The Planning Office has three divisions: Long Range Planning, Current Planning, and Zoning Administration. The office is responsible for the development and implementation of the County's Comprehensive Plan, reviewing development applications, supporting land use tools and policies, and lastly acting as staff to the boards, committees, and commissions.  

Development Applications:
   Comprehensive Plan Amendments
   Public Facilities
   Rezonings & Proffer Amendments
   Special Use Permits
   Zoning Approval & Administration
   Zoning Appeals & Variances
Boards, Commissions and Committees:
   Agricultural and Forestal Districts Advisory Committee
   Architectural Review Board
   Board of Zoning Appeals
   DCSM/Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee
   Historical Commission
   Planning Commission
   Trails and Blueways Council 

​The Prince William County Comprehensive Plan contains a strategy for responsible, fiscally-sound growth to produce a vibrant, prosperous, stable, "livable" community. On August 3, 2016, the Board of County Supervisors approved the scope of work for a Comprehensive Plan Update. The update has been divided into sections:

• Comprehensive Plan Technical Update
• Economic Development
• Incorporating Existing Studies
• Land Use
• Level of Service Standards
• Small Area Plans
• Transportation
• Urban Development Areas

Work sessions focusing on different sections and chapters will be held periodically during the update process. Meetings and work sessions will be announced as they are scheduled and will be open to the public. Sign up for the Planning Announcements eNotifications to receive messages about plan updates and events.

The Planning Office invites you to explore the new online interactive Prince William County Comprehensive Plan at www.pwcgov.org/CompPlan. The new format includes the recently adopted Technical Update to the Comprehensive Plan, the first step in the Comprehensive Plan Update, which included seven chapters and three sector plans. For further information regarding Prince William County's Comprehensive Plan Update status, schedule, and process, visit www.pwcgov.org/PlanUpdate. If you have any questions or comments, please visit www.pwcgov.org/PlanningCommentForm.

​On June 21, 2016, the Board of County Supervisors initiated amendments to the Zoning Ordinance and the Design and Construction Standards Manual (DCSM) to promote business growth and retention in the County. The amendments were recommended by the Commercial Development Committee's (CDC), Development Review Ordinance Team (DORT). One of these amendments is related to the impacts of buffer requirements on commercial development. The Planning Office is looking for comments on the proposed text at upcoming public meetings. For more information see the Buffers ZTA and DCSM web page.

On September 8, 2015, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors initiated a zoning text amendment to incorporate appropriate zoning requirements for data centers, which would address the infrastructure necessary to support such uses and the potential impacts to other properties. As part of that resolution, staff was directed to seek input from stakeholders representing community and business perspectives. The text amendment was approved by the Board on May 17, 2016. For a link to the staff report click here. To view a map showing the overlay district click here. Zoning Overlay Districts web page

The Prince William County Planning Office has been awarded a grant for the revitalization project, "Dale City, Virginia: Safety and Connectivity in a Planned Community" which is funded by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Transportation/Land Use Connections Program grant. This project is a continuation of the planning efforts of the  "Dale City, Virginia SDAT: Furthering the Vision of a Planned Community", an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program. The AIA SDAT final report was delivered in November 2015. A public open house was held on Monday, July 18, 2016. Summaries of presentations and comments from the open house will be available soon.

​Prince William County has received a $50,000 planning assistance grant from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Transportation/Land Use Connections Program (MWCOG TLC). This grant provides consulting services through the MWCOG TLC Program to create a mixed-use and multi-modal connectivity plan to guide the character of development in the Innovation Park and Gainesville study areas including consideration of density, form, land use, and transit options. An integral component of the study will be to evaluate the potential for multi-modal connectivity in both Innovation Park and Gainesville via bicycle, pedestrian, bus, or other transit. Study web page

​The purpose of this Study is to document both the Bristoe Station and Kettle Run Battlefields and recommend preservation goals and strategies. Prince William County was awarded a grant through the American Battlefield Protection Program, a division of the National Park Service (NPS), to complete this study. Both battlefields are located near the intersection of Bristow Road and the Norfolk Southern Railway tracks. Prince William County contracted Commonwealth Heritage Group to conduct this study.

Recently added to the Planning Office website is a new interactive map application, Pending Planning Cases, that has up-to-date information about all of the cases in process by the Planning Office. Use the Development Services ePortal System to get up-to-date information on development activity in the county for activities such as rezonings, special use permits, proffer amendments, construction and land permits, site plan submissions and inspection schedules. Registration may be required to access some of the information available in ePortal.

The Development Application Processing Schedule, or DAPS, is available again. The information is the same but the process is different. Instead of creating the report on a bi-weekly basis, the DAPS report now updates automatically on a nightly basis and will be available from now on by clicking on the link to the report that is on the Planning Pending Cases page. If you have any questions please call the Planning Office at 703-792-7615.

Sign up for automatic notifications for topics you are interested in relating to the county. Planning Office related options include: Comprehensive Plan Announcements, Current Planning Announcements, Planning Announcements, Planning Commission Agenda, Trails and Blueways Council, and Zoning Text Amendments. Go to the eNotifications web page and sign up for these and other notifications.

The mission of the Planning Office is to assist the community in developing the County to its best potential. Planning staff evaluates and implements policies to support the goals of the community as it prospers and matures.