ADU Pass
Haynesville
No County portion
Also in: Richmond County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Haynesville, No County, Virginia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: unclear
Richmond County's 1995 ordinance lacks explicit ADU framework; accessory dwellings reviewed on Conditional Use Permit basis. Most Haynesville parcels are rural A-1 with private well/septic and CBPA buffers near tidal tributaries. Post-July 2027, SB531 may mandate by-right ADU permission unless RC adopts a qualifying pre-2026 ordinance.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $550 | $54,000 | $54,550 |
| 600 | 600 | $850 | $162,000 | $162,850 |
| midpoint | 600 | $850 | $162,000 | $162,850 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $1,100 | $270,000 | $271,100 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: with-restrictions Long-term rental allowed pending CUP; thin year-round tenant pool given rural setting.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Richmond County (VA) permits STRs with zoning compliance; rural Northern Neck STR demand is modest, driven by Rappahannock River boating, fishing, and weekend visitors from Richmond/DC.
- Office rental: no Office rental not permitted in agricultural or residential districts without rezoning.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted under RC zoning.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: yes Richmond County (VA) has extensive A-1 Agricultural zoning; farm worker housing typically by-right in A-1.
- Relative support: with-restrictions Multigenerational accessory occupancy via CUP.
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Private well (most Haynesville parcels) · 30d connect · $8,000
- Sewer: Private septic (Three Rivers Health District oversight) · 60d connect · $17,000
- Electric: Northern Neck Electric Cooperative · 35d connect · $2,400
- Gas: Propane delivered; no natural gas mains in most of Haynesville · 14d connect · $1,900
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 8mo · typical 12mo · worst 18mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
Route 360 and Route 3 provide adequate state-highway access. Narrow Northern Neck side roads may constrain wide-load transport for some Haynesville parcels.
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Rural Richmond County (VA) has minimal HOA presence; most parcels are independent rural or waterfront homesteads.
Regulatory overlays (2)
- wetland-overlay
Virginia CBPA Resource Protection Area buffers apply to Haynesville parcels along Rappahannock tributaries; Richmond County (VA) is a Tidewater CBPA locality. - flood-zone
Some Haynesville waterfront parcels are in FEMA Zone AE; coastal high-hazard zones require flood-resistant construction.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Richmond County (VA) Zoning Ordinance, adopted 1995-11-09, last amended 2012-12-13
- 1989-01-01 — Virginia Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) (state-law)
Virginia CBPA imposes 100-ft Resource Protection Area and 50-ft Resource Management Area buffers on tidal waters. Richmond County is a Tidewater CBPA locality with extensive Rappahannock River frontage relevant to Haynesville.
Effect: Major dimensional constraint for new construction near Rappahannock tributaries draining the Haynesville area. - 1995-11-09 — Richmond County (VA) Zoning Ordinance adopted (local-ordinance)
Establishes A-1 Agricultural, R-1 Residential, Business, and Historic districts. Accessory buildings permitted in rear yards subject to size and setback rules; no explicit ADU framework.
Effect: Operative zoning code for Haynesville parcels; ADUs treated case-by-case via CUP. - 2012-12-13 — Richmond County (VA) Zoning Ordinance last comprehensive amendment (local-ordinance)
Most recent comprehensive amendment to the 1995 ordinance.
Effect: Current operative version of Richmond County zoning. - 2026-04-13 — Virginia SB531 signed by Governor Spanberger (state-law)
Statewide ADU by-right mandate; effective July 1, 2027.
Effect: May compel Richmond County (VA) to permit ADUs by-right in R-1 zones starting July 2027 unless county adopts pre-2026 qualifying ordinance.
Known issues (2)
- policy-review — Adds CUP uncertainty and 60-120 day public-hearing process.
- other — Reduces practical ADU footprint and may require engineered drainfield siting.
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
- 22570
Post Office
- 11320 Richmond Rd, 22472