ADU Pass
Sedley
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Sedley, Southampton 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
Sedley accessory dwelling permitting flows entirely through Southampton County. ADUs permitted with case-by-case zoning review.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,400 | $50,000 | $51,400 |
| midpoint | 600 | $1,550 | $162,000 | $163,550 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,550 | $162,000 | $163,550 |
| 1000 | 1,000 | $1,800 | $280,000 | $281,800 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $1,800 | $280,000 | $281,800 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of ADU permitted on rural residential parcels.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions No CDP-level STR ordinance; Southampton County treats STRs through general transient-occupancy rules. STR demand modest, mostly hunting-season weekenders and Hubbard Peanut Company visitors.
- Office rental: no ADU must remain a residential dwelling unit.
- Home office: yes Home occupation widely accepted in Sedley's rural pattern.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio / workshop compatible with rural residential zoning.
- Agriculture: yes Sedley is in active peanut, soybean, and cotton country; agricultural accessory structures are the norm.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU is the dominant Sedley-area use case; multigenerational rural pattern.
Incentives
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Private well predominates throughout Sedley · 60d connect · $7,500
New well drilling costs vary with depth; eastern Southampton typically reaches potable aquifer at 80-160 ft. - Sewer: On-site septic - Western Tidewater Health District oversight · 60d connect · $12,000
Soil percolation and aerobic-system requirements are the most common ADU permitting friction in Sedley. - Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia · 28d connect · $1,700
- Gas: Propane (no piped natural gas) · 14d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 10mo · worst 16mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
VA-189 and VA-35 are the controlling secondary routes for module delivery; route survey recommended for wide loads.
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Rural Sedley has effectively zero HOA penetration outside of any one-off subdivision plat.
Regulatory overlays (1)
- flood-zone
Mid-Southampton drainage network creates AE/A flood zones on lower-elevation parcels; central Sedley parcels generally upland.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Southampton County Zoning Ordinance (applies directly to unincorporated Sedley)
- 1760-01-01 — Sedley settled in the 1760s (other)
Mid-Southampton agricultural community established as part of the late-colonial Virginia tobacco / peanut economy.
Effect: Settlement origin; modern CDP boundary recognized by Census 2010. - 1954-01-01 — Hubbard Peanut Company founded in Sedley (other)
Dot and HJ Hubbard founded Hubbard Peanut Company, pioneering canned peanut manufacturing and shipping. Still operating in Sedley.
Effect: Industrial anchor that shapes Sedley's land-use pattern - agricultural processing zoned adjacent to residential. - 2010-04-01 — Sedley first designated as a CDP by US Census (other)
Sedley's boundary was first formally delineated for the 2010 Census, giving the community a recognized geographic identity for statistical purposes (no governmental effect).
Effect: Boundary clarity for federal data; no zoning implications. - 2026-04-14 — Virginia SB531 signed - statewide by-right ADU mandate (state-law)
Effective July 1, 2027: by-right ADU on SFR lots; $500 fee cap; consanguinity-restriction prohibition.
Effect: Southampton County's framework (as of January 1, 2026) qualifies for grandfathering; $500 fee cap takes effect 2027-07-01 throughout Sedley.
Known issues (1)
- other — Septic capacity / soil percolation is the single most common Sedley ADU blocker. Engage a Virginia-licensed soil scientist (AOSE) before designing the unit.
Southampton County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
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.
County regulatory overlays
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.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
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.
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
- 23878
Post Office
- 18050 Johnsons Mill Rd, 23878