Nottoway

Nottoway County permits an 'accessory dwelling' (sometimes labeled 'accessory apartment' or 'accessory family dwelling' in older ordinance text) as a supplementary use to a single-family detached dwelling on parcels of sufficient size in the county's Agricultural (A-1) and primary residential (R-1, R-2) districts. The Nottoway framework follows the common Southside-Virginia rural-county pattern: one ADU per parcel; the ADU must be clearly accessory (subordinate in size and use) to a principal single-family dwelling; a base size cap typically in the 800-1,000 square-foot range with potentially larger caps available on qualifying agricultural parcels of sufficient acreage; configuration options including attached, interior-conversion, and detached on most rural parcels; the ADU must meet the principal-dwelling setbacks for the underlying district rather than reduced accessory-structure setbacks; and the ADU cannot be subdivided off or sold separately from the principal dwelling. Because Virginia has no statewide ADU preemption (see state file stateAduLaw, citing Va. Code § 15.2-2280 et seq. as the local-zoning enabling statute and the absence of any enacted ADU floor), Nottoway's ordinance is the authoritative regime on every parcel in the unincorporated county; parcels inside the Town of Blackstone, the Town of Burkeville, or the Town of Crewe follow those towns' own ordinances instead. The ordinance text varies in terminology across amendment cycles ('accessory dwelling', 'accessory apartment', 'accessory family dwelling' have all appeared); confirm the current text with the Nottoway County Planning office before relying on a specific size threshold or configuration rule.

Nottoway County administers a smaller overlay portfolio than tidewater or Northern Virginia counties: (1) the Floodplain Overlay District tied to FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas along the Nottoway River (south boundary with Lunenburg and Brunswick Counties), the Little Nottoway River, Sandy River, West Creek, and other interior streams; (2) Fort Barfoot (formerly Fort Pickett) federal/state-military reservation proximity — the Maneuver Training Center occupies a substantial portion of the eastern county and crosses into Brunswick, Dinwiddie, and Lunenburg as well, with associated noise / access / encroachment considerations on adjacent private parcels; and (3) limited historic-resource sensitivity around Nottoway Court House (the historic county seat with 19th-century courthouse and supporting buildings), Blackstone's town core, and scattered National Register properties. Nottoway is NOT a Tidewater Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area locality — the CBPA program reaches Tidewater localities under Va. Code § 62.1-44.15:67 et seq., and Nottoway sits inland in the Southside Piedmont, well west of the Tidewater Chesapeake Bay drainage area used to define CBPA jurisdiction. Nottoway has no coastal-commission jurisdiction, no CalFire-equivalent WUI regime (Virginia has none), and no seismic-retrofit overlay.

• Floodplain Overlay District
• Fort Barfoot (formerly Fort Pickett) Maneuver Training Center proximity / encroachment overlay
• Nottoway Court House and Blackstone historic resources

The Nottoway County Building Official issues residential building permits for every parcel in the unincorporated county. Parcels inside the Town of Blackstone, the Town of Burkeville, or the Town of Crewe route through those towns' own permitting instead. An ADU permit bundle on an unincorporated-county parcel typically includes: (1) a Zoning Compliance verification / Zoning Permit from Planning and Zoning confirming the ADU meets the supplementary-regulation standards (size cap, one-per-parcel, principal-dwelling setbacks, district eligibility), (2) a Building Permit from the Building Official with stamped plans, (3) trade permits for Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical filed by licensed Virginia contractors, (4) a Virginia Department of Health construction permit for well and/or septic on the majority of parcels — Nottoway's public water/sewer footprint is limited to town areas, so most rural parcels require a VDH evaluation, (5) a Floodplain Development Permit if any portion of the parcel is within a FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Area per the county's Floodplain Ordinance (mapping along the Nottoway River corridor — south county boundary with Lunenburg and Brunswick — and along Sandy River, West Creek, and Little Nottoway River drainages), and (6) for parcels directly adjoining or inside the Fort Barfoot (formerly Fort Pickett) military reservation boundary, additional coordination with the Virginia Army National Guard garrison may apply for access, utility crossings, and encroachment concerns even though Fort Barfoot itself is federal/state-military land outside county zoning reach.