Inside the town or in the county?
The Town of Haymarket publishes the streets inside its limits, a few dozen names, some of them only for certain house numbers, and its note puts any Haymarket 20169 street left off that list under Prince William County's jurisdiction. Two houses with the same mailing town can follow different paths, so the street is where we start.
What the Town asks of a covered porch
In 1994 the Town Council placed the whole town under a Historic District Zoning Ordinance. No building or structure in it may be erected, reconstructed, altered or restored until an application for a certificate of appropriateness has been approved by the Architectural Review Board, and every building in town built before 1950 is a designated historic building. The Town's zoning permit form adds that any alteration to the outside of an existing building that is visible from public view needs an architectural review, which takes in a covered porch on the front of a house. The Town's design guidelines, adopted in 2010, apply to improvements that are or could be visible from any public view.
The board reviews building architecture, site design and exterior improvements so they fit the Town's established character, and its list names building additions and exterior renovations, exterior materials, colors and architectural features. It meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 7 pm at the Town Hall, 15000 Washington Street, Suite 100, and the Town asks owners to consult its staff early in the design.
Who issues the permits inside the town?
Prince William County issues the building permit, as it has for all work in town since the Town handed its building department to the county on January 15, 2018; mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits come from the county too. Before anyone applies, the Town's Zoning Approval is needed. Its Zoning Approval Request covers all work in town that needs a county permit, the Town asks for up to two business days to process it, an HOA approval letter goes with it when one is required, and the work is bound to any conditions the Architectural Review Board, the Planning Commission or the Town Council sets.
Is your street on the Town's list?
Send us the address, and we will check it before the porch is drawn.
Haymarket streets outside the town
On a Haymarket street that is not on the Town's list, Prince William County handles the zoning approval and the building permit, in that order; our Prince William County page covers that path. The associations there keep their own rules: the Dominion Valley Owners Association, a separate body from the Dominion Valley Country Club, is governed by its Declaration and its Design Guidelines, and Piedmont, in the Haymarket and Gainesville area, keeps Design and Maintenance Standards for owners behind a resident login.
How we plan a Haymarket covered porch
The porch is drawn to show its roof, columns, railing, materials and colors, since the Town's board reviews exterior materials, colors and architectural features. Inside the town we prepare it for the Zoning Approval Request with the association's letter when there is one, and once the Town's approval is in hand we file the county building permit. How the porch is framed and roofed is on our covered porches page.
Beyond covered porches in Haymarket
- Outdoor kitchens and outdoor fireplaces
- Composite decks, screened porches and paver patios
- Pavilions and home additions