Prince William County, VA Ordinances (2026)

Open burning requires a Fire Marshal permit, applied for at least 72 hours ahead. From February 15 to April 30, burning is only allowed between 4 p.m. and midnight under Virginia's…

On residential or commercial lots of two acres or less, grass and weeds over 12 inches tall are not allowed. Owners get 14 days after notice to cut; otherwise the county cuts it and…

Small backyard recreational fires (three feet or less across, two feet or less high) are allowed without a permit but must stay at least 25 feet from any structure or combustible…

Only Virginia "permissible fireworks" (sparklers, fountains, ground spinners) may be used by the public. Anything that explodes, rises into the air, travels laterally, or fires…

Virginia's Statewide Fire Prevention Code and Uniform Statewide Building Code require working smoke alarms in dwellings. Landlords must install and maintain them and certify annually…

Under Virginia law an abandoned motor vehicle left unattended over 48 hours in violation of law, or on private property without consent, may be removed. Prince William County removes…

RVs, boat trailers, motor homes, and camping trailers may generally be parked on private property, but the County can designate restricted zones where they are banned from public…

Prince William County bars keeping an inoperable vehicle in a driveway, carport, or anywhere outside a fully enclosed structure unless it is shielded or screened from view. A vehicle…

In Prince William County, a marked curb loading zone is reserved for actual loading and unloading, not general parking. Vehicles other than regular delivery trucks must display the…

Prince William County bans parking or leaving unattended any commercial vehicle, from dump trucks to 16-plus-passenger vans, on a public highway in a residence district. County Code §…

Prince William County lists 14 specific places where parking is always off-limits, from sidewalks and driveways to within 15 feet of a fire hydrant and more than two feet from the…

Prince William County lets residents petition the Board of County Supervisors to bar watercraft, boat trailers, motor homes and camping trailers from parking on secondary roads in…

Prince William County requires cats over four months old to have a current rabies vaccination (Code Sec. 4-62). There is no cat leash law, but owners cannot let a cat repeatedly…

Prince William County Code Sec. 4-23 makes it unlawful to allow a dog to run at large. A dog is 'at large' when off its owner's property and not attached to a person by a leash, cord…

Prince William County permits up to four beehives as an accessory use on any residential lot. Additional hives require extra lot area, plus an on-site water source and a flight-path…

Prince William County zoning caps backyard chickens, other fowl and farm animals to specific agricultural districts and lot sizes under Zoning Ordinance § 32-300.02.6. Chickens are…

Prince William County has no breed-specific ban: Sec. 4-12(k)(1) bars a court from finding any dog dangerous 'solely because it is a particular breed.' Instead, an animal control or…

Prince William County has no county-wide spay/neuter mandate for pets generally, but Sec. 4-13(b)(1) forces the owner of any dog adjudicated dangerous to prove it has been neutered or…

Prince William County does not require ordinary pets to be microchipped, but Sec. 4-13(b)(2) forces owners of a dog adjudicated dangerous to implant and register electronic…

Prince William County bans keeping a wild, exotic or vicious animal as a pet outright under Sec. 4-71. The prohibited list in Sec. 4-69 names bears, big cats, primates, wolves, foxes…

Prince William County requires a Special Use Permit before a veterinary hospital can open in the rural A-1 Agricultural district, while the same use is allowed by right in the county's…

Prince William County zoning allows no more than four dogs six months or older on any agricultural or residential lot without a permit. Keeping more requires Special Use Permit…

Prince William County allows a home-based pet grooming service to use part of a rear or side yard for up to three pets at a time, screened by a six-foot solid board fence. Zoning…

Pool access gates must open outward, be self-closing, and self-latching. If the latch release is under 54 inches from grade, it must sit on the pool side at least 3 inches below the…

Above-ground pools follow the same thresholds as in-ground pools: a building permit is required once the pool exceeds 150 sq ft, holds over 5,000 gallons, or is deeper than 24 inches…

Prince William County follows Virginia's home food processing exemption. Under VA Code 3.2-5130, certain non-hazardous foods made in a private home (baked goods, candies, jams, dried…

Prince William County zoning permits a home occupation as a business activity conducted entirely within a dwelling by its residents that is clearly incidental and secondary to the…

Prince William County limits a home employment business to one unlighted facade sign no larger than one square foot, or one unlighted mailbox sign of the same size and under three feet…

In-home child care in Prince William County follows Virginia law. Under VA Code 22.1-289.02, home-based child care serving five through 12 children (excluding the provider's own and…

Prince William County caps home employment businesses at five customers a day, by appointment only, with no more than one customer arriving at a time. Zoning Ordinance § 32-300.16.6…

Prince William County Code Ch. 14 sets nighttime (10 p.m.-6 a.m. for people) rules and decibel caps. Under the re-enacted ordinance (eff. May 1, 2026), residential zones are limited to…

Prince William County Code § 14-5(6) prohibits any sound production device that emits sound audible 50 feet or more from the property boundary, or through walls shared by two…

Prince William County Code § 14-4(c) lets permitted construction run 7 a.m.-9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays within 100 yards of a home…

Prince William County Code § 14-5.1 makes it unlawful to let any animal or bird (except farm animals in agricultural districts) create sound audible at least once a minute for ten…

Prince William County Code § 14-5 sets a vehicular decibel table (e.g., motorcycles 82 dBA at 35 mph or less, 86 dBA above) measured 50 feet away, and bans tire spinning, engine…

Prince William County has no leaf-blower-specific ban or hour rule. Powered lawn equipment must simply stay within the Chapter 14 decibel limits at the property line (60 dBA daytime…

Under the re-enacted Prince William County Code § 14-4 (eff. May 1, 2026), maximum sound levels measured at the property line are: Residential and Mixed Use 60 dBA day / 55 night…

Prince William County bans flying powered model aircraft outdoors at night anywhere in the county. Sec. 14-5(5) of the noise ordinance also requires written permission from the…

There is no separate short-term rental registry, but every business offering lodging for 30 days or less must register with Prince William County Tax Administration to collect and…

Prince William County sets no annual cap on the number of nights a property may be short-term rented. The transient occupancy tax simply applies to any stay of fewer than 30…

Airbnb, VRBO, and other short-term rental bookings in Prince William County owe the same 5 percent transient occupancy tax as a hotel room, under Sec. 26-122. When a booking platform…

Under Virginia's Statewide Fire Prevention Code, charcoal and gas grills may not be operated on combustible balconies or within 10 feet of combustible construction. Apartment residents…

Prince William County bans lighting a charcoal cooker, smoker, grill, or LPG-fired stove on or under any balcony unless the fire marshal approves it first. Ground-level use is allowed…

Residential fences may reach six feet in side and rear yards, but only 42 inches in front yards and on the street side of corner lots. A taller fence must be set back one foot from the…

A landscaping retaining wall under three feet tall that supports no surcharge needs no permit. Walls over three feet require zoning approval, and walls supporting three feet or more of…

Most residential fences do not require a building permit, but zoning approval is mandatory for every new fence installation. A building permit is required when a fence serves as a…

Prince William County bans electrified fences and barbed wire across every residential district and on agricultural lots under two acres. Zoning Ordinance § 32-300.02.3(a) carves out…

Prince William County caps residential and agricultural structures at 35 feet, rising to 60 feet for barns, silos, religious institutions, libraries, hospitals and other public-use…

Setbacks vary by zoning district. In the A-1 Agricultural district, all buildings must sit at least 35 feet from the front lot line and streets, with a minimum 25-foot rear setback and…

On lots of three acres or less, Prince William County caps every accessory building, from sheds to detached garages, at 25 percent coverage of the yard it sits in under Zoning…

Prince William County actively favors native trees and woodland conservation in its landscaping standards. Development landscape plans must preserve native woodlands where possible…

Prince William County caps weeds and grass at 12 inches on any residential lot under two acres, and within 150 feet of a road or 200 feet of a neighbor's home on larger tracts…

Prince William County has no year-round watering schedule, but once the Board of County Supervisors declares a water supply emergency, the county executive can order Stage II…

Prince William County allows residents and farms to compost yard trimmings on their own property without a permit, so long as the pile doesn't become a health or safety menace…

Prince William County requires an undisturbed 100-foot vegetated buffer along every perennial stream, tidal wetland and shoreline under its Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Overlay…

Yard sales on residentially zoned or A-1 property in Prince William County are exempt from the peddler's permit requirement, so no special sale permit is needed. Signs are the main…

Vacant and unimproved lots in Prince William County must be kept free of weeds over 12 inches tall. The Department of Public Works investigates complaints, issues a written notice to…

Under the county's Unsafe Buildings and Structures Ordinance, the building official, building maintenance official or fire marshal can order an owner to remove, repair or secure a…

Prince William County requires refuse and recycling containers to be watertight, ten-to-45-gallon, close-lidded bins, and limits curbside set-out to 24 hours. Containers must sit out…

Dumping trash, garbage, refuse, or litter on public rights-of-way or on private property without the owner's written consent is a Virginia crime. Under Va. Code 33.2-802, it is a…

Prince William County requires refuse and recyclable collection at least once a week for every residential address, with yard waste and brush picked up weekly from March through…

County Code Sec. 22-170 requires every residential household in the unincorporated county to separate newspapers, cardboard, mixed paper, #1 and #2 plastic bottles, jugs and jars, and…

County Code Sec. 22-20(b) sets the physical rules for how recyclables must be contained: durable, watertight bins between 10 and 45 gallons, clearly labeled "recycle" or "recycling,"…

Prince William County's regular yard waste pickup pauses for winter, but Christmas trees get their own holiday window: refuse haulers must collect trees, decorations and stands…

Prince William County requires yard waste, grass, leaves and brush, to go out in a rigid ten-to-45-gallon container or a biodegradable paper bag, never a plastic one, with refuse…

Prince William County requires every nonresidential dumpster, refuse and recycling container to sit on private property at a point that is well drained and fully accessible to…

Prince William County restricts residential trash and recycling pickup to the hours of 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., and refuse haulers must collect from every residential area at least once a…

Bulky trash that's too big for a curbside can, old furniture, appliances, oversized branches, must go to the county landfill during normal operating hours or be hauled away under a…

Prince William County measures outdoor light in foot-candles under its Chapter 32 lighting standards (§ 32-250.202) and Subdivisions Code § 25-30. Site and subdivision lighting must be…

Prince William County requires all outdoor lighting fixtures on parking lots and buildings to be full cut-off and shielded so they cannot cast glare onto neighboring properties, and…

Prince William County caps all detached accessory structures on a lot at 576 total square feet, or 30 percent of the house's floor area if greater. Sheds must sit in a side or rear…

Prince William County requires pedestrians to cross at intersections or marked crosswalks whenever possible, but where an intersection has no marked crosswalk, crossing there or…

Urinating or defecating anywhere in public in unincorporated Prince William County, on the ground, in a street, in standing water, or anywhere exposed to public view, is disorderly…

Prince William County bans alcohol on two categories of public property: public school grounds at any time, and county parks and recreational areas unless the Department of Parks and…

Loitering itself isn't automatically illegal in Prince William County: Sec. 16-16 only kicks in once a person blocks pedestrians or vehicles, disrupts a business, loiters knowing a…

Prince William County confines plain skateboarding and similar wheeled play to sidewalks, banning it from the roadway itself under County Code § 13-408. Toy vehicles get a narrow…

Prince William County allows piers, boathouses and catwalks in tidal wetlands without a separate permit under Sec. 2-153, but only if built on pilings that preserve tidal flow. Any…

Prince William County runs a stormwater management program under Code Chapter 23.2, funded by a monthly fee on every developed parcel. Discharging anything but stormwater into the…

Prince William County will not issue a grading, building or land disturbance permit until the developer has a consolidated stormwater and land disturbance permit backed by an approved…

Any development inside Prince William County's Flood Hazard Overlay District, from grading to placing a manufactured home, needs a zoning permit issued by the Floodplain Administrator…

Prince William County requires anyone offering shared motorized scooters, bicycles, or e-bikes for hire to first obtain a license from the County Executive, who is authorized to write…

Prince William County can run photo red-light cameras at up to ten intersections at a time, hitting violators with a flat $50 civil penalty under County Code § 13-279 rather than a…

Prince William County bars drivers from crossing a solid line marking a bicycle lane to get around another vehicle. County Code § 13-214(c) closes off that maneuver except for a…

Prince William County requires a $1,000 amusement license, filed 30 days ahead, before anyone stages an outdoor musical or entertainment festival for more than 25 people in the…

Reserving a picnic pavilion or other Prince William County park facility requires a park use permit from the County Executive's designee under Sec. 17-20, issued on terms the designee…

Holding a public meeting or parade inside a Prince William County park requires written permission from the County Executive's designee under Sec. 17-29 before the event happens. The…

Prince William County exempts emergency generators from its decibel limits entirely while running during an outage, equipment failure, or utility request. Routine exercising is allowed…

Prince William County exempts residential heating and cooling systems, including air conditioners, heat pumps, and radon systems, from the nighttime decibel limits that otherwise apply…

Prince William County caps steady tonal sound, the droning hum, rumble or buzz thrown off by HVAC units, transformers and backup generators, separately from ordinary decibel limits…

Prince William County bans loading and unloading trucks near homes late at night. Sec. 14-5(3) makes it a violation to operate, load or unload any vehicle, or to open and break down…

Prince William County's noise ordinance bans amplified sound blasting from a parked or moving vehicle beyond 50 feet, but Sec. 14-5(8) carves out a specific exception for car alarms. A…

Prince William County requires every tow truck company to hold a valid county (or specified town) business license before removing a vehicle, and caps what it can charge: $210 to hook…

Operating a massage establishment in Prince William County without a valid permit from the Health District director is unlawful under Chapter 12. Applicants pay a $65 non-refundable…

Operating an adult bookstore, adult motel, adult movie theater or similar adult business in Prince William County requires a $400.00 permit from the chief of police under Sec. 20-51…

Prince William County caps pawnbroker locations at twelve countywide and requires a police-issued license, Circuit Court approval and a state-mandated bond before anyone can open a…

Prince William County zoning limits at-home auto repair to vehicles owned by the resident or an immediate family member, and hobby repair on agricultural or semi-rural lots over an…

Prince William County requires every pawnbroker and secondhand merchant, dealers in used electronics, tools, appliances and instruments, to hold a Chief of Police-issued license before…

Prince William County designates county historical landmarks by board resolution under Code Sec. 2-97, acting on the advice of the county Historical Commission created under Article V…

Prince William County's business, professional and occupational license (BPOL) tax is set by § 11.1-17, which sorts every licensable business into one of seven rate classes and taxes…

Prince William County requires every mobile food unit owner to register with the Director of Finance before operating, even if the truck already paid a license tax somewhere else…

Prince William County enforces building inspections through the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, adopted by reference in County Code § 5-16. The county building official…

Prince William County requires routine, periodic third-party inspection of every elevator, escalator, dumbwaiter and moving walk under the ASME Safety Code and the state building…

Anyone doing electrical home-improvement work in Prince William County for pay must hold a current home improvement contractor license in the Electrical (ELE) category, which the code…

Prince William County's Child Care Service Providers ordinance requires every person providing paid child care in a covered facility to hold certified pediatric or infant/child CPR…

Prince William County enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code by adoption under Sec. 5-16, and won't issue a building permit until sewage disposal is cleared with the…

Minors under 18 may not be in a public place or on a vacant lot in unincorporated Prince William County between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, or between 11:59 p.m…

Prince William County parks are open from sunrise to sunset under County Code Sec. 17-16, unless a specific park posts different hours that override the default. Entering a park the…

Prince William County requires every Town Center approved by Special Use Permit to submit written and graphic design guidelines covering architecture, streets, parking, landscaping and…

Prince William County grants a density bonus of up to 57.5 percent above the maximum allowed residential density to developments that set aside at least 10 percent of units for…

Prince William County bars peddlers, solicitors and itinerant vendors from knocking door-to-door between a half-hour after sunset and a half-hour after sunrise under Sec. 18-2.2…

Anyone peddling, soliciting or itinerant vending door-to-door in Prince William County needs a permit under Sec. 18-16 before starting, on top of any business license tax owed under…

Prince William County treats running bamboo as a regulated weed. Code of Ordinances Section 29-17 makes it unlawful to let running bamboo grow without proper upkeep and containment…

Prince William County imposes a 5 percent transient occupancy tax on every hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, and travel-campground stay of 29 consecutive days or fewer. Sec. 26-122 sets…

Prince William County enforces rodent control through its Building Maintenance Code, which adopts the International Property Maintenance Code's Section 302.5 rodent harborage standard…

Prince William County caps window signs at 25 percent of each window or glass door's area in commercial, office and industrial districts, and exempts them entirely from the sign permit…

Prince William County allows electronic message board signs only with a Special Use Permit or rezoning/proffer amendment approved by the Board of County Supervisors, never by right in…

On any A-1 Agricultural lot of two acres or more, Prince William County permits farming, livestock keeping, fisheries, and licensed farm wineries and breweries by right under Zoning…

Prince William County has no temporary data center moratorium, but its zoning ordinance permanently bars the use from six district types. Section 32-509.06 blocks data centers from…

Prince William County steers data centers into its Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District, which the Board of County Supervisors can only establish on land near 115kV-or-larger…