Statewide Bill Permits Accessory Dwelling Units in Single-Family Residential Zoning
The issue came up in Fredericksburg in 2023 and was voted down by City Council.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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A bill signed into law last week by Gov. Abigail Spanberger will require all Virginia localities to allow for the construction of accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, in single-family residential zoning districts.
An ADU, as defined in the bill, is “an attached or detached dwelling unit on a residential dwelling lot that: 1) Provides complete independent living facilities for one or more individuals; 2) Is located on the same lot as a proposed or existing primary residence; and 3) Includes facilities for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.”
The bill, SB531, prohibits localities from requiring setbacks that are “greater than the setback required for the primary dwelling or … for accessory structures on the residential lot, whichever is less” and from requiring any conditions that are “more restrictive than those for single-family dwellings within the same zoning area with regard to height, rear, or side setbacks, lot size or coverage, or building frontage.”
It also prohibits localities from requiring that the occupants of the ADU and primary dwelling be related.
In 2023, Fredericksburg City considered a zoning ordinance text amendment that would have allowed for ADUs under certain circumstances. The text amendment was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission, but was narrowly voted down by City Council.
Adam Lynch, a member of the Planning Commission at the time who is now involved with the pro-housing advocacy group Fifteen-Minute Fredericksburg, said the group was “among the most vocal proponents for ADU legalization” in 2023, “but legalizing it at the state level is even better.”
“It makes for a more fair way to roll out ADU legalization,” Lynch told the Advance. “There is a public perception that if one county or city legalizes ADUs, they will be swarmed by developers [who will build] one in every backyard or basement. One way you can address that is to legalize it everywhere—that way, the effect is sprinkled over a greater area.”
Lynch said there will likely be a process for public input prior to Fredericksburg adopting an ADU ordinance.
“There is quite a bit of flexibility baked in” to the bill, he said. “There are different things a county or city can or cannot require—for example, [localities] have the ability to impose a parking mandate on ADU construction; reduce or limit the size of the unit; and impose owner occupancy at the time of construction, but not perpetually.”
The ADU amendment that City Council voted down in 2023 was more restrictive than SB531 allows such amendments to be going forward. That amendment would have allowed ADUs only within an existing structure, and not for the construction of detached units.
SB531 allows localities that had ADU ordinances on their books as of January 1, 2026, to be exempt from its requirements.
Lynch said ADUs are “a terrific way to produce housing for modern Americans.” They allow for an adult disabled child or elderly family member to live close to their loved ones while still maintaining a degree of independence, and they can also be a way to generate income to help with housing cost, he said.
They also have a historic precedence.
“In 2023, there were about 90 that were known to the city that predated modern zoning,” Lynch said. “They were already out there. When the city imposed regulations in the second half of the 20th century, they made a natural and historic housing form illegal. This is reversing that and re-legalizing an ancestral housing type that is native to Fredericksburg.”
Some residents worry that the statewide legalization of ADUs will be detrimental to Fredericksburg, however.
“ADUs have a place, but we are seeing developers knock down small houses and build multiple dwellings on very small lots. This puts pressure on parking in our downtown and pits neighbors against each other because they are fighting for very limited parking spaces,” said Anne Little, a downtown resident and member of the Fredericksburg Neighborhoods Coalition.
“By placing ADUs on existing lots that already have housing, we are also eliminating [tree] canopy from our downtown,” Little continued. “We are already seeing brutal heat island effect in downtown Fredericksburg. A recent study done by the George Washington Commission showed a 17 degree difference between Caroline County and downtown Fredericksburg on the same July day—82 degrees versus 97 degrees.”
John Copenhaver, another member of the Neighborhoods Coalition, said he also worries about developers “seiz[ing] the opportunity” and creating “overdevelopment, overcrowding, traffic, and parking issues in our College Terrace Neighborhood” and elsewhere.
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