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Nelson County proposes short‑term rental rules, allows absentee‑owner SUPs in villages and Route 29 corridor
Summary
Draft rules would permit owner‑occupied and hosted short‑term rentals by right, limit number of rentals per lot (two on ≤5 acres; three if >5 acres), require a property management plan, and allow absentee owners to seek special use permits in Village and Route 29 overlay districts.
LOVINGSTON, Va. — Nelson County planners outlined proposed short‑term rental (STR) regulations on Oct. 22 that would permit owner‑occupied and hosted rentals as by‑right uses while restricting absentee‑owner rentals to special use permits in designated overlays.
Dylan M. Bishop, Director of Planning and Zoning, described two primary STR types in the draft: owner‑occupied "homestays" and hosted stays with a designated resident manager; both are transient stays of 30 days or less. Bishop said the draft would require two forms of primary‑residence verification and limit the number of STRs per lot to two if a parcel is five acres or less, and to three if the parcel exceeds five acres. Occupancy limits would be enforceable via public‑health and septic capacity rules tied to the number of bedrooms.
Bishop outlined additional standards: required posting of a local contact for complaints in the property management plan, a prohibition on amplified music or sound between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., fire extinguishers and smoke alarms meeting Virginia IRC standards, and a written consent allowing County inspections upon complaint. The County is evaluating a software platform to register and track STRs and discussed the possibility of an annual registration fee.
On residency restrictions, Bishop said state law limits what can be required. "I have learned that would not be a legal pathway in zoning because it's a land use consideration," Bishop said, referring to proposals to limit STRs to Nelson County residents; she also cited a Virginia Attorney General opinion that bona fide agricultural operations hosting STRs as agritourism are by‑right on farms engaged in agricultural production.
Supervisors and commissioners debated whether absentee‑owner STRs should be allowed by special use permit in specific overlays. After discussion, the Board and Commission agreed to permit absentee‑owner STRs to seek an SUP in the Village Overlay and the Route 29 Corridor Overlay, subject to SUP criteria including impacts to neighborhood character and public services.
Staff asked members to review the language and return comments to the Berkeley Group by the consultant deadline; no registrations, fees, or enforcement program were adopted at the Oct. 22 meeting.
