Unzoned
Unzoned describes land in a Virginia locality that has adopted no zoning ordinance, so no zoning district sets the uses allowed on it. The word does not lift the subdivision ordinance: every locality must still adopt one, and a division of unzoned land that counts as a subdivision runs through it.
Three unzoned counties, and the zoned towns inside them
In this corner of Southwest Virginia the word has a line on the map. Carroll, Wythe and Floyd counties have no county zoning ordinance, while some towns inside those same counties have zoning of their own. A parcel can be unzoned on one side of a town limit and zoned on the other without ever leaving the county.
| County | County zoning | Zoning inside a town |
|---|---|---|
| Carroll | None. The 2024 comprehensive plan says the county does not utilize zoning. | The Town of Hillsville's staff directory lists a Zoning Administrator. |
| Wythe | No countywide zoning. As of September 13, 2026, the county's page said no adoption action had been taken on its draft Land Use Classification Ordinance. | Wytheville and Rural Retreat are zoned by their own municipalities. |
| Floyd | None. The county's Economic Development Authority site says there is no zoning. | The Town of Floyd has its own Town of Floyd Zoning Ordinance. |
Wythe's own comprehensive plan counts Wythe among seven Southwest Virginia counties without a zoning ordinance and names Carroll and Floyd among the others. The county-by-county answers are in whether Carroll County has zoning and whether Floyd County has zoning, and the zoned localities elsewhere in the footprint are listed with the six counties and the City of Galax.
No district map, but a subdivision ordinance all the same
Set a zoned parcel beside an unzoned one and the first difference is the district map. Zoning is the process of sorting a locality into districts and applying use and placement rules in each. The Code frames the two differently. Va. Code 15.2-2280 begins "Any locality may, by ordinance, classify the territory under its jurisdiction" into districts, while under Va. Code 15.2-2240 the governing body of every locality shall adopt a subdivision ordinance.
So unzoned land loses the district map but not the subdivision ordinance. What still applies on the ground where a county never zoned, including the comprehensive plans those counties lean on, is worked through in zoning vs no zoning.
An unzoned county still decides how its land is divided
The word gets heard as permission to divide or build freely, and it is narrower than that. In Carroll County, which has no zoning, any division of a lot or parcel is a subdivision, and its plat has to be approved by the Subdivision Agent or the Planning Commission before it is recorded. An unzoned county decides nothing about use through districts, but it still decides how the land is divided.
The missing use layer matters most on ground bought for a business, and that argument belongs to what unzoned means for a commercial buyer. Access, utilities, topography and soil still have to be checked on an unzoned parcel, and the five-factor land read takes them in order.
Holding an unzoned parcel and unsure which rules still reach it?
Send Lowell the road and the county. He will start with the town line and name the offices whose rules still reach that ground. No cost, no obligation.
Got it. Thank you.
We'll be in touch shortly with an honest read.
Questions about this term
Who confirms that a particular parcel is unzoned?
The county office for county ground, and the town office when the parcel is near a town limit. In Carroll County that is Land Use and Planning, which handles subdivision and plat review; in Wythe County the Planning Department administers the comprehensive plan and subdivision ordinances. Inside a town the town answers, and the Town of Hillsville's directory lists a Zoning Administrator. Wythe's draft Land Use Classification Ordinance had no adoption action as of September 13, 2026, so ask Wythe Planning for its current status.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Va. Code 15.2-2240: every locality shall adopt a subdivision ordinance Code of Virginia
- Va. Code 15.2-2280: a locality may classify its territory into zoning districts Code of Virginia
- 2024 Comprehensive Plan Carroll County, Virginia
- Land Use and Planning (subdivision and plat review) Carroll County, Virginia
- County FAQ (no countywide zoning; what the county relies on) Wythe County, Virginia
- Comprehensive Plan Wythe County, Virginia
- Land Use Classification Ordinance (draft) Wythe County, Virginia
- Planning Department Wythe County, Virginia
- Comprehensive Plan Floyd County, Virginia
- Infrastructure projects Economic Development Authority of Floyd County
- Town of Floyd Zoning Ordinance (2020) Town of Floyd
- Local Government Directory Town of Hillsville