ADU Pass
New Point
ADU Pass helps homeowners in New Point, 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
New Point is a tiny historic Tidewater peninsula CDP in Mathews County. ADU economics are governed by Mathews County's R-1 framework plus heavy CBPA RPA/RMA overlays, FEMA VE/AE flood zones, and septic-capacity constraints. Most parcels touch or sit near tidal waters. SB531 (July 2027) will simplify by-right permitting but will not relax CBPA, wetlands, or coastal-flood overlays.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 250 | $1,100 | $85,000 | $86,100 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,400 | $216,000 | $217,400 |
| midpoint | 575 | $1,400 | $207,000 | $208,400 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,700 | $342,000 | $343,700 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental permitted on Mathews R-1 parcels with accessory dwelling. Thin year-round rental market — New Point CDP population is under 300.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Mathews County registers short-term rentals; New Point's lighthouse and Chesapeake Bay shoreline draw modest seasonal STR demand. Williamsburg / Yorktown overflow contributes year-round bookings.
- Office rental: no Accessory dwelling unit must remain a dwelling under Mathews zoning.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted under Mathews supplemental standards.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio/workshop use is permitted; common pattern on New Point estate parcels (artist studios, watermen workshops).
- Agriculture: yes Permitted on R-1 and conservation parcels with appropriate acreage; several New Point peninsula parcels remain in working farm use.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy accessory dwelling is a canonical Tidewater pattern — multi-generational waterfront family housing.
Incentives
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Private well (essentially universal in New Point — no public water service south of the village of Mathews) · 60d connect · $9,500
- Sewer: Private septic (essentially universal in New Point); alternative on-site systems common given high water table and tight soils · 90d connect · $22,000
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia · 35d connect · $2,400
- Gas: Propane (no natural-gas service in southern Mathews) · 14d connect · $1,600
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 9mo · typical 13mo · worst 20mo
Modular pathway inspectors are novice with modular
Route 14 from Gloucester Courthouse and Route 198 are the primary access roads. New Point peninsula roads are narrow with low-bridge weight limits in places; module width and crane access are practical constraints. Elevated coastal foundations complicate modular set procedures.
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
HOAs are rare on the New Point peninsula. A handful of small waterfront subdivisions have HOAs; the dominant land tenure is multi-generation family estates. CBPA overlays function as the practical covenant.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- coastal-commission
New Point peninsula is entirely within the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Area. RPA (100-ft tidal buffer) applies on virtually every parcel; the broader RMA covers the entire peninsula. - wetland-overlay
Extensive tidal wetlands surround the New Point peninsula. Joint Permit Application (VMRC / Mathews Wetlands Board / Army Corps) required for construction within 100 ft of tidal wetlands or affecting subaqueous bottom. - flood-zone
Significant portions of New Point fall within FEMA VE (velocity / wave-action) and AE flood zones. FEMA freeboard plus Tidewater 120 mph wind design add $25K-$60K to typical build cost. NFIP flood insurance premiums can exceed $3,000/year on VE-zone parcels.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Mathews County Code Chapter 175 Zoning — Article 6 R-1 Residential-1 District; §19.2(11) supplemental accessory-structure standards
- 1933-08-23 — Hurricane of 1933 cuts the New Point Comfort Lighthouse off from mainland (other)
Twin 1933 hurricanes severed the New Point Comfort peninsula, isolating the 1805 lighthouse on a small island. The event reshaped the southern tip of Mathews into the modern New Point CDP geography.
Effect: Historical reminder that the New Point peninsula is highly exposed to coastal storms — drives FEMA flood-zone designation and Tidewater hurricane-wind building requirements. - 1988-01-01 — Virginia Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act adopted (state-law)
CBPA enacted to protect water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; established RPA (100-ft buffer along tidal water) and RMA (broader watershed) overlays — both blanket the New Point peninsula.
Effect: Dominant regulatory layer for any waterfront construction on New Point parcels. - 2010-01-01 — Mathews County Zoning Ordinance — Article 6 (R-1) listing accessory dwelling units as a permitted use (county-ordinance)
Mathews County's current zoning code (Chapter 175) permits ADUs by listing in R-1 Residential-1 with supplemental standards under §19.2(11). Estimated framework adoption circa late-2000s/early-2010s based on ecode360 publication history; exact adoption date not surfaced in public records.
Effect: Operating ADU rule for New Point and the rest of unincorporated Mathews County through the present day. - 2026-04-14 — Virginia SB531 signed — statewide by-right ADU mandate (state-law)
Effective July 1, 2027: by-right one ADU per single-family lot statewide, $500 permit-fee cap, January 1, 2026 grandfather. Mathews County's ADU-permitted listing predates January 1, 2026, so the existing ordinance qualifies for grandfathering.
Effect: Net immediate effect at New Point is preservation of Mathews County's R-1 framework; SB531's fee cap and consanguinity prohibition take effect 2027-07-01 regardless.
Known issues (3)
- staffing-shortage — Mathews County planning staff is small; combined with CBPA, VMRC, and Wetlands Board review for every New Point waterfront parcel, timelines stretch beyond mainland Virginia comparables.
- other — Septic capacity is the binding constraint for many New Point parcels. RPA 100-ft buffer can prohibit construction within 100 ft of tidal water without an exception; septic-field sizing for a second dwelling may require alternative on-site systems costing $25K-$50K.
- other — Sea-level-rise exposure: New Point peninsula sits under 10 ft above sea level on most parcels. Construction in VE zones requires elevated foundations adding $25K-$60K. The 1933 hurricane that severed the lighthouse from the mainland is a reminder of the storm-surge risk.
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
- 23125
Post Office
- 393 Sand Bank Rd, 23125