R-20Residential (R-20), 20 DU/acre

Fairfax County, VA · Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance

R-20 permits higher-density multifamily residential. Max 20 DU/acre. Attached: height 35ft, front 5ft, side 10ft, rear 20ft. MF/other: up to 65ft. Common near commercial corridors and transit.

Development standards in R-20

Max density	20 units/acre
Front setback	5 ft
Side setback	10 ft
Rear setback	20 ft

Read from Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance, effective through 2026-07-01.

Permitted uses in R-20

AllowedMultifamily Residential
AllowedTownhouses
ConditionalHome Occupation
ConditionalSTR - Short-Term Rentals
STRs permitted with Home Occupation permit. Entire-home limited to 180 nights/year.
Not AllowedCommercial / Retail

"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?

Zone rules are the starting point — the answer for a specific property also depends on lot size, overlays, existing improvements and site conditions. Run a free address lookup to see what applies to one property.

Look up an address

Sources

Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance — read the ordinance
Fairfax County — official zoning map / authority
Standards as recorded by ZoneScore: Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance (enCodePlus, current)

Values are read from the Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance.

Other Fairfax County zones

C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 C-8 I-2 I-3 I-4 I-5 I-6 I-I PCC PDC PDH PDH-1 PDH-12 PDH-16 PDH-2 PDH-20 PDH-3 PDH-30 PDH-4 PDH-40 PDH-5 PDH-8 PRC PRM PTC R-1 R-12 R-16 R-2 R-3 R-30 R-4 R-5 R-8 R-A R-C R-E R-MHP