Hanover County, VA Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

Section 26-246 bars an accessory building, other than one accessory to a farm, from being built more than six months before construction starts on the main building, and bars using it for more than six months unless the main building is also occupied or under construction; no accessory building, farm or otherwise, may be used as a dwelling except where the Zoning Ordinance specifically allows it. Section 26-247 then sets the placement standards: an accessory building generally cannot project beyond a required yard line along any street, and one that is not part of the main building, even if joined by an open breezeway, may go in a rear yard only if it covers no more than thirty percent of the required rear yard area and sits at least five feet from the rear lot line and three feet from a side lot line.

On a lot whose rear lines are contiguous with the rear lines of every adjoining lot, an accessory structure can be placed anywhere on the lot as long as it stays at least five feet from any lot line. Section 26-342 separately requires a building permit before any building, including an accessory building, is erected, altered, moved or enlarged, in Hanover County outside the Town of Ashland, and that permit must conform to the Zoning Ordinance's placement and coverage limits above. Fences and walls around a shed are addressed separately: Section 26-249 caps an ornamental fence at four feet in a front yard and seven feet in a side or rear yard.