Prince William County, VA zoning › where can I put this

Where can I put a retail store in Prince William County, VA?

Prince William County, VA, excluding the incorporated towns, which run their own zoning.

“retail store” is Zonescore's word, not the ordinance's. This ordinance never uses it. The term it uses is Retail store, and that is the term cited and quoted below. We matched them because the ordinance defines Retail store as:

Retail store shall mean any establishment where the primary activity is the sale of merchandise in small quantities, in broken lots or parcels, not in bulk, or for the rendering of personal services, for use or consumption by the immediate purchaser.

Sec. 32-100 -- Retail store

“retail store” is Zonescore's word, not the ordinance's. This ordinance never uses it. The term it uses is Retail store, greater than 80,000 square feet, and that is the term cited and quoted below. We matched them because the ordinance defines Retail store, greater than 80,000 square feet as:

Retail store shall mean any establishment where the primary activity is the sale of merchandise in small quantities, in broken lots or parcels, not in bulk, or for the rendering of personal services, for use or consumption by the immediate purchaser.

Sec. 32-100 -- Retail store

“retail store” is Zonescore's word, not the ordinance's. This ordinance never uses it. The term it uses is Retail store, less than 80,000 square feet, and that is the term cited and quoted below. We matched them because the ordinance defines Retail store, less than 80,000 square feet as:

Retail store shall mean any establishment where the primary activity is the sale of merchandise in small quantities, in broken lots or parcels, not in bulk, or for the rendering of personal services, for use or consumption by the immediate purchaser.

Sec. 32-100 -- Retail store

“retail store” is Zonescore's word, not the ordinance's. This ordinance never uses it. The term it uses is Retail use exceeding 80,000 square feet of gross floor area, and that is the term cited and quoted below. We matched them because the ordinance defines Retail use exceeding 80,000 square feet of gross floor area as:

Retail store shall mean any establishment where the primary activity is the sale of merchandise in small quantities, in broken lots or parcels, not in bulk, or for the rendering of personal services, for use or consumption by the immediate purchaser.

Sec. 32-100 -- Retail store

“retail store” matches 6 uses this ordinance names separately. We do not choose between them — they can have different answers, so every one is shown.

Photographic processing laboratory, ancillary to retail store
Quick service food store (not freestanding, unless approved as part of a motor vehicle fuel station, retail)
Retail store
Retail store, greater than 80,000 square feet
Retail store, less than 80,000 square feet
Retail use exceeding 80,000 square feet of gross floor area

Photographic processing laboratory, ancillary to retail store

Allowed by right in 2 districts

District	Properties loaded	Code	What says so
MXD-U when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	4 20109 (4)	Allowed	Sec. 32-307.32 item 3 Photographic processing laboratory, ancillary to retail store.
V when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	167 20155 (149), 22172 (18)	Allowed	Sec. 32-351.04 item 3 Photographic processing laboratory, ancillary to retail store.

Quick service food store (not freestanding, unless approved as part of a motor vehicle fuel station, retail)

Allowed by right in 1 district

District	Properties loaded	Code	What says so
M-2 when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	411 no ZIP in the county's record (17), 20109 (233), 20110 (20), 20111 (1), 20112 (11), 20136 (23), 20155 (3), 20169 (5), 20181 (2), 22025 (2), 22026 (6), 22191 (34), 22192 (54)	Allowed	Sec. 32-403.22 item 11 Quick service food store (not freestanding, unless approved as part of a motor vehicle fuel station, retail).

Retail store

Allowed by right in 8 districts

District	Properties loaded	Code	What says so
B-3 the ordinance paragraph quoted here	2 20109 (2)	Allowed	Sec. 32-401.31 item 22 Retail store.
M-1 when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	856 no ZIP in the county's record (38), 20109 (496), 20110 (33), 20111 (4), 20112 (2), 20119 (3), 20136 (31), 20155 (107), 20169 (1), 20181 (2), 22026 (6), 22172 (1), 22191 (119), 22192 (13)	Allowed	Sec. 32-403.12 item 7 Retail store.
M-2 when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	411 no ZIP in the county's record (17), 20109 (233), 20110 (20), 20111 (1), 20112 (11), 20136 (23), 20155 (3), 20169 (5), 20181 (2), 22025 (2), 22026 (6), 22191 (34), 22192 (54)	Allowed	Sec. 32-403.22 item 15 Retail store.
M/T when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	85 no ZIP in the county's record (5), 20109 (53), 20112 (10), 20136 (14), 20155 (3)	Allowed	Sec. 32-403.32 item 7 Retail store.
O(F) when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	4 20109 (1), 22192 (3)	Allowed	Sec. 32-402.42 item 23 Retail store.
O(H) when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	62 no ZIP in the county's record (2), 20109 (3), 20110 (1), 22191 (55), 22192 (1)	Allowed	Sec. 32-402.22 item 19 Retail store.
O(L) when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	297 20109 (2), 20110 (46), 20111 (1), 20112 (2), 20136 (1), 20155 (1), 22191 (137), 22192 (90), 22193 (17)	Allowed	Sec. 32-402.12 item 17 Retail store.
O(M) when the use is conducted in conjunction with, and secondary to, a permitted principal use	25 20109 (1), 20112 (1), 20155 (6), 20169 (5), 22191 (2), 22192 (10)	Allowed	Sec. 32-402.32 item 18 Retail store.

It depends in 2 districts

District	Properties loaded	Code	What says so
B-2 Varies Depends: by right if the use's gross floor area is at most 12,000 sq ft, otherwise special use permit when the use's gross floor area is at most 12,000 sq ft	28 20112 (9), 20136 (10), 22191 (1), 22192 (3), 22193 (5)	Allowed	Sec. 32-401.21 item 41 Retail store.
B-2 (same district) when the use's gross floor area is more than 12,000 sq ft	28 20112 (9), 20136 (10), 22191 (1), 22192 (3), 22193 (5)	Conditional	Sec. 32-401.23 item 1 Any permitted use greater than 12,000 square feet of floor area. The requirement for a Special Use Permit shall not apply to grocery stores.
V Varies Depends: by right if the use meets the development standards in Sec. 32-351.08, otherwise special use permit when the use meets the development standards in Sec. 32-351.08	167 20155 (149), 22172 (18)	Allowed	Sec. 32-351.03 item 36 Retail store.
V (same district) when the use does not meet the development standards in Sec. 32-351.08	167 20155 (149), 22172 (18)	Conditional	Sec. 32-351.08 Nonresidential and mixed-use buildings shall comply with the following standards, except upon approval of a Special Use Permit that assesses the proposal's impact on the village context and imposes conditions to make the development consistent with the village context:

Retail store, greater than 80,000 square feet

Allowed only with a discretionary approval in 1 district

These require a hearing or an approval from the county. They are not a “no”, and they are not a “yes” either.

District	Properties loaded	Code	What says so
MXD-U the ordinance paragraph quoted here	4 20109 (4)	Conditional	Sec. 32-307.33 item 16 Retail store, greater than 80,000 square feet.

Retail store, less than 80,000 square feet

Allowed by right in 2 districts

District	Properties loaded	Code	What says so
B-1 the ordinance paragraph quoted here	2,146 no ZIP in the county's record (65), 20109 (498), 20110 (29), 20111 (203), 20112 (68), 20136 (9), 20155 (180), 20169 (10), 20181 (55), 22025 (37), 22026 (35), 22172 (160), 22191 (415), 22192 (368), 22193 (14)	Allowed	Sec. 32-401.11 item 53 Retail store, less than 80,000 square feet.
MXD-U the ordinance paragraph quoted here	4 20109 (4)	Allowed	Sec. 32-307.31 item 71 Retail store, less than 80,000 square feet.

Retail use exceeding 80,000 square feet of gross floor area

Allowed only with a discretionary approval in 1 district

These require a hearing or an approval from the county. They are not a “no”, and they are not a “yes” either.

District	Properties loaded	Code	What says so
B-1 the ordinance paragraph quoted here	2,146 no ZIP in the county's record (65), 20109 (498), 20110 (29), 20111 (203), 20112 (68), 20136 (9), 20155 (180), 20169 (10), 20181 (55), 22025 (37), 22026 (35), 22172 (160), 22191 (415), 22192 (368), 22193 (14)	Conditional	Sec. 32-401.13 item 37 Retail use exceeding 80,000 square feet of gross floor area.

This part is the paid tier: the property list behind these counts. Everything above it on this page is free and carries the ordinance section and quote it came from.

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This answer is good through September 9, 2025 — that is the date the ordinance we hold runs to, as published by Municode (Prince William County Code). We last checked with the county on September 24, 2026 and found nothing newer. That is a check on that date, not a promise about today.

Ask another one in Prince William County, VA

What this does not cover

157,019 properties are loaded, in 21 ZIP codes (20109, 20110, 20111, 20112, 20119, 20136, 20137, 20143, 20155, 20169, 20181, 20187, 20198, 22025, 22026, 22125, 22134, 22172, 22191, 22192, 22193). Properties outside those ZIPs are not counted here at all. A further 553 carry no street address in the county’s own parcel record, so they fall in no ZIP above — they are still loaded and still counted in the 157,019.
A further 76,146 properties carry a parcel zone code this page cannot match to a single column of the use table: (none), A (73 variants, e.g. A-1;A-1C), B (35 variants, e.g. B-1;CTY;M-2), CTY;M (3 variants, e.g. CTY;M-1), CTY;PBD, CTY;PMR, CTY;R (5 variants, e.g. CTY;R-4), FED, FED;PMD;PMR, FED;TWN, M (19 variants, e.g. M-1;M-2), M/T;O(F), M/T;PBD, O(L);R and 22 more.
1,503 of those lie in TWO OR MORE districts at once. Their code below holds every district the parcel really shares area with, joined by a semicolon — A-1;A-1C, A-1;B-1, A-1;B-1;CTY;M-1;M-2;M/T;PBD;R-4, A-1;B-1;M-1, A-1;B-1;M-2 and 188 more. The ordinance does not say the larger share wins, so we do not pick one: the parcel is shown as straddling and is not counted under either district.
48,352 of those carry a code that looks like one of the districts above and is not one. A-1C, R-2C, R-4C, RPC, SR-1C — these are separate zone classifications in their own right, not the same zone with something added, and the use table has no column for them. We do not fold them in.
(none) above means a parcel with no zone code assigned in the county's own data — 4 of them.
Owner filters. We have an owner of record for 153,901 of Prince William County’s 157,019 parcels, of which 18,081 are owned by a company, trust or other organization, including 1,513 owned by public bodies — governments, authorities, schools, churches. That split is Zonescore’s reading of the owner’s name, not something the county published, and we keep the two apart rather than deciding for you which counts as an investor. 5,099 have an owner whose mailing address is outside VA — the county publishes the owner’s state as its own field, so this is its answer rather than our reading of an address. It carries one for 153,880 of them; the rest are not counted either way. 29,429 are owned by somebody this county writes to at a different address — not the property itself. That is where the tax bill goes, which is not the same as where the owner sleeps — an owner can collect mail at a property they rent out, and one who is written to elsewhere may still live here. We can tell you the two addresses differ; we cannot tell you the owner does not live at the property. 24,825 of them are written to an address inside VA, so the out-of-state filter above cannot see them at all. That count is out of the 147,525 properties where we could compare the two addresses. On 6,376 more we could not — the owner is written to a post-office box, or the county’s own record of the property names a street and no building number — and those are left out rather than counted as living at home. Matching two addresses is Zonescore’s reading, not something the county published: we treat “123 Main St” and “123 Main Street” as one place, ignore an apartment number, and compare the ZIP code rather than the town name — a jurisdiction’s record of a property and its record of that property’s owner often name the same place by different towns, and treating those as two addresses would count somebody living in their own house as an absentee. Owned for (based on the last recorded transfer): under 2 years 20,000+; 2-5 years 26,000+; 5-10 years 40,000+; 10-20 years 35,000+; 20-30 years 15,000+. 30+ years: Not offered here. The conveyance records we hold for Prince William begin in about 1995, so they cannot show a 30-year hold. The county sales file we have asked for would close this. 17,000+ properties have no transfer date we can read and are in no bucket.
Owner data from Prince William County's real estate records, retrieved October 2, 2026.
554 of the properties above are listed as “no ZIP in the county’s record” in the ZIP breakdowns. 553 carry no street address at all in the county’s data and 1 carry a street but no city or ZIP — so we cannot place them in a ZIP, and we do not guess one. They are still counted in the district totals.
Overlay districts are not modeled here. An overlay can change what a property allows.
Some cells in this ordinance state two outcomes without saying what separates them; those are shown with their code and their source, and not guessed at.

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