Planning commission backs text change to allow board to grant industrial building heights above 50 feet

The King George County Planning Commission voted to forward ordinance amendment OA-01-25 to the Board of Supervisors with a favorable recommendation, allowing the board to grant special exceptions permitting building heights greater than 50 feet in the county’s industrial zoning district.

The amendment would add language that lets the Board of Supervisors approve taller industrial buildings on a case-by-case basis through a special-exception process, while leaving the current 1:1 additional setback requirement (one additional foot of setback for every foot of height over 35 feet) available to the approving body.

Commissioners and public speakers stressed that the change does not automatically permit taller buildings; it creates a formal avenue to request exceptions and to attach conditions. “With a special exception,…