Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance Amendments

Why was the ordinance updated?

Resource Protection Area, or RPA, includes streams, rivers, and other water bodies and the environmentally sensitive lands within 100 feet of these water resources.  The Virginia General Assembly passed a bill to amend the Chesapeake Bay Act to further conserve trees in RPA, require buffer replanting with trees, and to require a resilience assessment for development in resource protection areas.  Arlington updated our Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance to include these amendments, which went into effect September 1, 2025.  

What were the changes made to the ordinance?

The amendments to the ordinance focus on tree protection in the RPA and climate change impacts for development in the RPA.

Tree Protection

The tree amendments emphasize protection of mature trees (overstory trees greater than 12 inches and understory trees greater than 4 inches) during development County-wide. The tree amendments also update guidance for tree replacement and buffer restoration in the RPA and clarify requirements for removing dead trees and noxious vegetation from the RPA.  Arlington was already implementing many of these requirements as a matter of policy, but the amendments will codify them and strengthen the language as part of the ordinance. 

Climate Change Resilience

The climate change amendment requires an assessment of flooding, sea level rise, and storm surge for any planned development within resource protection areas to determine the potential impacts from climate change.   This amendment only applies to some RPA properties, and the County has created an interactive map or a PDF map(PDF, 4MB) to determine if your property is affected. The Water Quality Impact Assessment Form was updated to include a section for the resilience assessment.

Brief Overview of Ordinance Amendments 

Schedule 

The Arlington County Board adopted the updated ordinance on June 14, 2025 and the new requirements went into effect on September 1, 2025.

Engagement 

View the engagement activities for the updates to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance.