Vienna, VA

The Town of Vienna undertook its first comprehensive overhaul of the zoning code since 1969 to align day-to-day rules with community goals for housing choice, neighborhood character, and a vibrant Maple Avenue corridor. In 2023, after years of study and engagement, the Town Council adopted a modernized ordinance that reorganizes regulations, simplifies procedures, and clarifies standards, giving applicants and staff a more predictable framework.

ZoneCo supported Vienna’s rewrite in partnership with local collaborators—work publicly acknowledged by project partners when the new code was adopted. The collaboration emphasized a user-friendly structure: plain-language purpose statements, consolidated use tables, and visuals to navigate districts and dimensional rules. That approach is reflected in the code now hosted in Vienna’s online library and on the Town’s Planning & Zoning pages, where residents and businesses can access the updated Chapter 18 and related process guidance.

Substantively, the update concentrated on three priorities. First, context-sensitive standards calibrated to Vienna’s established blocks—particularly along Maple Avenue—so that height, massing, and frontage transition predictably near neighborhoods. Reporting ahead of the vote noted targeted flexibility in the Maple Avenue core, where slightly taller buildings under clear rules would focus growth in walkable places while protecting nearby residential fabric.

Second, streamlined procedures replaced a patchwork of discretionary steps with objective findings, clearer roles, and published timelines. This makes development review more transparent and reduces uncertainty for routine, compliant projects—an emphasis visible in the ordinance’s administration and process sections.

Third, small-business and housing feasibility improved through modernized use definitions and more predictable approvals for low-impact, context-appropriate projects. While the Town flagged future work on items like parking, the adopted package established a durable platform: the code can evolve through targeted amendments without re-opening its entire structure.

Process was as important as policy. The town maintained an accessible project hub for the code, map, and updates; it routed residents to the current ordinance and interactive map; and it kept permitting guidance current so applicants could understand how the new rules apply. Those implementation details—where to find the code, how to file, whom to contact—are critical to a rewrite’s real-world success.

The Vienna effort offers a useful model for peer communities: diagnose pain points in the legacy code; translate the comprehensive plan into concise, graphic standards; right-size review to focus discretion where it adds value; and build a living ordinance that staff and residents can actually use. With the 2023 adoption, Vienna’s zoning moved from a mid-century framework to a twenty-first-century tool—clearer, fairer, and better aligned with community intent—thanks to a collaborative team that included ZoneCo and local partners working alongside Town leadership.

If you’d like, I can adapt this into a one-page case study or a slide for ZoneCo’s portfolio, with before/after excerpts from Vienna’s code and a quick “results so far” dashboard.