ADU Pass
Dogue
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Dogue, No 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
Dogue is a tiny unincorporated CDP in King George County on Virginia's Northern Neck, named for the Doeg (or Dogue) tribe that inhabited the area before European colonization. ADUs are permitted under King George County zoning subject to the 30-day-minimum tenancy restriction (no STR), VDH well/septic approval, and performance standards in Attachment B.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,050 | $54,000 | $55,050 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,250 | $168,000 | $169,250 |
| midpoint | 600 | $1,250 | $168,000 | $169,250 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $1,300 | $290,000 | $291,300 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental (30+ days) of accessory dwelling permitted.
- Short-term rental: no King George County explicitly prohibits offering, leasing, or renting an accessory dwelling for tenancies of less than 30 days. STR via Airbnb/VRBO of an ADU is NOT permitted.
- Office rental: no Must remain a dwelling unit.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted under County standards.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist or workshop use permitted.
- Agriculture: yes Most Dogue parcels are agricultural; right-to-farm protections apply.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU is the dominant King George County use case.
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Private well (VDH Three Rivers Health District approval required); King George County Service Authority for limited service areas · 45d connect · $8,800
- Sewer: Private septic system (VDH Three Rivers Health District approval required); KGCSA for limited service areas · 60d connect · $13,000
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia or Rappahannock Electric Cooperative · 28d connect · $1,700
- Gas: Propane (no natural-gas distribution in Dogue) · 14d connect · $1,800
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 10mo · worst 16mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
Route 3 / US-301 access; some Northern Neck roads have weight or width restrictions.
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Dogue area is largely rural unincorporated land; HOAs are uncommon outside a few waterfront subdivisions.
Regulatory overlays (1)
- wetland-overlay
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act applies in King George County. Resource Protection Areas (100-ft buffer from tidal waters) restrict new construction; many Dogue parcels carry RPA or RMA overlay due to proximity to the Rappahannock and Potomac watersheds.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: King George County Zoning Ordinance Article 3 (General Regulations) and Attachment B Use Performance Standards, adopted 2020-06-01, last amended 2024-09-01
- 2020-06-01 — King George County Zoning Ordinance accessory-dwelling provisions consolidated (county-ordinance)
King George County consolidated accessory-dwelling rules into Article 3 (General Regulations) with detailed Use Performance Standards in Attachment B, including the 30-day-minimum tenancy rule.
Effect: Established the current accessory-dwelling framework that governs Dogue parcels, including the STR prohibition for accessory dwellings.
Known issues (1)
- other — 30-day-minimum-tenancy rule on accessory dwellings is more restrictive than most Virginia counties - eliminates Airbnb/VRBO as a use case for King George ADUs.
County: no attribution (synthetic bucket)
No county
This city sits in the state's "no county" bucket — its ADU rules derive directly from state law and city ordinance without a county intermediary. No county-level sections apply.
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
- 22451
Post Office
- 13218 Cleve Dr, 22451