Our Community in Fairfax County, Virginia
The County Zoning Ordinance regulates home occupations in Fairfax County. People who want to establish a home occupation must file for and receive approval of the Zoning Administrator and must abide by the Zoning Ordinance.
Examples of home occupations permitted in the County are artists and sculptors; authors and composers; dressmakers and tailors; home crafts such as model making, rug weaving, stone cutting, and ceramics; schools of special education with classes of no more than four pupils at any given time and not more than eight pupils in any one day; and renting of not more than two rooms for boarding for no more than two persons, neither of whom is a transient.
Home occupations that are not permitted in the County include antique shops; barbershops or beauty parlors; eating establishments; gift shops; repair service or personal service establishments; riding or boarding stables or kennels; and veterinary clinics or hospitals.
Some of the restrictions imposed by a home occupation permit are: no exterior evidence that the home is used in any way other than as a dwelling; no mechanical or electrical equipment other than that usually found in the home or customary for a small office; no display or outside storage of equipment or materials used in the home occupation; no signs; and no clients, customers or visitors relating to the home occupation on the premises, except in schools of special education. The home occupation permit applicant and other persons who use the dwelling as their primary residence may be involved in the home occupation, as well as one non-resident person, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Applications for home occupations may be obtained by calling the Zoning Permit Review Branch of the Zoning Administration Division of the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning at 703-222-1082, or visiting their office located at 12055 Government Center Parkway, Suite 250, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4.p.m., Monday through Friday.