ADU Pass
Colonial Beach
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Colonial Beach, Westmoreland 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
Colonial Beach ADUs follow town zoning with CBPA RPA buffer compliance on waterfront parcels. Strong resort STR economics drive ADU rental performance. SB 531 preempts effective July 1, 2027.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,750 | $60,000 | $61,750 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,750 | $180,000 | $181,750 |
| midpoint | 550 | $1,750 | $165,000 | $166,750 |
| 1000 | 800 | $1,750 | $240,000 | $241,750 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,750 | $270,000 | $271,750 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental sees steady demand from year-round residents, retirees, and commuters to Dahlgren / King George / Fredericksburg.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Colonial Beach STR demand is exceptional, anchored by the Potomac River public beach, the Boardwalk, and weekend / summer tourism from Washington, DC and Northern Virginia. Town requires STR registration; Va. Code § 58.1-3819 transient-occupancy tax applies.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental in R-1 / R-2 requires Home Occupation permit; commercial use restricted to B-1 / W districts.
- Home office: yes Home occupation is a permitted accessory use.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: no Colonial Beach is fully urbanized within the town limits; agricultural use is not allowed in residential districts.
- Relative support: yes Multi-generational accessory dwelling is permitted.
Incentives
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Colonial Beach Department of Public Works (municipal water; town-wide service) · 28d connect · $3,200
- Sewer: Colonial Beach Department of Public Works wastewater treatment (municipal sewer; town-wide service) · 35d connect · $4,100
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia · 22d connect · $1,950
- Gas: Bottled propane (no natural gas distribution to Colonial Beach) · 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
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Virginia has no HOA-ADU preemption. Colonial Beach's pre-WWII beach-resort core is largely covenant-free; post-1980 subdivisions on the town's western edge (Monroe Bay Estates, Potomac Bay Estates) carry HOA covenants that may restrict accessory dwellings.
Regulatory overlays (2)
- flood-zone
Substantial portions of Colonial Beach are mapped in Zone AE (with localized Zone VE coastal high-hazard) along the Potomac shoreline. ADU finished-floor elevation must clear Base Flood Elevation plus Virginia freeboard; Zone VE imposes V-zone foundation requirements (piling / breakaway walls). (map) - coastal-commission
Colonial Beach is a CBPA-designated locality. Waterfront parcels carry 100-foot Resource Protection Area buffer along the Potomac, Monroe Bay, and Mattox Creek shorelines; the entire town falls within the Resource Management Area. ADU placement requires CBPA review and, for RPA encroachments, Water Quality Impact Assessment and Exception approval. (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Colonial Beach Zoning Ordinance (town code), adopted 1968-01-01, last amended 2024-09-01
- 1892-03-12 — Colonial Beach incorporated by Virginia General Assembly (town-charter)
Colonial Beach was chartered in 1892 as a Potomac River resort town. The town grew rapidly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a steamer-served weekend destination from Washington, DC and Northern Virginia.
Effect: Established the town's authority to adopt independent zoning under what is now Va. Code § 15.2-2280 et seq. - 1949-01-01 — Colonial Beach gaming era (Maryland-water gambling) (local-ordinance)
From 1949 to 1958 slot machines were legal at Colonial Beach piers because the gambling occurred over Maryland water (Maryland owns the Potomac River to the Virginia low-tide line). The era left a legacy of large pier-extension buildings and resort-tourism infrastructure that still shapes the town's character.
Effect: Historic resort-tourism infrastructure (the Boardwalk, large former-pier hotels, second-home cottages) creates ADU-conversion opportunities in older waterfront stock. - 1988-07-01 — Virginia Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act adopted (Va. Code § 62.1-44.15:67 et seq.) (state-statute)
The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act requires Tidewater Virginia localities (including Westmoreland County and Colonial Beach) to designate Resource Protection Areas (RPA) and Resource Management Areas (RMA) and to restrict development within RPA buffers.
Effect: Colonial Beach waterfront parcels (much of the town) have 100-foot RPA buffers along the Potomac shoreline. ADU placement within an RPA buffer requires Water Quality Impact Assessment and Exception approval; outside the 100-foot buffer the RMA layer adds best-management-practice requirements. - 2026-04-14 — Virginia SB 531 signed into law (statewide ADU preemption) (state-statute)
SB 531 (2026 General Assembly Regular Session) requires every Virginia locality, effective July 1, 2027, to permit at least one ADU by-right on any parcel with an existing single-family dwelling, caps total local permit and zoning fees at $500, and preempts owner-occupancy mandates. Ordinances adopted before January 1, 2026 are grandfathered.
Effect: Colonial Beach's town ordinance lacks explicit by-right ADU provisions matching SB 531; SB 531 will compel by-right ADU permission on town single-family parcels effective July 1, 2027. CBPA RPA / RMA review is not preempted - it remains required.
Known issues (2)
- fee-schedule-pending — Approximately $1,250 in permit-fee savings on each by-right ADU built after July 1, 2027 on a non-RPA Colonial Beach parcel.
- other — Add 60-120 days for CBPA Exception process on RPA encroachments; the Exception may be denied for ADUs that materially expand impervious cover in the buffer.
Westmoreland County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Westmoreland County has no standalone accessory-dwelling-unit ordinance. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, and the General Assembly has not enacted a statewide ADU-enabling statute analogous to California AB 68 or Oregon SB 1051, so ADU permissibility is entirely a creature of local zoning. The county zoning ordinance permits 'accessory structures' and, in some residential districts, 'guest houses' or 'family apartments' as either by-right or special-exception uses, but uses the older accessory-structure vocabulary rather than 'accessory dwelling unit'. Applicants seeking a second dwelling on a single parcel typically proceed via special-exception / conditional-use permit before the Board of Zoning Appeals or the Board of Supervisors.
County regulatory overlays
- other — Because almost every waterfront parcel in Westmoreland County touches RPA, ADU site placement on waterfront lots is frequently the binding constraint rather than zoning density. Non-waterfront interior lots are still in RMA and must meet performance criteria (stormwater, erosion and sediment control, septic drain-field setback).
- flood-zone — An ADU located in a VE (coastal high-hazard) zone must be elevated on open piles/columns to or above the BFE plus any county freeboard; AE-zone ADUs require lowest-floor elevation at or above BFE.
- historic-district — Owners of individually listed National Register properties pursuing state historic-rehabilitation tax credits must comply with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards administered through the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, but this is opt-in (credit-seeking), not a zoning overlay.
- wetland-overlay — Wetlands Board review is separate from, and additional to, CBPA/RPA review.
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
- 22443
Post Office
- 1000 Dwight Ave, 22443