Sharps

Richmond County does NOT maintain a standalone accessory-dwelling-unit ordinance with dedicated definitional and dimensional standards. ADUs in Richmond County are regulated indirectly through the Zoning Ordinance's treatment of 'accessory use,' 'accessory structure,' 'guest house,' and 'second dwelling' or 'family-member dwelling' in combination with the per-district use schedules. In the A-1 Agricultural district, which covers the great majority of county acreage, a 'family-member dwelling' or farm-labor tenant dwelling is typically permitted subject to minimum lot area (commonly 3 to 5 acres or more depending on the specific allowance), demonstrated agricultural or family-member use, and Zoning Administrator approval; a fully independent second dwelling for non-family occupancy on a single lot typically requires a Special Use Permit from the Board of Supervisors after Planning Commission recommendation. In the R-1 and R-2 residential districts, accessory structures (workshops, detached garages, no-kitchen guest cottages) are permitted by-right subject to setback, height, and lot-coverage standards; an independent second dwelling in those districts is rare and would typically require an SUP. Applicants should confirm current ordinance text with the Richmond County Building and Land Use Office before committing to a project pro forma.

Richmond County administers several overlay regimes that bear materially on ADU projects, with coastal / tidal exposure being the dominant physical constraint along the Rappahannock River frontage. The relevant overlays are: (1) a Floodplain Overlay District tied to FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, which covers a meaningful share of waterfront and tidal-creek-adjacent parcels along the Rappahannock and its tributaries; (2) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act jurisdiction across the entire county (Richmond is a Tidewater locality designated under Va. Code § 62.1-44.15:67 et seq.), with Resource Protection Area (RPA) buffers of 100 feet from perennial water bodies and tidal wetlands and Resource Management Area (RMA) coverage on much of the remaining land; (3) Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) tidal-wetlands and subaqueous-bottom jurisdiction reaching any project touching tidal waters or wetlands along the Rappahannock; (4) NRHP-listed historic resources scattered across the county including the Menokin plantation (the home of Francis Lightfoot Lee, signer of the Declaration of Independence, NRHP-listed) and other colonial-era plantations and village cores; the Town of Warsaw maintains its own historic-preservation posture. Richmond County has NO California-style coastal commission, NO CalFire-equivalent WUI regulatory overlay, and NO seismic-retrofit overlay.

• Floodplain Overlay District
• Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) Resource Protection Area and Resource Management Area
• Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) tidal-wetlands and subaqueous-bottom jurisdiction
• Menokin, NRHP-listed plantations, and Town of Warsaw historic resources

Richmond County's Building and Land Use Office handles zoning permits, Special Use Permits, site plan review, subdivision review, Chesapeake Bay Preservation District administration, and building-permit issuance and inspection for every parcel in the county except those inside the Town of Warsaw (which administers its own zoning and permitting) and state/federal land. A typical ADU-like permit bundle (where a second dwelling is permitted) includes: (1) a Special Use Permit from the Board of Supervisors with Planning Commission recommendation, unless the parcel qualifies for an A-1 family-member or farm-labor dwelling allowance, (2) a Zoning Permit confirming use compliance and district setback compliance, (3) a Building Permit with stamped residential plans, (4) Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical trade permits, (5) a Virginia Department of Health (VDH) - Three Rivers Health District construction permit for well and/or septic on parcels not served by public water or sewer (which is the great majority of parcels — public sewer is essentially limited to the Town of Warsaw service area), (6) a Floodplain Development Permit if any portion of the parcel intersects the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area, which applies to a substantial fraction of parcels along the Rappahannock River frontage and tidal creeks, (7) a Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act review — Richmond County IS a Tidewater locality subject to the CBPA, with Resource Protection Area (RPA) and Resource Management Area (RMA) rules applying across the county, (8) a Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) joint permit for any work below mean high water or encroaching on tidal wetlands, (9) US Army Corps of Engineers permit where federal waters are involved.