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Carolina County staff outline broad zoning, subdivision and site-plan updates after state code changes
Summary
Planning staff reviewed proposed ordinance amendments to implement Code of Virginia changes effective July 1, 2025, and to add clearer site-plan categories, reduce paper submittals, and clarify bonding and stockpile rules.
On Aug. 28, 2025, county planning staff presented a package of proposed zoning and subdivision ordinance amendments to the Carolina County Planning Commission to implement changes in the Code of Virginia that took effect July 1, 2025, and to streamline local site-plan procedures. Planning Director Leon Hughes walked commissioners through mandated edits and a series of recommended, business-facing updates.
The proposed changes are meant to bring the county code into compliance with state law and to reduce administrative burden for smaller projects and applicants. Hughes told the commission that some edits are required by the Commonwealth while others are intended as “cleanup” to correct outdated or unclear language.
Key proposed edits include: clarifying the distinction between nonconforming uses and nonconforming structures; removing a local requirement that forced applicants to attend pre-application meetings where the new state code forbids requiring them; consolidating the definitions “designated agent” and “subdivision agent;” reducing required hard-copy plan submissions because of a new electronic filing system; clarifying performance-guarantee (bonding) requirements for public improvements; and moving stockpile requirements into the site-plan section so applicants must show stockpile locations, heights and disposal plans on their site plans.
Hughes said the removal of the pre-application requirement does not mean staff will not encourage early review. “We will still strongly suggest to applicants that they take advantage of our TRC technical review process,” he said, calling the Technical Review Committee a free, multi-agency forum to surface potential review problems early. He gave the schedule: TRC meetings occur on the second and fourth Thursday of each month starting at 9:15 a.m., with no more than four applicants per session.
Staff also told the commission the county’s new electronic filing system allows staff to reduce the number of hard copies applicants must provide. Hughes said the county will move from larger paper requirements down to six hard copies in most cases; VDOT will still require three hard copies, the health department one, and utilities typically require one.
On site plans, staff proposed new, narrower definitions and processes. Hughes described a new “building addition” site-plan procedure for small additions (described in the presentation as projects of less than 2,500 square feet with no utility or parking changes) that could be reviewed as building permits rather than the full site-plan process. The county would also add definitions for linear-trail and infrastructure site plans and formally create a “minor” site-plan category for smaller projects. Hughes said the draft language will align existing size thresholds already used elsewhere in the ordinance and avoid unintended gaps; staff noted the current major-site-plan definition ends at a 10,000-square-foot point that could create a hole if not harmonized with the new minor-plan category.
Staff emphasized that DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) stormwater and erosion-and-sediment (E&S) requirements remain in force; changes in the packet remove duplicate references but do not remove state or agency enforcement. Hughes said the stockpile rules adopted earlier would now also appear on the site-plan checklist so applicants will not miss those requirements.
No formal vote was taken on the ordinance language during the Aug. 28 meeting. Hughes told the commission that some changes are mandated by the Code of Virginia and that staff will return with draft text for public hearing and formal adoption. He also asked commissioners to provide any policy suggestions before staff drafts final language for the public hearing packet.
Next steps: staff will prepare draft ordinance text reflecting the discussed edits and bring it back for public hearing and formal action at a later meeting. The packet notes that the planning commission had previously authorized a public hearing on related amendments at its June 26, 2025 meeting.
