This chapter will be officially known as the "Zoning Ordinance of the County of Henrico, Virginia" or "Henrico County Zoning Ordinance," and may be referred to as "the Zoning Ordinance" or "this Ordinance."

The Zoning Ordinance is adopted in accordance with the enabling authority contained in Title 15.2, Chapter 22 of the Code of Virginia and all other relevant laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Whenever any provision of this Ordinance refers to or cites a section of the Code of Virginia or federal laws or statutes, and that section is later amended or superseded, this Ordinance will be deemed to refer to the section, as amended, or the superseding section.

The Board of Supervisors adopts this Ordinance to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the present and future residents, businesses, and landowners of the County; accomplish the objectives of the Code of Virginia; and implement the County's comprehensive plan. More specifically, this Ordinance is intended to:

A.

Provide for adequate light, air, convenience of access, and safety from fire, flood, impounding structure failure, crime, and other dangers;

B.

Reduce or prevent congestion in the public streets;

C.

Facilitate the creation of a convenient, attractive, and harmonious community;

D.

Facilitate the provision of adequate police and fire protection, disaster evacuation, civil defense, transportation, water, sewerage, flood protection, schools, parks, forests, playgrounds, recreational facilities, airports, and other public requirements;

E.

Protect against destruction of or encroachment upon historic areas and working waterfront development areas;

F.

Protect against overcrowding of land, undue density of population in relation to the community facilities existing or available, obstruction of light and air, danger and congestion in travel and transportation, and loss of life, health or property from fire, flood, impounding structure failure, panic, or other dangers;

G.

Encourage economic development activities that provide desirable employment and enlarge the tax base;

H.

Provide for the preservation of agricultural and forest lands and other lands of significance for the protection of the natural environment;

I.

Protect approach slopes and other safety areas of licensed airports, including United States government and military air facilities;

J.

Promote the creation and preservation of affordable housing suitable for meeting the current and future needs of the planning district within which the County is situated;

K.

Provide reasonable protection against encroachment on military bases, military installations, and military airports and their adjacent safety areas, excluding armories operated by the Virginia National Guard;

L.

Provide reasonable modifications in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. §12131 et seq.) or state and federal fair housing laws; and

M.

Protect surface water and groundwater as defined in Code of Virginia § 62.1-255, consistent with applicable state water quality standards.

This Ordinance is intended to ensure all development within the County's jurisdiction is consistent with the goals and policies of the adopted comprehensive plan. All amendments to this Ordinance's text or the Zoning Districts Map should be consistent with the County's adopted comprehensive plan.

A.

This Ordinance applies to the use and development of all lands within the County, unless expressly exempted by a specific division or section of this Ordinance.

B.

Unless exempted, land within the County must be developed and used in compliance with this Ordinance and all other applicable County, state, and federal laws and regulations.

C.

A building or structure for which a certificate of occupancy is required in accordance with the building code must not be occupied unless a certificate of occupancy is approved.

D.

The requirements imposed by this Ordinance will be interpreted and applied as minimum requirements.

Except as stated herein, the provisions of this Ordinance do not apply to:

A.

Development or use of land by the County or its agencies;

B.

Development or use of land owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia, unless the Code of Virginia authorizes local regulation by this Ordinance; and

C.

Development or use of land owned by the government of the United States, its agencies or departments, to the full extent required by law.

It is the intent of the Board of Supervisors that the provisions of this Ordinance be liberally construed to carry out the purposes of this Ordinance and to avoid conflict with the Code of Virginia and any other limitations imposed by law. However, if any provision of this Ordinance is determined by a court to be invalid, such decision will not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance.

Except where otherwise stated in this Ordinance, this Ordinance is not intended to repeal, abrogate, annul, or in any way impair or interfere with any other provision of law or ordinance, or any regulations or permits adopted or issued pursuant to law relating to the use or construction of buildings or premises, or private restrictions.

If a provision of this Ordinance is inconsistent with another provision of this Ordinance, or with a provision found in other codes or ordinances of the County, the provision that imposes greater restrictions or more stringent controls will govern.

If a provision of this Ordinance is inconsistent with a provision found in the law or regulations of the Commonwealth of Virginia or federal government, the more restrictive provision will govern, to the extent permitted by law. A reasonable accommodation is allowed regardless of the specific provision of this Ordinance that would otherwise preclude it when such reasonable accommodation is necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use a dwelling.

(Ord. No. 1335, § 1, 11-12-2024)

The County will not be responsible for monitoring or enforcing private easements, covenants, and restrictions, although the County may inquire if land is subject to easements, covenants, and restrictions during the review of development applications. Private easements, covenants, and restrictions notwithstanding, all development, unless expressly exempted by this Ordinance, must comply with this Ordinance's minimum requirements.

The location and boundaries of the various base zoning districts, overlay zoning districts, and planned development districts under the Ordinance are hereby established as shown on the maps derived from digital source files maintained by the County entitled "Zoning Districts Map of Henrico County, Virginia," effective January 1, 2002, as amended since that time, which constitute the Zoning Districts Map under this Ordinance. The Zoning Districts Map is available for public inspection during normal business hours. It is the final authority as to the status of the current zoning district classification of land in the County and will only be amended in accordance with Sec. 24-2303, Map Amendment (Rezoning), Sec. 24-2304, Conditional Zoning, or Sec. 24-2305, Planned Development, as appropriate.

The Zoning Districts Map, as amended, including all notations, dimensions and designations shown thereon, is incorporated herein by reference and made part of this Ordinance.

The Planning Director will be responsible for interpretations of the Zoning Districts Map in accordance with the procedures and standards in Sec. 24-2317, Interpretation, and the following standards:

A.

Boundaries shown as approximately following a utility line or a street, alley, railroad, or other public access way will be interpreted as following the centerline of the right-of-way or easement for the utility line or access way. In the event of closure of a street or alley, the district boundary will be construed as the centerline of the street or alley unless the zoning district boundary is amended in accordance with this Ordinance.

B.

Boundaries shown as approximately following a property line will be interpreted as following the property line as it existed when the boundary was established. If a subsequent minor adjustment (such as from a court ordered settlement of a boundary dispute or overlap) results in the property line moving ten feet or less, the zoning district boundary will be interpreted as moving with the property line.

C.

Boundaries shown as approximately following rivers, streams, canals, and lakes will be interpreted as following the centerline of the watercourse and as moving with that centerline to the extent the watercourse moves as a result of natural processes (such as flooding, erosion, and sedimentation).

D.

Where the full course of a boundary extending into a body of water is not shown, the boundary will be construed as continuing in a straight line to the intersection with another zoning district boundary or to the limits of the County's zoning jurisdiction, whichever occurs first.

E.

Boundaries shown as approximately following political boundaries will be interpreted as following such boundaries.

F.

Boundaries shown parallel to or as extensions of features indicated in this section will be interpreted as such.

G.

If distances or other dimensions are not specifically indicated on the Zoning Districts Map, they will be determined by the scale of the map.

H.

If the specific location of a boundary cannot be determined from notations on the Zoning Districts Map or application of the above standards, it will be determined by using the map scale to determine the boundary's distance from other features shown on the map.

I.

Where the actual locations of existing physical or natural features vary from those shown on the Zoning Districts Map, or in other circumstances not covered by this section, the Planning Director will have the authority to interpret the district boundaries in accordance with Sec. 24-2317, Interpretation. If the Planning Director determines land is not included definitely within any of the districts on the Zoning Districts Map, the land will be deemed to be in the C-1 Conservation District.

J.

The Planning Director's interpretations may be appealed to the BZA in accordance with Sec. 24-2320, Appeal of Administrative Decisions. The BZA will not have the power to change substantially the locations of district boundaries.

Changes made in zoning district boundaries on the Zoning Districts Map will be considered an amendment to this Ordinance and are made in accordance with Sec. 24-2303, Map Amendment, Sec. 24-2304, Conditional Zoning, or Sec. 24-2305, Planned Development, as appropriate. Changes will be entered on the Zoning Districts Map by the Planning Director promptly after the amendment is approved by the Board of Supervisors. Where the ordinance enacting a zoning district boundary change contains wording explaining or clarifying the location of the new boundary, the Planning Director may enter on the Zoning Districts Map notations reflecting the ordinance wording.

This Ordinance will become effective on September 1, 2021, and repeals and replaces Ordinance #179 adopted on December 23, 1959 as subsequently amended and codified as Chapter 24 of the Henrico County Code.

Any development or activity in violation of the previous zoning ordinance will continue to be a violation under this Ordinance, unless the development or activity complies with the express terms of this Ordinance.

If any use, structure, lot, sign, or site feature legally existed immediately prior to September 1, 2021, but does not fully comply with the standards of this Ordinance or any amendment thereto, the use, structure, lot, sign, or site feature is considered nonconforming under this Ordinance and must comply with the requirements in Article 6: Nonconformities.

A.

Applications accepted as complete before September 1, 2021, but still pending final action as of that date, will be processed in accordance with the regulations in effect when the application was accepted. To the extent such an application is approved and proposes development that does not comply with this Ordinance, the subsequent development, although permitted, will be nonconforming and subject to the provisions of Article 6: Nonconformities.

B.

An applicant with a pending application accepted before September 1, 2021, may opt to have the proposed development reviewed and decided under the standards of this Ordinance by withdrawing the pending application and submitting a new application in accordance with the procedures and standards of this Ordinance.

C.

Applications accepted as complete will be processed in accordance with any time frames for review, approval, and completion established in the regulations in effect at the time the application was accepted as complete. If the application fails to comply with the required time frames, it will expire and future development will be subject to the requirements of this Ordinance.

Land conditionally zoned and subject to proffers before September 1, 2021, will continue to be subject to the approved proffers until or unless the Board of Supervisors rezones the property or amends the proffers in accordance with the procedures and standards of this Ordinance and the Code of Virginia. Land adjoining any land zoned UMU, Urban Mixed Use District, may be added to the UMU district by rezoning the land to be added to CMU or UMU-PD. The proffered conditions, provisional use permits, and other regulations associated with the approved UMU zoning may be incorporated by reference into the proposed CMU or UMU-PD district in lieu of the PD Master Plan and PD Terms and Conditions Document required by Sec. 24-3503, PD Master Plan and Terms and Conditions.

A.

Any other permits or development approvals granted before September 1, 2021, will remain valid until their expiration date. Developments with valid permits or development approvals may be carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions of their approval and the development standards in effect at the time of approval, provided the permit or development approval is valid and has not expired. If the prior approval expires or is revoked, any subsequent development or use of the site will be subject to the procedures and standards of this Ordinance. To the extent a prior-approved application proposes development or use that does not comply with this Ordinance, the subsequent development or use, although permitted, will be nonconforming and subject to the provisions of Article 6: Nonconformities.

B.

Any requirement of a prior-approved development approval for maintenance, including maintenance of private roads, parking lots, fences, and signs, will remain in force until a new plan of development, site plan, or similar development application is approved, at which time the maintenance requirements of this Ordinance will apply.

C.

For uses that were previously approved by a provisional use permit or conditional use permit that are allowed by right under this Ordinance, the previously approved provisional or conditional use permit, including any conditions of approval, will remain in force until a new plan of development, site plan, or similar development application is approved.

Nothing in this Ordinance is intended to repeal, supersede, annul, impair, or interfere with any vested rights under applicable laws, provided such rights are lawfully established and remain in effect.