Planning & Zoning

Responsibilities


Planning and zoning staff often work hand-in-hand to help with various types of applications. Planners evaluate regional land use and transportation plans and provide the Rockingham County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors with recommendations. They work with many aspects of implementing the Comprehensive Plan, including rezonings of property. Zoning officials administer the zoning ordinance, including responding to land-use complaints and assisting with applications.


Capital Improvement Program

Overview

The County Capital Improvements Program (CIP) is a five-year plan to guide the construction or acquisition of capital projects divided into eight major categories: Community Development, Education, Landfill, Public Safety, Public Works, Recreation, Technology, and Utilities.  A capital project is classified as a non-recurring, non-operational expense exceeding $10,000, which may have project stages phased over successive fiscal years. 


Review Criteria

The CIP must be based on the County Comprehensive Plan and Section 15.2-2239, Code of Virginia authorizes the County to adopt such a plan and amend as needed after the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors hold public hearings.  The Subcommittee based its recommendations upon the:

  • Identified need;
  • Urgency of the request;
  • County’s ability to finance the project; and
  • Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan. 

Comprehensive Plan


How your property can be used depends on many factors. First, the County’s overall vision for its future is reflected by a Countywide plan known as the Comprehensive Plan. This plan directs development of different types (and nondevelopment) to general areas across the County.

To achieve the plan’s goals, zoning districts are established; some districts allow farming and other rural activities, and others allow housing developments, businesses, or manufacturing.

The Rockingham County Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan


The Rockingham County Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan represents four years of concerted effort to improve safety and convenience for non-motorized travel throughout Rockingham County. In 2011 the Board of Supervisors appointed eleven citizens to the newly formed Rockingham Bicycle Advisory Committee (RBAC). The RBAC immediately began drafting an annual work plan and presented it to the Board of Supervisors for adoption on July 11, 2012. The work plan established a set of objectives organized into five categories. Rather than develop their own categories, they chose the categories used by the League of American Bicyclists to evaluate the bicycle friendliness of communities across America under its Bicycle Friendly Community Program. These categories, known as the 5 Es – engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation and planning – serve to focus the attention of advocates and policy makers and increase the impact of individual efforts. On October 26, 2016, the Board of Supervisors adopted this plan.

View the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan...

Zoning Ordinance


The County zoning ordinance defines how property in each zoning district can be used and what can be built. It outlines procedures for establishing and expanding businesses and for obtaining permits, such as special use permits, home business permits, and on-farm business permits. It also establishes a method for requesting to change a property’s zoning district, known as rezoning.

View the Zoning Ordinance...

*Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance are approved by the Board of Supervisors. The codification process may take several months. Please review any Adopted Ordinances Not Yet Codified.