Zoning change proposed for flagpoles

Fairfax
County zoning staff are proposing new rules regulating flags and flagpoles. 

The
Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the rules Feb. 10. After that, the flag regulations will be added to zMOD, the modernization and
streamlining of the zoning ordinance. The Planning Commission will vote on zMOD Feb. 10, and the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to
have a hearing on zMOD on March 9. 

Under
the current zoning ordinance, up to three flags are allowed per lot. Flagpoles
are allowed in a front yard, side yard, or rear yard. They are considered
freestanding accessory structures and are exempt from the height requirements
for such structures. 

The
proposed change would add a new subsection on flags and flagpoles to the standards for
accessory uses and structures, with these regulations:

• The
  height of a flagpole would be limited to 25 feet for a lot with a single-family
  dwelling and 60 feet in other locations.
• Freestanding
  flagpoles would have to be set back five feet from the front lot line or street line and
  must comply with the accessory structure regulations if located in a side or
  rear yard.
• Up
  to two flags would be allowed on a lot with a single-family dwelling and up to
  three flags would be allowed for other uses.
• Flags
  could be up to 24 square feet on a lot with a single-family dwelling and 96
  square feet for other uses.
• Small
  “garden flags,” which are typically less than two square feet, would be exempt
  from the two-flag limit on a single-family lot.

The
draft also proposes changes to the definition of a flag, adding the phrase “regardless
of content” and deleting the phrase “attached at the top of a pole and
draped.” 

Related story: Residents speak out against zoning changes that would destabilize neighborhoods

Under
the new definition, a flag is “a single piece of cloth or similar material
shaped like a pennant, rectangle, or square, regardless of content, attachable
by one straight edge to a pole. For
purposes of this ordinance, a minor sign is not a flag.” 

Based on research on typical flag sizes and flagpole heights,
the planning staff offers suggested variations, including a height of 20 to 80 feet, 15
to 40 square feet for a flag on a single-family lot, and 96 to 216 square feet
for a flag on a nonresidential lot.