Thanks for the link. I followed it, backtracked to a higher level page, and found a Zoning Requirements FAQ that said that the Zoning Ordinance states that you are limited to no more than 1 dwelling unit per lot. A dwelling unit is defined as an independent living facility and furthermore, an apartment built in the basement of a house IS considered a violation of this ordinance unless it qualifie
Forum: Fairfax County General

Although I suppose there is a slim chance the homeowner doesn't know there are more people there than he originally planned, I find this unlikely. After all, when he was living there, he rented the basement to two unrelated tenants, so I'm inclined to think he's still taking advantage of his multi-family house.
Forum: Fairfax County General

A pipestem is a private drive. It looks like a short little road with a driveway for each house. On ours, there are six houses that share this private drive. Because it is considered private, we don't get plowed, so all the neighbors are supposed to do their share of shoveling the drive. Last snow, all the neighbors except the renters I mentioned came out and did their share. All the renters did
Forum: Fairfax County General

Actually, we do have a HOA. And it was more than a few years ago that the previous owner converted the house, but I seem to remember that he was a board member of the HOA. And yes, we are in Fairfax County. All of the houses here have basement exits, some have walk-outs. I have no idea whether the house has windows in the bedrooms. The number of windows in these homes varies -- mine, for example
Forum: Fairfax County General

Well, I just thought someone here might already know. And I thought this thread might be interesting to other homeowners as well. Of course I know I can call the country, I may just do that later.
Forum: Fairfax County General

My neighbor's house is listed as a single-family home (I checked with FFX county public records), yet it was converted to a multi-family home. The basement of the home is now a separate apartment (with kitchen) with a separate back entrance. The current owner did not do the conversion, the previous one did, so he could rent the bottom "unit". But the current owner takes full advantage of this mul
Forum: Fairfax County General