Prince George

Prince George County regulates accessory dwellings under its Chapter 90 Zoning Ordinance. As of 2026-04-21, Prince George has NOT enacted a modern ADU-preemption-style ordinance permitting detached accessory dwelling units ministerially on single-family-residential parcels. The county's framework permits accessory apartments and family-member dwellings under narrow conditions — most commonly in agricultural (A-1) and rural-residential (R-R, R-A) zones, and through conditional-use permit (CUP) or special-exception review in lower-density residential (R-1, R-2) districts. Owner-occupancy, family-relationship, size, and minimum-lot-area conditions are typical of pre-preemption Virginia county ordinances and apply in Prince George. Because Virginia is a Dillon Rule state with no statewide ADU preemption (see src/data/state-adu-research/virginia.json for the full state framework), Prince George's Chapter 90 is effectively the sole floor: where the ordinance does not explicitly allow a second dwelling, it is prohibited. Applicants planning an accessory dwelling in Prince George County should (a) confirm the parcel's zoning classification on the county's GIS viewer, (b) consult Chapter 90's use tables for the governing district, (c) verify whether the proposed accessory-dwelling use fits a permitted, conditionally-permitted, or prohibited category, (d) engage Planning Department staff in a pre-application conference, and (e) budget for a CUP or special-exception public-hearing process if required. Prince George is a relatively small and rural county (approximately 43,000 population, approximately 282 square miles) with the county seat at Prince George (an unincorporated courthouse community, not an incorporated town). The economic and population center is shaped by the Fort Gregg-Adams military installation and its off-post military-family housing market, which creates steady demand for rental housing that an ADU framework could in principle serve — but the county has not enacted broad by-right ADU allowances as of the 2026-04-21 check.

• Code of the County of Prince George, Chapter 90 (Zoning Ordinance) — Article I (General Provisions), Article II (Definitions), Article III (Districts and District Regulations), Article IV (Supplementary Use Regulations and Accessory Uses), Article V (Overlay Districts)
• Virginia Code Section 15.2-2280 et seq. (zoning enabling authority for Virginia counties, cities, and towns); Section 15.2-2286 (provisions that may be included in a zoning ordinance, including conditional use permits); Section 15.2-2285 (procedure for amending a zoning ordinance); Section 15.2-2230 (comprehensive-plan five-year update requirement); Section 15.2-2204 (notice to adjoining property owners for conditional use permits and rezoning)
• Prince George County Comprehensive Plan (adopted under Va. Code Section 15.2-2223, periodically updated per Section 15.2-2230 five-year review cycle) — the advisory document that guides Chapter 90 amendments
• Prince George County Charter and the Code of the County of Prince George generally (non-zoning chapters) on Municode

State-floor overlay: Virginia is a Dillon Rule state: Prince George County's land-use authority is a delegated power from the General Assembly. The principal enabling statutes are Va. Code Section 15.2-2280 (general zoning power to classify districts, regulate size/use of structures, minimum lot areas, setbacks, parking) and Va. Code Section 15.2-2286 (procedural zoning powers including conditional use permits and administrative variances). Virginia has NOT enacted a preemptive statewide ADU ministerial-approval framework of the California / Oregon / Washington type. ADU preemption bills have been introduced in the 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 Virginia General Assembly sessions without enactment; none passed both chambers. Prince George County's Chapter 90 therefore operates without a state ceiling on local restrictions — whatever Chapter 90 says controls, subject to the usual state-law procedural requirements on amendment (advertised hearings, Planning Commission recommendation, Board vote). Note: Va. Code Section 15.2-2291 (the oft-cited statewide mandate that localities allow accessory apartments in single-family zones under reasonable conditions) is a narrow provision that applies to specific locality types and conditions; Prince George's Chapter 90 operates under the general Section 15.2-2280 framework with locally-imposed use restrictions.

Prince George County administers several county- and state-level overlay regimes that materially affect ADU siting: (1) the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) Resource Protection Area (RPA) 100-foot riparian buffer, mandated by Va. Code Section 62.1-44.15:67 et seq. and administered locally through the zoning and subdivision ordinances — RPA buffers protect the James River tidal shoreline along the northern county boundary, perennial non-tidal streams throughout the county including Blackwater Swamp and Powell Creek and their tributaries, and wetlands connected to tidal waters; (2) the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) floodplain regime, with Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) along the James River (northern boundary adjacent to Hopewell and the Shirley Plantation / Flowerdew Hundred area), the Appomattox River confluence (near the Hopewell city line), Blackwater Swamp and Powell Creek drainages in the rural southern and eastern county, and the numerous smaller creeks; (3) the Resource Management Area (RMA) — the wider 'second-tier' CBPA buffer applied county-wide to qualifying lands, with impervious-coverage and best-management-practices requirements; (4) a Military Influence Area / Airport Influence District surrounding the Fort Gregg-Adams federal installation in the northwestern county — the installation's aviation, weapons-range, and noise footprints create disclosure, height-limit, and compatible-use considerations on adjacent private parcels (the Joint Land Use Study process has produced locally-adopted compatibility recommendations on installations nationwide; applicants near the Fort Gregg-Adams boundary should confirm specific overlay status with the Planning Department); (5) historic overlays around Prince George Courthouse and along the several National Register districts and properties in the county (including Flowerdew Hundred, Brandon, Merchants Hope Church, and Jordan Point / Weyanoke properties along the James River). Coastal Commission jurisdiction does NOT apply (Virginia has no California-style Coastal Commission; the CBPA is the functional analog). Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones are NOT a Virginia regulatory category — Prince George has no WUI overlay comparable to California's CAL FIRE VHFHSZ system, though wildland fire risk exists in the heavily-forested southern county.

• Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act Resource Protection Area (RPA) — 100-foot buffer — ADU designs that cantilever over, or place impervious surface within, the 100-foot RPA buffer require an RPA Exception, which involves a Water Quality Impact Assessment, staff review, and Planning Commission public hearing. Adding approximately 30-60 days to the overall ADU timeline for an RPA Exception is typical. Owners with creek-adjacent or James-River-adjacent parcels should confirm RPA status via the county parcel viewer before design. The James River tidal shoreline in Prince George is particularly sensitive because the county's northern boundary hugs the river for a long stretch, and many large historic and agricultural parcels include riparian segments.
• Prince George County Floodplain Management — FEMA NFIP participant — ADUs in an SFHA must have lowest floor elevated to or above Base Flood Elevation plus Prince George's adopted freeboard, flood vents on any enclosed area below BFE, structural anchoring, and a post-construction Elevation Certificate. The substantial-improvement trigger (>50% of structure value) means a garage conversion or attached-unit addition to an existing flood-prone structure can cascade into full-structure floodplain compliance. Owners along the James River (Shirley Plantation, Flowerdew Hundred, Brandon, Jordan Point, Weyanoke, Kippax, and the Hopewell-adjacent reach) and along Blackwater Swamp should verify current FIRM status before ADU design. Flood insurance is federally required for SFHA parcels with federally-backed mortgages.
• Military Influence Area / Airport Influence District — Fort Gregg-Adams (formerly Fort Lee) airspace, weapons-range, and noise footprint — ADU siting inside the Military Influence Area is subject to height limits, noise attenuation considerations for DNL 65+ dB areas, and potential avigation / weapons-range easement recording for new residential parcels. The overlay does not prohibit ADUs but does constrain detached two-story ADU designs in the highest-noise or lowest-overflight zones. Owners near the Fort Gregg-Adams boundary should verify Military Influence Area status before design. The April 27, 2023 rename from Fort Lee to Fort Gregg-Adams did not change the installation boundary, the airspace footprint, or the compatibility framework — only the name.
• Historic overlays — Prince George Courthouse and James River historic plantations / churches — An ADU on a parcel within a locally-designated historic overlay district requires design review — typically staff review for minor additions, with any designated review body (where one exists) reviewing more substantial proposals. Parcels that are individually National Register-listed but not in a local overlay are not subject to local design review for ADU additions (the National Register is informational / tax-credit-eligibility, not regulatory). Owners near the Courthouse complex or on the James-River-plantation historic parcels should confirm overlay status before ADU design.

Every parcel in Prince George County outside the federal Fort Gregg-Adams installation is effectively unincorporated-equivalent for county permitting purposes (Prince George contains no incorporated cities or towns). The Prince George County Department of Planning and Community Development, together with the Building Inspections / Code Compliance division of the Department of Community Development, is the principal permitting authority for any accessory-dwelling construction in the county. The combined permit path is a two-track review: (a) a zoning-compliance determination confirming the proposed accessory dwelling fits a permitted or conditionally-permitted category under Chapter 90 (handled by Planning / Zoning staff), and (b) a building-code plan review and inspection cycle confirming compliance with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC), which incorporates the Virginia Residential Code and associated state-adopted supplements (handled by Building Inspections). For parcels where Chapter 90 does not permit a second dwelling by right, the applicant must first obtain a conditional-use permit (CUP), a special exception, or a zoning variance (the specific mechanism depends on the Chapter 90 text), processed through the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors per Va. Code Section 15.2-2285 or through the Prince George County Board of Zoning Appeals where Chapter 90 routes the matter there. On-post parcels inside the Fort Gregg-Adams boundary are federal land and are not permitted through the county — the Army's garrison command (Fort Gregg-Adams Directorate of Public Works) controls any on-installation construction.