Rockingham County, VA Ordinances (2026)

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, all outdoor lighting on a site plan must be arranged to protect neighboring parcels from light trespass and light pollution…

New outdoor lighting fixtures in unincorporated Rockingham County must be International Dark-Sky Association approved or full cut-off, fixed in a downward orientation, under Sec…

Renting a house or room in unincorporated Rockingham County for fewer than 30 days triggers a 5 percent transient occupancy tax on the rental charge, collected by the host and remitted…

Rockingham County's bed and breakfast inns, the county's regulated short-term lodging use, must provide two parking spaces for the resident single-family unit plus one more space for…

Rockingham County requires a bed and breakfast inn's owner or manager to live on site and provide full-time management whenever guests are staying, under Zoning Ordinance Sec. 17-607…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, a building permit from the building inspection office is required before any construction, alteration, addition, repair…

Rockingham County enforces Virginia's Uniform Statewide Building Code through its own building inspection office, headed by an appointed building official. No construction, alteration…

No one may begin a land-disturbing activity in unincorporated Rockingham County without first submitting and getting county approval of an erosion and sediment control plan and being…

Land-disturbing activity of one acre or more in unincorporated Rockingham County (except in the Town of Bridgewater, which is excluded from this chapter) needs a stormwater management…

In unincorporated Rockingham County, no land may be developed and no structure may be located, constructed, reconstructed, enlarged or structurally altered within a FEMA-mapped special…

New or substantially improved homes in Rockingham County's mapped AE and A flood zones must have the lowest floor, including any basement, elevated two feet above the base flood level…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, land subject to the stormwater chapter must retain a 50-foot riparian buffer along perennial and intermittent streams, and tree…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, watering-day cutbacks only take effect once a drought stage is declared. Sec. 16A-40 of the County Code ties the county's…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, County Code § 14-30 requires every owner of real property to keep grass, weeds and similar vegetation cut. Residential lots…

Manufactured homes and recreational vehicles placed in Rockingham County's mapped flood hazard areas face separate elevation and anchoring rules: homes must sit two feet above base…

Rockingham County exempts small yard-sale and estate-sale signs from permits: under four square feet, non-illuminated, placed with the property owner's permission, and removed promptly…

Business and industrial window signs in Rockingham County are exempt from a sign permit only if they cover no more than 25 percent of the window and are not legible from the street.

Rockingham County allows electronic message center signs only by special use permit in agricultural and rural-village districts, and every message must hold for 30 seconds with no…

A shed under 580 square feet in Rockingham County's R-1 residential district needs only a 5-foot side and rear setback, but a larger accessory building must meet the same 10-foot side…

Rockingham County caps an accessory dwelling's enclosed floor area at 1,500 square feet and allows only one per parcel under Zoning Ordinance Sec. 17-607. In the R-1, R-2, PSF, MXU…

Anyone can file a zoning complaint with the Rockingham County zoning administrator under Sec. 17-1201, who must record it, investigate, and try to get the owner's or tenant's consent…

Rockingham County will not issue a home business permit for auto repair. The zoning ordinance excludes any use that needs a special use permit, and motor vehicle repair shops fall…

In Rockingham County's R-4 and R-5 planned residential districts, recreational vehicles belonging to residents and guests must sit in a designated, fenced and screened storage area…

Rockingham County requires commercial and industrial buildings that receive or distribute goods to provide off-street loading space at least 14 feet high, 12 feet wide and 50 feet…

Rockingham County bars parking any automobile, truck or other automotive equipment on or alongside a road, highway or street in the county for a commercial purpose. Sec. 11-24 exempts…

Rockingham County bans double parking on any public highway, street or alley, and separately bars parking so as to block a public highway, street, alley or private driveway. Sec…

Rockingham County presumes a motor vehicle abandoned once it lacks a current license plate, county sticker or valid state inspection sticker and has sat in one spot for four days…

A small solar energy facility in Rockingham County needs an electrical permit and a county inspection before it can connect, and roof-mounted arrays face a height cap tied to the…

Rockingham County caps yard sales at three consecutive days per sale and no more than three sales per property in any one-year period, a flat zoning limit that applies outside…

Rockingham County does not set its own street-tree species or spacing list. Instead, street landscaping on any development requiring a site plan must comply with VDOT's statewide…

Rockingham County's dangerous-dog ordinance expressly forbids labeling a dog dangerous or vicious solely because of its breed, and bars prohibiting ownership of any particular breed…

Rockingham County counts feral and domestic cats as companion animals under its animal ordinance but regulates them, like any animal, only against roaming on roads and highways. The…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, an animal hospital allowed in the A-1, A-2, RV, MXU or PCD zoning districts must keep every building, run or containment area…

Rockingham County makes it unlawful for a dog's owner to let the dog run at large anywhere in the county, defined as roaming off the owner's property without being under the owner's or…

Outside Harrisonburg and the towns, Rockingham County caps household poultry and livestock at one animal unit per acre, no more than four units, under the Zoning Ordinance's 'Animal…

Rockingham County requires a special entertainment permit from the board of supervisors before anyone stages an outdoor musical or entertainment festival in the unincorporated county…

Rockingham County declares that a property's own boundary lines count as a lawful fence under Title 55 of the Code of Virginia, so landowners are not forced to erect a physical fence…

Rockingham County makes it unlawful for a dog owner in an unincorporated town, village, subdivision or other densely populated area to let a dog bark in a way or with a frequency that…

Rockingham County bans unreasonably loud, disturbing or unnecessary noise from any motor vehicle or motorcycle operated in the county, and Sec. 11-17 spells out specific violations…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, County Code § 15-2 requires anyone going door to door to sell goods, take orders or solicit charitable donations to register…

Rockingham County's board of supervisors can order, by resolution and after reasonable notice, an owner to remove, repair or secure a building, wall or other structure that endangers…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, County Code § 14-3.1 makes it unlawful to leave waste in or near a dumpster in the R-4 zoning district once the owner has…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, County Code § 14-20 requires every commercial or industrial solid waste generator, hauler and recycling company operating in…

Rockingham County makes it unlawful to throw, place, deposit or allow refuse to accumulate on highways, streams, parks, public property or private premises if it renders the location…

In the A-1 and A-2 agricultural zoning districts, Rockingham County permits bulk storage of liquid petroleum gas in a tank up to 30,000 gallons under Zoning Ordinance Sec. 17-607…

During a declared drought or dry-weather emergency, Rockingham County's Fire Prevention Code makes it unlawful to burn outdoors anywhere in the county: woods, brush, leaves, debris…

Rockingham County requires a home business permit from the zoning administrator before running a business from a residence, under Zoning Ordinance Sec. 17-607. The business must stay…

Rockingham County caps a permitted home business at an average of two customer or vendor vehicle round trips per hour under Zoning Ordinance Sec. 17-607(f). A use that needs more than…

A home business sign in Rockingham County cannot exceed four square feet, with no dimension over thirty-six inches, under Zoning Ordinance Sec. 17-607(i). Signs also top out at five…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, Zoning Ordinance (chapter 17) Table 17-806.01 fixes minimum yard setbacks by zoning district: an R-1 single-family home needs a…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, Table 17-806.01 of the Zoning Ordinance (chapter 17) caps most residential structures at 35 to 45 feet depending on district…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, Secs. 17-302.02 and 17-303.02 of the Zoning Ordinance (chapter 17) tell residents of the A-1 and A-2 agricultural districts to…

In Rockingham County outside Harrisonburg and the towns, new poultry and hog operations in the A-1 and A-2 agricultural zoning districts must sit at least 150 feet from property lines…

Rockingham County's only county-specific rule for bicycles on the road is a hands-on-the-handlebars requirement: Sec. 11-19 bars riding a bicycle on any highway in the county without…