Cloverdale

Botetourt County regulates accessory dwelling units through its county Zoning Ordinance (codified within the Botetourt County Code), administered by the Botetourt County Department of Community Development under the authority of the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state (Commonwealth v. County Bd. of Arlington Cnty., 217 Va. 558 (1977)) and the General Assembly has not enacted any statewide ADU preemption; Botetourt County's authority to permit or restrict ADUs derives solely from the general zoning enabling statute at Va. Code § 15.2-2280 and the ordinance-content provisions of § 15.2-2286. The county ordinance permits accessory structures and, in most residential and agricultural zoning districts (Agricultural A-1, Residential R-1, R-2, R-3, and mixed-use districts), permits a single primary dwelling per lot; a second detached dwelling on the same parcel is not a by-right use in the standard residential districts and typically requires (a) qualification under a family/kinship-dwelling provision (occupied by a family member of the primary-dwelling occupant), (b) a Special Use Permit (SUP) approved by the Board of Supervisors following Planning Commission recommendation, or (c) a minor subdivision placing the second dwelling on its own lot. 'Guest house' and related accessory-use provisions appear in the ordinance for non-rental secondary-occupant uses. The county does not have a standalone ministerial ADU ordinance of the California / Oregon / Washington by-right type; ADU-style projects in the unincorporated county proceed through the discretionary SUP path or the family/kinship path depending on intended occupancy. Parcels within the three incorporated towns (Town of Buchanan, Town of Fincastle, Town of Troutville) are subject to each town's own zoning ordinance, which governs in lieu of the county ordinance inside town corporate limits.

• Botetourt County Code — Zoning Ordinance
• Botetourt County Department of Community Development — Planning, Zoning, and Building Inspections
• Botetourt County Board of Supervisors — adopting body for zoning ordinance amendments and Special Use Permits
• Botetourt County Planning Commission

State-floor overlay: Virginia has not enacted any statewide ADU preemption statute. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state (see 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. Botetourt County is therefore free to permit, restrict, 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.

Botetourt 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 (running through Buchanan, Eagle Rock, Springwood, and Glen Wilton), Craig Creek, Catawba Creek, Jennings Creek, Looney Creek, and their tributaries, with NFIP floodplain regulations administered through the county's floodplain ordinance; (2) Blue Ridge Parkway adjacency along the eastern ridge (the Peaks of Otter area and the parkway corridor pass through Botetourt County), with scenic-corridor considerations where the county zoning ordinance applies corridor-overlay protections near the parkway; (3) George Washington & Jefferson National Forest — large portions of the northern and western Botetourt County mountain territory are federal forest land managed by the U.S. Forest Service; federal regulation applies inside the forest boundary, and private parcels adjacent to or in-holding within the forest must contend with fire-management, access, and buffer considerations; (4) Appalachian Trail corridor — the AT crosses Botetourt County in the Fullhardt Knob / Curry Creek / Jennings Creek area, with National Park Service scenic-easement and corridor-management interests that can affect ridgetop and ridgeline-visible development on nearby private parcels; (5) 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; (6) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act applicability — Botetourt 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; (7) wildfire risk — Botetourt County has elevated wildfire exposure in its mountain and national-forest-adjacent areas (tracked by the Virginia Department of Forestry), but Virginia does not have a California-style Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone regulatory overlay with mandatory ignition-resistant-construction requirements; (8) Karst terrain — significant portions of the James River valley and the limestone belt through Botetourt County exhibit karst geology (sinkholes, caves, springs), which affects septic suitability, foundation engineering, and stormwater infiltration; Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Conservation and Recreation have karst-protection guidance, and the county requires site-specific geotechnical consideration for structures in mapped karst areas.

• FEMA National Flood Insurance Program — Special Flood Hazard Areas (James River and tributaries) — Botetourt 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 run along the James River (which enters the county at Eagle Rock and exits near Buchanan, passing Springwood and Glen Wilton), Craig Creek (draining from Craig County through the western part of the county), Catawba Creek, Jennings Creek, Looney Creek, and various smaller tributaries. 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. Several historic riverfront communities — notably Buchanan and Eagle Rock — have significant SFHA coverage on the older river-adjacent lots, and owners considering ADU additions in these areas should retrieve current-effective FIRM panels early in planning. The Town of Buchanan also participates in NFIP separately for its corporate area.
• Blue Ridge Parkway scenic-corridor adjacency — The Blue Ridge Parkway passes through eastern Botetourt County near the Peaks of Otter area (milepost approximately 83-105 within or adjacent to the county). The Parkway is federal land managed by the National Park Service; NPS regulation applies within the Parkway boundary, not to private parcels outside it. However, Botetourt County zoning has used scenic-corridor or ridgetop-visibility provisions along portions of the Parkway corridor to limit visual impacts on the Parkway viewshed (per NPS cooperative policy with localities along the Parkway), and individual deed restrictions or scenic easements may apply to specific parcels adjacent to the Parkway. Owners of parcels visible from the Parkway should check the zoning overlay (if any) in effect for their specific parcel, any recorded scenic easements, and whether the site falls within an ordinance ridgetop-protection zone before siting a detached ADU on a high-visibility slope or ridgeline.
• George Washington & Jefferson National Forest adjacency and in-holdings — Large portions of western and northern Botetourt County lie within or adjacent to the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest, including the Glenwood-Pedlar Ranger District. National Forest System lands are federally administered; private in-holdings (inholdings) and private parcels adjacent to the forest boundary remain under county zoning but face practical constraints from fire-management activities, access easements across forest land, and forest-boundary fire-buffer best practices. An ADU on a forest-adjacent or in-holding parcel should be sited with consideration of wildfire exposure, forest-road access reliability, and any recorded easements or rights-of-way crossing federal land. Owners should contact the Glenwood-Pedlar Ranger District for in-holding access and fire-management questions.
• Appalachian Trail corridor (National Park Service scenic easement interests) — The Appalachian Trail crosses Botetourt County in the Fullhardt Knob / Curry Creek / Jennings Creek area and continues through the county's ridgelines. The AT corridor is federally protected and administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Private parcels visible from the AT may be subject to voluntary scenic easements, donated conservation easements, or deed-restriction programs intended to preserve the trail viewshed. A detached ADU sited on a ridgetop or upper slope visible from the AT may face scenic-easement review if the parcel is encumbered; owners should title-check for recorded scenic easements, Appalachian Trail Conservancy interests, or Virginia Outdoors Foundation easements before designing a high-visibility structure.
• Virginia Agricultural and Forestal Districts (local option under state law) — Botetourt County has 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 use. An ADU on an AFD-enrolled parcel is generally permitted if it is an accessory use to continued agricultural operation (e.g., a farm-labor dwelling or family-kinship dwelling), but non-agricultural commercial-rental ADUs may conflict with AFD purposes and trigger AFD advisory-committee review. Owners should consult the Botetourt County AFD Advisory Committee and the zoning administrator before assuming ADU compatibility on AFD-enrolled acreage.
• Karst terrain (sinkholes, caves, springs — James River limestone belt) — The James River valley through Botetourt County and surrounding limestone belts contain significant karst features — sinkholes, caves, losing streams, springs, and shallow bedrock. Karst terrain materially affects ADU siting because (a) conventional onsite septic systems can short-circuit into groundwater via fractures and sinkholes, requiring engineered or alternative onsite sewage systems subject to Virginia Department of Health approval; (b) stormwater management must avoid concentrated infiltration into open sinkholes; (c) foundation engineering for slab or crawl construction may require geotechnical investigation if shallow bedrock, solution cavities, or sinkhole-collapse risk is present; (d) structural setbacks from mapped sinkholes are commonly required by the county. Owners in the karst belt should plan for additional geotechnical and environmental-health review relative to non-karst Virginia sites.
• Virginia Department of Forestry wildfire risk and Virginia Statewide Building Code WUI provisions — Botetourt County has elevated wildfire exposure in its mountain and national-forest-adjacent areas, where the Virginia Department of Forestry tracks wildfire risk using statewide risk-assessment methodology. 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. The Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, which is the single statewide building code (localities cannot impose more stringent building standards), has not statewide-adopted the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code. Owners in wildfire-exposed Botetourt County locations (especially national-forest-adjacent and Blue Ridge Parkway-adjacent parcels) should follow defensible-space best practices but face no locality-imposed WUI construction overlay analogous to California Chapter 7A.

The Botetourt County Department of Community Development is the sole 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 Town of Buchanan, Town of Fincastle, and Town of Troutville). Botetourt County comprises approximately 544 square miles of Blue Ridge foothill and James River valley territory in western Virginia, forming the northern tier of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is rural-to-suburban in character, with the highest-growth populated areas concentrated in the US-220 / US-11 / I-81 corridor south of Fincastle — unincorporated communities including Daleville, Cloverdale, Blue Ridge, Troutville (just outside the town), and the Greenfield / Exit 150 commerce park area. The county seat, Fincastle, is a small incorporated town of roughly 340 residents; the Town of Buchanan sits on the James River at the northern end of the county; the Town of Troutville sits along US-11 just south of Fincastle. All other populated places (Daleville, Cloverdale, Eagle Rock, Blue Ridge, Oriskany, Glen Wilton, Springwood, Lithia, Colon, etc.) are unincorporated communities permitted by the county. For an ADU-style project in the unincorporated county, the typical sequence is: (a) zoning determination by the Department of Community Development (by-right accessory use, family/kinship dwelling, Special Use Permit required, or prohibited); (b) if SUP required, application to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors; (c) building permit application to the county building official; (d) inspections through construction; (e) certificate of occupancy. Applicants should expect a substantially longer timeline if an SUP is required, because the SUP process is a public-hearing process with statutory notice requirements under Va. Code § 15.2-2285.