Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Virginia

Re: Single Family house Zonning issue

You haven't explained why this zoning person believes that your interpretation of the five person rule is "not good enough", but it may be that their analysis requires that if any one person in the household can be determined to be unrelated to the other four, then the five person rule necessarily applies.

Assuming that there is an administrative appeal process for these kinds of zoning decisions which at some point is, undoubtedly, reviewable by the appropriate court, you may wish to consider availing yourself of this appeal process.

Re: Single Family house Zonning issue

I think this definitely requires some legal help, including a number of steps. Bureaucrats will make up their own ideas about the law and will try to enforce their own ideas, instead of the law. But trying to get them to change their opinion can be very difficult and can be a long battle. I don't happen to know if Fairfax has already decided this question before in the past. However, if there has already been a decision on this point in Fairfax, you will have a very hard time getting them to change their minds.

On the other hand, there is a long drawn out process of appeals. First, you should ask (respectfully, and like you are just curious and puzzled, don't make them mad) for what precedents there are for this interpretation. You can say that you are asking a lawyer and you don't understand exactly what the actual issue is with this problem. Ask them politely if they could help you understand what the legal issue is so you can try to figure this out with some legal advice. Second, you should ask for a formal decision, not just the verbal opinion of one lower-level person. (Although I think it would be much better for you to hire an attorney before taking this step, because once they make a decision it will be harder for them to change it. It would be better to come in at that stage and convince them to go another way before they are dug in.) Third, you can appeal this decision to the Board of Zoning Appeals. And you could take any adverse decision there to the Court.

So you could drag this out a very long time. But that would be time-consuming and perhaps costly and would only delay things.

Again, I don't know off the top of my head if the exact wording of Fairfax's zoning laws and the prior decisions of the BZA mandate one result or the other. It could be that what the zoning person is saying is a battle lost a long time ago, or he could be just making it up as he goes along. At this point, either is possible.

Assuming that not losing the house is worth it to you, I would strongly suggest getting a lawyer to research this and work with you on this. I am available, and because I just went out on my own after 8 years with other law firms and as in-house counsel, I am charging an introductory special of only $95 per hour. You won't find that anywhere else. However, there could be a snag in one lawyer representing 5 people as a group, if it turns out that somebody has to go. But we can look at that. Jon Moseley (703) 850-3733. [email protected]