Monday, Apr 24, 2023

Arlington Begins Updating 4.1 Site Plan Regulations

Arlington County’s Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development (CPHD) is undertaking a major effort to modernize the County’s Administrative Regulation 4.1 Site Plan document—the first such revision in four years.

The initiative is intended to reformat the document for usability and readability, and reflect recent changes in County policy (e.g., the 2020 Green Building Incentive Policy) and new submission and review procedures (e.g., Permit Arlington, E-Plan Review, and the new Site Plan Review Committee process).

Graphics will be incorporated to better explain the review process, and many of the standalone submission documents, forms, and letters will be consolidated.

An emphasis will also be placed upon providing clearer lists of minimum submission requirements, including revisions to the TIA/MMTA scoping matrix. For those site plan projects seeking to utilize the Green Building Incentive Policy, new requirements for preliminary sustainability information will be inserted.

Given the growing emphasis on biophilic design, the revised document will require applications to prepare a narrative describing each project’s biophilic, open space, and landscape design elements. The narrative, while deemed preliminary, is intended to provide a baseline for SPRC and discussion and staff review.

Staff is currently working on the first draft and, following review by the County Attorney’s Office, it will be forwarded to the County Manager for review and approval (anticipated this summer).  Walsh Colucci will closely monitor this revision effort and will provide updates and draft documents as they become available.