Appomattox

Appomattox County regulates land use — and therefore accessory dwelling units — through its county Zoning Ordinance, administered by the Appomattox County Department of Community Development and Building under the authority of the Appomattox 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 Appomattox 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 Appomattox County Code and is organized by use districts (Agricultural A-1, Residential R-1/R-2, Business B-1/B-2, 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 where the ordinance allows a second dwelling for a family member, (b) a Special Use Permit (or Conditional Use Permit) approved by the Board of Supervisors following Planning Commission recommendation, or (c) minor subdivision to create a separate buildable lot. Appomattox 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 Appomattox (the county seat) are governed by the Town of Appomattox zoning ordinance, not this county ordinance; the unincorporated villages and rural balance of the county (including Pamplin (split with Prince Edward County), Spout Spring, Evergreen, Vera, Hixburg, and Oakville) are governed by the county ordinance. The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park — site of the April 9, 1865 surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant ending the American Civil War — is administered by the National Park Service and, along with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources's Appomattox Court House Historic District, is a significant contextual factor for nearby development: the county has historically applied scenic- and historic-corridor sensitivity to parcels in the vicinity of the Park and Route 24 (the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road / Confederate retreat route).

• Appomattox County Code — Zoning Ordinance
• Appomattox County Department of Community Development and Building
• Appomattox County Board of Supervisors — adopting body for zoning ordinance amendments and Special Use Permits
• Appomattox 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. Appomattox 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.

Appomattox 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 Appomattox River (which forms parts of the county's boundary and runs through the eastern portion of the county), the James River headwater tributaries in the northern county, Bent Creek, Stonewall Creek, and other tributaries, administered through the county floodplain ordinance satisfying NFIP minimum standards; (2) Appomattox Court House National Historical Park and surrounding scenic / historic-corridor considerations — the Park is federal land managed by the National Park Service, but scenic viewshed and historic-corridor sensitivity affects county land-use decisions on adjacent parcels and along Route 24 (the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road / Confederate retreat route); (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) Virginia State Park / Holliday Lake State Park adjacency — Holliday Lake State Park sits at the Appomattox-Buckingham county line near the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest, and Department of Conservation and Recreation scenic policy applies to adjacent state lands; (5) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act applicability — Appomattox 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; however, the Appomattox River and James River tributaries in the county are upstream contributors to the Chesapeake Bay watershed and are subject to general Virginia water-quality regulation; (6) wildfire risk — Appomattox County has wildfire risk tracked by the Virginia Department of Forestry, particularly in the forested areas around the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest and the county's substantial pine-plantation holdings, 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. Individual historic properties — including structures within and adjacent to the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park and the Village of Appomattox Court House Historic District on the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places — may trigger review under federal Section 106 (for federal undertakings) or Virginia Department of Historic Resources consultation when state or federal permits or funding are involved.

• 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 Appomattox River corridor and its tributaries carry extensive SFHAs that can rule out ADU siting on riverside parcels without substantial elevation or fill permitted under the floodplain ordinance.
• Appomattox Court House National Historical Park and Village of Appomattox Court House Historic District — Federal Park land itself is not subject to county permitting. Private parcels within the Park viewshed or along Route 24 heritage corridor are subject to ordinary county zoning; however, federal undertakings (federal funding, federal permits, federal land involvement) near the Park trigger Section 106 consultation which can slow or condition some projects. An ADU on private land outside the Park boundary generally proceeds through the ordinary county permitting path unless federal funding or federal permits are involved. Owners of parcels immediately adjacent to the Park should consult with the county zoning administrator early; heritage-tourism visibility can raise public-hearing controversy on SUP applications in the immediate Park vicinity.
• 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 Appomattox County AFD Advisory Committee and the zoning administrator before assuming ADU compatibility. Adding an ADU to an AFD-enrolled parcel can also trigger rollback tax on any area converted away from qualifying agricultural or forestal use.
• Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest and Holliday Lake State Park adjacency — State lands are not subject to county zoning for state use, but the county has applied scenic-corridor and forestal zoning sensitivity to parcels immediately adjacent. Wildfire exposure is elevated in private parcels adjacent to the State Forest because of contiguous fuel loading. Access permits for driveway cuts crossing state forest land require Virginia Department of Forestry approval. The State Park's recreational draw (camping, swimming, fishing, hiking) creates seasonal short-term-rental demand on adjacent private parcels — an ADU sited here may be particularly attractive as a short-term-rental property, subject to the county's zoning treatment of short-term rentals.
• Virginia Department of Forestry wildfire risk (advisory) — pine-plantation corridors and State Forest adjacency — 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 Appomattox County locations — particularly adjacent to the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest and in pine-plantation areas — 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.

The Appomattox County Department of Community Development and Building is the permitting authority for zoning determinations, Special Use Permits, subdivisions, and building permits on parcels within the unincorporated county (all parcels outside the Town of Appomattox corporate limits and outside the Appomattox-County portion of the Town of Pamplin). Appomattox County comprises approximately 334 square miles of the central Virginia Piedmont, bordered to the north by Buckingham and Nelson Counties, to the east by Prince Edward County, to the south by Charlotte County, and to the west by Campbell and Amherst Counties. The Town of Appomattox (county seat, population approximately 1,800) is the principal incorporated place in the county; the Town of Pamplin straddles the Appomattox-Prince Edward county line. The unincorporated villages of Spout Spring (at the county's western edge along U.S. 460), Evergreen, Vera, Hixburg, and Oakville, along with the rural balance of the county, are permitted by the county. The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is federal land administered by the National Park Service and is not subject to county permitting; private parcels adjacent to the Park are subject to ordinary county zoning, though the county has historically applied scenic-corridor sensitivity to such parcels. For an ADU-style project on an unincorporated Appomattox 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 — which is most of the rural county); (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 permit-application process and does not yet run a full ePermitting portal of the Accela / Tyler type as of 2026-04-21; most applications are submitted in person or by mail to the department.