ADU Pass
West Point
ADU Pass helps homeowners in West Point, King William County, Virginia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
West Point is an incorporated town (population approximately 3,300) at the confluence of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers (forming the York River) in southern King William County. The town is dominated by the WestRock Kraft mill (formerly RockTenn / Chesapeake Corp), one of the largest paper mills on the East Coast; the mill anchors the town economy and dominates the waterfront. The Town of West Point administers its own zoning code separate from the King William County Zoning Ordinance — town parcels are not under county zoning. ADUs are regulated through the Town zoning code (typically 800-900 sqft cap, owner-occupancy of one of the two units, family-member or supplementary-rental use). Waterfront tourism, fishing charters, and cottage rentals support modest STR demand. The Pamunkey Indian Reservation (federally recognized tribe) is on the south bank of the Pamunkey opposite West Point — sovereign tribal territory outside both county and town jurisdiction.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $2,200 | $55,650 | $57,850 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,200 | $166,950 | $169,150 |
| maximum | 900 | $2,200 | $250,425 | $252,625 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
- Pre-application contact at West Point Community Development (~5d)
Reach Holly McGowan, Director of Community Development (hmcgowan@west-point.va.us / 804-843-3563) at 802 Main Street, West Point, VA 23181. The Town of West Point - unlike the surrounding King William County towns - administers its own zoning AND its own building permits in-house, so a single department handles the full ADU file. - Zoning Permit (Zoning Permit Application 2024) (~14d)
First of three permit categories: 'zoning, land disturbance, and building.' Town zoning permit is required for any new building, addition, accessory structure, or new USE of land or structure. The Zoning Permit Application 2024 form is downloadable from the Town site. Zoning sign-off must precede the building permit. - Chesapeake Bay Preservation review (RPA/RMA delineation) (~45d)
King William County and West Point are within Tidewater Virginia subject to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (Va. Code 62.1-44.15:67 et seq.). The Town's downloadable 'Chesapeake Bay Exception' application indicates an overlay applies. ADU construction within 100 feet of the Pamunkey, Mattaponi, or York River shoreline (Resource Protection Area) may require an exception/variance; sites in the broader Resource Management Area need stormwater and buffer review. Site delineation by a qualified professional is typically required. - Land Disturbance Permit (when project disturbs >2,500 sqft) (~21d)
Per Town policy: 'Land disturbance permits are required for any activity affecting a land area of more than 2,500 square feet, including all new single-family dwellings.' Pre-clearing and post-clearing site inspections verify erosion and sediment-control compliance. A standalone detached ADU on a previously cleared lot may avoid this; new driveway or drainfield work typically triggers it. - Town Building Permit application (Ron Minick, Building Official) (~1d)
Submit to Ron Minick, Building Official (rminick@west-point.va.us / 804-843-3426). Plans stamped per the 2021 Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (13 VAC 5-63). The Town processes building-permit intake and inspections daily. - Plan review (zoning, building, Chesapeake Bay) and trade permits (~28d)
Concurrent review across the Town's three permit tracks. Virginia DPOR-licensed electrical, plumbing, and mechanical contractors file trade permits with the Town. Any RPA buffer encroachment receives a Bay Act exception finding before the building permit issues. - Permit issuance and town water/sewer tap (~5d)
Permit issues after fees paid and corrections cleared. Town Public Works (separate division) handles new water and sewer connections; municipal water and sewer cover all in-town parcels. - Construction inspections by Town Building Official
Footing, foundation, framing, rough-in (electrical/plumbing/mechanical), insulation, and final inspections by the Town's Building Official directly. Daily inspection scheduling. - Certificate of Occupancy (~5d)
Final inspection pass triggers Town-issued CO. King William County Commissioner of the Revenue is notified for supplemental real-estate assessment (West Point levies its own town real-estate tax on top of the county tax).
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of an ADU is generally permitted; Virginia landlord-tenant law (Va. Code Section 55.1-1200 et seq., the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) governs.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions King William County regulates STRs through its zoning ordinance; STR of an ADU typically requires registration and Transient Occupancy Tax compliance.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires a home-occupation permit or rezoning under home-occupation provisions.
- Home office: yes Home occupation is permitted in residential and rural districts with restrictions on signage, customer traffic, and outside storage.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio (artist, music, woodworking) is a permitted accessory use in residential and agricultural districts.
- Agriculture: yes Agricultural / Rural districts expressly permit farm structures and the keeping of livestock subject to setback rules; Lee County and the Tidewater counties have substantial Agricultural and Rural Conservation district acreage.
- Relative support: yes Family / multi-generational accessory dwelling is the most common pattern and is expressly permitted.
Contacts
Staff: Holly McGowan (Director of Community Development, Town of West Point) hmcgowan@west-point.va.us, Ron Minick (Building Official, Town of West Point) rminick@west-point.va.us
Utilities
- Water: Town of West Point public water in town limits · 45d connect · $5,500
- Sewer: Town of West Point sanitary sewer in town limits · 60d connect · $9,000
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia (along main corridors); Rappahannock Electric Cooperative serves rural portions · 30d connect · $2,400
- Gas: Limited natural-gas distribution; bottled propane is the norm in rural areas · 14d connect · $1,900
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 9mo · typical 13mo · worst 22mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Virginia has no HOA-ADU preemption. HOA covenants restricting ADUs are enforceable.
Regulatory overlays (2)
- wetland-overlay
Resource Protection Area 100-ft buffer from tidal waters, perennial streams, and wetlands restricts ADU siting near shorelines. Resource Management Area requires Water Quality Impact Assessment for non-trivial site disturbance. King William County is fully Tidewater under the CBPA framework. (map) - flood-zone
FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area mapping along major rivers and tributaries. Floodplain Development Permit required when any portion of the parcel is in the SFHA; finished floor must clear Base Flood Elevation plus Virginia freeboard. (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Town of West Point Zoning Ordinance, accessory dwelling and Historic District provisions, adopted 2010-01-01, last amended 2023-01-01
- 1979-01-01 — Va. Code Section 15.2-2280 zoning authority codified (Dillon Rule baseline) (state-statute)
Virginia delegated zoning authority to counties, cities, and towns without an ADU-specific preemption.
Effect: Each Virginia locality regulates ADUs through its own zoning ordinance; ADUs are not automatically permitted statewide.
Known issues (1)
- other — Wall-clock and discretion are significantly higher than counties with codified ADU standards; SUP/CUP approval timeline alone is typically 90-150 days before building-permit review begins.
King William County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
King William County does NOT maintain a standalone accessory-dwelling-unit ordinance with dedicated definitional and dimensional standards. ADUs in King William County are regulated indirectly through the Zoning Ordinance's treatment of 'accessory use,' 'accessory structure,' and 'dwelling, single-family detached' in Article II, combined with the per-district use schedules. In the A-C Conservation, A-1 Agricultural Limited, and RC Rural Conservation districts (which cover the great majority of county acreage), one principal dwelling per lot is permitted with customary accessory structures; a second independent dwelling unit typically requires a Special Use Permit from the Board of Supervisors after Planning Commission recommendation, though a 'family-member' or 'tenant house / farm labor dwelling' allowance is recognized in the agricultural and rural-conservation districts subject to minimum lot area (commonly 10 acres) and agricultural-use demonstration. In the R-1 and R-2 residential districts, a second dwelling requires a Special Use Permit. A 'guest house' accessory structure without independent kitchen facilities (no cooking facilities) is generally permitted as a by-right accessory structure subject to district setback, height, and lot-coverage standards. Applicants should confirm current ordinance text with the Zoning Administrator before committing to a project pro forma — the ordinance has been amended multiple times and specific ADU-like allowances vary by district and by interpretation of the 'customarily incidental' accessory-use standard.
County regulatory overlays
King William County administers several overlay regimes that bear materially on ADU projects: (1) a Floodplain Overlay District tied to FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along the Mattaponi River, the Pamunkey River, and their tributaries — King William County is a distinctly river-bounded Middle Peninsula jurisdiction and a substantial share of low-lying tidal-adjacent parcels are in-mapped floodplain; (2) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act jurisdiction across the county (King William is a Tidewater locality designated under Va. Code § 62.1-44.15:67 et seq.), with Resource Protection Area (RPA) buffers of 100 feet from perennial water bodies and tidal wetlands and Resource Management Area (RMA) coverage across additional landward extent; (3) the Mattaponi Indian Reservation and the Pamunkey Indian Reservation, which are sovereign tribal enclaves outside county zoning and building-permit jurisdiction; (4) locally-adopted historic overlays and NRHP-listed rural corridors. King William County has NO California-style coastal commission (Virginia has no coastal-commission analog; coastal regulation flows through the CBPA, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission for tidal-wetlands permits, and local ordinances), NO CalFire-equivalent WUI regulatory overlay (Virginia has no statewide WUI overlay), and NO seismic-retrofit overlay.
- Floodplain Overlay District
- Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) Resource Protection Area and Resource Management Area
- Mattaponi Indian Reservation (sovereign tribal enclave)
- Pamunkey Indian Reservation (federally recognized sovereign tribal nation)
- King William County historic overlays and NRHP-listed rural corridors
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
King William County's Department of Community Development handles zoning permits, Special Use Permits, site plan review, and subdivision review for every parcel in the county except those inside the Town of West Point (which administers its own zoning) and parcels on the Mattaponi and Pamunkey reservations (tribal sovereignty). Building Inspections issues building permits and trade permits for the same non-tribal, non-town territory. A typical ADU-like permit bundle (where a second dwelling is permitted) includes: (1) a Special Use Permit from the Board of Supervisors with Planning Commission recommendation, unless the parcel qualifies for an agricultural / rural-conservation tenant or farm-labor dwelling allowance, (2) a Zoning Permit confirming use compliance and district setback compliance, (3) a Building Permit with stamped residential plans, (4) Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical trade permits, (5) a Virginia Department of Health (VDH) - Three Rivers Health District construction permit for well and/or septic on parcels not served by public water or sewer (which is the great majority of parcels in the county — only the Central Garage / Route 360 corridor and the Town of West Point area have material public utility coverage), (6) a Floodplain Development Permit if any portion of the parcel is within the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area along the Mattaponi or Pamunkey Rivers or their tributaries, (7) a Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act review — King William County IS a Tidewater locality subject to the CBPA, so Resource Protection Area (RPA) and Resource Management Area (RMA) rules apply across tidal-water-adjacent parcels, and (8) a Historic District review if the parcel is within a county-designated historic overlay.
Virginia state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
Virginia has NOT enacted a statewide ADU preemption law. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state — localities possess only those powers expressly granted by the General Assembly — and the statutes granting zoning authority (Va. Code § 15.2-2280 et seq.) leave ADU regulation to local ordinances. ADU permission, setbacks, parking, size, and owner-occupancy rules therefore vary by county, independent city, and town. Virginia is unique in that it has 38 independent cities that function as counties (neither in nor subordinate to the surrounding county), meaning 'the county' for any given Virginia property may be an independent city rather than a true county. Several ADU preemption bills have been introduced in recent General Assembly sessions (2022 through 2025) without enactment; none have advanced past committee as of the Assembly's 2026 regular session adjournment.
State financing programs
Virginia does not operate an ADU-specific statewide loan, grant, or forgivable-loan program. Virginia Housing (formerly the Virginia Housing Development Authority, VHDA — rebranded 2020) administers general first-time-homebuyer, down-payment-assistance (DPA), mortgage-credit-certificate, and rehabilitation products that can be applied to ADU-adjacent purchases or improvements when eligibility criteria are met, but none target ADU construction as a distinct product. The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) administers federal HOME and CDBG pass-through funds that local jurisdictions can direct toward ADU-adjacent rehab, but there is no state-level ADU-dedicated line item. Federally available products (FHA 203(k), Fannie Mae HomeReady and HomeStyle Renovation, Freddie Mac CHOICERenovation) remain the primary ADU financing path for Virginia homeowners.
State housing programs
Virginia does not run a state-level pre-approved-ADU-plan catalog, statewide impact-fee-waiver statute for ADUs, or streamlined-review mandate. State-level programs that touch ADU-adjacent policy are coordinated primarily through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and Virginia Housing, and act by funding or assisting local jurisdictions rather than by preemption. Local ADU activity — Arlington County's Accessory Dwellings program (detached ADUs permitted since 2008, liberalized 2020), Alexandria's accessory-dwelling ordinance, Fairfax County's accessory-living-unit program, and Charlottesville's 2021 zoning-code changes — is authorized under the localities' Va. Code § 15.2-2280 zoning authority, not by state mandate.
- DHCD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program — Federal CDBG funds administered by DHCD to eligible non-entitlement Virginia localities for community-revitalization, housing-rehab, and infrastructure projects. Not ADU-specific. Participating localities can direct CDBG funds toward housing-rehab projects where local policy supports ADUs.
- DHCD HOME Investment Partnerships Program — Federal HOME funds administered by DHCD to Virginia participating jurisdictions and non-profits for affordable-housing acquisition, rehab, and new construction. Not ADU-specific; can be directed to ADU-adjacent rehab at local discretion.
- Virginia Housing Commission — Permanent advisory commission of the General Assembly that studies housing-policy questions and recommends legislation. Has periodically studied ADU preemption and missing-middle housing without recommending statewide enactment as of 2026-04-21.
- Local ADU ordinances under Va. Code § 15.2-2280 authority — Not a state program — listed here because Virginia ADU policy is executed entirely at the locality level under the § 15.2-2280 zoning grant. A homeowner seeking to build an ADU consults the zoning ordinance of the specific county, city, or town where the parcel is located.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Code
- 23181
Post Office
- 925 Main St, 23181