Arlington County, VA · Arlington County Zoning Ordinance (ACZO)
C-O-A is a mixed-use commercial office district (ACZO §7.14). Permitted heights are 35-45 ft. Density is set by a site-area schedule: total FAR 1.5 at 5,000 sq ft rising to 4.0 at 40,000 sq ft, with a lower multiple-family component (0.75 to 2.0 across the same range).
Development standards in C-O-A
Maximum height
45 ft
FAR is set by a site-area schedule rather than a single cap (ACZO §7.14.3): 5,000 sq ft -> 1.5 total / 0.75 multiple-family; 10,000 -> 2.0 / 1.0; 20,000 -> 3.0 / 1.5; 40,000 -> 4.0 / 2.0. Intermediate site areas interpolate per the ordinance.
Read from Arlington County Zoning Ordinance (ACZO), effective through 2026-06-13.
Permitted uses in C-O-A
AllowedOffice
AllowedRetail (Ground Floor)
ConditionalMulti-Family Residential Site plan approval required (ACZO §7.14)
AllowedSTR - Short-Term Rentals By-right (P) in the ACZO accessory use tables, subject to an accessory homestay permit issued by the zoning administrator (ACZO §12.9.12). Host must be the primary resident and present during the guest stay. Entire-home rentals (host absent) are not permitted.
"Conditional" means the use generally requires a public hearing or special-exception approval — a very different timeline and risk profile from a by-right permit.
This is the zone. What about the parcel?
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Standards as recorded by ZoneScore: Arlington County Zoning Ordinance (ACZO), Effective June 13, 2026
Values are read from the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance (ACZO). Where a district allows more density through site plan approval than by right, both are shown -- they are very different entitlement paths.