ADU Pass
Fishers Hill
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Fishers Hill, 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
Attached ADUs allowed in residential and agricultural zones (A-1, R-1, R-2) subject to setback and size constraints. Detached ADUs may require SUP depending on district. Fishers Hill is rural, with most parcels on private well and septic; soil and water-supply considerations dominate feasibility.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $350 | $46,000 | $46,350 |
| 600 | 600 | $650 | $138,000 | $138,650 |
| midpoint | 700 | $750 | $161,000 | $161,750 |
| maximum | 1,200 | $950 | $276,000 | $276,950 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of permitted ADU is allowed in residential and agricultural zones.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Shenandoah County permits STRs subject to transient occupancy tax and lodging registration. Fishers Hill's proximity to Shenandoah River, Civil War sites, and Shenandoah National Park supports modest STR demand.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Office rental in residential zones not permitted without rezoning. Agricultural zones may permit limited home-business uses.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted under Shenandoah Chapter 165 with restrictions.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist/workshop studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: yes Fishers Hill is largely in A-1 / A-2 agricultural zones where farm-worker housing and accessory ag structures are by-right.
- Relative support: yes Multigenerational family-member occupancy explicitly permitted; one of the most common Shenandoah County ADU justifications.
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Private well (most Fishers Hill parcels) or Town of Strasburg water where mains extend · 30d connect · $7,000
- Sewer: Private septic (most Fishers Hill parcels) · 45d connect · $12,500
- Electric: Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative or Rappahannock Electric Cooperative depending on parcel · 30d connect · $2,100
- Gas: Propane delivered (no natural gas mains) · 14d connect · $1,800
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 6mo · typical 9mo · worst 14mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
I-81 corridor offers good wide-load access; secondary routes like VA-757 (Stickley Road) to Fishers Hill parcels are narrow and may require route surveys for large modules.
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Fishers Hill is rural with very limited subdivision activity; HOA presence minimal. Most parcels are farm or homestead tracts.
Regulatory overlays (1)
- historic-district
Fishers Hill Battlefield (1864 Civil War engagement) Historic District is on the National Register; properties within or adjacent to the battlefield boundary may require Virginia Department of Historic Resources review for new construction.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Shenandoah County Code Chapter 165 (Zoning), adopted 2010-01-01, last amended 2023-06-01
- 2020-01-01 — Shenandoah County Zoning Ordinance Chapter 165 codification update (county-ordinance)
Shenandoah County codified zoning provisions under eCode360 platform, establishing current rules for one-principal-plus-one-accessory-dwelling structure that governs Fishers Hill.
Effect: Established current administrative framework for ADU permits in Fishers Hill and broader Shenandoah County unincorporated areas.
Known issues (2)
- other — Adds 30-60 days to project timeline and architectural-compliance costs for properties in or adjacent to the battlefield.
- other — Adds 1-3 months to project timeline; can add $5K-$20K for engineered drainfield where conventional fails.
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
- 22626
Post Office
- 2753 Battlefield Rd, 22626