ADU Pass
Boissevain
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Boissevain, Tazewell 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
Boissevain ADUs are governed by Tazewell County zoning where it applies plus the USBC; pending SB 531 by-right effect July 1, 2027.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,750 | $33,450 | $35,200 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,750 | $133,800 | $135,550 |
| midpoint | 525 | $1,750 | $117,075 | $118,825 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,750 | $200,700 | $202,450 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental is generally permitted; Va. Code § 55.1-1200 et seq. (Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) governs.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Tazewell County regulates STRs through its zoning ordinance (where applicable) plus a county Transient Occupancy Tax. Boissevain STR demand is thin compared to Burke's Garden, Pocahontas, or the Back of the Dragon corridor, but coal-heritage tourism around the nearby Pocahontas Exhibition Coal Mine generates some seasonal demand.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires zoning compliance or a home-occupation permit.
- Home office: yes Home occupation is permitted in residential and rural districts subject to standard signage and traffic limits.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio (artist, music, woodworking) is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: yes Agricultural use is permitted on most rural Tazewell County parcels under the A-1/A-R districts.
- Relative support: yes Family-member dwelling is the most common Tazewell County ADU pattern and is permitted under the county's kinship-dwelling provisions.
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Private well (no public water in Boissevain CDP) · 60d connect · $9,500
- Sewer: Private septic / VDH-permitted onsite (no public sewer) · 90d connect · $13,000
- Electric: Appalachian Power (AEP) · 30d connect · $2,400
- Gas: Bottled propane (no piped natural gas distribution in Boissevain CDP); some parcels access coalbed-methane area service nearby · 14d connect · $1,800
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 8mo · typical 12mo · worst 20mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Virginia has no HOA-ADU preemption. Boissevain has essentially no HOA parcels - it is a former coal-camp CDP without organized subdivisions.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- other
Boissevain was a Pocahontas Fuel Company coal camp from the 1880s through the mid-twentieth century. The site of the February 1932 mine disaster sits inside the CDP. Most of the central Boissevain footprint overlies former room-and-pillar underground coal workings. Construction requires Virginia DMLR mine-mapping inquiry and may require subsidence-risk engineering. (map) - flood-zone
Portions of the Boissevain CDP near Boissevain Branch may sit in mapped Zone AE. ADU finished floor must clear BFE plus Virginia freeboard. (map) - other
Boissevain title work routinely encounters severed mineral estates from late-1800s and early-1900s broad-form deeds typical of Pocahontas Coalfield parcels. Surface-only title is common; mineral-estate access rights can affect surface-use planning. (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Tazewell County Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance (Code of Tazewell County, Virginia), adopted 1985-01-01, last amended 2024-01-01
- 1932-02-27 — Boissevain mine disaster - Pocahontas Fuel Company No. 1 explosion (event)
A coal-dust explosion at the Pocahontas Fuel Company No. 1 mine in Boissevain killed 38 miners on February 27, 1932, one of the deadliest mine disasters in southwestern Virginia history.
Effect: Documents Boissevain's coal-camp origin under Pocahontas Fuel Company ownership. The camp's underground workings remain part of the Pocahontas Coalfield abandoned-mine inventory and inform mine-subsidence due-diligence for any new construction in the vicinity. - 2026-04-13 — Virginia SB 531 signed by Governor Spanberger - statewide by-right ADU mandate (state-statute)
SB 531 requires every Virginia locality to include ADUs as a permitted accessory use in single-family residential zoning districts. Permit fees capped at $500. Effective July 1, 2027.
Effect: Tazewell County (and therefore Boissevain CDP land governed by county zoning) will be required to allow ADUs by-right in single-family residential districts beginning July 1, 2027.
Known issues (3)
- other — Adds $1,500-$5,000 in due-diligence cost and can disqualify some sites for new construction.
- other — Title work for any new construction should explicitly confirm mineral-estate posture and any active extraction leases.
- policy-review — Add 60-90 days and $20,000-$25,000 to the project for combined well-and-septic on a previously unimproved parcel.
Tazewell County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Tazewell County does NOT maintain a standalone accessory-dwelling-unit ordinance. The county's regulatory posture is moderate — more structured than Russell or Buchanan counties given Tazewell's higher population and town infrastructure, but lighter than Tidewater Virginia. ADUs are regulated indirectly through the Zoning Ordinance's treatment of 'accessory use,' 'accessory structure,' 'guest house,' and 'family-member dwelling' in combination with the per-district use schedules where zoning applies. In zoned areas (typically the higher-density corridors near the towns and the principal valley-floor agricultural areas), an A-1 or A-R district 'family-member dwelling' or farm-labor tenant dwelling is typically permitted subject to minimum lot area requirements; a fully independent second dwelling for non-family occupancy on a single lot typically requires a Special Use Permit. In residential districts, accessory structures are typically permitted by-right; an independent second dwelling typically requires SUP review. Many ridge-and-hollow parcels and the Burke's Garden interior have light-touch zoning where the principal regulatory touchpoints are USBC building permit and VDH onsite-sewage. Mine-subsidence concerns from historic underground coal mining apply on portions of the county, particularly around Pocahontas and the major coalfield communities. Applicants should confirm current ordinance text and zoning status of the specific parcel with the Tazewell County Department of Community Development before committing to a project pro forma.
County regulatory overlays
Tazewell County's overlay regime reflects its Appalachian coalfield geography and exceptional historic-resource concentration. The relevant overlays / hazard layers are: (1) a Floodplain Overlay tied to FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along the Clinch River, the Bluestone River, Indian Creek, and other mapped tributaries; (2) a mine-subsidence hazard layer tied to historic underground coal workings, administered jointly by the Virginia Department of Energy Division of Mined Land Repurposing — significant portions of the Pocahontas / Richlands / coalfield-corridor area overlie former room-and-pillar coal mining with measurable subsidence risk; (3) karst-terrain hazard zones in portions of the county with limestone bedrock — Burke's Garden notably sits in a Mississippian-age limestone formation and has karst features affecting septic-system siting and foundation design; (4) the Burke's Garden Rural Historic District (a National Historic Landmark District covering the entire enclosed valley, NRHP-listed) — the District's NHL status does not directly impose local-zoning restrictions but Section 106 review applies to federally-funded projects and federal historic-rehabilitation tax credits affect the rehab investment regime; (5) the Pocahontas Historic District (NRHP-listed coal-mining-era company-town district); (6) various individually-listed NRHP plantations, houses, and industrial structures; (7) the Bluefield twin-city historic-resource overlap with the Town of Bluefield, VA. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act DOES NOT apply (Tazewell drains to the Tennessee River system and the Ohio River system, not to the Chesapeake watershed). There is NO California-style coastal commission, NO CalFire-equivalent WUI overlay, NO seismic-retrofit overlay, and NO airport-noise overlay in Tazewell County (Tazewell County Airport / Tazewell County / WV / Pocahontas Airport JFZ is a small general-aviation strip without published noise-contour mapping that would constrain residential development).
- Floodplain Overlay along the Clinch and Bluestone Rivers and tributaries
- Mine-subsidence hazard from historic underground coal mining (Pocahontas coalfield)
- Burke's Garden Rural Historic District (National Historic Landmark District)
- Pocahontas Historic District (coal-mining-era company-town district)
- Karst-terrain sinkhole susceptibility in limestone bedrock areas
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Tazewell County's Department of Community Development handles zoning permits, Special Use Permits, site plan review, subdivision review, and floodplain-overlay administration for every parcel in the county except those inside the incorporated towns (Tazewell, Bluefield, Cedar Bluff, Pocahontas, Richlands) or on state/federal land. Building Inspections issues building permits and trade permits for the same non-town territory. A typical second-dwelling permit bundle includes: (1) where zoning applies and SUP is required, an SUP from the Board of Supervisors with Planning Commission recommendation, (2) a Zoning Permit confirming use compliance and district setback compliance (where applicable), (3) a Building Permit with stamped residential plans, (4) Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical trade permits, (5) a Virginia Department of Health (VDH) - Cumberland Plateau Health District construction permit for well and/or septic on parcels not served by public water or sewer, (6) any applicable Floodplain Development Permit if the parcel intersects the mapped 100-year SFHA along the Clinch River, the Bluestone River, the Tug Fork tributaries, or other mapped tributaries (Tazewell County is bisected by the Clinch and is the headwaters area for the Bluestone River system that drains north into West Virginia), (7) any applicable mine-subsidence acknowledgment for parcels overlying historic underground coal workings (significant in the Pocahontas, Richlands, and former-active-mine areas), (8) any applicable historic-overlay review at Burke's Garden (a National Historic Landmark District), Pocahontas (the historic coal-mining-town district), and individual NRHP-listed parcels. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act does NOT apply.
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
- 24606
Post Office
- 102 Creekview Rd, 24606