii) the newly established grade after construction, exclusive of any filling, berming, mounding, or excavating for the purpose of locating the sign.  See Section 8.11.D.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Historical Marker: A government sign erected to identify a site, location, or landscape related to a person, structure, or event documented as historically significant at the local, state, or national level.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Illuminated: Any sign or any part of a sign that is: (i) illuminated, externally or internally, from an artificial light source located for the specific purpose of such illumination, or (ii) created by the projection of illuminations onto a surface (such as a building wall). An illuminated sign includes any digital sign, internally illuminated sign, externally illuminated sign, or halo lit sign.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Incidental: A sign located on a flag, banner, or rigid panel that may be freestanding or mounted on a pole or a wall or similar structure, with or without a structural frame, that is normally incidental to the allowed use of the property, but can contain any message or content. The incidental sign category includes Light Post Banner, De Minimis, Temporary, and Miscellaneous Signs. Examples of incidental signs include directional signs, real estate signs, non-commercial opinion signs, menu boards, garage sale signs, holiday decorations, property or tenant identification names or numbers, names of occupants, signs on mailboxes or newspaper tubes, signs posted on private property relating to circulation or private parking, political signs, signs warning the public against trespassing or danger from animals,  or signs stating hours of operation, open/closed, accepted forms of payment, business/professional affiliations, etc. This paragraph is provided to clarify the regulations and does not limit the content of incidental signs.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Light Post Banner: Cloth, paper, vinyl, bunting or the like, intended to be hung individually or in pairs and either with or without frames on a light post. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Mural: Visual depictions and/or works of art or licensed reproductions of original works of art including, but not limited to, mosaic, painting, or graphic art techniques that are applied, painted, implanted, or placed directly onto the exterior of any structure. This definition is not intended to discourage the use of new paint and printing technologies.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, On-Site: Any sign located on the same site, the same parcel, or the same development as the use that owns or controls the sign.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Outlined with Neon: Any sign that uses neon, argon, or similar gas to illuminate transparent or translucent tubing or other material to emit light outlining all or a part of that sign. This sign is prohibited except as specifically permitted with the approval of a Sign Development Plan. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Pole: A type of freestanding sign that is supported by at least 1 visible support structure or pole. A Pole Sign does not include a flag mounted on a flagpole.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Projecting: A type of wall sign attached to and projecting outward from a building face or wall, generally at a right angle to the building.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Pylon: A type of ground sign permanently affixed to the ground, supported by 1 or more supports, and the overall height of the sign, including the supports, is greater than the sign's horizontal width. A pylon sign is commonly used for multitenant buildings or developments. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Sidewalk: A movable sign not secured or attached to the ground or surface upon which it is located. A sidewalk sign may be freestanding, placed on an easel, or constructed in a manner to form an “A” shape.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Subdivision Entry: A sign located along the entry to a residential subdivision. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Temporary: A sign constructed of cloth, canvas, light fabric, cardboard, wood, wallboard, metal, or other light materials, with or without frames, which is intended to be displayed for a temporary duration or is of a nonrecurring nature.  Examples of temporary signs include real estate signs, garage sale signs, holiday decorations, and political signs. These examples are provided to clarify the regulations and do not limit the content of temporary signs.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Wall: A type of attached sign that is mounted, painted, affixed, or otherwise secured to the wall of a building or structure. Types of wall signs include but are not limited to awning signs and projecting signs.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sign, Window: A sign posted, painted, placed, or affixed to the inside or outside of a window. For purposes of this definition, a curtain wall or window wall is not considered a window and is considered a part of the building wall.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Silviculture: The art and science of managing the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests and woodlands, typically dependent on Best Management Practices. Silviculture is limited to tree and shrub planting; limited tree clearing for firewood and clearing of dead and diseased trees and invasive species; tree pruning and trimming; and timber harvesting, including the planting, growing, cultivating, cutting, and harvesting of trees growing on a site and the loading, unloading, and sorting of trees on a site where they are grown for wood or wood-based products. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sinkhole: A vertical opening or closed depression in the land surface and formed by solution of carbonate bedrock and downward movement of soil into bedrock voids or by collapse of underlying caves.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sinking Stream: Any stream draining 640 acres or less that disappears underground into a Swallet, Sinkhole, Closed Depression or Cave Opening.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Site Plan: A required submission, prepared and approved in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 10.06, that is a detailed engineering drawing of the proposed improvements included and required in the development of a given lot. A Site Plan is not to be construed as a Concept Development Plan, as required by other provisions of the Zoning Ordinance. Reference the Site Plan Procedures of the Land Subdivision and Development Ordinance (LSDO).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Slaughterhouse: Any structure or land where livestock raised off-site are: (i) slaughtered; (ii) preparing processed meats and meat byproducts; or (iii) rendered and/or refined animal fat, bones, and meat scraps. This includes establishments primarily engaged in assembly cutting and packing of meats (i.e., boxed meats) from purchased carcasses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Slope: The vertical elevation of land area divided by the horizontal distance, expressed as a percentage. Slope percentage must be determined using the County base planimetric and topographic maps or if required, then other topographic maps, elevations, etc., prepared by such persons licensed to perform surveys to determine such information. See Very Steep Slope Area and Moderately Steep Slope Area.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Small Business, Agricultural and Rural: A business, profession, occupation, or trade established as a principal use, subject to Section 4.04.19.

Small Business uses must not include the following elements:

1. A.
   Franchises.
2. B.
   Branch Facilities.
3. C.
   Partial elements of larger enterprises that have other business facilities in other locations.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Snack Bar or Refreshment Stand, Accessory: An accessory use that prepares and/or serves snacks and non-alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises and is operated solely by and for the agency, group, or owner operating the principal use and for the convenience of patrons of the facility.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Soil Mapping Unit: An area of similar kinds of soil materials on the same landform, as defined in the Interpretive Guide to Soils Maps of Loudoun County, as amended.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Solar Facility: A facility for the primary purpose of collecting, generating, and/or transferring electric energy from solar radiation (i.e., sunlight). Includes without limitation any ground-mounted solar energy generation facility.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Solar Facility, Utility Scale: A solar facility for the primary purpose of supplying energy to the power grid.  Such facility may include energy storage, utility lines, and/or a utility substation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Solar Facility, Site-Specific: A solar facility for the primary purpose of supplying energy to a principal use on the same site and that such solar facility is accessory to.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Solid Waste: Any garbage, refuse, sludge, and other discarded materials, resulting from household, industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, or community activities, but not including (i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, (ii) solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows or in industrial discharges that are sources subject to a permit from the State Water Control Board, or (iii) source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Solid Waste Container: A container that is specifically designed, constructed, and placed for use as a depository for the storage of solid waste, which includes dumpsters, bulk containers, refuse containers, or other such containers specifically designated as waste receptacles.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Solid Waste Facility: Any "solid waste management facility" or "sanitary landfill" as defined by the Virginia Waste Management Act (Code of Virginia § 10.1-1400). This use includes Landfill, sanitary; and Garbage incinerating, reducing, or dumping for compensation, including loading or transfer.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Solid Waste Incinerator: A facility or device designed for the treatment of solid waste by combustion.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Solid Waste Transfer Station: A solid waste collection or storage facility at which solid waste is transferred from collection vehicles to hauling vehicles for transportation to a central solid waste management facility for disposal, incineration, or resource recovery.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sound: An oscillation in pressure, particle displacement, particle velocity, or other physical parameter, in a medium with internal forces that causes compression and rarefaction of that medium.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sound Level Meter: Means an electronic instrument, which includes a microphone, an amplifier and an output meter, that measures noises and sound pressure levels in a specified manner. It may be used with the octave band analyzer that permits measuring the sound pressure level in discrete octave bands.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Special Event: A temporary commercial or festive activity or promotion at a specific location that is open to the public and is planned or reasonably expected to attract large assemblies of persons. Special events include, but are not limited to, carnivals, festivals, circuses, music fairs or concerts, tent revivals, art shows, crafts shows, rodeos, corn mazes, civil war reenactments, equestrian shows, firework displays and events, or similar events open to the public. A private party held at a Banquet/Event Facility (including Hotel, Conference Center, Restaurant, Rural Resort, or similar facility), Bed and Breakfast Homestay, Bed and Breakfast Inn, or Country Inn is not a special event. In addition to events open to the public, a private party held at a location other than the foregoing or held on property not occupied by the host, is a special event. Special Event does not include temporary or seasonal retail sales of goods, products, or services, such as temporary sales of Christmas trees, farm produce, fireworks, and other similar seasonal goods.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Special Exception: Special Exception applies to the following:

1. A.
   Special Exception (Use): A use that may be allowed in a zoning district subject to conditions imposed by the Board of Supervisors, in accordance with the procedures and standards for Special Exceptions in Section 10.11; and
2. B.
   Special Exception (Process): The process that provides the Board of Supervisors with an opportunity for discretionary review of requests to establish, construct, or modify uses or structures as described in Section 10.11.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Specimen Tree: Any tree that has been individually designated by the local governing body to be notable by virtue of its outstanding size and quality for its particular species.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Sports Stadium, Complex, Arena or Sports Field: See Recreation, Outdoor or Major.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Spring: A feature where the groundwater flows naturally from a rock or the soil onto the land surface or into a body of surface water.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Stable:  An establishment that keeps or boards horses.

1. A.
   Stable, Private: A facility that boards:

   1. 1.
      Horses for the private use of the owners and/or residents of the lot; and/or
   2. 2.
      No more than 10 horses not owned by the property owner or resident.
   3. 3.
      Private Stable includes the ability to teach students equitation.
2. B.
   Stable, Livery:  An establishment that boards:

   1. 1.
      More than 10 horses not directly owned by the property owner; 
   2. 2.
      More than 10 horses used for hire; or
   3. 3.
      A combination thereof.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

State: The Commonwealth of Virginia.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Steep Slopes: Surface formation with a vertical incline greater than 15%, which is sufficient steepness to cause problems such as erosion or increased flooding when land is disturbed. See Moderately Steep Slopes and Very Steep Slopes. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Step-Back: An area of a façade above the first floor of a building or structure that is located a set distance recessed from the façade, story, or portion of the building or structure below it.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Stockpiling: The acceptance, collection, accumulation, or aggregation of dirt, fill, or gravel from off-site sources, for a period of more than 12 months.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Stockpiling, Temporary: The acceptance, collection, accumulation or aggregation of dirt, fill, or gravel from off-site sources, for a period of fewer than 12 months on a parcel. Such stockpiles are removed or immediately graded out in accordance with an approved grading plan.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Stone Quarrying Industries: Commercial or industrial stone quarries or operations involving removal from a site of natural accumulations of sand, rock, soil, or gravel. The meaning of "stone quarrying", includes appurtenant structures such as crushers, screeners, and washers and also includes, as an accessory use, retail sales of stone products, but does not include any other industrial use, such as concrete batching plants or asphalt mixing plants.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Storage Area: An outdoor space accessory to a permitted use, used for the purpose of storing equipment, vehicles, construction materials, and similar items necessary to the permitted use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Storage, Bulk Gasoline: A fixed installation where these products are stored, either for subsequent transshipment to a smaller fixed installation or for pick-up by truck for transport to the site where the product will be used by the consumer. Materials may be stored in 1 or more tanks on the site, the size of a tank being constrained by Federal and State regulations pertaining to construction and safety standards. Such facilities do not include retail sales. Accessory tanks for agriculture, temporary construction, or personal use are excluded from this definition.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Stormwater Management Improvements: Surface or subsurface drainage improvements, storm sewers, detention and retention ponds, and other such improvements as required by the Facilities Standards Manual (FSM) or the Loudoun County Stormwater Management Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Story: That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there be no floor above it, the space between such floor and the ceiling next above. A basement is counted as a story if it is used for business or dwelling purposes. A mezzanine floor is counted as a story if it covers more than one-third of the area of the floor next below it or if the vertical distance between the floor next below it and the floor next above it is 20 feet or more.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Stream Bank: The confining cut of land forming a natural channel for the nontidal water movement of a stream. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Stream Restoration: A process designed in accordance with the Facilities Standards Manual (FSM) and approved by the County. An increase in base flood elevation may be permitted provided a Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) is obtained from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) prior to approval of the requisite Floodplain Alteration application for such use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Street, Centerline of: A line established as a centerline of a street by any State, County, or other official agency or governing body having jurisdiction thereof and shown as such on an officially adopted or legally recorded map or, if there be no official centerline, a line running and lying midway between the street right-of-way lines. Where street lines are indeterminate and a pavement or a traveled way exists, the centerline is assumed to be a line midway between the edges of such pavement or traveled way.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Streetlight: A pole or pedestal mounted luminaire with a metal halide or other full spectrum bulb.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Street Tree: Any tree that has been individually designated by the local governing body and grows in the street right-of-way or on private property as authorized by the owner and placed or planted there by the local government.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Structural Alteration: Any change, modification, addition, or deletion to the bearing walls of an existing structure.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Structure: An assembly of materials forming a construction for occupancy or use including, among others, buildings, stadiums, tents, parking lots, platforms, stagings, observation towers, telecommunications towers, radio and television broadcasting towers, water tanks, trestles, piers, swimming pools, open sheds, shelters, walls, power line towers, and pipelines.

For the purposes of Sections 5.04 and 5.05, the term “structure” includes, but is not limited to, all buildings, water/dam embankments, retaining walls, field/tile drainage, road construction, and cut or fill operations. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Structure, Accessory: A building or structure subordinate and incidental to, and located on the same lot with, a principal building, the use of which is customarily found in association with and is clearly incidental to that of the main building or to the use of the land, and is not attached by any part of a common wall or roof to the principal building.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Subdivision: The division of a parcel of land into 2 or more new parcels. The process of subdividing is regulated by the Land Subdivision and Development Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Subdivision Plat: A record plat for a subdivision. See Record Plat.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Subordinate Lot: One of the types of lots permitted within the Principal/Subordinate Subdivision Development Option. Subordinate Lots may not be further subdivided.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Substantial Conformance: Substantial conformance is determined by the Zoning Administrator and means conformance that leaves a reasonable margin for adjustment due to final design or engineering data but conforms with the general nature of the development, the specific uses, and the general layout depicted by the plans, profiles, elevations, and other demonstrative materials proffered by the applicant. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Swallet: A hole in the land through which surface water is delivered to the aquifer (may be considered the opposite of a spring).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Telecommunications Facility: A facility utilized by a public service utility or commercial public telecommunications service under the jurisdiction of the Virginia State Corporation Commission and/or licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to provide commercial public telecommunications services. A telecommunications facility may include a tower, monopole, antenna hub site, and other antenna support structures or equipment buildings. A telecommunications facility does not include non-commercial applications, such as amateur radio operations, or uses or structures that are accessory to and solely used by an individual business.

1. A.
   Antenna, Telecommunications: Any structure or device used to collect or radiate electromagnetic waves, including both directional antennas, such as panels and microwave dishes, and omnidirectional antennas, such as whips and satellite dishes, but not including satellite earth stations. A telecommunications antenna includes an antenna hub site.
2. B.
   Antenna Hub Site: An area containing 1 or more unmanned equipment structures sited to serve telecommunications antennas. An antenna hub site may be located on a different lot than the telecommunications antennas served.
3. C.
   Antenna Support Structure: A self-supporting or bracketed ground-mounted pole 60 feet or less in height that is accessory to and used to support 1 or more telecommunications antennas and no more than 1 related unmanned equipment structure.
4. D.
   Monopole, Telecommunications: A single, self-supporting pole-type structure, tapering from base to top and supporting a fixture designed to hold 1 or more telecommunications antennas. A monopole does not include a telecommunications tower.
5. E.
   Tower, Telecommunications: A lattice-type structure, guyed or self-supporting, used to support telecommunications antennas. Does not include a radio, radar and/or television tower.
6. F.
   Temporary Mobile and Land-Based Telecommunication Testing Facility: Whip antennas, panels antennas, microwave dishes, and receive-only satellite dishes and related equipment for wireless audio-transmission with low wattage not to exceed 500 watts, from a sender to 1 or more receivers, such as for mobile cellular telephones and mobile radio system facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Temporary Retail: A temporary use in which stands or sales areas are set aside and rented or otherwise provided, and that are intended for use by various unrelated individuals or entities to sell articles that are primarily homemade, homegrown, handcrafted, old, obsolete, or antique and may include the selling of goods at retail by businesses or individuals who are generally engaged in retail trade.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Theater: An establishment engaged in the commercial exhibition of motion pictures to the general public or used for the performance of theatrical productions, plays, acts, dramas by actors and/or actresses. This use includes a performing arts center. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Toll: To pause or delay the running of a period of time set forth by statute or the Zoning Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Town Center Core: Within the Town Center (TC) Zoning District, a zone that provides a concentration of vertically and horizontally integrated mixed-use buildings, multistory single-use buildings, and pedestrian-oriented design located proximate to each other to generate and support pedestrian activity.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Town Center Fringe: Within the Town Center (TC) Zoning District, the transition area located between the Town Center Core and surrounding development and includes pedestrian-oriented businesses and activity balance with Residential and other uses more dependent on vehicular access.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Town Green: See Green.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Trails: A marked or established path or route for non-motorized recreational use. Examples include, but are not limited to footpaths, raised boardwalks, biking or hiking paths, and horse trails. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Transit Facilities: Includes transit stations, bus terminals, and associated right-of-way. Accessory uses include vehicle and bicycle parking.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Travelway: Part of a road for vehicle use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Tree: A single perennial woody stem attaining a height of 15 feet or more at maturity. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Tree Canopy: The area projected to be directly beneath the crown and within the dripline of a given tree species after a 10-year or 20-year growing period that is counted to fulfill canopy requirements.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Tree Cover: The area directly beneath the crown and within the dripline of a given tree species or forested areas.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Tree, Deciduous: Trees and shrubs that shed their leaves annually, usually in autumn.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Tree, Evergreen: A non-deciduous tree, often used for the purposes of screening, weather barrier, or accent planting. Acceptable species are provided in the Facilities Standards Manual.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Tree, Large Deciduous: A deciduous tree, usually single trunked, which typically attains a mature height of at least 30 feet. Acceptable species are provided in the Facilities Standards Manual.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Tree, Small Deciduous: A deciduous tree that does not typically attain a mature height of greater than 30 feet. Acceptable species are provided in the Facilities Standards Manual.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Undisturbed Grade: The grade and elevation of land prior to excavation, filling, or grading.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

University: See College or University.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Unmet Housing Needs Unit (UHNU): A dwelling unit for rent or for sale that is regulated pursuant to Section 9.02.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Unmet Housing Needs Unit (UHNU) Program: The UHNU Program governs the provision and administration of UHNUs. The UHNU Program is implemented pursuant to Section 9.02, and applicable sections of Chapter 1450 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Urban Deck: A platform for landscaped greens or engineered to accommodate buildings, which spans over major roadways. The intent of an urban deck is to create and enable pedestrian movement across an otherwise, typically impenetrable barrier, and to provide space for activity that can link both sides of the roadway.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Urban Forester: See Arborist or Urban Forester.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Urban Growth Area: Any area within the County that is currently served with public water and sewer or that is planned to be served with public water and sewer at sometime within the timeframe of the Comprehensive Plan.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Use, Accessory: A use of a building, lot, or portion thereof, which is customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of the building or lot.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Use, Commercial: Any wholesale, retail, or service business activity established to carry on trade for a profit.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Use, Nonresidential: A principal use that is not listed under the Residential use classification of the use tables in Chapter 3 of this Zoning Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Use, Principal: The primary use and chief purpose for which a lot or the principal building thereon is designed, arranged, or intended and for which it is or may be used, occupied, or maintained.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Use, Residential: A use that is listed under the Household Living and Group Living use categories in the Residential use classification of the use tables in Chapter 3 of this Zoning Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Use, Temporary: A use of land limited in both duration and the number of annual occurrences, excluding uses and events customarily associated with the principal land use (e.g., weddings at a church, sporting events at a stadium).   

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Utilities: A use category composed of facilities for the provision of infrastructure services that support legally established uses and that need to be located in or near the area where the service is provided. Accessory uses may include control, monitoring, data, or transmission equipment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Utility Line: A line suspended overhead on utility poles or buried underground that is used for the transmission and/or distribution, or conveyance, of public water, public sewer, natural gas, telephone, or electricity. Pursuant to Code of Virginia § 56-46.1., electrical transmission lines of 138 KV or more, approved by the State Corporation Commission, are deemed to have satisfied the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Utility, Major: Major facilities related to the provision, distribution, collection, transmission, or disposal of public water or public sewer, or telephone, cable, electricity, or natural gas owned and operated by a public utility (as defined under Section 56-232 of the Code of Virginia) or a public service corporation (as defined under Section 56-1 of the Code of Virginia), necessary to support legally established uses and that do not meet the definition of "Utility, Minor". Includes the facilities listed below, and accessory storage areas for vehicles and equipment necessary to provide those services, and accessory structures such as switch boxes, transformer boxes, and cap banks. Does not include telecommunications. 

1. A.
   Water Supply Reservoir: A dam and impoundment area created and operated to store water for public water, including necessary or customary appurtenant facilities such as access roads and transmission pipes. Water storage tanks and water treatment plants are separate uses not included as part of a water supply reservoir.
2. B.
   Sewage Treatment Plant: A plant for the primary, secondary, or tertiary treatment of sewage for public sewer.
3. C.
   Utility Substation: A facility that is part of a regional interconnecting grid system or dedicated to an individual user for the transformation, transmission, switching of transmission and/or distribution voltages, and/or distribution of usable/consumable electric power; or transmission of natural gas, or television or telephone signals.
4. D.
   Water Storage Tank: A tower or other facility for the storage of water for public water.
5. E.
   Water Treatment Plant: A facility for the purification of potable water for public water.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Utility, Minor: A minor facility or other structure for the provision, distribution, collection, transmission, or disposal of public water, public sewer, telephone, cable, electricity, and natural gas necessary to support legally established uses. Includes the facilities and structures listed below, and accessory structures such as switch boxes, transformer boxes, cap banks, and meters. Does not include telecommunications. Generally, does not have employees on site. For purposes of Natural and Environmental Resources (NERS), may include flood control or stormwater drainage infrastructure.

1. A.
   Sewer Pumping Station: A public sewer facility with electric-powered pumps, designed and constructed to raise wastewater in elevation, pump effluent uphill to a gravity feed sewer line, or overcome head losses due to pipeline friction.
2. B.
   Water Pumping Station: A public water facility for the pumping of potable water.
3. C.
   Municipal Water Well: A well used to collect water for a municipal water supply system. Accessory uses include access roads, utility lines, generators, and well houses.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Utility Pole:  A ground-mounted self-supporting vertical structure made of fabricated metal, treated wood, or concrete used to elevate electrical and communication distribution and/or transmission lines and antennas, whose primary function is the support of wires, conductors, and associated apparatus used for the distribution and/or transmission of electrical energy and/or land line communication signals.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Utility Substation: See Utility, Major.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vacant Land: A lot or parcel of land on which no improvements have been constructed.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Variable Riparian Preservation Buffer: River and Stream Corridor Resources (RSCR) buffer area that varies in width as needed to achieve a required minimum buffer width, beginning from and extending away from the Riparian Protection Buffer and associated water body, as provided in accordance with Table 6.01-1.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Variance: A reasonable deviation from those provisions regulating the shape, size, or area of a lot or parcel of land or the size, height, area, bulk, or location of a building or structure when the strict application of the Zoning Ordinance would unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property, and such need for a variance would not be shared generally by other properties, and provided such variance is not contrary to the purpose of the Zoning Ordinance. Variances do not include a change in use. See Section 10.08.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

VDOT: The Virginia Department of Transportation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

VDOT Resident Engineer: The Resident Engineer for Loudoun County of the Virginia Department of Transportation, or his designated deputy.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vegetative Waste: The decomposable materials generated by yard and lawn care or land clearing activities, and includes, but is not limited to, leaves, grass trimmings, and woody waste such as shrub and tree prunings, bark, limbs, roots, and stumps.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vegetative Waste Management Facility: A solid waste management facility that manages vegetative waste (as defined by Code of Virginia § 10.1-1400).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vehicle, Business: A vehicle associated with a business. Business vehicles must not exceed a rated capacity of 1 and 1/2 tons and must not have more than 2 axles.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vehicle Charging Station: A parking space that is served by equipment that transfers electric energy (by conductive or inductive means) to a battery or other energy storage device in an electric vehicle. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vehicle Repair, Heavy: An establishment engaged in major mechanical and body work performed on vehicles, repair of transmissions and differentials, straightening of body parts, painting, welding, or similar work. Accessory uses include light vehicle repair establishments, but do not include establishments for the sale, rental, and service of heavy equipment and specialized vehicles.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vehicle Repair, Light: An establishment where the primary use is the sale, servicing, repair and/or installation of gas, electric, or hybrid motor vehicle accessories, such as: spark plugs, batteries, distributors and distributor parts, tires, brakes, brake fluid, mufflers, tail pipes, water hoses, fan belts, light bulbs, fuses, floor mats, windshield wipers, wiper blades, grease retainers, wheel bearings, and mirrors. Light vehicle repair may also include greasing, lubrication and radiator flushing, minor servicing and repair of carburetors, fuel pumps, oil pumps, water pumps and lines, electrical systems, and minor motor adjustments not involving removal of the head or crankcase or racing the motor.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vehicle Sales and/or Rental: An establishment where the principal occupation is the sale and/or rental and accessory service of vehicles stored on-site and in operating condition. "Vehicles" include automobiles, motorcycles, All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV), and trucks stored on site. "Vehicles" do not include heavy equipment and specialized vehicle sale, rental, and service establishments. However, specialized vehicles may be sold, rented, and serviced as an accessory use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vehicle Service Station: An establishment where gasoline, petroleum, diesel fuel, oil, grease, batteries, tires, or  automobile accessories are dispensed at retail as a principal use and/or where, in addition, only the following services are rendered and sales made:

1. A.
   Sale and servicing of spark plugs, batteries, and distributor parts;
2. B.
   Tire sales, servicing, and repair, but not recapping or regrooving;
3. C.
   Replacement or adjustment of mufflers and tailpipes, water hoses, fan belts, brake fluid, light bulbs, fuses, floor mats, seat covers, windshield wipers, and wiper blades, grease retainers, wheel bearings, mirrors, and the like;
4. D.
   Radiator cleaning and flushing, provision of water, anti-freeze, and the like;
5. E.
   Washing and polishing, and sale of automotive washing and polishing materials;
6. F.
   Greasing and lubrication;
7. G.
   Providing and repairing fuel pumps, oil pumps, and lines;
8. H.
   Servicing and repair of carburetors;
9. I.
   Emergency wiring repairs;
10. J.
    Adjusting and repairing brakes;
11. K.
    Minor motor adjustments not involving removal of the head or crankcase or racing the motor;
12. L.
    Provision of convenience goods for gasoline supply station customers;
13. M.
    Provision of road maps and other information material to customers;
14. N.
    Provision of restroom facilities;
15. O.
    Performing State vehicle inspections;
16. P.
    Car wash; and/or
17. Q.
    Electric vehicle charging spaces.

A vehicle service station does not include major mechanical and body work, straightening of frames of body parts, steam cleaning, painting, welding, storage of automobiles not in operating condition, or any activity involving noise, glare, fumes, smoke, or other characteristics to an extent greater than normally found in vehicle service stations.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vehicle Storage and Impoundment: An area designed for the temporary storage of wrecked, inoperable and/or abandoned motor vehicles. This does not include the dismantling, wrecking, or sale of motor vehicles or parts.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vehicle Wholesale Auction: An establishment that sells or offers for sale motor vehicles, at auctions on a wholesale basis, only to licensed new or used vehicle dealers or wholesalers. Accessory uses may include services such as title processing, clean-up, and light service and repair of vehicles for sale for auction, the sale of food to customers, financial services, test-drive track, the storage or marshaling of auction vehicles, and the sale of specialty vehicles at auctions on a wholesale basis.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vehicular Access: Required access to any lot that must be provided at a width sufficient to provide necessary emergency access and as required by Section 4.300. Design and Construction Standards of the Facilities Standards Manual.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Vertical Cost: The cost of constructing a prototypical single-family detached (SFD) affordable dwelling unit (ADU) as established on a semiannual basis by the Affordable Dwelling Unit Advisory Board (ADUAB). Vertical cost does not include the cost of land for the ADU.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Very Steep Slope Area: Naturally occurring land areas with slopes greater than 25%. The Steep Slope Standards do not apply to slopes created by permitted land disturbing activities, such as, but not limited to, building and parking pad sites; berms; temporary construction stockpiles; and road-side ditches; also referred to as Adjacent Steep Slopes when located inside of River and Stream Corridor Resources.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Veterinary Service: A service for the medical or custodial care of animals where the animals are not brought to the establishment but are cared for on an off-site basis. Accessory uses include an office and storage areas for equipment and supplies necessary for conducting the veterinary service. This use does not include crematory facilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Village Green: The primary public open space located within the Rural Village Residential Area that primarily contains a well-defined, generally permeable green space with landscaped areas, pedestrian ways and passive recreational areas, or any combination thereof. A mix of uses, including storefront, civic, and residential must front the Village Green.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Village Square: An open, generally impervious, public space used for group gatherings, displays, meetings, concerts, or other community activities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Virginia Landmarks Register: A listing of historic properties in the Commonwealth of Virginia as maintained by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Visitor Accommodation: Uses composed of lodging units where tenancy may be arranged for periods of fewer than 30 days. Accessory uses include parking, laundry, recreational uses, and food services.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Warehousing Facility: A building used primarily for the holding or storage of goods and merchandise. A mini-warehousing establishment is a separate and distinct use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Waste-Related Uses: Uses that collect sanitary waste or uses that manufacture or produce goods or energy from the composting of organic materials or processing of organic or related waste materials, or the collection or stockpiling of dirt. Waste-related uses do not include uses that receive hazardous wastes from others or that process other than organic material or related waste materials. Accessory uses include offices and repackaging and transshipment of by-products.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Extraction: The use of an on-site well, spring, or any other water source for the extraction or collection of water for off-site use. Water Extraction does not include Water Well, Municipal, or Rainwater Harvesting. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Management Plan: A plan of irrigation indicating a sustainable water usage rate, identifying the water source(s), establishing a schedule of withdrawal, and providing methods for mitigation of undesirable effects.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water, Public: A central, community, or municipal water supply system for the purpose of furnishing potable water.

1. A.
   Central Water Supply: The water supply system for eastern Loudoun County owned and operated by Loudoun Water.
2. B.
   Water Supply System, Community: A water supply system owned or operated by Loudoun Water that is designed to serve small-scale development, including clusters, in conformance to Section 7.08. Such system may serve only 1 lot, where a community system is required by Chapter 4 for a specific use.
3. C.
   Water Supply System, Municipal: A water supply system that is owned or operated by 1 of the incorporated towns within Loudoun County.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Pumping Station: See Utility, Minor.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Supply Reservoir: See Utility, Major.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Supply System, Central:  See Water, Public.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Supply System, Community:  See Water, Public.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Supply System, Individual: A private water supply system approved by the Loudoun County Health Department located on the lot served unless permitted to be located off-site under Section 7.08.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Supply System, Municipal: See Water, Public.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Storage Tank: See Utility, Major.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Pumping Station: See Utility, Major.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Water Well, Municipal: See Utility, Minor.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Wayside Stand: Any structure or land on a farm used by the property owner, their family, or tenants to sell agricultural or horticultural produce, livestock, or merchandise principally produced on that farm, which is clearly an accessory use of the premises and does not change its character. Produce grown on other farms and accessory products also may be sold.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Wetland: Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that, under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, as identified by the United States Army Corps of Engineers or the Commonwealth of Virginia. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Wetland Mitigation: Wetland enhancement, restoration, creation and/or preservation project that serves to offset unavoidable impacts to wetlands, wetland buffer areas, and other associated natural habitats. A Wetland Mitigation Bank is a type of Wetland Mitigation.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Wetland Mitigation Bank: A natural resource management technique authorized by Part 404 of the federal Clean Water Act, or other state or federal law, as applicable, using wetland preservation, restoration, creation and/or enhancement to offset or replace wetland functions that are lost due to development. Wetland mitigation banks are typically large areas of wetlands operated by private or public entities, which may sell credits to other entities to compensate for wetland loss or impact at development sites or enter into other similar arrangements.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Wholesale Distribution, Warehousing, and Storage: The storage or holding of goods, which may include the sale of goods to other firms for resale, including activities involving significant storage and movement of products or equipment.  This use does not involve manufacturing or production. Examples include:

1. A.
   Carting;
2. B.
   Cold storage;
3. C.
   Distribution facilities (as defined below);
4. D.
   Apparel wholesale;
5. E.
   Express crating;
6. F.
   Hauling;
7. G.
   Feed locker plants;
8. H.
   Fulfillment centers that combine storage with call centers;
9. I.
   Hardware storage;
10. J.
    Merchant wholesalers (such as restaurant supply sales);
11. K.
    Warehousing of materials;
12. L.
    Wholesale sale of paper supplies, shoes, sporting goods, professional and commercial equipment and supplies; and
13. M.
    Otherwise preparing goods for transportation. 

A "Distribution Facility" means the intake of goods and merchandise, individually or in bulk, the short-term holding or storage of such goods or merchandise, and/or the breaking up into lots or parcels and subsequent shipment off-site of such goods and merchandise. Distribution may be provided to an entity with an identity of interest with the distribution facility or to businesses and individuals unrelated to the distributor. The term "Distribution Facility" also includes a transshipment facility for the temporary holding, storage, and shipment of goods or vehicles.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Winery, Commercial: An establishment with facilities for making and bottling wine for sale on site or through wholesale or retail outlets. A commercial winery is a winery that does not meet the definition of a Farm Winery. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Winery, Farm:  An establishment: (i) located on a farm with a producing vineyard, orchard or similar growing area and with facilities for fermenting and bottling wine on the premises where the owner or lessee manufactures wine that contains not more than 18% alcohol by volume; or (ii) located in the Commonwealth with a producing vineyard, orchard or similar growing area or agreements for purchasing grapes or fruits from agricultural growers within the Commonwealth, and with facilities for fermenting and bottling wine on the premises where the owner or lessee manufactures wine that contains not more than 18% alcohol by volume. As used in this definition, the term owner or lessee must include a cooperative formed by an association of individuals for the purposes of manufacturing wine. In the event such cooperative is licensed as a farm winery, the term “farm” as used in this definition includes all of the land owned or leased by the individual members of the cooperative, as long as such land is located in the Commonwealth. Accessory uses at a Farm Winery may include: commercial wineries, and wine tasting rooms at which wine tasting occurs, accessory food sales related to wine tasting, and wines produced on-site are sold. A farm winery license must be designated either as a Class A or Class B farm winery in accordance with Code of Virginia § 4.1-219. Any farm winery licensee may manufacture and sell cider in accordance with this definition and Code of Virginia § 4.1-213.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Wood, Metal and Stone Crafts: Stone cutting, welding, blacksmith, tinsmith, and woodworking shops with accessory storage. Includes establishments that:

1. A.
   Cut, shape, and finish wood for building or miscellaneous uses using handheld tools or power-operated woodworking machinery (such as circular and band sawing equipment, planing machinery, and sanding machinery);
2. B.
   Cut, shape, and finish marble, granite, slate, and other stone for building and miscellaneous uses;
3. C.
   Buy or sell partly finished monuments and tombstones;
4. D.
   Transform metal into intermediate or end products (other than machinery, computers, or electronics) through fabricated metal processes, such as forging, stamping, bending, forming, and machining, used to shape individual pieces of metal, or other processes (such as welding and assembling) used to join separate parts together; or
5. E.
   Treat metals and metal-formed products fabricated elsewhere.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard: Area on a lot that must be unoccupied by any structure, except as permitted by this Zoning Ordinance, from the ground to the sky located along the perimeter of a lot, the dimensions of which are set by the zoning district regulations of the Zoning Ordinance.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard, Front: The required yard measured from any road abutting the lot and extending across the full width of the lot.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard, Rear: The required yard measured from an abutting alley or the lot line opposite the front yard and extending across the full width of the lot.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard, Side: The required yard, that is neither a front yard nor a rear yard, extending from the front yard to the rear yard or other front yard when no rear yard exists.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard Waste: The decomposable waste materials generated by yard and lawn care and includes leaves, grass trimmings, brush, wood chips, and shrub and tree trimmings. Yard waste does not include roots or stumps that exceed 6 inches in diameter.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard Waste Compost: A stabilized organic product produced from yard waste by a controlled aerobic decomposition process in such a manner that the product can be handled, stored, or applied to the land so that it does not pose a present or potential hazard to human health or environment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard Waste Composting Facility: A Solid Waste Management Facility that is so located, designed, constructed, and operated for the composting of the portion of household waste that consists of grass clippings, leaves, brush, or tree trimmings arising from general household yard maintenance, is composted to a stabilized organic product so that it does not pose a present or potential hazard to human health or the environment.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Zoning Administrator: An appointed County official who serves as the Zoning Administrator, charged with the interpretation, administration, and enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance for Loudoun County, Virginia, or his/her designee.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Zoning District: The various classification of agricultural, residential, commercial, and industrial zoning categories provided for in the Zoning Ordinance and the areas on the Zoning Map in which such different districts are mapped. As used in this Zoning Ordinance, the term "zoning district" can refer either to the zoning category, e.g., "the A-3 Zoning District" or the areas mapped in such uses on the Zoning Map.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Zoning District, Agricultural: The following zoning districts are considered Agricultural Zoning Districts:

1. A.
   AR-1;
2. B.
   AR-2;
3. C.
   A-3;
4. D.
   A-10; and
5. E.
   Are subject to the Right to Farm Act (Code of Virginia § 3.2-300 et seq).

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Zoning District, Mixed Use: The following zoning districts are considered Mixed Use Zoning Districts:

1. A.
   TRC;
2. B.
   TC; and
3. C.
   PD-MUB.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Zoning District, Nonresidential: The following zoning districts are considered Nonresidential Zoning Districts:

1. A.
   UE;
2. B.
   CC-NC;
3. C.
   CC-CC;
4. D.
   CC-SC;
5. E.
   PD-CC(RC);
6. F.
   PD-RDP;
7. G.
   PD-SA;
8. H.
   GB;
9. I.
   CLI;
10. J.
    TCC;
11. K.
    RC;
12. L.
    OP;
13. M.
    IP;
14. N.
    GI; and
15. O.
    MR-HI.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Zoning District, Residential: The following zoning districts are considered Residential Zoning Districts:

1. A.
   SN-4;
2. B.
   SN-6;
3. C.
   SCN-8;
4. D.
   SCN-16;
5. E.
   SCN-24;
6. F.
   R-1;
7. G.
   R-2;
8. H.
   R-3;
9. I.
   R-4;
10. J.
    R-8;
11. K.
    R-16;
12. L.
    R-24;
13. M.
    PD-H;
14. N.
    PD-AAAR;
15. O.
    TR-1;
16. P.
    TR-2;
17. Q.
    TR-3;
18. R.
    TR-10;
19. S.
    TSN;
20. T.
    TCN;
21. U.
    CR-1;
22. V.
    CR-2;
23. W.
    CR-3;
24. X.
    CR-4;
25. Y.
    PD-RV;
26. Z.
    JLMA-1;
27. AA.
    JLMA-2;
28. BB.
    JLMA-3; and
29. CC.
    JLMA-20.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Zoning Map, Official: For zoning districts, overlay districts, and other mapped features subject to standards in this Zoning Ordinance, the official Zoning Map, is the County mapping data, which are in digital form as displayed on WebLogis and publicly available County GIS data. The Zoning Map is the final authority as to the current zoning status of land and water areas, buildings, and other structures in the County save for subsequent amendments enacted by the Board of Supervisors and not yet officially recorded on said map. 

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Zoning Permit: A document signed by the Zoning Administrator as a condition precedent to the commencement of a use or the erection, construction, reconstruction, restoration, alteration, conversion, or installation of a structure or building, acknowledging such use, structure, or building complies with the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance, or authorized variance therefrom.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Zoo: A facility, indoor or outdoor, where animals are kept for viewing by the public.

Effective on: 1/1/1901