ADU Pass
Montross
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Montross, 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
Montross ADUs follow town zoning with Westmoreland County administering building inspections and CBPA review. SB 531 preempts effective July 1, 2027.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,600 | $56,400 | $58,000 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,600 | $169,200 | $170,800 |
| midpoint | 600 | $1,600 | $169,200 | $170,800 |
| 1000 | 1,000 | $1,600 | $282,000 | $283,600 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $1,600 | $282,000 | $283,600 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental sees steady demand from county government employees, Northern Neck professionals, and Dahlgren commuters.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions STR demand in Montross is light, oriented to courthouse-visit business travelers and Northern Neck weekenders. Town STR registration may apply; Va. Code § 58.1-3819 transient-occupancy tax applies.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires Home Occupation permit in residential districts; commercial overlay districts more permissive.
- Home office: yes Home occupation is a permitted accessory use.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Montross residential districts have limited agriculture allowance; production agriculture concentrated on surrounding unincorporated parcels.
- Relative support: yes Multi-generational accessory dwelling is permitted.
Incentives
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Town of Montross municipal water (limited service area within town); private well outside service area · 28d connect · $3,500
- Sewer: Town of Montross municipal sewer (limited service area); private on-site septic outside service area · 35d connect · $4,200
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia · 22d connect · $1,950
- Gas: Bottled propane (no natural gas distribution to Montross) · 14d connect · $1,850
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 11mo · worst 18mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
Financing
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Virginia has no HOA-ADU preemption. Montross's older courthouse-area parcels are largely covenant-free; a few post-1990 subdivisions on the town's eastern edge carry HOA covenants.
Regulatory overlays (2)
- coastal-commission
Westmoreland County is a CBPA-designated locality. The entire Town of Montross falls within the Resource Management Area; a small RPA buffer reaches into the town's southern edge along Mattox Creek headwaters. (map) - historic-district
The Westmoreland County courthouse complex and adjoining historic buildings carry informal historic-character review under town design considerations. (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Town of Montross Zoning Ordinance, adopted 1975-01-01, last amended 2023-06-01
- 1667-01-01 — Montross site established as Westmoreland County seat (settlement)
The current Montross site has served as the Westmoreland County seat since 1667, when the courthouse was relocated from earlier county-seat locations. The community grew up around the courthouse, taverns, and government services.
Effect: Established Montross's role as the central governance hub for Westmoreland County; courthouse-anchored economy persists today. - 1852-03-31 — Town of Montross incorporated by Virginia General Assembly (town-charter)
The General Assembly chartered Montross on March 31, 1852. Independent town status conferred zoning and police-power authority distinct from Westmoreland County for parcels within the corporate limits.
Effect: Established town zoning authority under what is now Va. Code § 15.2-2280 et seq. - 1988-07-01 — Virginia Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act adopted (state-statute)
The CBPA requires Tidewater Virginia localities (including Westmoreland County and Montross) to designate RPA / RMA buffers. The entire town of Montross falls within the Resource Management Area (RMA); a small slice of the town's southern edge along Mattox Creek headwaters touches RPA.
Effect: Montross-area RPA-encroaching parcels (rare) require Water Quality Impact Assessment; the rest of the town benefits from RMA-tier best-management-practice review. - 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: SB 531 will compel Montross to permit by-right ADUs on town single-family parcels effective July 1, 2027. CBPA RMA review is not preempted.
Known issues (1)
- fee-schedule-pending — Approximately $1,100 in permit-fee savings on each by-right ADU built after July 1, 2027.
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
- 22520
Post Office
- 15917 Kings Hwy, 22520