ADU Pass
Horsepen
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Horsepen, 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
Tazewell County's zoning ordinance lacks explicit ADU provisions; accessory dwellings reviewed via zoning approval. Most Horsepen parcels are rural with private well/septic and limited public infrastructure. Coal-region mineral rights and abandoned-mine subsidence overlays are major regulatory concerns. Post-July 2027 SB531 may apply.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $425 | $46,000 | $46,425 |
| 600 | 600 | $675 | $138,000 | $138,675 |
| midpoint | 600 | $675 | $138,000 | $138,675 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $900 | $230,000 | $230,900 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: with-restrictions Long-term rental allowed pending zoning approval; thin tenant pool in rural coalfield.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Tazewell permits STRs with zoning compliance; coal-region STR demand is thin, driven by Hatfield-McCoy Trail ATV tourism and rural getaways.
- Office rental: no Office rental not permitted in residential or agricultural districts.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted under Tazewell zoning.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: yes Most Horsepen is rural; agricultural and forestry accessory structures generally permitted.
- Relative support: with-restrictions Multigenerational accessory occupancy permitted via zoning approval; common in rural family compounds.
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Private well (most Horsepen parcels); some areas served by Tazewell County PSA · 35d connect · $7,000
- Sewer: Private septic (most Horsepen parcels) · 50d connect · $14,000
- Electric: Appalachian Power (American Electric Power) or Cumberland Mountain Electric Cooperative · 35d connect · $2,400
- Gas: Propane delivered; no natural gas mains in most of Horsepen · 14d connect · $1,900
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 9mo · typical 14mo · worst 22mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
Mountain roads in coal-region southwest Virginia (US-460, VA-83) limit oversized loads. Crane access on narrow hollow roads is a frequent constraint.
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Rural coalfield Tazewell has essentially no HOA presence; nearly all parcels are independent rural homesteads or former coal-company housing.
Regulatory overlays (1)
- other
Federal SMCRA (Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act) Abandoned Mine Land (AML) overlay applies broadly across the Pocahontas Coalfield. Horsepen parcels may have subsidence risk, undermined construction risk, and acid mine drainage. Pre-construction geotechnical evaluation strongly recommended.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Tazewell County Eastern District Zoning Ordinance (draft), adopted 2016-01-01, last amended 2020-01-01
- 1977-08-03 — Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) (state-law)
Federal SMCRA establishes Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program and surface-mining permit requirements; substantial portions of the Pocahontas Coalfield (including Horsepen vicinity) are AML-inventoried for subsidence and acid mine drainage.
Effect: Construction in Horsepen requires AML clearance; subsidence and AMD remediation can add significant cost. - 2016-01-01 — Tazewell County Eastern District Zoning Ordinance draft (local-ordinance)
Tazewell County draft Eastern District Zoning Ordinance establishes zoning approval requirements for principal buildings and accessory structures.
Effect: Operative zoning framework for Horsepen area, though final adoption status is the county's responsibility. - 2026-04-13 — Virginia SB531 signed by Governor Spanberger (state-law)
Statewide ADU by-right mandate; effective July 1, 2027.
Effect: May apply to Tazewell unincorporated parcels including Horsepen unless county adopts qualifying pre-2026 ordinance.
Known issues (2)
- other — Geotechnical evaluation often required; foundation design may need pier/grout column system; can add $10K-$40K to project.
- policy-review — Adds zoning uncertainty for accessory dwelling proposals.
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
- 24619
Post Office
- 2354 Horsepen Rd, 24619