ADU Pass
Tornado
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Tornado, Kanawha County, West Virginia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
Kanawha County — county ADU rules and overlays
County regulatory overlays
Kanawha County's primary county-level overlay is FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas administered through the Kanawha County Floodplain Coordinator under the county's NFIP-participating ordinance. The county has no historic-district overlay at the county level (those exist in Charleston and other municipalities). Steep-slope and landslide-prone terrain is widespread in Kanawha County's Appalachian topography but is regulated through site-specific engineering rather than a county overlay.
- Kanawha County Floodplain Management (FEMA NFIP participation) — A new ADU in a Zone AE parcel must be elevated to or above the Base Flood Elevation per the county ordinance.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Kanawha County administers limited regulatory functions in unincorporated areas through its Planning & Community Development Department: subdivision review, floodplain development permitting (NFIP participant), and 911 addressing. The county does NOT operate a county-wide building inspection program; West Virginia's State Fire Marshal and the State Building Code (which the State Fire Commission adopts based on the IRC/IBC) apply, but enforcement in unincorporated areas is limited compared to incorporated cities. A new dwelling — including an ADU — on an unincorporated parcel proceeds primarily through state-level health (well/septic) and county floodplain review.
West Virginia state — ADU law and programs
State HOA preemption
The municipal-zoning-vs-private-CC&R distinction matters most when state preemption arrives. Because WV has no zoning preemption either, the practical posture is: ADU rights in WV are jointly determined by the local municipality AND the parcel's CC&Rs. Both must allow.
State financing programs
West Virginia has no ADU-specific state loan or grant program. The state's primary housing finance vehicle is the West Virginia Housing Development Fund (WVHDF), a public-body corporate established under W. Va. Code § 31-18-1 et seq. WVHDF issues tax-exempt mortgage-revenue-bond-financed first mortgages through its Homeownership Program (often the lowest fixed-rate option for low/moderate-income WV homebuyers), the Movin' Up Program (for repeat buyers up to certain income limits), the Low Down Home Loan (down-payment / closing-cost assistance), and the multifamily-side Affordable Housing Fund. None of these is structured as a homeowner ADU construction loan. An ADU buildout financed alongside a primary-residence purchase or refinance would typically be handled via FHA 203(k) or Fannie Mae HomeStyle Renovation overlays on a conventional or WVHDF first mortgage; WVHDF itself does not publish an ADU-renovation product.
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
- 25202
Post Office
- 7920 Coal River Rd, 25202