Oct. 29, 2026
Fairfax County Planning Commission
12000 Government Center Pkwy
Fairfax, VA 22035

Good evening, Fairfax County Planning Commissioners. My name is Becca Dedert, and I serve as the Virginia Housing Advocacy Specialist with the Coalition for Smarter Growth. CSG advocates for walkable, transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable way for our region to grow. I am speaking today in support of the ALU zoning ordinance amendment, with two key recommendations. 

I want to begin by thanking all of you for your thoughtful consideration of this update, as well as staff members Casey Judge and Carmen Bishop for their extensive research and community outreach.

Fairfax County’s Housing Needs and the Benefits of ALUs

First, I would like to ground ourselves in the county’s 2026 Housing Needs Assessment. According to the report, Fairfax will need at least 40,000 and up to 95,000 new homes by 2035 to keep pace with growth and address our severe housing shortage.

However, Fairfax County’s existing ALU regulations are so restrictive that in the five years since these rules took effect, only 158 have been built countywide, and over half of all applications have been denied. 

It will take every tool in the policy toolbox to meet our housing needs. This update is an opportunity for ALUs to be a real part of the solution

ALUs are an incredibly beneficial housing option. They offer flexibility for different stages of life, encouraging intergenerational living and helping meet specialized housing needs.  Because of their smaller footprint, ALUs are one of the most low-cost forms of housing. Letting homeowners safely and easily build ALUs on their property is one of the most organic and cost effective ways we can address our housing needs. 

Our Recommendations

We strongly endorse staff’s Option 1 recommendations to eliminate ongoing owner-occupancy mandates, remove extra parking space requirements and recurring permit renewals, increase the allowable sizes of ALUs, and streamline approvals into standard building permits. These are regulations that align with best practices, and we commend staff for including them in this update. 

However, to turn ALUs into a real, functional housing strategy, we must address two major remaining barriers. First, our most significant concerns center around minimum lot size restrictions for detached ALUs. 

The staff report proposes reducing the by-right minimum lot size for detached ALUs to 36,000 square feet. While an improvement from the previous 2 acre requirement, 36,000 square feet is still nearly a full acre, almost an entire football field. This restriction excludes over 86% of detached, single-family lots, locking out almost every homeowner in our most walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods.

Minimum Lot Sizes for Detached ALUs

Minimum lot sizes for ALUs are a regional anomaly. None of our neighboring jurisdictions have this requirement, which poses a significant deterrent to homeowners. Public hearings introduce high application costs, months of delay, and severe uncertainty that discourages moderate-income homeowners and builders from even attempting to build detached units. 

Additionally, minimum lot sizes were not a priority expressed by the public in the county’s community engagement survey. Over half of all respondents supported allowing detached ALUs without a public hearing, and for all of the lot size scenarios presented, more respondents supported administrative approvals than special hearings. This restriction does not reflect a clear community mandate. 

It is also important to recognize that standard-compliant detached ALUs remain strictly governed by standard zoning bulk rules, including:

• Standard side, front, and rear setbacks,
• Subordinancy to the primary home,
• Maximum yard coverage limits, and 
• County tree canopy and stormwater ordinances.

Other freestanding accessory structures, such as garages or workshops, are permitted by right with the same setback and height requirements. The only difference is that ALUs provide housing. 

This restriction incentivizes teardowns and additions over gentle infill development. Under our existing code, a homeowner or developer can demolish a modest home and build several thousand additional square feet completely by-right. These expansions consume massive yard footprints, eliminate tree canopy, and loom over adjacent yards. Yet, if that same homeowner wants to build a modest, subordinate 600-square-foot cottage, we force them through a public hearing. Removing lot size limits encourages homeowners to preserve their existing homes while adding smaller, low-impact units.

We strongly encourage the Planning Commission to meet standard practices for accessory home regulations and eliminate minimum lot size requirements entirely for detached ALUs.

Internal ALUs for Townhomes

Second, we urge the Planning Commission to allow internal ALUs for attached single-family homes, to maximize housing flexibility across all residential build types and encourage transit-oriented development. Allowing interior townhome ALUs by-right matches the policies of our neighboring jurisdictions as well as the state’s legislative standards, and will allow for additional density in the townhome communities adjacent to our Metro Stations. These homeowners should be permitted to maximize their underutilized attic or basement spaces to provide safe, self-contained, and lower-cost housing. 

Conclusion

We encourage the Planning Commission to adopt staff’s core recommendations on parking, owner-occupancy, occupancy limits, size increases, and recurring permit renewals, but to take the final necessary steps to remove all minimum lot size requirements for detached ALUs and to allow internal ALUs in attached single-family homes by right. Lifting these restrictions will allow us to have a functional ALU policy that enables gentle infill and transit-oriented development, while addressing our housing goals. Let’s give Fairfax County families the housing options they need.

Thank you.