ADU Pass
Grottoes
Augusta County portion
Also in: Rockingham County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Grottoes, Augusta County, Virginia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
Grottoes' small size and limited municipal staff mean ADU applicants should expect a personal, in-person process. Most Grottoes parcels are inside the town's public-water-and-sewer service area, which removes the VDH septic constraint that binds rural Augusta County parcels.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,850 | $51,000 | $52,850 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,850 | $153,000 | $154,850 |
| midpoint | 550 | $1,850 | $140,250 | $142,100 |
| maximum | 900 | $2,000 | $229,500 | $231,500 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
- Pre-application zoning inquiry with Town of Grottoes Zoning Administrator
Pre-application zoning inquiry with Town of Grottoes Zoning Administrator - Zoning Permit / Special Use Permit application (depending on accessory-dwelling classification under the town ordinance)
Zoning Permit / Special Use Permit application (depending on accessory-dwelling classification under the town ordinance) - Building Permit application under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (typically administered through Augusta County or the Town's contracted building official)
Building Permit application under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (typically administered through Augusta County or the Town's contracted building official) - Trade permits (Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical) filed by Virginia-licensed contractors
Trade permits (Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical) filed by Virginia-licensed contractors - Town water/sewer connection coordination
Town water/sewer connection coordination - Construction inspections through completion
Construction inspections through completion - Certificate of Occupancy issued; supplemental assessment under Va. Code § 58.1-3292
Certificate of Occupancy issued; supplemental assessment under Va. Code § 58.1-3292
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of an ADU is permitted. Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Town of Grottoes regulates STR through its zoning ordinance and STR registration; transient-occupancy tax applies under Va. Code § 58.1-3819 et seq. Grand Caverns and Shenandoah National Park gateway tourism create solid STR demand.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit or different district classification.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted with restrictions on signage and customer traffic.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist or craft studio is a permitted accessory use within an ADU.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Limited urban agriculture permitted in residential zones; livestock varies by district.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU is the most permissive accessory-dwelling pathway.
Incentives
Contacts
Staff: Town of Grottoes - Zoning Administrator / Town Council, Augusta County Department of Community Development - Building Inspections (under contract for Town of Grottoes) or Town's contracted building official, Grottoes Volunteer Fire Department / Augusta County Fire Marshal, Town of Grottoes - Public Works (water and sewer)
Utilities
- Water: Town of Grottoes Public Works · 30d connect · $3,800
- Sewer: Town of Grottoes Public Works · 30d connect · $4,900
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia / Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Propane (no natural-gas main) · 14d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 6mo · typical 10mo · worst 14mo
Modular pathway Virginia DHCD operates the Virginia Industrialized Building Safety Program (13 VAC 5-91); factory-built modular dwellings receive a state seal.
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Virginia has no HOA-ADU preemption. Grottoes' housing stock is older town-residential with limited HOA prevalence; some newer subdivisions have covenants.
Regulatory overlays (1)
- flood-zone
South River runs through the town and creates mapped FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas on parcels in the river corridor; Grottoes participates in NFIP. Verify the parcel against the effective FIRM via the FEMA Map Service Center before design.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Town of Grottoes Zoning Ordinance, adopted ongoing — periodically amended by Town Council, last amended Confirm with the Town of Grottoes Zoning Administrator for the most recent amendment date.
- 2026-01-01 — Town of Grottoes Zoning Ordinance (most recent in-force version) (city-ordinance)
Town of Grottoes regulates residential development through its zoning ordinance.
Effect: Accessory dwellings inside town limits route through the Town of Grottoes Zoning Administrator, not Augusta County.
Known issues (2)
- other — Pre-application meetings should include both the Town Zoning Administrator and the Augusta County (or town-contracted) building official to confirm the permit pathway and avoid scope mismatch.
- other — Pre-design FEMA FIRM review via the Town or the FEMA Map Service Center is essential.
Augusta County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Augusta County regulates accessory dwelling units primarily through accessory-use provisions in its zoning ordinance rather than through a standalone ADU chapter. The county's residential and general-agriculture districts permit one accessory dwelling unit on a qualifying lot subject to minimum lot size, setback, and public-health requirements (well and septic sizing), with the ADU treated as subordinate to the primary dwelling. The county does not operate a Northern-Virginia-style ADU ordinance with an explicit size cap; instead, ADU feasibility is driven primarily by (1) the district's minimum lot area, (2) onsite-sewage capacity under Virginia Department of Health rules, and (3) the Uniform Statewide Building Code's residential-occupancy requirements. The county's ADU posture is materially more permissive on rural acreage than in the small residential R-1/R-2 subdivisions, where setback and lot-area minimums often make a second dwelling infeasible without a variance. Short-term rental is a separately regulated use under the county's zoning ordinance. Confirm the current accessory-dwelling section text and any by-right vs. Special Use Permit classification with the Augusta County Community Development department before pricing a project.
County regulatory overlays
Augusta County administers three overlay regimes that bear materially on ADU projects: (1) a Floodplain Overlay District tied to FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along the Middle River, South River, North River, Christians Creek, and other Shenandoah Valley drainages; (2) Scenic Corridor / Agricultural-Preservation overlays reflecting the county's Shenandoah Valley agricultural heritage and the visual character of US 11 / I-81 / the Shenandoah National Park / George Washington National Forest gateway routes; and (3) a public water-and-sewer service-area framework run by the Augusta County Service Authority (ACSA) inside the county's designated Urban Service Areas (Fishersville, Stuarts Draft, Verona, Weyers Cave, and adjoining growth areas) that sharply separates ADU feasibility inside vs. outside those service areas. Augusta County has NO coastal-commission jurisdiction (it is entirely inland, outside the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act boundary), NO CalFire-equivalent WUI regulatory overlay (Virginia has no statewide WUI program; the Virginia Department of Forestry coordinates wildfire response without a permit-constraining overlay), NO seismic-retrofit overlay (standard IRC/IBC provisions as adopted in the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code govern), and NO FAA Part 150 airport-noise overlay for a commercial airport (Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport / KSHD is a commercial airport partly in Augusta County but has no Part 150 noise-exposure overlay imposed on surrounding parcels).
- Augusta County Floodplain Overlay District
- Augusta County Urban Service Area / Public Water and Sewer Overlay
- Scenic Corridor / Agricultural-Preservation Context (I-81, US 11, Shenandoah National Park / George Washington National Forest gateway)
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Augusta County's Department of Community Development issues ADU building permits for every parcel in the county except those inside the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro (each of which operates its own building department) and, for zoning matters, those inside the Town of Craigsville and the Town of Grottoes where the town has displaced the county code. All unincorporated CDPs including Fishersville, Stuarts Draft, Verona, Weyers Cave, Churchville, Mount Sidney, New Hope, Crimora, and Lyndhurst route through the county. A typical Augusta County ADU permit bundle includes: (1) a Zoning Permit from the county Zoning Division confirming district eligibility, setbacks, and any overlay triggers, (2) a Building Permit with stamped residential plans filed with the Building Inspections Division, (3) Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical trade permits, (4) a Virginia Department of Health onsite-sewage / well construction permit from the Central Shenandoah Health District for parcels not served by public water and sewer (the majority of county parcels), (5) a Floodplain Development Permit if any portion of the parcel is within the mapped 100-year floodplain under the county's Floodplain Overlay, and (6) any town-level review if the parcel is inside Craigsville or Grottoes.
Virginia state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
Virginia has NOT enacted a statewide ADU preemption law. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state — localities possess only those powers expressly granted by the General Assembly — and the statutes granting zoning authority (Va. Code § 15.2-2280 et seq.) leave ADU regulation to local ordinances. ADU permission, setbacks, parking, size, and owner-occupancy rules therefore vary by county, independent city, and town. Virginia is unique in that it has 38 independent cities that function as counties (neither in nor subordinate to the surrounding county), meaning 'the county' for any given Virginia property may be an independent city rather than a true county. Several ADU preemption bills have been introduced in recent General Assembly sessions (2022 through 2025) without enactment; none have advanced past committee as of the Assembly's 2026 regular session adjournment.
State financing programs
Virginia does not operate an ADU-specific statewide loan, grant, or forgivable-loan program. Virginia Housing (formerly the Virginia Housing Development Authority, VHDA — rebranded 2020) administers general first-time-homebuyer, down-payment-assistance (DPA), mortgage-credit-certificate, and rehabilitation products that can be applied to ADU-adjacent purchases or improvements when eligibility criteria are met, but none target ADU construction as a distinct product. The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) administers federal HOME and CDBG pass-through funds that local jurisdictions can direct toward ADU-adjacent rehab, but there is no state-level ADU-dedicated line item. Federally available products (FHA 203(k), Fannie Mae HomeReady and HomeStyle Renovation, Freddie Mac CHOICERenovation) remain the primary ADU financing path for Virginia homeowners.
State housing programs
Virginia does not run a state-level pre-approved-ADU-plan catalog, statewide impact-fee-waiver statute for ADUs, or streamlined-review mandate. State-level programs that touch ADU-adjacent policy are coordinated primarily through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and Virginia Housing, and act by funding or assisting local jurisdictions rather than by preemption. Local ADU activity — Arlington County's Accessory Dwellings program (detached ADUs permitted since 2008, liberalized 2020), Alexandria's accessory-dwelling ordinance, Fairfax County's accessory-living-unit program, and Charlottesville's 2021 zoning-code changes — is authorized under the localities' Va. Code § 15.2-2280 zoning authority, not by state mandate.
- DHCD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program — Federal CDBG funds administered by DHCD to eligible non-entitlement Virginia localities for community-revitalization, housing-rehab, and infrastructure projects. Not ADU-specific. Participating localities can direct CDBG funds toward housing-rehab projects where local policy supports ADUs.
- DHCD HOME Investment Partnerships Program — Federal HOME funds administered by DHCD to Virginia participating jurisdictions and non-profits for affordable-housing acquisition, rehab, and new construction. Not ADU-specific; can be directed to ADU-adjacent rehab at local discretion.
- Virginia Housing Commission — Permanent advisory commission of the General Assembly that studies housing-policy questions and recommends legislation. Has periodically studied ADU preemption and missing-middle housing without recommending statewide enactment as of 2026-04-21.
- Local ADU ordinances under Va. Code § 15.2-2280 authority — Not a state program — listed here because Virginia ADU policy is executed entirely at the locality level under the § 15.2-2280 zoning grant. A homeowner seeking to build an ADU consults the zoning ordinance of the specific county, city, or town where the parcel is located.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Code
- 24441
Post Office
- 110 6th St, 24441