Franklin County

The Franklin County Department of Planning and Community Development (zoning side) together with the Franklin County Building Inspections Department (construction side) is the 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 Rocky Mount and the Town of Boones Mill). Franklin County comprises approximately 692 square miles of mixed rural, agricultural, forest, and lakefront territory in southwestern Virginia south of Roanoke, with Smith Mountain Lake dominating the northern third of the county and creating a distinctive waterfront submarket. The Town of Rocky Mount (the county seat) and the Town of Boones Mill are the only incorporated places inside the county; all other populated places (Ferrum, Callaway, Glade Hill, Hardy, Henry, Penhook, Union Hall, Wirtz, Moneta [shared with Bedford County], Westlake Corner, Hales Ford, Scruggs, etc.) are unincorporated communities permitted by the county. For an ADU-style project in the unincorporated county, the typical sequence is: (a) zoning determination (permitted by right, permitted via Special Use Permit, or prohibited); (b) if SUP required, application to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors; (c) on lake-frontage parcels, coordination with Appalachian Power's Smith Mountain Lake Shoreline Management Plan (FERC Project 2210); (d) Virginia Department of Health approval for well and septic on unserved parcels; (e) building permit application to county Building Inspections; (f) inspections through construction; (g) certificate of occupancy.

Process overview: Franklin County's ADU-style permitting process varies by project pathway: (1) Family/kinship dwelling — where recognized in the applicable zoning district, if the second dwelling is occupied by a family member of the primary-dwelling occupant and qualifies under the county's kinship-dwelling provisions, the zoning administrator may issue an administrative zoning approval, followed by standard building permit; this is the fastest path when eligible, typically 4-8 weeks end-to-end assuming no building-code complications. (2) Special Use Permit for a rental or non-kin second dwelling — the applicant submits a completed SUP application with site plan, statement of use, and the required filing fee to the Department of Planning and Community Development. Staff conducts a zoning analysis and prepares a staff report. The Planning Commission holds a public hearing (advertised per Va. Code § 15.2-2204: once a week for two successive weeks, with final notice not less than five days before the hearing) and makes a recommendation. The Board of Supervisors then holds its own public hearing and votes. The entire SUP process typically takes 60-120 days from complete submission to Board decision; complex applications or those requiring ordinance interpretation can take longer. (3) Minor subdivision — if the applicant prefers to create a separate buildable lot and construct a fully separate dwelling, the subdivision ordinance (Chapter 20 of the county code) applies. Subdivision review runs through the subdivision agent and the Planning Commission; timelines vary from 30 days (simple minor subdivision) to 6+ months (major subdivision requiring road approval, stormwater, etc.). (4) For any lake-frontage parcel on Smith Mountain Lake, Appalachian Power Company's Shoreline Management Plan permit process (under FERC Project No. 2210) runs in parallel with county zoning and must be resolved before lake-adjacent construction; SMP permitting timelines are independent of county timelines and can add weeks to months, particularly for shoreline vegetation clearing, docks, and any structure within the FERC project boundary. Building permits for a second dwelling require compliance with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC), which is the single statewide building code for Virginia localities; no local building-code amendments supersede the USBC. Well and septic approval (for unincorporated parcels not served by public utilities) is administered by the Virginia Department of Health (local health department, West Piedmont Health District serves Franklin County) and is required before a building permit can be issued for a dwelling not connected to public water/sewer.

Impact fees: Virginia localities generally do not levy impact fees of the type used in California or Florida; Virginia Code does not broadly authorize impact fees for counties outside certain narrowly enumerated categories (road impact fees under Va. Code § 15.2-2317 through § 15.2-2327 are available only to counties meeting specific growth-rate and density criteria, and Franklin County does not appear on the list of eligible road-impact-fee counties as of 2026-04-21). Cash proffers tied to rezoning applications were formerly common but are now constrained by Va. Code § 15.2-2303.4 (2016) which limits residential proffers. For an ADU built on an existing parcel without rezoning, the applicant pays building-permit fees (set by the county by ordinance and keyed to project valuation), any SUP application fee if applicable, connection or tap fees for water/sewer (if served by a public utility, which is uncommon outside the towns and certain lake service areas), Virginia Department of Health well and septic permit fees, Appalachian Power Shoreline Management Plan permit fees where applicable on lake-frontage parcels, and state and local permit surcharges. Applicants should request a current fee schedule from the Department of Planning and Community Development and the Building Inspections Department at application time. (schedule)

Franklin County real property is assessed by the Franklin County Real Estate Assessment Office; tax administration and personal-property taxation are handled by the Franklin County Commissioner of the Revenue, and collection is by the Franklin County Treasurer. Virginia law requires general reassessment of real property at least once every four years for most counties (Va. Code § 58.1-3252), with more frequent cycles permitted; Franklin County historically conducts general reassessment on a multi-year cycle set by the Board of Supervisors. Unlike California's Proposition 13 acquisition-value system, Virginia uses a fair-market-value assessment system: a parcel is assessed at 100% of fair market value as of the effective date of the reassessment, and that value stands until the next general reassessment (subject to supplemental assessment for new construction). When an ADU / accessory dwelling is added to an existing parcel, the new structure is added to the assessment roll at its contributory fair market value; the primary dwelling's assessed value is not automatically re-triggered by the ADU construction itself, but the parcel's overall assessed value rises by the ADU's contributory value. Lake-frontage parcels on Smith Mountain Lake typically carry substantially higher assessed values than non-lake parcels of similar area, and the addition of an ADU to a lake-frontage parcel typically produces a larger incremental assessment increase reflecting the scarcity premium on waterfront use. At the next general reassessment, both structures are re-valued at current fair market value together. The property-tax bill equals assessed value times the Board of Supervisors' adopted real-estate tax rate (set annually in the county budget process).

Assessment policy: Virginia is a fair-market-value assessment state; a new ADU is added to the assessment roll at its contributory fair market value as a supplemental assessment effective from completion (building permit final inspection) through the balance of the tax year. The primary dwelling's prior assessed value is not automatically reset by the addition of the ADU, but the parcel's total assessed value increases by the ADU's value. At the next general reassessment (the county operates on a multi-year reassessment cycle), both the primary dwelling and the ADU are re-valued at current fair market value. Owners electing to convert existing interior space (e.g., a basement apartment) to a permitted ADU should expect the contributory value to reflect the creation of a second kitchen and second entry and the resulting increase in market-rent potential of the parcel; an owner adding a detached ADU typically sees a larger incremental assessment increase than one converting existing interior space. On Smith Mountain Lake frontage, the premium embedded in the land value and the rental-potential implications of a second lake-adjacent dwelling unit can produce a meaningfully larger incremental assessment than a comparable ADU on a non-lake interior parcel. Property-tax rates are set annually by the Franklin County Board of Supervisors in the county budget process; owners should confirm the current year's rate from the county's adopted budget because rates change annually.

Franklin County administers or is subject to several overlay regimes that materially affect ADU siting on unincorporated parcels: (1) Smith Mountain Lake Shoreline Management Plan — the single most significant county-level overlay for ADU purposes. Smith Mountain Lake is an approximately 20,600-acre reservoir impounded by Appalachian Power Company (a subsidiary of AEP) under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for the Smith Mountain Pumped Storage Project (FERC Project No. 2210). Franklin County shares the lake with Bedford County and Pittsylvania County; Franklin County has the largest share of lake frontage and the majority of lakeside residential development (Hardy, Moneta, Scruggs, Penhook, Union Hall, Westlake, Hales Ford areas). Shoreline development on lake-frontage parcels is subject to Appalachian Power's Shoreline Management Plan in addition to county zoning, which materially constrains accessory structures and second dwellings near the shoreline; (2) FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along the Blackwater River, Pigg River, Roanoke River backwaters (Smith Mountain Lake), Maggodee Creek, and other tributaries, with NFIP floodplain regulations administered through the county's floodplain ordinance; (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 — an ADU on an AFD-enrolled parcel is permitted but subject to AFD-specific review; (4) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act applicability — Franklin 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; (5) wildfire risk — Franklin County has wildfire risk tracked by the Virginia Department of Forestry, particularly in the Blue Ridge foothills in the western and southern parts of the county and on parcels adjacent to forest land, but Virginia does not have a California-style Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone regulatory overlay with mandatory ignition-resistant-construction requirements (the Virginia Statewide Building Code does incorporate limited wildland-urban interface provisions only where locally adopted); (6) Blue Ridge Parkway adjacency — Franklin County's western edge includes Blue Ridge Parkway frontage in the Callaway/Ferrum vicinity, with scenic-corridor considerations for parcels in the Parkway viewshed. Franklin County does not have a historic district overlay of the federal or state type covering large portions of the unincorporated county, though individual properties may be listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register or National Register — and the county's moonshine-era sites and early-20th-century rural architecture have produced scattered individual listings rather than a contiguous district.

• Smith Mountain Lake Shoreline Management Plan (Appalachian Power / FERC Project 2210) — Smith Mountain Lake is an artificial reservoir created by the Smith Mountain Dam and the downstream Leesville Dam, owned and operated by Appalachian Power Company under a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for the Smith Mountain Pumped Storage Project (FERC Project No. 2210, relicensed in 2009 for 30 years through 2039). Franklin County has the largest share of the lake's approximately 500 miles of shoreline. Appalachian Power administers a Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) that establishes permitting requirements for docks, boathouses, shoreline stabilization, vegetation clearing, and any structure within the licensed project boundary (generally the 800-foot elevation contour plus a defined project-boundary setback). For an ADU-style project proposed on a lake-frontage parcel, the Appalachian Power SMP is the controlling additional permit beyond county zoning: accessory structures within the project boundary require an SMP permit, and structures above the project boundary but on lake-frontage parcels are still subject to the county's SLR zoning-district standards and any subdivision covenants. Franklin County's zoning ordinance codifies an SLR (Smith Mountain Lake Residential) district that applies specific lake-oriented standards to lake-frontage parcels, including setbacks, maximum impervious coverage, and vegetation retention. This is the single most distinctive county-level overlay in Franklin County for ADU purposes. Owners of lake-frontage parcels should contact Appalachian Power Shoreline Management in Roanoke as well as Franklin County Planning at the earliest planning stage. Lake-frontage ADU projects frequently require sequenced SMP/county-zoning/building-permit/VDH approvals and cannot proceed out of order.
• FEMA National Flood Insurance Program — Special Flood Hazard Areas — Franklin 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 are along the Blackwater River (Rocky Mount area), Pigg River, Maggodee Creek, and the backwaters and tributaries feeding Smith Mountain Lake. 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. Lake-adjacent parcels may be partly in SFHA and partly outside; the exact floodplain boundary and effective BFE must be determined from the current-effective FIRM panel and any parcel-specific Letter of Map Amendment/Revision. Owners should confirm current-effective FIRM panel at the FEMA Map Service Center before design; FEMA periodically updates Virginia county maps and the Smith Mountain Lake panels have been restudied in the post-2010 map-modernization cycle.
• Franklin County SLR — Smith Mountain Lake Residential zoning district and lake-area subdivision standards — Franklin County's zoning ordinance establishes a Smith Mountain Lake Residential (SLR) district that applies to most lake-frontage parcels in the northern and northwestern part of the county. SLR incorporates lake-oriented standards including shoreline setbacks, maximum impervious coverage to protect water quality, vegetation-retention requirements, and dock/pier integration with the Appalachian Power SMP. For ADU-style projects on SLR parcels, the county's lake-district standards apply in addition to (not in lieu of) the SMP requirements. The county's subdivision ordinance also contains lake-area-specific provisions limiting lot creation density on the lake side of certain roads. Applicants on lake-frontage parcels should obtain a current zoning-verification letter from the Planning and Community Development office early in the project to confirm SLR applicability and lake-area subdivision constraints.
• Virginia Agricultural and Forestal Districts (local option under state law) — Franklin 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. Franklin County has a substantial agricultural base (tobacco historically, cattle, timber, wine grapes in the Ferrum/Callaway vicinity); a significant acreage is in AFD enrollment. 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 Franklin County AFD Advisory Committee and the zoning administrator before assuming ADU compatibility.
• Virginia Department of Forestry wildfire risk and Virginia Statewide Building Code WUI provisions — Virginia has wildfire risk in the Blue Ridge and Appalachian counties, and Franklin County's western and southern edges in the Blue Ridge foothills (Ferrum, Callaway, Endicott, Charity) have elevated wildfire exposure, particularly on forest-adjacent and steep-slope parcels. 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), does include Appendix K of the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code only where adopted; Virginia has not statewide-adopted the IWUIC. Owners in wildfire-exposed Franklin County locations should follow best practices but face no locality-imposed WUI construction overlay analogous to California Chapter 7A.
• Blue Ridge Parkway adjacency (federal scenic corridor) — Franklin County's western edge includes Blue Ridge Parkway frontage in the Callaway/Ferrum vicinity. The Parkway is federally managed by the National Park Service; federal regulation applies to activities within the Parkway boundary, not to private parcels outside it. However, county zoning and subdivision have historically considered scenic-corridor impacts on the Parkway viewshed (per National Park Service cooperative policy), and individual deed restrictions or scenic easements may apply to specific parcels along the corridor. Owners of parcels adjacent to the Parkway should check the zoning overlay (if any) in effect for their specific parcel and any recorded scenic easements before designing an accessory dwelling with visibility from the Parkway.