Prince William County, VA · Prince William County Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 32)
A-1, Agricultural, Zoning District. The A-1, Agricultural Zoning District is intended to implement the agricultural or estate classification of the Comprehensive Plan. The district is designed to encourage conservation and proper use of large tracts of real property in order to assure available sources of agricultural products, to assure open spaces within reach of concentrations of population, to conserve natural resources, prevent erosion, and protect the environment; and to assure adequate water supplies. The intent is to encourage private land owners to protect these values and thereby create an environment favorable for the continuation farming and other agricultural pursuits; to preserve prime agricultural land, forest land and/or open space; and to reduce the demand for costly public facilities and services that are inconsistent with the character of the rural areas within Prince William County. Description abridged from Sec. 32-301.01 of the Prince William County Zoning Ordinance -- sentences carrying figures are omitted here so this text can never contradict the standards table, which carries a citation on each value. Read that section for the district's own words in full.
Development standards in A-1
Maximum height
35 ft
32-300.05
Minimum lot size
435600 sq ft
32-301.05
Minimum lot width
100 ft
32-301.05
Front setback
not recorded
not in our sources — check the ordinance
Side setback
not recorded
not in our sources — check the ordinance
Rear setback
not recorded
not in our sources — check the ordinance
Read from Prince William County Code Chapter 32 (Zoning), effective through 2025-09-09.
How complete is this market? Across 147,740 parcels we answer 97.3% of the 6 questions this site is built to answer, each with a source you can check. The rest are shown as “not recorded” rather than filled in — we would rather be short than wrong. A further 3,451 properties inside the county line are zoned by an incorporated town with its own ordinance, not by the county, so this county ordinance does not govern them and they are not counted above or below — which is why we publish this market as Prince William County (excl. incorporated towns). Look one of those up and we will tell you which town governs it.
AllowedSingle-Family Residential One dwelling per parcel. (Sec. 32-301.02)
ConditionalSTR - Short-Term Rentals Prince William's Zoning Ordinance has no 'short-term rental' use -- the phrase does not appear in Chapter 32. What it has is a bed and breakfast inn, defined in Part 100 and expressly available 'for transient occupancy', with standards at Sec. 32-300.15; and 'short-term lodging', which Part 100 defines narrowly as time-share units. (A lodging house is NOT a route to it -- Part 100 excludes 'accommodations used for transient occupancy' from that term.) This district's own use list carries one of those uses, so transient lodging is available here subject to that section's terms -- check whether it is by right, secondary or by Special Use Permit for your parcel. (Sec. 32-301.02)
ConditionalCommercial Wider than farm-related sales: Sec. 32-301.04 permits a commercial kennel, garden centre, farmer's or flea market, landscaping service, veterinary hospital, mortuary, travel trailer park, country club and commercial recreation, each by Special Use Permit. Any commercial use also requires a site plan (Sec. 32-301.07). Served as 'Farm-related sales only' before S171.
ConditionalIndustrial Not a blanket prohibition: A-1 permits a temporary sawmill by right (Sec. 32-301.02) and the extraction of mineral resources by Special Use Permit (Sec. 32-301.04). General industrial use is not listed. Served as Not Allowed before S171.
"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.