Alleghany County

The Alleghany County Department of Community Development is the permitting authority for building permits, zoning permits, and Special Use Permits on parcels within the unincorporated county (i.e., parcels outside the corporate limits of the towns of Iron Gate and Clifton Forge). Alleghany County comprises approximately 446 square miles of mountainous terrain in western Virginia along the Jackson River, the Cowpasture River, and the headwaters of the James River, surrounded substantially by the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest. The City of Covington is an independent city carved entirely out of the geographic area surrounded by Alleghany County and is NOT subject to Alleghany County zoning or permitting authority — Covington has its own city government, zoning ordinance, and building department. Most populated areas in the county lie along the Jackson River corridor (Selma, Boiling Springs, Low Moor, Callaghan) or the Cowpasture River valleys; the rest of the county is heavily forested and largely federal land. For an ADU-style project in the unincorporated county, the typical sequence is: (a) zoning determination from the Department of Community Development; (b) if a Special Use Permit is required, application to Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors; (c) building permit application to the county building official under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code; (d) inspections through construction; (e) certificate of occupancy. Most parcels are not served by public utilities and require well and septic approval through the Virginia Department of Health (Alleghany Health District).

Process overview: Alleghany County's ADU-style permitting process varies by project pathway: (1) Family/kinship dwelling — if the second dwelling is occupied by a family member of the primary-dwelling occupant and qualifies under the county's kinship-dwelling provisions, the zoning administrator may issue an administrative zoning approval, followed by a standard building permit; this is the fastest path when eligible, typically 4-8 weeks end-to-end assuming no building-code complications. (2) Special Use Permit for a rental or non-kin second dwelling — the applicant submits a completed SUP application with site plan, statement of use, and the required filing fee. Staff conducts a zoning analysis and prepares a staff report. The Planning Commission holds a public hearing (advertised per Va. Code § 15.2-2204: once a week for two successive weeks, with final notice not less than five days before the hearing) and makes a recommendation. The Board of Supervisors then holds its own public hearing and votes. The entire SUP process typically takes 60-120 days from complete submission to Board decision. (3) Minor subdivision — if the applicant prefers to create a separate buildable lot, the subdivision ordinance applies. Subdivision review runs through the subdivision agent and the Planning Commission. Building permits for a second dwelling require compliance with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC), the single statewide building code for Virginia localities; no local building-code amendments supersede the USBC. Well and septic approval (for unincorporated parcels not served by public utilities, which is most of the county) is administered by the Virginia Department of Health (Alleghany Health District) and is required before a building permit can be issued for a dwelling not connected to public water/sewer.

Impact fees: Virginia localities generally do not levy impact fees of the type used in California or Florida; Virginia Code does not broadly authorize impact fees for counties outside certain narrowly enumerated categories (road impact fees under Va. Code § 15.2-2317 through § 15.2-2327 are available only to counties meeting specific growth-rate and density criteria, and Alleghany County does not appear on the list of eligible road-impact-fee counties as of 2026-04-27). Cash proffers tied to rezoning applications are constrained by Va. Code § 15.2-2303.4 (2016) which limits residential proffers. For an ADU built on an existing parcel without rezoning, the applicant pays building-permit fees (set by the county by ordinance and keyed to project valuation), any SUP application fee if applicable, connection or tap fees for water/sewer (if served by a public utility, which is rare in the unincorporated county), and state and local permit surcharges. Applicants should request a current fee schedule from the Department of Community Development at application time. (schedule)

Alleghany County real property is assessed under the supervision of the Alleghany County Commissioner of the Revenue, with periodic general reassessments conducted by county staff or by a contracted mass-appraisal firm. Tax administration is handled by the Commissioner of the Revenue's office; collection is handled by the Alleghany County Treasurer. Virginia law requires general reassessment of real property at least once every four years for most counties (Va. Code § 58.1-3252), with more frequent cycles permitted; Alleghany County conducts general reassessments on a multi-year cycle set by the Board of Supervisors. Virginia uses a fair-market-value assessment system: a parcel is assessed at 100% of fair market value as of the effective date of the reassessment, and that value stands until the next general reassessment (subject to supplemental assessment for new construction). When an ADU / accessory dwelling is added to an existing parcel, the new structure is added to the assessment roll at its contributory fair market value; the primary dwelling's assessed value is not automatically re-triggered by the ADU construction itself, but the parcel's overall assessed value rises by the ADU's contributory value. The property-tax bill equals assessed value times the Board of Supervisors' adopted real-estate tax rate (set annually in the county budget process).

Assessment policy: Virginia is a fair-market-value assessment state; a new ADU is added to the assessment roll at its contributory fair market value as a supplemental assessment effective from completion (building permit final inspection) through the balance of the tax year. The primary dwelling's prior assessed value is not automatically reset by the addition of the ADU, but the parcel's total assessed value increases by the ADU's value. At the next general reassessment, both the primary dwelling and the ADU are re-valued at current fair market value. Owners electing to convert existing interior space to a permitted ADU should expect the contributory value to reflect the creation of a second kitchen and second entry. Property-tax rates are set annually by the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors in the county budget process; owners should confirm the current year's rate from the county's adopted budget because rates change annually.

Alleghany County administers or is subject to several overlay regimes that materially affect ADU siting on unincorporated parcels: (1) George Washington & Jefferson National Forest adjacency — the National Forest occupies a substantial portion of the county's land area, and parcels adjacent to or surrounded by Forest Service land face access, easement, and scenic-corridor considerations; (2) FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along the Jackson River, the Cowpasture River, Dunlap Creek, and other tributaries, with NFIP floodplain regulations administered through the county's floodplain ordinance; (3) Karst topography — Alleghany County lies in the Valley and Ridge physiographic province with extensive limestone bedrock, sinkholes, and caves (Falling Spring Falls, sinking creeks); siting wells and septic systems requires special attention to karst hydrology and potential cross-contamination, governed by Virginia Department of Health regulations; (4) Steep-slope and ridge-protection considerations — much of the county is mountainous (elevations from approximately 1,000 feet at the river bottoms to over 3,000 feet on Warm Springs Mountain and Peters Mountain); building-code provisions for slope, drainage, and erosion apply; (5) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act applicability — Alleghany County is NOT in the Tidewater area covered by the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (Va. Code § 62.1-44.15:67 et seq.), so Resource Protection Areas (RPAs) and Resource Management Areas (RMAs) do not apply; (6) wildfire risk — Alleghany County has elevated wildfire risk tracked by the Virginia Department of Forestry, particularly in the steep forested areas adjacent to National Forest land, but Virginia does not have a California-style Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone regulatory overlay with mandatory ignition-resistant-construction requirements; (7) Agricultural and Forestal Districts under Va. Code § 15.2-4300 et seq. provide use-value taxation to enrolled landowners.

• George Washington & Jefferson National Forest adjacency — Approximately 40-45% of Alleghany County's land area is federal land managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest, including significant portions of the James River Ranger District. Federal regulation applies to activities within the federal boundary, not to private parcels outside it. However, parcels adjacent to or surrounded by Forest Service land face practical constraints: access easements may be required across federal land, scenic-corridor considerations may apply along forest-edge highways, and certain federal-cooperation policies inform county zoning decisions on adjacent private land. Owners of inholdings or parcels adjacent to National Forest land should consult both the county Department of Community Development and the U.S. Forest Service ranger district office in Covington.
• FEMA National Flood Insurance Program — Special Flood Hazard Areas — Alleghany County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program and administers a county floodplain ordinance satisfying the NFIP minimum standards. Principal Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) extents in the county are along the Jackson River (which runs through the heart of the county and has historically caused significant flooding, including the November 1985 flood), the Cowpasture River, Dunlap Creek, and various smaller tributaries. The Jackson River Gorge below Gathright Dam (Lake Moomaw) is subject to flood-control releases by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. An ADU in an SFHA must comply with NFIP elevation requirements (lowest finished floor at or above Base Flood Elevation plus any county freeboard), flood vent requirements on enclosed areas below BFE, and post-construction Elevation Certificate filing. Owners should confirm current-effective FIRM panel at the FEMA Map Service Center before design.
• Karst topography — well and septic siting constraints — Alleghany County lies in the Valley and Ridge physiographic province with extensive limestone bedrock and karst features (sinkholes, sinking streams, springs, caves). Karst hydrology poses elevated risk of cross-contamination between septic drainfields and groundwater wells because flow pathways can be rapid, unfiltered, and unpredictable. The Virginia Department of Health (Alleghany Health District) requires more rigorous evaluation of septic siting in karst areas, including possible required setbacks beyond the standard regulatory minimums, geotechnical evaluation, and in some cases denial of siting on parcels with severe karst features. An ADU adding load to an existing well/septic system on a karst parcel may require a more conservative engineered approach than a similar project in non-karst terrain.
• Virginia Agricultural and Forestal Districts (local option under state law) — Alleghany County may have established Agricultural and Forestal Districts under the state AFD Act. Enrollment is voluntary; participating landowners commit to keeping land in agricultural or forestal use for a period (typically 4-10 years) in exchange for use-value assessment (Va. Code § 58.1-3230 et seq.) and limited protection from certain governmental actions that would disrupt agricultural or forestal use. An ADU on an AFD-enrolled parcel is generally permitted if it is an accessory use to continued agricultural or forestal operation, but non-agricultural commercial-rental ADUs may conflict with AFD purposes.
• Virginia Department of Forestry wildfire risk — Alleghany County's mountainous, heavily forested terrain — particularly near the National Forest boundaries and in the wildland-urban interface zones around Selma, Callaghan, and the more remote ridge communities — has elevated wildfire exposure. Unlike California, Virginia does not have a statewide Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone overlay that mandates WUI-rated construction materials on a per-parcel basis. The Virginia Department of Forestry publishes wildfire risk assessments and promotes defensible-space practices, but enforcement is advisory rather than regulatory. Owners in wildfire-exposed Alleghany County locations should follow best practices but face no locality-imposed WUI construction overlay analogous to California Chapter 7A.
• Lake Moomaw (Gathright Dam) and Jackson River Gorge — federal water-resources project — Lake Moomaw, impounded by Gathright Dam on the Jackson River, sits primarily in adjacent Bath County but the dam itself and the regulated downstream Jackson River Gorge run through Alleghany County. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers controls flood releases that affect downstream Jackson River flow. Parcels along the Jackson River Gorge below the dam are subject to the variable flow regime. Lake-frontage parcels around Lake Moomaw itself are primarily in Bath County and subject to federal recreation-area access constraints; only a small portion of Lake Moomaw shoreline lies in Alleghany County.