ADU Pass
Cobbs Creek
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Cobbs Creek, Mathews County, Virginia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 2 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
Cobbs Creek is a small unincorporated rural community in northwestern Mathews County along VA 198 near the Piankatank River and the namesake Cobbs Creek tributary. Mathews County has NO incorporated towns; every parcel is under county zoning and the Wetlands Zoning Board / CBPA reviews. Cobbs Creek parcels include working waterfront and tidal-creek frontage; RPA buffers and FEMA SFHA mapping are extensive. Hurricane wind-design (130 mph) applies countywide.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,800 | $58,800 | $60,600 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,800 | $176,400 | $178,200 |
| maximum | 1,200 | $1,800 | $352,800 | $354,600 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
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 Mathews County regulates STRs through its zoning ordinance; STR demand is meaningful given the Chesapeake Bay frontage and boating-tourism economy. Coastal-village STR occupancy peaks in summer. STR of an ADU typically requires registration and Transient Occupancy Tax compliance; some districts may require an SUP.
- 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 Mathews County retains substantial Agricultural and Rural Conservation district acreage; farm structures and the keeping of livestock are expressly permitted subject to setback rules and CBPA / RPA review.
- Relative support: yes Family / multi-generational accessory dwelling is the most common ADU pattern; in qualifying districts an attached / internal family ADU may proceed administratively without an SUP.
Contacts
Staff: Planning Counter (Zoning Administrator / Permit Intake), Building Official (Building Official), Wetlands Zoning Board Clerk (Wetlands Zoning Board Clerk)
Utilities
- Water: Almost entirely private well; Mathews County Public Utilities does not serve Cobbs Creek. · 60d connect · $9,500
- Sewer: Almost entirely private septic with VDH-Three Rivers Health District oversight; tidewater soils with shallow seasonal groundwater can require AOSS. · 100d connect · $16,500
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia (Route 14 / Route 198 corridor); Rappahannock Electric Cooperative reaches some inland portions. · 30d connect · $2,500
- Gas: No piped natural-gas distribution in Mathews County; bottled propane is the universal norm. · 14d connect · $2,000
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 10mo · typical 14mo · worst 24mo
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. Some Mathews waterfront subdivisions (Gwynn Island portions, the Mobjack Bay-frontage developments) carry HOA covenants; rural mainland parcels are typically not in HOAs.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- wetland-overlay
Mathews County is fully Tidewater under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. RPA is the 100-foot buffer landward of perennial water bodies and tidal wetlands; RMA extends landward. The Wetlands Zoning Board administers tidal-wetlands permits under Va. Code Section 28.2-1300 et seq., with parallel VMRC and Army Corps review for any project touching tidal wetlands or subaqueous bottom. (map) - flood-zone
Mathews County intersects extensive FEMA SFHA mapping along the Chesapeake Bay frontage, Mobjack Bay, Milford Haven, the East River, the North River, the Ware River, the Piankatank River, and a dense interior creek network. Floodplain Development Permit required; ADU finished floor must clear BFE plus county freeboard. Coastal flooding and sea-level rise are escalating concerns under the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan. (map) - other
Mathews County is in the 130 mph wind-design zone per ASCE 7-22; ADU design must meet hurricane-strap, wind-borne-debris, and missile-impact requirements where applicable. (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Mathews County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 175 (Zoning) (governs Cobbs Creek), adopted 1990-01-01, last amended 2024-01-01
- 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 (2)
- other — Wall-clock for waterfront ADU projects routinely runs 2-3 months longer than for inland Virginia counties; living-shoreline engineering can add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost stack.
- other — Construction detailing (hurricane straps, impact-rated openings, elevated finished floor) and insurance premium are materially higher than for inland Virginia counties.
Mathews County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Mathews County's Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 175 of the County Code) addresses accessory dwelling units through the per-district use schedules and the Supplemental District Regulations. ADUs are permitted in certain residential and agricultural districts; the ordinance generally caps ADU size around 1,200 square feet or less with standard setbacks and lot-coverage compliance. Detached ADUs typically require a special use permit (SUP) in residential districts; attached or internal ADUs in qualifying districts may proceed through administrative approval subject to performance standards. All construction must comply with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC, 13 VAC 5-63). The Planning, Zoning and Wetlands Department administers the ordinance; the Wetlands Zoning Board (a separately constituted local body) administers tidal-wetlands permitting under Va. Code § 28.2-1300 et seq. Confirm current ordinance text and the per-district treatment with Planning, Zoning and Wetlands at 804-725-7172.
County regulatory overlays
Mathews County administers a Floodplain Overlay tied to FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas — given the county's heavy shoreline density and low elevations, a substantial share of parcels are in-mapped SFHA. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Overlay covers the entire county under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. The Wetlands Zoning Board administers tidal-wetlands permitting under Va. Code § 28.2-1300 et seq., a parallel review with state Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) and federal Army Corps of Engineers. Mathews County is a Coastal Resilience Master Plan focus locality given its low elevations, dense shoreline, and exposure to coastal flooding and sea-level rise. Locally adopted Agricultural and Forestal Districts (Va. Code § 15.2-4300 et seq.) preserve farmland on a renewable-petition basis. Mathews has NO designated coastal-commission analog beyond the Wetlands Zoning Board / VMRC / Army Corps stack, NO statewide WUI regulatory overlay, and NO seismic-retrofit overlay. There are no FAA Part 150 commercial-airport noise zones reaching the county.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
A typical ADU-like permit bundle in Mathews County includes: (1) pre-application zoning inquiry to determine whether the project qualifies for administrative approval (attached / internal ADU in a qualifying district) or requires a Special Use Permit (detached ADU in many residential districts), (2) zoning permit confirming use compliance and Article 6 / Supplemental District Regulations performance standards, (3) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act review — Mathews IS a Tidewater locality fully subject to the CBPA — including Resource Protection Area (RPA) and Resource Management Area (RMA) buffer review, (4) Wetlands Zoning Board permit if any tidal wetlands or subaqueous bottom is affected (this is common in Mathews given the heavy shoreline density), (5) building permit with stamped residential plans and USBC-compliant detail, (6) electrical, plumbing, and mechanical trade permits, (7) Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Three Rivers Health District construction permit for well and onsite septic for parcels not served by Mathews County Public Utilities (the county provides limited public water in some served areas; sewer service is very limited; most parcels rely on private well and onsite septic), (8) floodplain development permit if any portion of the parcel is within the FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, and (9) erosion-and-sediment-control / land-disturbance permit (Tidewater 2,500 sqft threshold).
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 Codes
- 23035
- 23050
Post Office
- 2963 Buckley Hall Rd, 23035