This district covers areas of the County consisting of woodland, farmland, open space, mountains and areas of low density residential development. The primary objectives of this district are to conserve water and other natural resources, reduce soil erosion, protect watersheds and reduce hazards from floods; to preserve the rural character of the County; to promote existing and future farming and forestry operations; and to promote the retention of undisturbed open space. Limited residential development, and limited commercial and industrial uses which are supportive of and directly related to agriculture, forestry or other traditionally rural uses, are to be permitted, but only in a manner consistent with the primary objectives of the district. In particular, the provisions of this district are intended to significantly limit conventional and roadside strip development, especially on major arteries and commuter routes.

In Agricultural, General District A-1, the following uses, together with ordinary and necessary accessory uses, shall be permitted, and no others.

The following uses shall be permitted by right:

Agricultural Uses

Agriculture

Agritourism activity

Conservation areas

Equestrian facilities

Farm sales

Hunt clubs

Hunting preserves

Civic Uses

Public parks and recreational areas

Public uses

Commercial Uses

Family daycare homes/Family day homes

Home occupations

Studios, fine arts

Industrial Uses

Sawmills, temporary

Miscellaneous Uses

Accessory uses

Cemeteries, non-commercial

Greenhouses, non-commercial

Kennels, private

Marinas, private non-commercial

Mobile food unit

Shooting, private recreational

Small scale solar generation facility

Utilities, minor

Wood storage, temporary

Residential Uses

Dwellings, accessory

Dwellings, two-family

Farm tenant housing

Group homes

Manufactured homes

Mobile homes, as defined in Section 22-4-2.3

Single-family detached dwellings, including family subdivisions and conventional minor subdivisions, but excluding conventional major subdivisions recorded after April 5, 2004

Short-term rental of a residential dwelling

(Ord. 9-17-08; Ord. 10-21-09; Ord. 11-3-10; Ord. 11-20-12; Ord. 10-17-18; Ord. of 09-15-2021 (1); Ord. of 03-20-2024 (3); Ord. of 11-20-2024(2), § 1; Ord. No. 24-08, § 1, 3-19-2025; Ord. No. 25-01, § 1, 4-16-2025; Ord. of 09-17-2025(3), § 1)

The following uses shall be permitted by special use permit only:

Agricultural Uses

Agricultural enterprise

Agricultural sales, wholesale

Livestock feed lots, commercial

Livestock sales yards, commercial

Civic Uses

Amusements, public

Correctional facilities

Cultural services

Educational facilities

Public assembly

Public recreation assembly

Religious assembly

Sheltered care facilities

Commercial Uses

Adult retirement communities

Amusements, commercial

Assisted living facilities

Automobile repair service establishments

Bed and breakfasts

Boarding houses

Butcher shops

Campgrounds

Camps

Car washes

Cemeteries, commercial

Child day centers

Communications service

Dance halls

Daycare centers

Event facilities

Flea markets

Funeral homes

Garden center

Gas stations

Greenhouses, commercial

Hotels

Kennels, commercial

Landscaping materials supply

Lodges

Machinery sales and service

Medical clinics

Microbreweries

Outdoor entertainment

Outdoor recreation facilities

Restaurants, small

Retail stores, neighborhood convenience

Retail stores, specialty

Shooting ranges, indoor

Shooting ranges, outdoor

Small home industries

Studios, fine arts

Taxidermists

Veterinary offices

Industrial Uses

Railroad facilities

Resource extraction

Solid waste collection facilities

Miscellaneous Uses

Aviation facilities

Minor scale solar generation facility

Outdoor gatherings

Telecommunication facilities

Utilities, major

Residential Uses

Dormitories

(Ord. 9-17-08; Ord. 12-17-08; Ord. 10-21-09; Ord. 7-21-10; Ord. 11-3-10; Ord. 11-20-12; Ord. of 09-15-2021 (1); Ord. of 08-17-2022 (1); Ord. of 07-03-2024(2); Ord. No. 24-08, § 1, 3-19-2025)

One (1) mobile home per parcel shall be permitted, with issuance, by the Planning Director, of a zoning permit, in the following instances:

(A)

Mobile home to be occupied by a bona fide farm tenant with the permit to be revalidated by the governing body every two (2) years so long as the conditions are met;

(B)

Mobile home to be occupied because of an emergency medical or moral obligation with the permit to be revalidated by the governing body every two (2) years so long as the conditions exist. For purposes of this section, the term "an emergency medical or moral obligation" shall be deemed to mean a set of circumstances in which a landowner must provide shelter and/or care to one or more persons through the occupancy of the mobile home in order to alleviate a clearly demonstrable danger of serious impairment to the health and/or welfare of any person or persons which is occasioned by a medical disorder or condition or other compelling cause beyond the control of such person or persons and which cannot be remedied in any other reasonable manner;

(C)

Mobile home to be occupied by the owner of the property while constructing a permanent single-family dwelling on the same property or reconstructing a single-family dwelling destroyed by natural disaster. This permit shall be for a period of one (1) year only but may be renewed each year by the governing body for a period of not more than five (5) continuous years. In addition, the governing body may grant an additional extension of time for the occupancy of any such mobile home, not to exceed twenty-four (24) months from the expiration of the last renewal period of the original permit, upon a finding that the owner of the property has attempted in good faith to complete such single-family dwelling within the time permitted by law, but has been unable to do so as a result of adverse weather conditions, act of God, bona fide inability to timely obtain satisfactory building materials, or other circumstances or condition beyond the control of such owner.

(Ord. 10-21-09; Ord. 11-3-10)

Maximum gross residential density and minimum lot size and minimum dimensional requirements for conventional development shall be as follows:

(A)

Gross residential density: one (1) dwelling unit per two (2) acres. In order to construct more than one dwelling on any one parcel, a sketch plan must be submitted that would demonstrate that all dwellings could be lawfully subdivided so as to be on their own lots.

(B)

Minimum lot size: two (2) acres

(C)

Minimum frontage required:

(1)

Existing or proposed public roads, except as otherwise provided:

(a)

U.S. Route 250, U.S. Route 15, VA. Primary Routes 6, 53, and VA. Secondary Route 616: 500 feet

(b)

All other public roads: 300 feet

(2)

Private roads: 200 feet

(D)

Minimum lot width at minimum required setback shall be equal to the minimum required frontage.

(E)

Minimum setback required (as measured from edge of right-of-way):

(1)

U.S. Route 250, U.S. Route 15, VA. Primary Routes 6, 53, and VA. Secondary Route 616: 200 feet

(2)

All other public roads: 125 feet

(3)

Private Roads: 100 feet

(F)

Minimum side yard: 50 feet

(G)

Minimum rear yard: 75 feet

(Ord. of 11-20-2024(2), § 1)

Any lot or parcel fronting on two or more roads shall conform to the frontage, minimum lot width and setback requirements for all such roads.

Off-street parking shall conform to Article 26: Off-Street Parking and Loading Spaces of this chapter.

(Ord. 12-16-15)

State Law reference— For state law granting localities the authority to regulate off-street parking, see Code of Va., § 15.2-2279.

Sign regulations shall conform to Article 15 of this chapter.

Buildings and structures may be erected up to thirty-five (35) feet in height, except that:

(A)

The height limit for dwellings may be increased up to forty-five (45) feet provided one (1) foot or more per side yard is added for each additional foot of building height over thirty-five (35) feet.

(B)

A public or semi-public building such as a school, place of worship, or library or general hospital may be erected to a height of sixty (60) feet from grade provided that required front, side, and rear yards shall each be increased one (1) foot for every foot in height over thirty-five (feet).

(C)

Spires, belfries, cupolas, monuments, water towers, chimneys, flues, flagpoles, television antennae and radio aerials may be erected to a height of sixty (60) feet from grade. Parapet walls may be up to four (4) feet above the height of the building on which the walls rest. Buildings and structures used for agricultural purposes, including barns, silos, windmills and the like, may be erected to a height of ninety (90) feet from grade.

(D)

No accessory building which is within fifteen (15) feet of any property lot line shall be more than one (1) story high. All accessory buildings and structures, other than those permitted under subsection (C) above, shall be less than the main building or structure in height.

This section (sections 22-4-9* through 22-4-9.4) encourages economic development, preserves farm land, and promotes the orderly and responsible growth of the livestock, dairy and poultry industries. In the Agricultural (A-1) district, all agricultural production uses, including the uses defined herein as intensive livestock, dairy and poultry facilities, shall be permitted by right.

*Editor's note—Erroneously appears in original as 22-9-4.

For the purpose of sections 22-4-9 through 22-4-9.4, the following terms shall have the meaning indicated:

(1)

Livestock includes all domestic or domesticated animals, including but not limited to: cattle, sheep, lambs, hogs, goats, horses, poultry and furbearing animals.

(2)

Intensive livestock, dairy or poultry facility means a livestock, dairy or poultry operation where, for a period of forty-five (45) consecutive days or more, 300 animal units are closely confined and not free-ranging, and are fed in the area of confinement. For the purpose of this article, 300 animal units shall be equivalent to any of the following, or any combination thereof where the animals are confined in one location:

Livestock: 300 slaughter or feeder cattle

Livestock: 750 swine each weighing over 55 pounds

Livestock: 150 horses

Livestock: 3,000 sheep, lambs, or goats

Livestock: 16,500 furbearing animals such as rabbits or chinchilla

Dairy: 200 mature dairy cows (whether milked or dry cows)

Poultry: 16,500 turkeys

Poultry: 30,000 laying hens or broilers

(3)

Intensive livestock, dairy or poultry structure means a building, structure or other improved area used in the operation of an intensive livestock, dairy or poultry facility; including, but not limited to, litter storage sites, incinerators, manure storage sites, poultry houses, poultry disposal pits, or dead poultry cold storage chests. The term shall not include structures that are used only indirectly in the operation of the facility.

(4)

Operator means any person who operates an intensive livestock, dairy or poultry facility, or the land on which it is located.

(5)

Poultry means any domestic or domesticated fowl raised for meat or eggs; including, but not limited to, chickens and turkeys.

(6)

Existing intensive livestock, dairy or poultry structure means an intensive livestock, dairy or poultry structure that has been in operation for one (1) year within the five (5) years immediately preceding the date on which a building or zoning permit is sought for a dwelling.

(Ord. 12-16-15)

(1)

Except as otherwise expressly provided in this section, each intensive livestock, dairy or poultry structure shall be set back 300 feet from any property line.

(2)

Any dwelling not owned by the operator shall be set back from any existing intensive livestock, dairy or poultry structure as follows:

(a)

If the dwelling is an Agricultural (A-1) district, 300 feet;

(b)

If the dwelling is in a residential district, 600 feet.

(3)

Each intensive livestock, dairy or poultry structure shall be setback at least 300 feet from any property line, at least 200 feet from the right-of-way of any secondary road, and at least 300 feet from the right-of-way of any primary highway.

(4)

Each intensive livestock, dairy or poultry structure shall be setback at least 1,000 feet from any incorporated town, public school, place of worship, public water intake from a stream or river and from the boundary of any adjacent residential district.

(Ord. 12-16-15)

(1)

Any person who intends to establish or expand an intensive livestock, dairy or poultry facility shall file with the Zoning Administrator a development plan, including a plat, or similar document, that indicates the number, size and location of all intensive livestock, dairy or poultry structures planned for the subject parcel; and a written statement, sworn to and subscribed before a notary public, by which the owner certifies to the Zoning Administrator that the facility meets all applicable requirements. Where a proposed expansion would not substantially change the character of the facility or the intensity of the use, the Zoning Administrator may approve the expansion without requiring a development plan.

(2)

If the plan meets the requirements of sections 22-4-9 through 22-4-9.4, the Zoning Administrator shall approve it within thirty (30) days of receipt. If the plan does not meet the requirements of sections 22-4-9 through 22-4-9.4 of this chapter, the Zoning Administrator shall return it to the applicant within thirty (30) days of receipt, together with a written description of the portion or portions of the plan that do not meet such requirements. Any plan not returned to the applicant within thirty (30) days of receipt shall be deemed approved. As long as an approved plan is in effect, the applicant shall have the right to build structures and operate the facilities shown thereon, notwithstanding any dwelling or other feature located after the time of approval.

(3)

The development plan shall remain in force only so long as the proposed structures are constructed in accordance with the development plan. At least one-third of the number of livestock or dairy animals indicated in the development plan, or one poultry structure, shall be placed in service within five (5) years of the date on which the development plan is approved by the Zoning Administrator, unless at least one-third the livestock, or one poultry structure, was already in service at the time the plan was filed. In the event the operator fails to obtain building and zoning permits for any of the proposed structures, or fails to have in place the minimum number of livestock required above, within five (5) years of the date on which the development plan is approved by the Zoning Administrator, the development plan shall expire.

(4)

The operator shall notify the Zoning Administrator in writing within thirty (30) days of placement into service of any structure indicated on his plan.

(5)

Each parcel for which a development plan has been approved shall display at its entrance a sign no smaller than two (2) square feet, and no larger than four (4) square feet, clearly visible from the nearest public road, indicating that a development plan is in effect for the parcel and containing the words "Certified Agricultural Development Site."

(6)

Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit an operator or a potential operator from submitting amendments to his or her original development plan, or from submitting revised plans. The Zoning Administrator shall review such amendments or revised plans as required in subsection (1) above according to the zoning ordinance in effect at the time the amendments or revised plans are received.

After the effective date of this section, no intensive livestock, dairy or poultry facility for which the Commonwealth of Virginia requires a nutrient management plan shall commence operation until such plan has been approved by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, or by a person certified or employed by the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board or the Commonwealth as a nutrient management planner, in accordance with 4VAC50-85-10 et seq., "Nutrient Management Training and Certification Regulations."

If the nutrient management plan provides for off-site disposal of waste, the operator shall provide, as a part of the plan, written documentation of an agreement with the receiver of the waste produced at his facility, or affidavit, sworn and subscribed before a notary public, that states his intention to dispose of waste through sale in a retail establishment or otherwise marketing to consumers. Documentation shall specify the duration of the agreement and the nature of the application or use of the waste. A nutrient management plan containing such an agreement shall be valid only as long as the agreement remains in force and shall be reviewed whenever such agreement expires or is terminated. If such an agreement is terminated before its expiration date, the operator shall notify the Zoning Administrator within fifteen (15) days of its termination.

(Ord. 12-16-15)

Editor's note— Ord. of 11-20-2024(2), § 1, adopted Nov. 20, 2024, repealed § 22-4-10.1—24-4-10.3, which pertained to rural cluster developments.