Kenbridge

Lunenburg County does NOT have a standalone accessory-dwelling-unit (ADU) ordinance. The Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 30 of the Lunenburg County Code) regulates dwelling uses through the per-district use tables and accompanying definitions; 'accessory dwelling unit' is not identified as a separate named use category in the county's publicly-listed ordinance resources, and county application materials do not publish an ADU-specific permit pathway. The operative framework is one principal dwelling per lot, with any second dwelling on an existing parcel routing through either (a) a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) / Special Use Permit requiring Planning Commission recommendation and Board of Supervisors approval under Va. Code § 15.2-2286, (b) subdivision of the parcel into two conforming lots under the Subdivision Ordinance followed by a standard zoning/building permit for a second principal dwelling on the new lot, or (c) a Board of Zoning Appeals variance where a narrow dimensional issue bars an otherwise-qualifying proposal. Virginia has not enacted a statewide ADU preemption as of 2026-04-21 (per the adupass Virginia state-adu-research file: Virginia is a Dillon Rule state; the General Assembly has not passed an ADU bill through the 2026 regular session; Va. Code § 15.2-2280 et seq. leaves ADU regulation to localities). Lunenburg County's silence on ADUs is therefore the binding local rule.

Lunenburg County administers or is subject to three principal overlay regimes that bear on second-dwelling and accessory-structure projects: (1) Floodplain Management Ordinance tied to the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map — mapped primarily along the Meherrin River corridor (southern and central Lunenburg), the Nottoway River headwaters (northern edge near the Nottoway/Prince Edward boundary), Flat Creek, Lazaretto Creek, Butcher Creek, and their tributaries; (2) the Virginia Land Use (use-value) assessment program administered by the Commissioner of the Revenue under Va. Code § 58.1-3230 et seq., which does not restrict construction but can be breached by a second dwelling, removing the deferred-assessment benefit and triggering up to six years of rollback taxes under § 58.1-3237 — high exposure in Lunenburg given the county's 100%-rural census classification and heavy agricultural/forest land base (tobacco legacy, timber, cattle); (3) dam-break inundation zones mapped by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation under the Virginia Dam Safety Act (Va. Code § 10.1-604 et seq.) for high-hazard and significant-hazard dams within or upstream of Lunenburg parcels — applicants should check the DCR Dam Safety Information Map for each project because inundation-zone status is not visible on standard FEMA FIRM maps. Lunenburg has NO coastal-commission jurisdiction (inland Piedmont; no tidal waters; well outside the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act Tidewater boundary), NO statewide WUI regulatory overlay (Virginia has none), NO seismic-retrofit overlay (outside the Central Virginia Seismic Zone), and NO Part 150 airport-noise overlay (no commercial airport inside the county; the nearest general-aviation airports are Crewe Municipal in Nottoway County and Lake Country Regional in Mecklenburg County, neither of which generates Part 150 coverage reaching Lunenburg). The county does not operate a county-administered local Architectural Review Board with design-review authority over private parcels.

• Lunenburg County Floodplain Management Ordinance (FEMA NFIP participation)
• Land Use (use-value) assessment program
• Virginia Dam-Break Inundation Zone mapping

An accessory-dwelling or second-dwelling project on an unincorporated Lunenburg County parcel routes through the Building & Zoning office at the Lunenburg County Administration Building (11435 Courthouse Road, Lunenburg, VA 23952). Zoning handles the zoning-permit approval (required before any building permit can issue), any Conditional Use Permit / Special Use Permit (the likely path for a second dwelling given the absence of a by-right ADU category), Subdivision Plat Review (if the subdivision path is chosen), and BZA Variance review. Building Inspection handles the building permit under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (13 VAC 5-63) and issues trade permits (electrical, plumbing, mechanical). Because most rural Lunenburg County parcels lack public water and sewer, the Piedmont Health District (Virginia Department of Health local office covering Amelia, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Nottoway, and Prince Edward; Farmville office at 111 South Street, Farmville, VA 23901) issues the well-and-septic construction permit for such parcels; the VDH permit must be in hand before the county will issue the building permit. Applications are submitted in person or by email/mail at the County Administration Building; Lunenburg does not operate a modern Accela-, Tyler-, or CivicGov-integrated online permit portal as of 2026-04-21.