Sutherland

Dinwiddie County regulates accessory dwellings under Appendix A of the Code of Dinwiddie County (the Zoning Ordinance). As of 2026-05-12, Dinwiddie has NOT enacted a modern ADU-preemption-style ordinance permitting detached accessory dwelling units ministerially on single-family-residential parcels. The county's framework follows the pre-preemption Virginia pattern: accessory dwellings (variously described in the ordinance as 'accessory apartments,' 'family-member units,' or 'guest houses' depending on type) are permitted under narrow conditions, most readily in the Agricultural (A-2) and rural-residential zoning districts that cover the majority of the county's land area, and through conditional-use-permit (CUP) review in lower-density residential districts. Owner-occupancy, family-relationship, size, and minimum-lot-area conditions are typical of pre-preemption Virginia county ordinances and apply in Dinwiddie. Because Virginia is a Dillon Rule state with no statewide ADU preemption (see src/data/state-adu-research/virginia.json), Dinwiddie's Appendix A is effectively the sole substantive floor for unincorporated areas of the county: where the ordinance does not explicitly allow a second dwelling, it is prohibited. Applicants should (a) confirm the parcel's zoning classification on the county's GIS viewer, (b) consult Appendix A's use tables for the governing district, (c) verify whether the proposed accessory-dwelling use fits a permitted, conditionally-permitted, or prohibited category, (d) engage Planning Department staff in a pre-application conference, and (e) budget for a CUP public-hearing process where required. Dinwiddie is a small, predominantly rural county (population approximately 27,800 in the 2020 decennial census; approximately 504 square miles, large by Virginia standards) traversed by I-85, US-1, and US-460. The county contains substantial federally-protected Civil War battlefield land (Five Forks Battlefield, administered as part of Petersburg National Battlefield under the National Park Service, and significant portions of Pamplin Historical Park, a private operation around the Breakthrough Battlefield) which constrains development in specific corridors but does not change the general zoning framework. Dinwiddie is NOT a 'Tidewater Virginia' locality under Va. Code Section 62.1-44.15:68, so the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) does NOT apply in Dinwiddie — this is a meaningful difference from neighboring Tidewater counties like Chesterfield and Prince George, where CBPA Resource Protection Area buffers are a primary ADU siting constraint. Dinwiddie's principal drainages (the Nottoway River along the southern boundary, Stony Creek, Sappony Creek, and their tributaries) flow to the Chowan River and ultimately to Albemarle Sound, not to the Chesapeake Bay.

• Code of Dinwiddie County, Appendix A (Zoning Ordinance) — Article I (General Provisions), Article II (Definitions), Article III (District Regulations including A-2 Agricultural, R-1 Residential, R-1A, R-1B, R-2, B-1 General Business, B-2 Limited Business, M-1 Light Industrial, M-2 General Industrial, and any planned-development and overlay districts), Article IV (Supplementary Regulations including accessory uses, home occupations, and family-member dwellings), Article V (Procedural Provisions including conditional use permits, special exceptions, and variances)
• Virginia Code Section 15.2-2280 et seq. (zoning enabling authority for Virginia counties, cities, and towns); Section 15.2-2286 (provisions that may be included in a zoning ordinance, including conditional use permits); Section 15.2-2285 (procedure for amending a zoning ordinance); Section 15.2-2230 (comprehensive-plan five-year update requirement); Section 15.2-2204 (notice to adjoining property owners for conditional use permits and rezoning)
• Dinwiddie County Comprehensive Plan (adopted under Va. Code Section 15.2-2223, periodically updated per Section 15.2-2230 five-year review cycle) — the advisory document that guides Appendix A amendments
• Town of McKenney Zoning Ordinance and Town Code (separate from the Dinwiddie County Zoning Ordinance — Va. Code Section 15.2-2280 grants each incorporated town its own zoning authority within its corporate limits)
• Petersburg National Battlefield and Five Forks Battlefield (units of the National Park Service); Pamplin Historical Park (private historic site at the Breakthrough Battlefield)

State-floor overlay: Virginia is a Dillon Rule state: Dinwiddie County's land-use authority is a delegated power from the General Assembly. The principal enabling statutes are Va. Code Section 15.2-2280 (general zoning power to classify districts, regulate size/use of structures, minimum lot areas, setbacks, parking) and Va. Code Section 15.2-2286 (procedural zoning powers including conditional use permits and administrative variances). Virginia has NOT enacted a preemptive statewide ADU ministerial-approval framework of the California / Oregon / Washington type. ADU preemption bills have been introduced in the 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 Virginia General Assembly sessions without enactment; none passed both chambers. Dinwiddie County's Appendix A therefore operates without a state ceiling on local restrictions — whatever Appendix A says controls, subject to the usual state-law procedural requirements on amendment (advertised hearings, Planning Commission recommendation, Board vote). Note: Va. Code Section 15.2-2291 (the oft-cited statewide mandate that localities allow accessory apartments in single-family zones under reasonable conditions) is a narrow provision; Dinwiddie's Appendix A operates under the general Section 15.2-2280 framework with locally-imposed use restrictions. Because Dinwiddie is NOT a Tidewater Virginia locality (see Va. Code Section 62.1-44.15:68 for the Tidewater list, which does not include Dinwiddie), the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act regulatory regime does NOT apply here — a structural difference from Chesterfield, Prince George, and other Tidewater counties.

Dinwiddie County administers a more limited overlay regime than its Tidewater Virginia neighbors because Dinwiddie is NOT a Tidewater locality (see Va. Code Section 62.1-44.15:68): the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) Resource Protection Area / Resource Management Area framework that dominates ADU siting in Chesterfield, Prince George, Henrico, and other adjacent counties does NOT apply in Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie's principal overlay-style regimes are: (1) the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) floodplain regime, with Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) along the Nottoway River (the long southern county boundary, draining ultimately to the Chowan River and Albemarle Sound), Stony Creek, Sappony Creek, Whiteoak Swamp, and their tributaries; (2) Dinwiddie County Airport approach surfaces and any locally-adopted Airport Overlay District provisions under Va. Code Sections 15.2-2294 and 15.2-2295 — Dinwiddie County Airport (DNN, also known as Dinwiddie County / Petersburg Airport) is a county-owned general-aviation reliever airport in the central county; (3) National Park Service Petersburg National Battlefield and Five Forks Battlefield federal lands, which are exempt from county zoning under federal supremacy and effectively remove those acres from the county's developable land base; (4) private historic / battlefield conservation land at Pamplin Historical Park (the Breakthrough Battlefield), which while not a regulatory overlay does operate as a de facto land-use constraint on adjacent development; (5) Virginia Resource Protection authorities for non-Tidewater perennial streams operate at the state level through DEQ and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission rather than as a county RPA buffer overlay. There are no California-style Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones in Virginia, and no California-style Coastal Commission jurisdiction. The Town of McKenney administers its own zoning and overlay regime within its corporate limits and is not subject to Dinwiddie County's overlays. Locally-designated historic overlay coverage in Dinwiddie is narrow; the county's most historically significant areas are the 1851 Dinwiddie Courthouse complex and the various Civil War-era battlefields and farmsteads, most of which are either federally-owned (NPS) or privately conserved (Pamplin) rather than enrolled in a local regulatory historic-overlay district.

• Dinwiddie County Floodplain Management — FEMA NFIP participant — ADUs in an SFHA must have lowest floor elevated to or above Base Flood Elevation plus Dinwiddie's adopted freeboard, flood vents on any enclosed area below BFE, structural anchoring, and a post-construction Elevation Certificate. The substantial-improvement trigger (>50% of structure value) means a garage conversion or attached-unit addition to an existing flood-prone structure can cascade into full-structure floodplain compliance. Owners along the Nottoway River corridor (which is a wide, slow-moving Coastal-Plain river with extensive bottomland) and along the major creeks should verify current FIRM status before ADU design. Flood insurance is federally required for SFHA parcels with federally-backed mortgages. Note: Because Dinwiddie is NOT a Tidewater Virginia locality, the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act RPA / RMA buffer regime does NOT apply — owners with creek-frontage parcels are NOT subject to the 100-foot Chesapeake Bay RPA buffer, only to the FEMA floodplain and the standard state-level perennial-stream protections under DEQ and VMRC jurisdictions.
• Dinwiddie County Airport (DNN) approach surfaces and any adopted Airport Overlay District — ADU siting inside the airport's Part 77 approach / departure surfaces is subject to FAA Form 7460-1 notice for any structure that may exceed a height threshold near the airport, and locally-adopted Airport Overlay District provisions may impose lower height limits and avigation-easement requirements. The overlay does not prohibit ADUs but does constrain detached two-story or roof-mounted-equipment ADU designs in the immediate approach corridors. Owners with parcels within a few miles of DNN should verify Airport Overlay / Part 77 status with the Planning Department before two-story detached ADU design. The county has no military aviation installation inside its borders; the broader Hampton Roads / Tri-Cities military airspace (Fort Gregg-Adams aviation activity, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Naval Air Station Oceana) does not impose locally-administered overlay constraints on Dinwiddie parcels.
• National Park Service Petersburg National Battlefield and Five Forks Battlefield (federal land — exempt from county zoning) — Owners of parcels adjacent to Five Forks Battlefield, Pamplin Historical Park, or the Dinwiddie portion of Petersburg National Battlefield should expect standard county zoning treatment of their ADU proposals — no county-level historic-overlay or federal-adjacency buffer rule applies, and Dinwiddie has no CBPA RPA buffer. The conservation context is informational rather than regulatory. The 1864-1865 Petersburg Campaign that produced these battlefields is a significant tourism draw for Dinwiddie, and the county's Comprehensive Plan reflects an interest in preserving the rural character of the battlefield approaches.
• Locally-designated historic overlays around Dinwiddie Courthouse and individually-listed National Register properties — An ADU on a parcel within a locally-designated historic overlay district requires design review — typically staff review for minor additions, with any designated review body reviewing more substantial proposals. Parcels that are individually National Register-listed but not in a local overlay are not subject to local design review for ADU additions (the National Register is informational and tax-credit-eligibility, not regulatory). Owners near the Courthouse area or on individually-listed properties should confirm overlay status before ADU design. Federal historic-preservation tax credits and state-level tax credits remain available for qualifying rehabilitations regardless of local overlay status, which can be a meaningful financing channel for ADU-in-historic-structure conversions.

Every parcel in Dinwiddie County outside the Town of McKenney's corporate limits and outside the National Park Service Petersburg National Battlefield / Five Forks federal land is unincorporated for permitting purposes and is permitted through the county's Department of Planning (zoning) and Department of Building Inspections (building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical). The Town of McKenney administers zoning and certain building permits within its own corporate limits; parcels there are NOT permitted through the county zoning office. The combined permit path for unincorporated Dinwiddie is a two-track review: (a) a zoning-compliance determination confirming the proposed accessory dwelling fits a permitted or conditionally-permitted category under Appendix A (handled by the Planning Department), and (b) a building-code plan review and inspection cycle confirming compliance with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC) and its incorporated Virginia Residential Code (handled by Building Inspections). For parcels where Appendix A does not permit a second dwelling by right, the applicant must obtain a conditional-use permit (CUP) or special exception through the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors per Va. Code Section 15.2-2285, with notice to adjoining owners per Section 15.2-2204. Because Dinwiddie is rural and most parcels lie outside the limited county water-and-sewer service area, on-site septic (and often on-site well) is the norm, which means a Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Onsite Sewage System construction permit is typically the gating item for a second dwelling, even where zoning approval is straightforward.