Ruckersville

Greene County does not use the 'accessory dwelling unit' term as a formal zoning category with its own size cap. Instead, the county's additional-residential-unit mechanism is Section 16-1-5 of the Zoning Ordinance: in the A-1 (Agricultural) and C-1 (Conservation) zoning districts, 'one additional single-family dwelling may be constructed on a parcel of record in addition to the principal dwelling at the density not to exceed one additional single-family dwelling to every 16 acres of land.' The additional dwelling is not subject to a square-foot cap under Section 16-1-5; it is simply counted as a full second single-family dwelling subject to the same setback, lot-coverage, and building-code requirements as the principal dwelling, but density is capped at one extra unit per 16 acres. In the R-1 (Residential) and other urbanized districts, the one-principal-building-per-lot rule of Section 16-1-4 applies and a second full dwelling is not by-right; true 'accessory dwelling unit' style (attached or detached subordinate living quarters to a principal dwelling) is handled case-by-case by the Zoning Administrator under the Article 5 R-1 accessory-use provisions, typically as an attached in-dwelling family apartment within the principal structure footprint. Third-party ADU-regulation summaries (Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission) describe Greene as 'allowed by-right in C-1, A-1, R-1 zones, owner must live on site'; the primary-source ordinance confirms the A-1 and C-1 paths via Section 16-1-5 but treats R-1 accessory living quarters as an accessory-use determination rather than an enumerated ADU category. Detached accessory dwellings on the same lot as a principal dwelling are not by-right under Section 16-1-4 and require either the Section 16-1-5 density path (A-1/C-1 only) or a zoning determination / special use permit. Greene County's Comprehensive Plan commits the county to developing an ADU implementation guide and toolkit to promote ADU affordability benefits; as of 2026 the toolkit is in development and no formal ADU-specific ordinance amendment has been enacted.

Greene County administers three principal overlay regimes that bear on ADU and second-dwelling projects: (1) a General Floodplain District (FP) under the county zoning ordinance (FP section revised 3/23/2021) tied to FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas on the Rapidan, Rivanna, and their tributaries; (2) conservation easements held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, the Piedmont Environmental Council, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, with material concentration along the Shenandoah National Park boundary on the county's west edge (Shenandoah Borderlands Conservation Initiative); (3) the Land Use (use-value) program administered by the Commissioner of the Revenue under Va. Code § 58.1-3230, which does not restrict ADU construction but can be breached by one, removing the deferred-assessment benefit. Greene County has no coastal-commission jurisdiction (it is a fully inland Piedmont county with no Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act reach), no statewide WUI-equivalent regulatory overlay (Virginia has none), no seismic-retrofit overlay, and no Part 150 airport-noise overlay (no commercial airport inside the county). Shenandoah National Park occupies the county's western boundary ridge along the Blue Ridge but is federal land and does not extend regulatory reach into private parcels; however, the National Park Service's cultural and dark-sky values inform the PEC Shenandoah Borderlands easement push on privately held adjacent lands.

• General Floodplain District (FP)
• Conservation Easement Overlay (VOF, PEC, NRCS / Shenandoah Borderlands)
• Land Use (use-value) assessment program

An ADU / second-dwelling project in Greene County routes through two county-level departments. Planning & Zoning (Director James F. Frydl, Deputy Director Stephanie Golon, Zoning Officer Earl Keys, Permit Technician Cristy Snead) issues the zoning permit confirming use eligibility under Section 16-1-5 (A-1/C-1 second-dwelling) or the R-1 accessory-use path. 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 public water and sewer, the Thomas Jefferson Health District (VDH local office serving Greene County) issues the well-and-septic construction permit, which must be in hand before the county will issue the building permit. Applications are filed online through the county's CivicGov project portal or by email to inspections@gcva.us. Detailed building permits typically take two to three weeks of plan-review time.