B-1Convenience Business (B-1)

Prince William County, VA · Prince William County Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 32)

B-1, General Business District. The B-1 District is intended to implement the regional commercial center and general commercial land use classifications of the Comprehensive Plan. It is generally intended to provide areas for community-scale retail, office, and institutional uses in appropriate areas. The purpose of this district is to also promote retail employment opportunities and to enhance the tax base of Prince William County. The B-1 District is not designed to implement the non-retail employment based land uses reflected in the Comprehensive Plan; non-retail uses, however, are permitted within the district to complement and support the retail purposes. Description abridged from Sec. 32-401.10 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 B-1

Front setback	At least 20 ft	32-401.15
Front setback	Not computed here: the ordinance makes it depend on facts about the site	32-401.14
Side setback	At least 20 ft from a side lot line along a street (a corner lot's side street), and at least 25 ft from a side lot line that abuts an agricultural or residential district; otherwise none required. “Except where other provisions of this chapter operate to impose a greater setback, a minimum setback of 25 feet from the common property line for all structures and uses shall be required when the side or rear of a lot within a B-1 District abuts an agricultural or residential district.” “All buildings and structures shall be set back at least 20 feet from any street right-of-way, except when specifically otherwise provided for. In the event the provisions of subsection 32-400.03(5) operate to impose a greater setback than this section, they shall prevail.” “No rear or side yards shall be required (except as provided herein), provided each lot shall have at least 20-foot wide unobstructed vehicular access to a rear service area capable of handling emergency and refuse removal equipment if the rear of the lot is not otherwise accessible via a street, driveway, or parking area, unless otherwise approved by the Zoning Administrator after consultation with the Fire Marshal.”	32-401.15(2)
Side setbacks combined	The ordinance sets no figure for this case	32-401.14
Rear setback	None required, except at least 25 ft from a rear lot line that abuts an agricultural or residential district. “Except where other provisions of this chapter operate to impose a greater setback, a minimum setback of 25 feet from the common property line for all structures and uses shall be required when the side or rear of a lot within a B-1 District abuts an agricultural or residential district.” “No rear or side yards shall be required (except as provided herein), provided each lot shall have at least 20-foot wide unobstructed vehicular access to a rear service area capable of handling emergency and refuse removal equipment if the rear of the lot is not otherwise accessible via a street, driveway, or parking area, unless otherwise approved by the Zoning Administrator after consultation with the Fire Marshal.”	32-401.15(2)
Maximum height	At most 45 ft	32-401.14
Maximum height	Not computed here: the ordinance makes it depend on facts about the site	32-401.14
Maximum FAR	At most 0.4	32-401.14
Maximum FAR	Not computed here: the ordinance makes it depend on facts about the site	32-401.14
Max density	The ordinance sets no figure for this case	32-401.14
Minimum lot size	No requirement	32-401.14
Minimum lot width	No requirement	32-401.14
Maximum lot coverage	At most 85%	32-401.14
Minimum open space	At least 15%	32-401.14

Each row above is the ordinance’s own rule, written out in words and cited to its section. Where a figure depends on what you build (the kind of building, a conventional or cluster subdivision, an interior or corner lot, or the building’s height), each case is its own line; where it depends on the building height, the cited table says how that height is measured.

Read from Prince William County Code Chapter 32 (Zoning), effective through 2025-09-09. We last checked with the publisher on 2026-09-24 and found nothing newer -- a check on that date, not a promise about today.

How complete is this market? Across 147,740 parcels we answer 90.0% 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.

Permitted uses in B-1

AllowedRetail
B-1 is the GENERAL business district (Sec. 32-401.10), implementing the regional commercial centre classification: a retail store under 80,000 sq ft is by right (Sec. 32-401.11) and over 80,000 by Special Use Permit (Sec. 32-401.13). Served with the note 'Small-scale convenience' before S171 -- B-2's description on B-1.
AllowedRestaurant
(Sec. 32-401.11)
AllowedOffice
(Sec. 32-401.11)
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. 32-401.11)
Not AllowedIndustrial
Not listed among this district's permitted, secondary or special uses. A use not specified in a zoning district is prohibited there (Sec. 32-200.03).

"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

Prince William County Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 32) — read the ordinance
Prince William County — official zoning map / authority
Standards as recorded by Zonescore: Prince William County Code Chapter 32 (Zoning Ordinance)

Other Prince William County zones

A-1 A-2 B-2 B-3 M-1 M-2 M/T O(L) PBD PMD PMR R-1 R-16 R-2 R-4 R-6 R-8 R-MH RPC SR-1 SR-5 TWN