Madison Heights

Amherst County regulates land use — and therefore accessory dwelling units — through its county Zoning Ordinance, administered by the Amherst County Department of Community Development (Planning & Zoning Division) under the authority of the Amherst County Board of Supervisors. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state (Commonwealth v. County Bd. of Arlington County, 217 Va. 558 (1977)); the General Assembly has not enacted any statewide ADU preemption statute, so Amherst County's authority to regulate, condition, or prohibit second dwellings on a single parcel derives entirely from the general zoning enabling statute at Va. Code § 15.2-2280 and the ordinance-content provisions of § 15.2-2286. The county zoning ordinance is codified in the Amherst County Code and organized by use districts (Agricultural, Residential, Business, Industrial, and overlay districts). In the standard residential and agricultural districts, a single dwelling per lot is the baseline; a true detached second dwelling on a single parcel is not a permitted-by-right use and typically requires one of three pathways: (a) a family/kinship-dwelling qualification for a related-occupant second unit where the ordinance allows it, (b) a Special Use Permit approved by the Board of Supervisors following Planning Commission recommendation, or (c) minor subdivision to create a separate buildable lot. Amherst County does not have a standalone ministerial ADU ordinance of the California / Oregon / Washington type. A homeowner cannot rely on an 'ADU by right' framework; each project is subject to zoning-district analysis and, for most non-kin rental scenarios, a discretionary Special Use Permit process. Parcels within the incorporated Town of Amherst (the county seat) are governed by the Town of Amherst zoning ordinance, not this county ordinance; the unincorporated communities of Madison Heights, Monroe, Elon, Pleasant View, and the rural balance of the county are governed by the county ordinance. Portions of the county along Bear Mountain are within the Monacan Indian Nation's core tribal territory; tribal land-holdings administered by the Monacan Indian Nation (state-recognized 1989 and federally recognized in 2018) are subject to tribal self-governance, not to county zoning, on parcels held in tribal trust or tribal title.

• Amherst County Code — Zoning Ordinance
• Amherst County Department of Community Development — Planning, Zoning, and Building
• Amherst County Board of Supervisors — adopting body for zoning ordinance amendments and Special Use Permits
• Amherst County Planning Commission
• Virginia Code Title 15.2, Chapter 22, Article 7 — Zoning

State-floor overlay: Virginia has not enacted any statewide ADU preemption statute. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state (Commonwealth v. County Bd. of Arlington County, 217 Va. 558 (1977)); localities have only those powers expressly granted by the General Assembly. The general zoning enabling statute at Va. Code § 15.2-2280 grants counties, cities, and towns broad authority to regulate land use, and § 15.2-2286 enumerates the specific ordinance provisions that may be included. Neither statute, nor any section of Title 15.2 Chapter 22 Article 7, mandates that a locality permit ADUs, requires ministerial review of ADU applications, caps parking requirements, caps fees, or voids owner-occupancy requirements. Amherst County is therefore free to permit, condition, or prohibit second dwellings under its zoning ordinance within the ordinary constitutional limits on land-use regulation. ADU preemption bills have been introduced in the Virginia General Assembly in multiple recent sessions (2022-2025) without enactment; the statewide regulatory picture at the county level is unchanged as of 2026-04-21.

Amherst County administers or is subject to several overlay regimes that materially affect ADU siting on unincorporated parcels: (1) FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along the James River (the southern/eastern county boundary between Amherst and Campbell / Lynchburg), the Pedlar River, the Tye River, Buffalo Creek, and other tributaries, administered through the county floodplain ordinance satisfying NFIP minimum standards; (2) Blue Ridge Parkway corridor and George Washington & Jefferson National Forest adjacency in the western part of the county — federal land-management agencies do not directly regulate private parcels, but scenic-corridor considerations and cooperative viewshed policy affect parcels along the Parkway; (3) Agricultural and Forestal Districts (AFDs) established under Va. Code § 15.2-4300 et seq., which provide participating landowners use-value taxation and subdivision-deferral protections in exchange for a commitment to keep land in agricultural or forestal use; (4) Monacan Indian Nation tribal lands — the federally and state-recognized Monacan Indian Nation's core tribal territory centers on Bear Mountain in the southwestern part of the county; tribal-held land is subject to tribal self-governance rather than county zoning, but most private parcels around Bear Mountain are not tribal-held and remain under county jurisdiction; (5) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act applicability — Amherst 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 — Amherst County has wildfire risk tracked by the Virginia Department of Forestry, particularly along the Blue Ridge escarpment in the western mountainous areas, but Virginia does not have a California-style Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone regulatory overlay with mandatory ignition-resistant-construction requirements; the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code has not adopted the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code statewide. Amherst County does not maintain a countywide historic-district overlay, though individual properties (for example, Sweet Briar College buildings, historic plantation houses, and other landmarks) may be listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register or National Register of Historic Places.

• FEMA National Flood Insurance Program — Special Flood Hazard Areas — 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, anchoring requirements, and post-construction Elevation Certificate filing. Owners should confirm current-effective FIRM panel at the FEMA Map Service Center before design; FEMA periodically updates Virginia county maps. The James River corridor in particular has extensive SFHAs that can rule out ADU siting on riverside parcels without substantial elevation or fill permitted under the floodplain ordinance.
• Virginia Agricultural and Forestal Districts — Participating landowners commit to keeping land in agricultural or forestal use for a period (typically 4-10 years) in exchange for use-value assessment and limited protection from certain governmental actions that would disrupt agricultural use. An ADU on an AFD-enrolled parcel is generally permitted if it is an accessory use to continued agricultural operation (for example, a farm-labor dwelling or family-kinship dwelling), but non-agricultural commercial-rental ADUs may conflict with AFD purposes and trigger AFD committee review. Owners should consult the Amherst County AFD Advisory Committee and the zoning administrator before assuming ADU compatibility.
• Blue Ridge Parkway and George Washington & Jefferson National Forest adjacency — Federal regulation applies to activities within the federal boundary, not to private parcels outside it. However, individual deed restrictions or scenic easements may apply to specific parcels along the corridor, and the county has historically scrutinized highly visible development on parcels abutting the Parkway. Owners of parcels adjacent to the Parkway or the National Forest should check the zoning district in effect for their specific parcel and any recorded scenic easements. Access permits for driveway cuts crossing Forest Service land require U.S. Forest Service approval.
• Virginia Department of Forestry wildfire risk (advisory) — Blue Ridge escarpment — 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 Amherst County locations — particularly along the western mountainous edge — should follow best practices (defensible space, ignition-resistant materials, adequate driveway access for fire apparatus) but face no locality-imposed WUI construction overlay analogous to California Chapter 7A.
• Monacan Indian Nation tribal territory — Bear Mountain — The Monacan Indian Nation received Virginia state recognition in 1989 and federal recognition in 2018 under the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act (Pub. L. No. 115-121, enacted January 29, 2018), which also federally recognized five other Virginia tribes. Land held in tribal trust by the United States on behalf of the Monacan Indian Nation is not subject to Amherst County zoning; land held in fee by the Nation may, depending on the terms of acquisition and federal trust applications, be subject to county zoning pending any trust conveyance. Applicants proposing development on or adjacent to tribal lands should contact the Monacan Indian Nation directly in addition to any county permitting. Most private parcels in the Bear Mountain vicinity remain under ordinary county zoning jurisdiction.

The Amherst County Department of Community Development is the permitting authority for zoning determinations, Special Use Permits, subdivisions, and building permits on parcels within the unincorporated county (i.e., all parcels outside the Town of Amherst corporate limits). Amherst County comprises approximately 475 square miles of the central Virginia Piedmont, bordered to the north by Nelson County, to the east by the James River and the City of Lynchburg / Campbell County, to the south by Appomattox County, and to the west by the Blue Ridge Mountains and Rockbridge County / the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest. The Town of Amherst (county seat) is the only incorporated place in the county; Madison Heights (a large census-designated place immediately north of Lynchburg across the James River), Monroe, Elon, and Pleasant View are unincorporated communities permitted by the county. Bear Mountain in the southwestern part of the county is the historic heart of the Monacan Indian Nation, which received federal recognition in 2018 (Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act, Pub. L. No. 115-121); tribal trust or tribal-held land is subject to tribal self-governance rather than county zoning. For an ADU-style project on an unincorporated Amherst County parcel, the typical sequence is: (a) zoning determination from the Planning & Zoning Division (permitted by right as a family/kinship dwelling, permitted via Special Use Permit, or prohibited); (b) if SUP required, application to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors; (c) Virginia Department of Health well/septic evaluation (for parcels not served by public utilities); (d) building permit application to the county building official; (e) inspections through construction; (f) certificate of occupancy. The Department of Community Development operates a county-managed online permit-status page but does not yet run a full ePermitting portal of the Accela / Tyler type; most applications are submitted in person or by mail to the department.