Spotsylvania County, VA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)
Outdoor burning rules in Spotsylvania County, VA, also called the burn ban, open burning, or fire restriction ordinance, set when you can burn yard waste, debris, or run a recreational fire.
Key Facts
- Residential/office zones
- 1,000-ft setback + permit (Sec. 9-102(c))
- Commercial/industrial zones
- 750-ft setback + permit (Sec. 9-102(d))
- Agricultural/resort zones
- 500-ft setback, no permit (Sec. 9-102(e))
- Permit application
- 10 days advance, fee set by board (Sec. 9-103)
- Land-clearing burn ban
- May 1 to October 1 (Sec. 9-102(k))
- Max penalty
- $2,500, Class 1 misdemeanor (Sec. 9-105(c))
Summary
Spotsylvania County requires a county open air incineration permit and a 1,000-foot setback from any occupied dwelling to burn debris waste in residential, office or mixed-use zoning districts, or a 750-foot setback in commercial and industrial districts, under County Code Sec. 9-102. All land-clearing burning is banned outright from May 1 through October 1.
(a)The Commonwealth of Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board Regulations for Open Burning, 9 VAC 5 Chapter 130 in current form and as amended in the future, are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference; provided, however, any county regulation specified in this article more restrictive than such state regulations shall apply and take precedence over the state regulations. ... (c)No landowner, tenant, occupant or other person shall cause or permit the open burning of debris waste upon any property which is zoned Mixed Use, Plan Development Housing, Residential Housing Manufactured Home Park, Residential 1, Residential 2, Residential 3, Residential 8, Residential 12, Rural, Office 1, Office 2 or Village Residential, as designated on the county zoning map, unless such burning is at least one thousand (1,000) feet from any occupied dwelling or building and is done by open pit incineration conducted under a valid county open air incineration permit.
Full Breakdown
Article IV of Chapter 9 folds Virginia's statewide open-burning regulations, 9 VAC 5 Chapter 130, into county law at Sec. 9-102(a), but adds that any county rule more restrictive than the state regulation controls. Debris waste, defined in Sec. 9-101 as waste from land-clearing operations such as stumps, wood, brush, soil and road spoils, cannot be openly burned in Mixed Use, Plan Development Housing, Residential Housing Manufactured Home Park, Residential 1 through 12, Rural, Office 1, Office 2 or Village Residential zoning districts unless the fire sits at least one thousand feet from any occupied dwelling or building and is conducted by open pit incineration under a valid county open air incineration permit, per Sec.
9-102(c). In Commercial 1 through 3, Industrial 1 and 2, Planned Development Commercial and Village Commercial districts, that setback drops to seven hundred fifty feet under Sec. 9-102(d). Property zoned Agricultural 2, Agricultural 3, Resort Agricultural, Residential Resort or Resort Commercial needs only a five-hundred-foot setback and no permit under Sec. 9-102(e). Sec. 9-103 requires permit applicants to apply in writing at least ten days before burning, pay a fee set by the board of supervisors, and submit a sketch plan showing the burn site and nearest off-site residence; permits expire ninety days after issuance and must be posted at the burn site.
Sec. 9-104 layers on additional conditions for permitted burns, including a two-thousand-foot buffer from any hospital, nursing home or school, attendance at all times, and a ban on burning during weekends and recognized holidays. Sec. 9-102(k) separately bars all land-clearing open burning between May 1 and October 1 each year, regardless of zoning or permit status.
Violations & Fines
The fire marshal administers and enforces Article IV. Sec. 9-105(c) makes any violation of the open-burning article, including burning debris waste without the required permit or setback, a Class 1 misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $2,500 per violation, with each additional day of continued burning charged as a separate offense; the fire marshal can also revoke a permit for noncompliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to burn land-clearing debris in Spotsylvania County?
Is land-clearing burning ever banned outright?
How do I apply for an open air burning permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Spotsylvania County
How Spotsylvania County compares: Cities with the Strictest Outdoor Burning Rules·Compare Spotsylvania County to another location·View the Virginia fire regulations overview
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