Land 101 ยท Zoning and land use

Zoning vs no zoning:what governs land where a county chose not to zone

A zoned locality asks one question of a proposed use that an unzoned county never asks. Most of the other rules a landowner meets arrive either way, and this guide sorts one kind from the other.

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The dividing question

A zoned locality asks whether the use belongs in the district

Bring a proposed use to a zoned locality and the first thing it wants to know is whether that use is permitted in the district the parcel sits in. An unzoned county never asks, because it has no districts to check the use against. That question is the clearest working difference in zoning vs no zoning, and it is narrower than the phrase suggests.

The Code of Virginia defines zoning as classifying the land in a locality into districts by legislative action, and applying in each district regulations on building and structure design, building placement, and the uses land and structures may be put to. Va. Code 15.2-2280 lets a zoning ordinance regulate the use of land, buildings and structures for agricultural, business, industrial, residential, flood plain and other uses, and the size, height, area, bulk and location of structures.

The same section opens with the word that decides whether any of that exists in a given county: a locality "may" classify its territory into districts. Why the Code lets a county decline zoning but not decline to control how land is divided is laid out on the zoning pass of reading land, and it is not repeated here. What follows is the practical side of the choice.

Asked either way

The questions a county asks with or without a district map

An unzoned county is still a county with ordinances, and a parcel inside one still answers most of the questions a zoned parcel does. Five of them follow.

  • Is the land being divided? Every Virginia locality's governing body must adopt a subdivision ordinance, zoned or not. Carroll County treats any division of a lot or parcel as a subdivision that needs an approved plat, Floyd County requires a preliminary plat for all proposed divisions and lot line revisions, and Wythe County issues no permits on lots or tracts divided in conflict with any applicable ordinance.
  • How close to the road and the lines can a house sit? Any locality may by ordinance regulate the building of houses, including minimum setbacks, side yards and minimum lot sizes, and any locality may require that no building be constructed within 35 feet of a street or roadway. A setback is not a zoning-only tool, and each county's numbers are gathered in how close to the property line you can build.
  • Where does the sewage go? Virginia's sewage regulations require that all buildings, residences and structures designed for human occupancy be served by an approved sewerage system or treatment works. A county's decision about districts does not touch that rule.
  • Can a manufactured home go there? Rules reach it on both sides of the split. Floyd, with no county zoning, lists an Ordinance Prohibiting Pre-1976 Manufactured Homes among its ordinances, while a locality that adopts and enforces zoning must permit manufactured homes in its agricultural districts where agricultural, horticultural or forest uses dominate and site-built housing is allowed. The county-by-county answer is in putting a manufactured home on land here.
  • What is recorded against the parcel? Carroll's subdivision ordinance says it is not intended to annul any easement, covenant or other private agreement, and on a sale of residential property of one to four dwelling units, Virginia's disclosure statement says the owner makes no representation about recorded covenants and restrictions. Restrictive covenants sit in the deed book of a zoned county and an unzoned one alike.
The zoned toolkit

Special exceptions, variances and uses that were there first

A district map brings a set of tools with it. Each is defined in terms of a zoning ordinance, so none has a district to attach to in a county without one, and each answers the use question a different way.

The tools a zoning ordinance brings, in the Code's terms
ToolWhat it isWho acts on it
DistrictLand classified into areas by legislative action, each carrying its own regulations on design, placement and useThe locality, by ordinance
Special exceptionA use not permitted in a district except by a special use permitThe governing body or the board of zoning appeals, which hears and decides applications where the ordinance authorizes it
VarianceA reasonable deviation from rules on lot shape, size or area, or building size, height, bulk or location, when strict application would unreasonably restrict use of the propertyThe board of zoning appeals, which may not grant one that results in a use not otherwise permitted or a change in zoning classification
Nonconforming useA use that does not conform to the zoning of its district, which an ordinance may let continue within limitsThe ordinance, within Va. Code 15.2-2307
Definitions of zoning, special exception and variance from Va. Code 15.2-2201; board powers from Va. Code 15.2-2309; nonconforming uses and the approvals that can vest from Va. Code 15.2-2307. A locality's own ordinance can assign some approvals elsewhere.

The variance has its limit written into its definition, which says it "shall not include a change in use," and puts a change in use where it belongs: a rezoning or a conditional zoning. A variance reaches rules such as how close a building sits to a line, and only when strict application would unreasonably restrict use of the property. It cannot put a use on a lot that its district does not allow.

A use already on the ground when the rules changed is handled under a section of its own. Va. Code 15.2-2307 lets a zoning ordinance allow a nonconforming use to continue only so long as the then existing or a more restricted use continues, the use is not discontinued for more than two years, and the buildings or structures are maintained in their then structural condition.

Who acts can differ locally. In the City of Galax the Zoning Administrator handles rezonings, special use permits, variances and subdivision plats, and City Council approves rezonings, special use permits and major plats. Whether an approved rezoning, special exception or plat can hold against a later amendment is its own subject, under entitlements on land.

The comprehensive plan

A plan points the way and regulates nothing by itself

In a county without zoning, the comprehensive plan is the document most easily mistaken for a zoning ordinance. Virginia law makes a comprehensive plan general in nature: it designates the general or approximate location, character and extent of each feature.

Carroll County's 2024 plan says of itself that it is not another name for zoning.

Wythe County's FAQ says much the same of its own plan, calling it "not a regulatory tool on its own," and lists what the county relies on primarily today: the comprehensive plan, solar siting agreements negotiated case by case, state permitting, and subdivision ordinances and building codes. Floyd County's comprehensive plan, which predates the county's 2026 Land Division Ordinance, describes its subdivision ordinance as a tool that does not determine use, as set out in whether Floyd County has zoning.

That is where the absence of districts shows. Wythe's FAQ says the Code does not grant counties broad authority to regulate land uses outside a zoning framework, and that without zoning the county's ability to regulate where large-scale solar installations or other industrial uses may be located is significantly limited. What that means to someone buying ground for a business is taken up in what unzoned means for a commercial buyer.

Six counties and a city

Three counties without districts, three counties and a city with them

Carroll, Floyd and Wythe have no county zoning ordinance. Grayson, Pulaski and Montgomery counties zone, and so does the City of Galax. The ordinance-by-ordinance table, with its dates, is on the counties page; what matters here is where that split puts the use question.

No county zoning. Carroll County's Planning Commission voted to table further discussion of a draft zoning ordinance until further notice; the rest of the county's position is in whether Carroll County has zoning. Floyd County's ordinances page lists no zoning ordinance, and the county's Economic Development Authority states that "There is no zoning" there.

Wythe County has no countywide zoning, and its Land Use Classification Ordinance was still a draft, with no adoption action taken, when this guide was checked on September 13, 2026. The county had announced a community meeting on the draft for September 3, so its status since is a question for the Wythe County Planning Department at 276-223-4508, and what the draft would mean for one village is on the Austinville page.

Zoned. Grayson County's 2024 comprehensive plan says the Rural Farm District is the default zone for unincorporated land; the permit steps are in whether Grayson County has zoning. Pulaski County carries zoning and subdivision in one document, its Unified Development Ordinance. Montgomery County and the City of Galax each have a zoning ordinance of their own.

Inside a town

A town line can put a zoned parcel inside an unzoned county

A county that does not zone can hold towns that do. The corporate line, not the county line, is where the use question switches on for those parcels.

Wythe County's FAQ says Wytheville and Rural Retreat are zoned by their own municipalities. The Town of Floyd has its own zoning ordinance, ordained by its Town Council. Grayson's comprehensive plan notes that towns have their own zoning. In Pulaski County the Unified Development Ordinance covers the Town of Draper and unincorporated land, while the incorporated towns of Pulaski and Dublin administer their own ordinances.

Hillsville, the seat of Carroll County, is the nearest case. Carroll County's subdivision ordinance applies only to land not within the jurisdiction of incorporated municipalities, and the Town's staff directory lists a Building Code Official / Engineer / Zoning Administrator. Zoning questions for a parcel inside the town go to the Town, and the town's own rules are covered on the Hillsville page.

State law bends at a town line too. A locality may require that no building be constructed within 35 feet of any street or roadway, but that ordinance does not apply within the limits of a town that has enacted a zoning ordinance or adopted minimum setbacks.

Before a contract

Which rulebook governs is settled one parcel at a time

Knowing whether a county zones is where a read of a tract starts. The questions below run from the one that decides the rest to the ones that matter whichever way it came out.

01

Fix the locality from the record

Take the county from the recorded plat and deed rather than the mailing address, and check whether the parcel lies inside an incorporated town.

02

In a zoned locality, get the district

A parcel's district comes from that locality's planning or zoning office. Grayson County points owners to its WebGIS map for the official district of a parcel.

03

Ask the use question there

Whether a use is permitted by right, needs a special use permit, or would take a rezoning is that office's answer, not a listing sheet's.

04

In an unzoned county, read the county's other ordinances

With no district to check, the subdivision ordinance and its plat, any lot size and setback the county sets, and the sewage approval move to the front.

05

Either way, read what is recorded

A zoning decision does not clear the land records of an earlier plat, easement or covenant.

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Questions

Good questions, straight answers.

Who decides an application for a special exception in a zoned Virginia locality?

It depends on the ordinance. The Code of Virginia defines a special exception as a use not permitted in a particular district except by a special use permit, and it lets a board of zoning appeals hear and decide applications for special exceptions as the ordinance authorizes. Va. Code 15.2-2307 also names the governing body as a body that grants them. In the City of Galax, special use permits are subject to approval by City Council. The zoning office of the locality says which body acts.

If a use was already running when a locality adopted zoning, can it keep going?

Within limits. Va. Code 15.2-2307 lets a zoning ordinance allow a nonconforming use to continue only so long as the then existing or a more restricted use continues, the use is not discontinued for more than two years, and the buildings or structures are maintained in their then structural condition. Wythe County's FAQ on its draft ordinance says existing lawful uses would, in most cases, be grandfathered. Whether one use qualifies is a question for the locality and an attorney.

If Wythe County adopts its draft land use ordinance, would it reach Wytheville or Rural Retreat?

No, as the county describes it. Wythe County's FAQ says the ordinance would apply only to the unincorporated areas of the county, and that both towns already have zoning administered by their own municipal governments. The posted text is Draft 4.02 of August 2026, with no adoption action taken as of September 13, 2026. The Wythe County Planning Department, 276-223-4508, has its current status.

Sources

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.

Keep reading

Also on this site

Six counties and the City of Galax: the ground we work.Where Bowman works: six Southwest Virginia counties and the City of Galax, with the ground, the zoning answer and the office a landowner calls first in each one.How we read landThe five-factor method, factor by factor, with the Virginia rule and the office behind each one.Covenants and HOAs on rural land: from a promise in one deed to an association that runs the roadsHow deed covenants, plat restrictions and recorded declarations work on rural Virginia land, when an association forms, and what its board may charge.