Goochland County Unincorporated, Virginia · General provision

Sec. 15-452, 15-463, 15-464, 15-466

OverlayAll Goochland County Unincorporated districts0

Dimensional standards

Plan view of the district’s stated lot requirements. Solid line: the property line. Dashed: the setback lines the ordinance imposes; a building must stay inside the tinted envelope. Drawn from the figures extracted below — illustrative, not a survey.

Servicing

Applies near: SFHA
Geographic extent: All lands within the county identified as special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) dated October 10, 2024

Uses

Permitted by right9

Agricultural use, such as general farming, pasture, grazing, outdoor plant nurseries, horticulture, truck farming, forestry, sod farming, and wild crop harvesting
Accessory residential use, such as yard areas, garden, play area, and pervious loading areas
Game farm; fish hatchery (excluding rearing structure); hunting and fishing reserves; boat landing
Hunting; fishing
Outlet installation for sewage treatment plant; sealed public or private water supply well
Public park; public recreational facility
Public utility distribution facility
Retaining wall; channel improvement; flood retention dam and levee; culvert and bridge; all approved by state department of highways
Wildlife preserve; conservation area; woodland preserve; arboretum

Conditional / special use10

Accessory use customarily and clearly incidental and subordinate to use permitted by right
Carnival; circus; fair; any similar transient amusement enterprise
Commercial campground
Gas transmission line
Park; playground; day camp; picnic ground; golf course; golf driving range; miniature golf course; yacht club
Paved off-street parking, or loading and unloading area related to a use in an adjoining district
Public and commercial swimming pool
Public utility transmission line (including liquid and natural gas), transmission tower, pipe, meter, railroad
Roadside stand for the sale of fish bait, or agricultural or horticultural products produced on the premises
Structure customarily accessory and clearly incidental and subordinate to agricultural uses; park, playground, day camp, picnic ground, golf course/driving range, yacht club; sand and gravel pit and quarry, soil removal, mining operation; and commercial campground

Prohibited4

Any use or structure not of a character indicated in the allowable uses and structures chart in Sec. 15-463
Manufactured homes
Filling in with dirt, gravel, minerals or refuse, or regrading of land in a floodplain in any manner that would obstruct, interfere, or otherwise adversely affect flow patterns and currents during flooding
Private package sewage treatment plants, including conventional and alternative onsite septic systems, except for replacement systems as provided in Sec. 15-465

Extracted standards

5 individual requirements pulled out of this section’s prose, each with the sentence it came from.

Other

Flood opening requirement1 sq in per sq ft
The total net area of all openings must be at least one (1) square inch for each square foot of enclosed area subject to flooding.
Maximum accessory structure size600 sqft
Accessory structures may not exceed 600 square feet.
Minimum lowest floor elevation for non-residential structures
New construction or substantial improvement of any commercial, industrial, or non-residential buildings shall have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated to or above the base flood level plus 1 foot. Non-residential buildings may be floodproofed to BFE plus 2 feet.
Minimum lowest floor elevation for residential structures
New construction or substantial improvement of any residential structure in AE or A zones with detailed base flood elevations must have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated to or above the base flood level plus 3 feet.
Utility design to minimize flood damage
All new or replacement sanitary sewer facilities, water facilities, and drainage facilities must be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of floodwaters and flood damage.

From the ordinance

The following uses and structures may be approved... Minimum lot area for each permitted use is eight acres; maximum lot coverage by all structures cannot exceed 5% of total lot area.
Sec. 15-452, 15-463, 15-464, 15-466

Use details

{
  "dropped_conditions": {
    "conditional_uses": [
      "Office quarters housed in a temporary structure such as a mobile home or trailer which may be readily towed or otherwise removed from the flood fringe prior to inundation by floodwaters",
      "Pulpwood receiving and storage yard, wood shipping scale, scale house, pumping station, and loading dock, provided these structures do not impede the flow of floodwaters or restrict the flow of debris"
    ]
  }
}