Surry County Unincorporated

The purpose of this district is to provide for protection against destruction of or encroachment upon historic areas, buildings, monuments or other features...

The purpose of these provisions... to protect and improve the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries, buffer areas and other sensitive environmental lands...

The floodplain districts described above shall be overlays to the existing underlying districts as shown on the official zoning ordinance map, and as such, the provisions for the floodplain districts shall serve as a supplement to the underlying district provisions.

General supplementary regulations including street frontage, height modifications, yards, sight triangles, prohibited uses, and use-specific standards.

Development of the site shall be based on the results of a site analysis... To the maximum extent practicable, development shall be located to preserve the natural features of the site, to avoid areas of environmental sensitivity, to preserve historic structures and to minimize negative impacts and alteration of natural features.

Portable on demand storage (POD) units shall be considered a temporary structure. They are permitted for use for a total of six months, after which a zoning permit must be obtained through the planning and zoning department.

Distributed solar energy facility shall be considered an accessory use... Ground-mounted solar collectors shall not be located within ten feet of any side or rear lot line.

Battery energy storage systems shall be considered an accessory use in residential, civic, commercial, and industrial uses and properties in any zoning district when designed with appropriate storage capacity to serve the principal use only and not the electric power grid.

Accessory structures not to exceed 600 square feet.

Accessory structures not to exceed 600 square feet.

This ordinance shall apply to all properties within the unincorporated areas of Surry County, Virginia, including any property within the county that may be assessed in an adjoining jurisdiction.

No excavation or land disturbance associated with any structure or use shall begin until such time as an erosion and sediment control plan is reviewed and approved by the department of planning and zoning and a permit for such disturbance is issued. Any newly created parcel, lot or tract shall comply with the provisions of this ordinance and the Subdivision Ordinance of Surry County.

A zoning permit shall be required for the erection, construction, reconstruction, moving, adding to, or alteration of any structure, or the establishment of any land use, except as listed below: 1. Silvicultural, and agricultural uses of land associated with the conduct of a farm. 2. Patios. 3. Fences. 4. Streets. 5. Electric power, telephone, cable television, gas, water, and sewer lines, street lights, wires or pipes, together with supporting, poles or structures, and traffic control signs located within a public right-of-way.

A certificate of zoning compliance shall be required for any of the following: 1. Occupancy or use of a building hereafter erected, enlarged or structurally altered. 2. Change in the use or occupancy of an existing building. 3. Occupancy or change in the use of vacant land except for the silvicultural activities, raising of crops, and other agricultural uses not involving structures or subject to use standards contained in article IV of this ordinance. 4. Any change in use of a nonconforming use, or any alteration of a nonconforming building or structure.

Temporary or partial certificates of occupancy shall be valid for a period not to exceed eight months, during which time all improvements required by county law must be made.

Any violation of any provision of this ordinance shall be a misdemeanor punishable upon conviction by a fine of not less than $10.00 nor more than $1,000.00, as may be amended in Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2286.

The administrator may grant an administrative variance from the interior side yard, front yard, and rear yard requirements of this ordinance for single-family dwellings and nonprofit uses, and their accessory structures; provided that no such variance is greater than 50 percent of the requirement contained in this ordinance.

In addition to uses permitted by right, certain uses may be compatible with existing and future uses in a district, depending upon their scale, design, location, and conditions imposed by the BZA, as specified in article III, District regulations, of this ordinance. In addition, the following uses and activities may be allowed with approval of a special exception: 1. A garage or other building accessory to a single-family dwelling which building does not comply with the regulations of the district in which it is located. 2. Extension of a nonconforming use in a building so as to increase floor area by not more than 25 percent. 3. Temporary uses and structures in any district not specifically listed in the regulations for and determined by the board to be in the public interest for the district in which located; provided that such uses be of a temporary nature and do not involve the erection of substantial buildings. Such use or structure shall be authorized by the issuance of a temporary and revocable permit for not more than a 24-month period subject to such conditions as will safeguard the public health, safety and welfare.

A garage or other building accessory to a single-family dwelling which building does not comply with the regulations of the district... Extension of a nonconforming use in a building so as to increase floor area by not more than 25 percent. Temporary uses and structures in any district not specifically listed... for not more than a 24-month period.

The board of zoning appeals (BZA) shall have the power to grant variances in the yard lot area and other dimensional requirements in any district so as to relieve practical difficulties or particular hardships in cases, when a property owner can show that his property was acquired in good faith and where, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, size, or shape of a specific piece of property at the time of the effective date of this ordinance, or where by reason of exceptional topographic conditions of other extraordinary situation, or condition of such piece of property, or the use or development or property immediately adjacent thereto, the strict application of the terms of this ordinance would effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the use of the property, or where the BZA is satisfied, upon the evidence heard by it, that the granting of such variance will alleviate a clearly demonstrable hardship as distinguished from a special privilege or convenience sought by the applicant, provided, that all variances shall be in harmony with the intended spirit and purpose of this ordinance.