ADU Pass
Susan
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Susan, Mathews 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
Susan is an unincorporated rural community in Mathews County on the Middle Peninsula. ADUs are governed by Mathews County Zoning Ordinance with extensive Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act RPA / RMA constraints on most parcels and significant FEMA SFHA exposure given the peninsular geometry.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,800 | $43,000 | $44,800 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,800 | $129,000 | $130,800 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,800 | $193,500 | $195,300 |
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., Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) governs.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions STR is generally treated as a use of the underlying residential classification, subject to the Virginia Transient Occupancy Tax administered by the Commissioner of the Revenue. Owners using a CUP-approved second dwelling for STR should anticipate STR review may be a condition during CUP hearing.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home-occupation approval 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 limited livestock; family-member farm-labor dwellings are permitted on minimum-acreage parcels.
- Relative support: yes Family / multi-generational accessory dwelling under family-member dwelling allowance is the most common ADU pattern.
Contacts
Staff: Counter Staff (Zoning Administrator / Building Official)
Utilities
- Water: Mix of public water in service-district pockets and private wells; provider varies by parcel · 45d connect · $8,500
- Sewer: Private septic system common; public sewer limited to in-town pockets · 60d connect · $12,000
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia or local electric cooperative (varies by parcel) · 30d connect · $2,400
- Gas: Bottled propane is the rural norm; limited natural-gas distribution near urban cores · 14d connect · $1,900
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 9mo · typical 14mo · worst 20mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Virginia has no HOA-ADU preemption.
Regulatory overlays (2)
- wetland-overlay
Mathews County is fully Tidewater under CBPA. Resource Protection Area 100-ft buffer from tidal waters, perennial streams, and wetlands restricts ADU siting. Most county parcels carry RPA or RMA designation given peninsular geometry. (map) - flood-zone
Most Mathews County parcels intersect mapped Special Flood Hazard Area; Floodplain Development Permit and Elevation Certificate required. (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Mathews County Zoning Ordinance, adopted 1990-01-01, 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 — Many waterfront ADUs require AOSS septic, elevation above Base Flood, and architectural setbacks beyond standard zoning, adding $20K-$60K above interior comparable projects.
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 Code
- 23163
Post Office
- 5297 New Point Comfort Hwy, 23163