Glen Allen

Henrico County regulates accessory dwellings under its Chapter 24 Zoning Ordinance. As of 2026-04-21, Henrico has NOT enacted a modern ADU-preemption-style ordinance permitting detached ADUs ministerially on single-family-residential parcels. The county's long-standing framework permits accessory 'family member' dwellings and limited accessory apartments under narrow conditions — typically in agricultural (A-1) zones and through provisional-use or special-exception review in residential (R) districts — with owner-occupancy, relatedness, size, and minimum-lot-area conditions. The Zoning Ordinance Update (ZO Update) initiative, underway since approximately 2022 and led by the Henrico Planning Department and Planning Commission, has periodically considered broader ADU allowances; however, as of this research date no by-right ministerial ADU entitlement statute has replaced the existing conditional framework. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state with no statewide ADU preemption (see state research file), so Henrico's local rules are effectively the only floor: where Chapter 24 does not explicitly allow a second dwelling, it is prohibited. Applicants planning an accessory dwelling in Henrico should (a) confirm the parcel's current zoning classification on the county's GIS viewer, (b) consult Chapter 24 Article III (Districts) for the governing use table, (c) verify whether the proposed use fits a permitted or conditional category, and (d) engage Planning staff pre-application. Because Chapter 24 is under active review, the specific code citation and any by-right/conditional pivot may shift between the research date and any later applicant filing.

• Code of the County of Henrico, Chapter 24 (Zoning Ordinance) — Article I (General Provisions), Article II (Definitions), Article III (Districts and District Regulations), Article V (Supplementary Use Regulations)
• Virginia Code § 15.2-2280 et seq. (zoning enabling authority for Virginia counties, cities, and towns); § 15.2-2286 (provisions that may be included in a zoning ordinance); Dillon Rule doctrine
• Henrico County Zoning Ordinance Update (ZO Update) — in-progress comprehensive rewrite

State-floor overlay: Virginia has NOT enacted a statewide ADU preemption law. Va. Code § 15.2-2280 et seq. delegates zoning authority to counties, independent cities, and towns, subject to planning-commission procedure and advertised public hearing. No state floor mandates ADU permissibility, ministerial review, minimum allowed size, parking-requirement ceilings, or removal of owner-occupancy requirements. Localities can and do prohibit ADUs entirely under this framework. ADU preemption bills have been introduced in the 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 Virginia General Assembly sessions without enactment. Henrico County's Chapter 24 therefore operates without a state ceiling on local restrictions — whatever Henrico's ordinance says controls. See src/data/state-adu-research/virginia.json for the full statutory framework.

• wetland-overlay — Applicants should always pull a parcel's RPA/RMA overlay on the county GIS viewer before siting any detached accessory dwelling; a structure inside the RPA buffer will trigger administrative-review requirements at minimum, and frequently leads to relocation of the proposed building envelope outside the buffer as the cheapest compliance path. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) provides statewide CBPA guidance at deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/water/chesapeake-bay.
• flood-zone — FIRM maps published by FEMA are the authoritative flood-zone source; the county's GIS viewer overlays current effective FIRMs on the parcel layer. Finished-floor elevation requirements for residential construction in SFHAs typically require the lowest floor (including basement) to be at or above the base-flood elevation (BFE), with Henrico commonly imposing a 1-foot freeboard above BFE per its local ordinance. Flood-zone status also affects flood-insurance cost under NFIP Risk Rating 2.0.
• airport-noise-zone — Applicants building an accessory dwelling near RIC should check parcel status against the Airport Safety Overlay on the county GIS viewer. Height restrictions are the most common constraint for parcels within transitional surfaces; residential-use compatibility and a real-estate disclosure obligation apply within the designated noise contours. The county does not prohibit residential use within noise zones but does require acknowledgement.
• historic-district — Register-listed (National or Virginia) status alone does NOT by itself create a local review requirement; only locally-designated historic-overlay district status does. However, federal preservation tax incentives and state rehabilitation tax credits do apply to register-listed properties and can materially improve the economics of an ADU-adjacent rehab if the property qualifies.

Every parcel in Henrico County is unincorporated (the county contains no incorporated towns and no independent cities are located inside its boundaries), so the county's Department of Planning and Department of Building Construction and Inspections (Building Inspections) are the sole permitting authorities for any accessory-dwelling construction in Henrico. The combined permit path is a two-track review: (a) a zoning-compliance determination confirming the proposed accessory dwelling fits a permitted or conditionally permitted category under Chapter 24 (handled by the Planning Department's zoning-plan-review staff), and (b) a building-code plan review and inspection cycle confirming compliance with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC), which incorporates the Virginia Residential Code and associated state-adopted supplements (handled by Building Inspections). For parcels where Chapter 24 does not permit a second dwelling by right, the applicant must first obtain a provisional-use permit, special-exception approval, or zoning variance through the Board of Zoning Appeals or the Planning Commission / Board of Supervisors, depending on the procedure Chapter 24 specifies for the use category. Henrico uses an online permit portal (Citizen Self Service) for building-permit intake and an in-person pre-application conference process (offered free of charge to applicants) for zoning questions.