Troy

Fluvanna County has an unusually permissive by-right accessory-dwelling regime for a Virginia county: 'Dwellings, accessory' is a listed by-right residential use in Articles 4 (A-1), 5 (R-1), 6 (R-2), 7 (R-3 / Residential Planned Community, the district applied to Lake Monticello), and 8 (R-4), meaning an accessory dwelling is permitted as-of-right in every agricultural and residential zoning district across the county without requiring a Special Use Permit. Article 22 (Definitions) Section 22-22-1 defines 'Dwelling, accessory' as a separate, independent dwelling unit located on the same property as the primary dwelling unit, subject to a two-path size rule: (path 1) an interior accessory unit contained within a single-family dwelling (basement, attic, or additional level) may equal the existing finished square footage of the primary dwelling; (path 2) an attached accessory unit or a detached accessory unit (contained within a detached accessory structure) shall be no more than one-half of the finished square footage of the primary dwelling located on the subject property. One accessory dwelling is permitted per property, plus one additional accessory dwelling for each fifty (50) acres of contiguous property. Accessory dwelling units are subject to the setback requirements for primary structures (NOT the smaller accessory-structure setbacks). The ordinance does NOT require owner-occupancy of either the primary or the accessory unit — a material divergence from Albemarle County's Section 5.1.34 regime to the west — and does NOT impose a dedicated short-term-rental ordinance on ADUs beyond the standard transient-occupancy tax administered by the Commissioner of the Revenue. Because Fluvanna adopted its accessory-dwelling framework before January 1, 2025 and does not require a special-use permit for any attached or detached ADU, Fluvanna's existing ordinance is in the grandfathered class under Virginia HB 1832 (2025, effective July 1, 2026) and the state preemption does not displace the local rule.

Fluvanna County administers three principal overlay regimes that bear on accessory-dwelling and second-dwelling projects: (1) the Floodplain Districts under Chapter 22 Article 17 Section 22-17-8A tied to FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along the Rivanna River, James River, Hardware River, and their tributaries (Ballenger Creek, Byrd Creek, Cunningham Creek, Raccoon Creek, Totier Creek); (2) the Land Use (use-value) assessment program administered by the Commissioner of the Revenue under Va. Code Sec. 58.1-3230, which does not restrict ADU construction but can be breached by one, removing the deferred-assessment benefit and triggering rollback taxes; (3) conservation easements held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, the Piedmont Environmental Council, and other land trusts — approximately 14,700 acres of conservation and historic easements in the county, roughly 6% of the county's land area, including some of Virginia's most important historic properties such as Bremo Historic District. Fluvanna County has three National Register historic districts (Fluvanna Courthouse Historic District in Palmyra, Seven Islands Archeological and Historic District, and the Fluvanna portion of the Scottsville Historic District) but does NOT operate a county-administered local Architectural Review Board with exterior-change review authority (National Register listing alone does not restrict private alteration in the absence of a local overlay). Fluvanna has no coastal-commission jurisdiction (no tidal waters; outside the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act Tidewater boundary), no statewide WUI regulatory overlay (Virginia has none), no seismic-retrofit overlay, and no Part 150 airport-noise overlay (no commercial airport inside the county, though the Central Virginia Seismic Zone per VEMA hazard mapping does include Fluvanna alongside Louisa and Albemarle, which is a hazard-awareness designation rather than a permit-constraining overlay). Lake Monticello is a major private HOA layer that functions as a de-facto overlay for the ~4,000 households inside its gated boundary but is a private-law regime, not a county overlay.

• Floodplain Districts (Chapter 22 Sec. 22-17-8A)
• Conservation Easement Overlay (VOF, PEC, land trusts)
• Land Use (use-value) assessment program

An accessory-dwelling project in Fluvanna County routes through two county-level departments sharing the 132 Main Street, Palmyra office. Planning & Zoning issues the zoning permit confirming the accessory-dwelling eligibility under Section 22-22-1, the applicable district use table, and the size and unit-count caps. Building Inspections issues the building permit, enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (13 VAC 5-63), and coordinates trade permits and inspections. For parcels not served by the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority / Fluvanna County Utility service areas (which cover the Lake Monticello system and limited corridor service), the Thomas Jefferson Health District (VDH local office covering Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson, and Charlottesville/Albemarle) issues the well-and-septic construction permit, which must be in hand before the county will issue the building permit. Applications are filed by email to planning@fluvannacounty.org or building@fluvannacounty.org or in person at 132 Main Street.