ADU Pass
Wicomico
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Wicomico, 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
Gloucester County permits accessory apartments / dwellings with size caps and owner-occupancy. Wicomico's location on the tidal York River near Timberneck Creek means all shoreline parcels are subject to Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act Resource Protection Area buffers and may also fall within FEMA SFHA zones.
Cost scenarios
Permitting process
- Confirm parcel zoning district with Gloucester County Planning & Zoning (~5d)
Wicomico parcels are predominantly W-1 Waterfront or low-density residential; ADU rules differ by district and by proximity to the tidal shoreline. - Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act RPA buffer review (~21d)
All parcels within 100 ft of the York River, Timberneck Creek, or other tidal waters are in the RPA buffer. Some parcels also abut Intensely Developed Areas (IDA) where the buffer rules are modified. - Archaeological-resource review (Werowocomoco area) (~14d)
Ground disturbance near the Werowocomoco / Purtan Bay archaeological zone may trigger informal review with the Department of Historic Resources for guidance even on private parcels. - Submit combined zoning/building permit application (~1d)
Gloucester uses a paper-based combined zoning + building permit application at pub.gloco-sitedocs.com. - Septic / well capacity review by Virginia Department of Health (~30d)
Wicomico parcels are on private well and septic; VDH must certify bedroom-load capacity. Tidal-shoreline septic systems have additional setback requirements. - Building plan review (~21d)
Plan review for compliance with Virginia USBC, Appendix B accessory standards, and FEMA SFHA elevation requirements for waterfront parcels. - Construction inspections and Certificate of Occupancy (~90d)
Foundation, framing, MEP rough, insulation, final, and CO issuance.
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: with-restrictions Permitted subject to county owner-occupancy requirement.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Wicomico's York River waterfront and adjacency to Werowocomoco/Machicomoco heritage tourism supports STR demand. Gloucester regulates STR through a separate transient lodging permit.
- Office rental: no W-1 Waterfront and R-1 districts are not commercial; rental to outside commercial tenant not contemplated.
- Home office: with-restrictions Home occupation permitted in residential districts subject to standard county conditions.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist/studio is a normal accessory use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Limited agricultural use on the small lots typical of the York River shoreline; larger interior parcels may permit livestock and crops.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU is the canonical accessory-apartment use case.
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Mix of Gloucester County public water in the Gloucester Point CDP core and private well on outlying parcels
- Sewer: Mix of Hampton Roads Sanitation District public sewer (Gloucester Point area) and private septic on outlying parcels
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia
- Gas: No piped natural gas in Gloucester County; propane only
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Modular pathway Virginia Industrialized Building Safety Law (IBSL)
VA-216 / VA-614 access through the Gloucester Point area; tight rural curves on shoreline approach roads may constrain very large modules.
Insurance impact
Waterfront parcels typically require FEMA flood insurance separate from the homeowners policy.
HOA prevalence & preemption
Modest HOA density in newer waterfront subdivisions; historic shoreline parcels and rural interior parcels often have no HOA.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- historic-district — Timberneck (NRHP #036-0073, listed 1979-04-19); Werowocomoco archaeological area on Purtan Bay
Wicomico sits within an area of extreme archaeological sensitivity. The Werowocomoco capital identified in 2003 is on Purtan Bay; ground disturbance in the broader area may trigger Department of Historic Resources consultation. - wetland-overlay — Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) Resource Protection Area (RPA) - 100-ft buffer on York River, Timberneck Creek, Purtan Bay, and tidal tributaries
All tidal-shoreline parcels in Wicomico are subject to CBPA RPA buffer constraints on accessory-structure placement. - flood-zone — FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area Zone AE and VE on the immediate York River shoreline
Waterfront parcels typically in FEMA SFHA; first-floor elevation and breakaway-wall requirements apply to habitable space.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Gloucester County Code of Ordinances, Appendix B - Zoning
- 1888-01-01 — Powhatan's Chimney at Wicomico collapsed - catalyst for Preservation Virginia founding (other)
The chimney associated in local legend with a house built by John Smith for Powhatan at Werowocomoco collapsed in 1888.
Effect: The collapse triggered the founding of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (now Preservation Virginia), the oldest statewide historic-preservation organization in the U.S. - 1979-04-19 — Timberneck added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP #036-0073) (other)
The Timberneck estate on Timberneck Creek, originally home to the Mann family and later seat of the Catlett family, listed on the NRHP.
Effect: Federal Section 106 consultation triggered for federally-funded actions affecting Timberneck; private adjacent ADU work is not directly constrained but historic-adjacent design review is good practice. - 2003-01-01 — Werowocomoco archaeological site identified on Purtan Bay, Gloucester County (other)
Archaeologists confirmed in 2003 that the actual Werowocomoco capital of the Powhatan paramount chiefdom is on Purtan Bay near Wicomico (not at Powhatan's Chimney itself, as long believed).
Effect: Designated National Park Service unit (Machicomoco State Park established 2021 nearby). Increases archaeological-resource sensitivity for any ground disturbance in the area. - 2026-04-14 — Virginia SB531 (2026) - statewide ADU by-right framework signed (state-law)
Signed legislation establishing a statewide by-right ADU mandate with a $500 permit-fee cap effective July 1, 2027. Local ordinances adopted before January 1, 2026 are grandfathered.
Effect: Gloucester County's framework predates the January 2026 cutoff and qualifies for grandfather treatment until 2027-07-01.
Known issues (1)
- policy-review — Virginia SB531 (effective 2027-07-01) introduces statewide by-right ADU requirements and a $500 permit-fee cap; Gloucester's framework predates the January 1, 2026 grandfather cutoff but fee alignment will likely be needed. (source)
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
- 23184
Post Office
- 6926 Powhatan Dr, 23184