Franklin

Southampton County does NOT maintain a standalone accessory-dwelling-unit ordinance with dedicated definitional and dimensional standards. ADUs are regulated indirectly through the Zoning Ordinance's treatment of 'accessory use,' 'accessory structure,' 'guest house,' and 'family-member dwelling' provisions 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 requirements and demonstrated agricultural or family-member use; 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-R Rural Residential and R-1 / R-2 Residential districts, accessory structures (workshops, detached garages, no-kitchen guest cottages) are typically permitted by-right subject to setback, height, and lot-coverage standards; an independent second dwelling in those districts typically requires SUP review. In the M Mobile Home Park district, manufactured-home density is governed by the district's specific provisions. Applicants should confirm current ordinance text with the Southampton County Department of Community Development before committing to a project pro forma — the ordinance has been amended periodically and ADU-like allowances vary by district and by Zoning Administrator interpretation of the 'customarily incidental' accessory-use standard.

Southampton County administers several overlay regimes that bear on ADU projects. The relevant overlays / hazard layers are: (1) a Floodplain Overlay District tied to FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along the Blackwater River, the Nottoway River, the Meherrin River, and their tributaries — the county is bisected and bordered by major Coastal Plain rivers that drain south toward the Albemarle Sound system in North Carolina; (2) NRHP-listed historic resources scattered across the county including Nat Turner Trail sites at the 1831 rebellion locations (Cross Keys, the original Travis house site, Belmont, and other parcels along the rebellion's path) and various NRHP-listed plantations and village cores; (3) the Erosion and Sediment Control program for projects disturbing more than 10,000 sqft; (4) any town-administered historic-preservation in the incorporated towns. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act DOES NOT apply (Southampton drains to the Chowan / Albemarle Sound system, not to the Chesapeake watershed, and is not a Tidewater designated locality). There is NO California-style coastal commission, NO CalFire-equivalent WUI overlay, NO seismic-retrofit overlay, and NO airport-noise overlay materially affecting county parcels.

• Floodplain Overlay along the Blackwater, Nottoway, and Meherrin Rivers and tributaries
• Nat Turner Trail sites and other NRHP-listed historic resources
• Erosion and Sediment Control program

Southampton County's Department of Community Development handles zoning permits, Special Use Permits, site plan review, subdivision review, building-permit issuance, inspections, and floodplain-overlay administration for every parcel in the county except those inside the incorporated towns (Boykins, Branchville, Capron, Ivor, Newsoms) or inside the City of Franklin (an independent city geographically embedded but politically separate). 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) - Western Tidewater Health District construction permit for well and/or septic on parcels not served by public water or sewer (which is the great majority of unincorporated parcels — public water/sewer service is concentrated near the towns and the Franklin urban service area), (6) a Floodplain Development Permit if any portion of the parcel intersects the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area (the Blackwater River, the Nottoway River, and the Meherrin River drainages all carry mapped floodplains), (7) an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan for projects disturbing more than 10,000 sqft, (8) any applicable local historic-overlay review (limited but present at Nat Turner Trail sites and certain plantation parcels). The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act DOES NOT apply in Southampton County — the CBPA reaches only Tidewater localities, and Southampton's Coastal Plain drainage is to the Albemarle Sound (Chowan River system) rather than the Chesapeake Bay watershed.