Fairfax County Releases Phase 2 Plan Forward Draft: What Developers Need To Know

Fairfax County, Virginia's, multiyear effort to modernize its Comprehensive Plan has reached a significant milestone. On October 23, 2026, the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) released draft Plan text for the Housing element, Economic Development and Revitalization element, and Chesapeake Bay Supplement – the three centerpiece components of Phase 2 of the county's Plan Forward initiative. These proposed amendments show where the county is headed on density, affordable housing commitments, commercial reinvestment and environmental review. That direction will shape how entitlement applications are judged for years to come.

Holland & Knight Has Been Tracking Plan Forward from the Start

The Policy Plan matters because it is the countywide policy volume of the Comprehensive Plan. It was first adopted in 1990 and has never been comprehensively updated. The Board of Supervisors authorized the rewrite on December 6, 2022, with three goals in mind: 1) streamline the existing elements, 2) add new elements where needed, and 3) align the Plan with the countywide Strategic Plan and One Fairfax Policy. The county mostly applies the Policy Plan through development review, where zoning standards call for conformance with the Comprehensive Plan.

The board adopted Phase 1 on December 9, 2025. That phase rewrote the Land Use, Transportation, Environment, and Parks and Recreation elements and added a new Healthy Communities element. One of its biggest themes was a deliberate move away from language about "protection of neighborhoods." However, the new text favors the "thoughtful integration of land uses" to create more housing opportunities, and Phase 2 builds on that framework.

Holland & Knight has followed Plan Forward closely since it launched. In "Fairfax County Prepares to Realign Development Policies with New 'Plan Forward' Initiative" (May 2024), we described the county's plan to update the Policy Plan in two phases. We also noted that the amendments would become evaluation factors for future entitlements. In "Fairfax County, VA, Releases Draft Text of Policy Plan Updates" (May 2025), we reviewed the Phase 1 draft text, which introduced the Suburban Village Center concept, gave mixed-use centers more flexibility, added data center guidance and raised green building expectations.

Housing Element

From a Numeric Target to a Supply-First Framework

The draft Housing element has been reorganized and streamlined. It puts new weight on how housing supply, affordability, economic vitality and household stability connect. The most notable structural change is that the objectives now distinguish two goals: increasing overall housing supply and expanding committed affordable housing. The draft also drops the current numeric production target in favor of a qualitative objective. The adopted element now calls for adding affordable units each year equal to at least 12 percent of the prior year's total housing production.

The new Objective 1 is direct about supply. It encourages residential development that maximizes planned densities. It supports higher density in mixed-use centers and compatible infill within existing residential areas and Suburban Village Centers. The introduction states that higher densities can support affordability because new home prices and apartment rents are directly related to allowable density. Bonus density in exchange for affordable housing is retained, with a strong preference for actual units over cash contributions.

Workforce Dwelling Units, Trust Fund Contributions and Preservation

The core Workforce Dwelling Unit (WDU) framework is largely unchanged. Rental projects should still provide at least 8 percent of units as Affordable Dwelling Units (ADUs) or WDUs and at least 12 percent as for-sale projects. The bonus density structure also carries forward: 12 percent, rising on a sliding scale to a maximum of 20 percent. However, two changes deserve attention.

First, the draft adds Suburban Village Centers to the list of places where WDUs are expected. The second is that the 0.5 percent Housing Trust Fund contribution moves into the Housing element, and its timing changes. The draft says the contribution should be paid before the first residential use permit is issued. Under the Land Use criteria adopted by Phase 1, payment was due before the first building permit. The draft also clarifies that in mixed-use projects, the WDU bonus is calculated only on the residential portion of the site.

The draft strengthens preservation policy. It keeps the goal of no net loss of market affordable and committed affordable units in redevelopment. The revised preservation guidelines state that removing committed affordable units should result in one-for-one replacement, with attention to keeping the same affordability level and unit type. They also add rules for how existing and new units count toward that goal in infill projects. A new Objective 7 targets manufactured housing communities. Where redevelopment is proposed, it calls for an affordability analysis, a goal of one-for-one replacement and significant relocation support. The draft also encourages by-right development to follow the same policy.

Economic Development and Revitalization Element

2 Elements Become 1

DPD and the Department of Economic Initiatives propose merging the existing Economic Development and Revitalization elements into one framework. The combined element would apply to mixed-use centers generally, including those not currently designated as Commercial Revitalization Districts or Areas (CRDs/CRAs). The draft also removes outdated stormwater and environmental policies from the Revitalization element. Instead, it focuses on policies tied directly to land use and the built environment. The existing Economic Development element has been in place since 2014. Its information technology and telecommunications objective reflects an earlier era of planning.

The draft names mixed-use centers as the county's primary locations for future economic growth and employment. It lists eight CRDs and CRAs, including the Lincolnia CRA. The current Revitalization element lists only five districts and two areas. The draft also states the county may designate additional areas for targeted initiatives as needs emerge.

Flexibility, Adaptive Reuse and Streamlined Review

Several objectives matter directly for commercial owners. Objective 2 calls for land use and zoning flexibility for high-demand and emerging sectors and an adequate supply of commercial and industrial land. It also encourages redeveloping and adaptively reusing obsolete office and commercial properties and would allow small-scale research and development (R&D) facilities, including those classified as industrial uses, within mixed-use centers where appropriate. Objective 4 keeps expedited processing and concurrent review of plan amendments and zoning applications within CRDs and CRAs and calls for new efficiency opportunities. Objective 5 supports financial and nonfinancial incentives for private investment.

The draft also takes up equitable development and workforce housing. Objective 7 supports retaining small and minority-owned businesses as commercial areas redevelop. It also asks the county to consider how zoning affects the stability of existing businesses. Objective 8 encourages employers to take part in workforce housing solutions.

The draft works alongside recent county incentive programs. Staff stated an intent to fold in the Revitalization and Redevelopment Economic Incentive Program (RREIP) adopted by the board on May 5, 2026. The county has since launched its BUILD program in nine areas. BUILD offers up to a 10-year property tax abatement on increased value and a 10 percent discount on site plan fees. These Phase 2 policies also sit on top of Phase 1's office repurposing criteria, which allow up to a 10 percent increase in gross floor area and up to 30 feet of added height to accommodate a conversion.

Chesapeake Bay Supplement

A First Update Since 2004

The Chesapeake Bay Supplement is being updated for the first time since its adoption in 2004. Its stated purpose is to make sure the Comprehensive Plan meets the requirements of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA). It also provides an updated baseline of environmental and development conditions affecting the bay. As required by the CBPA and its regulations, the draft covers preservation areas, environmental constraints, erosion, land use, pollution sources, waterfront access and protection of the potable water supply.

Developers should understand that the draft is mostly an informational and alignment document, not a new regulatory regime. The Resource Protection Area (RPA) framework under Chapter 118 of the County Code is restated. RPAs include tidal wetlands, tidal shores, perennial water bodies, connected nontidal wetlands, a 100-foot buffer and land within a major floodplain. All land outside RPAs remains a Resource Management Area, and the county still has not designated any Intensely Developed Areas. The draft also reflects the October 8, 2024, ordinance amendments, which added provisions for preserving mature trees and for coastal resilience and adaptation to sea level rise.

New Data Points That Will Inform Review

Several parts of the draft are likely to come up in site-level review. The draft lists highly erodible and problem soils, steep slopes of 15 percent or greater, floodplains and wetlands as constraints. Some of these are regulated directly, while others are addressed during entitlement reviews. The draft points to the county's Potential Wetlands Area web app but cautions that it does not replace site-specific RPA delineation. On climate, it reports that the Potomac River rose 13.6 inches between 1924 and 2024. It projects a further rise of 13.2 to 42.7 inches by 2050. It also favors living shoreline approaches, citing a Virginia Institute of Marine Science finding that more than 70 percent of the county's shoreline could be managed through simple improvements to riparian buffers, beaches and existing marshes. Finally, it describes a Light Detection and Ranging-based tool the county is developing to identify severe stream erosion and help choose future stream project sites.

The draft describes itself as a companion to the Environment element adopted in Phase 1, which introduced countywide stormwater guidance. Its preferred option aims for good, forested conditions and sets an 18 percent impervious cover threshold. Its targets also include 1-inch on-site runoff retention or the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Rainwater Management Credit.

Why These Updates Matter for Developers and Landowners

Opportunities

Taken together, the Phase 2 drafts largely favor more residential production. They tell staff and decision-makers to encourage projects that maximize planned densities. They also promote higher density in appropriate locations such as mixed-use centers, along with compatible infill development within existing residential areas and Suburban Village Centers. Moving the Housing Trust Fund payment to the residential use permit stage could improve project cash flow if it survives in the final text. Owners of underused office, retail and older commercial sites gain a clearer policy basis for adaptive reuse and small-scale R&D and incentive-backed redevelopment within mixed-use centers and CRDs/CRAs.

Risks and New Expectations

Some of the new expectations raise costs and diligence burdens. Projects in the upcoming Suburban Village Centers should plan for WDU commitments. Redevelopment of existing affordable multifamily housing or manufactured housing communities will face stricter one-for-one replacement and relocation expectations. Under the economic development draft, decision-makers will also consider how a redevelopment proposal affects existing small and minority-owned businesses. On waterfront and stream-adjacent sites, the Chesapeake Bay Supplement's new climate and erosion data are likely to inform the questions staff ask about resilience, shoreline treatment and buffer design.

The Policy Plan remains a guide. The county has said that not every project needs to meet every policy and that not every policy applies to every project. Still, these policies will shape staff reports, proffer negotiations and the outcome of plan amendment requests. The Phase 1 draft text also changed substantially between its spring 2025 release and adoption. That makes the current comment period an important chance to influence the final language.

Next Steps

The county will hold virtual community meetings and Planning Commission Policy Plan Committee meetings on each part, as shown below.

Key Phase 2 Dates, subject to change per the county:

The Parks and Recreation and Heritage Resources elements will follow on separate schedules, with completion targeted for summer 2027 and early 2028.