Inside Wytheville, inside Rural Retreat, or out in the county
Settle the address before anything else, because in Wythe County the building permit does not come from one office. The Town of Wytheville's own Building Inspection Department administers and enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code "within the Town of Wytheville", so an address inside the town does not go to the county desk. Inside Rural Retreat, the building permit is a question to ask rather than a desk to name.
That split runs the opposite way from Grayson County permits, where the county building department issues inside all three towns, and the same way as Hillsville in Carroll County, which issues its own building permits. The first call for each side of the line:
- Outside the towns: Wythe County Building Inspection, 276-223-4505.
- Inside Wytheville: Town of Wytheville Building Inspection, 276-223-3339.
- Inside Rural Retreat: the town office, 276-686-4221, for the zoning permit.
Out in the county, Building Inspection on South Sixth Street
Outside the town limits, the desk is Wythe County Building Inspection at 290 South Sixth Street, Suite 350 (Room 351), Wytheville, VA 24382. The department line is 276-223-4505, the Building Official is Kyle Taylor at 276-223-4511, and the office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. The office sits in Wytheville, yet an address inside the town limits belongs to the town's department.
The county's Building Inspection page, read September 21, 2026, says the office issues permits for new construction after reviewing plans, lots and site conditions, and makes or causes to be made all required inspections. Building, trade and ag permits can be applied for through what the page calls its "Online Permitting Portal". To schedule an inspection, the same page says to call the Building Inspection Department at 276-223-4505 or email. The page gives no notice period for that call, and the code's side of the wait sits with our page on when footing inspections are scheduled.
Wythe County states that it uses the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, like every Virginia locality, so the statewide list of work that needs no permit applies here, and the Virginia concrete permit rules page walks through that list. On flatwork, the October 2025 version of the county's fee schedule page lists patios by name among the kinds of work it calls miscellaneous permits. That is a permit category on a fee page, not a rule that every patio needs a permit, so ask 276-223-4505 about the job in front of you. The fee is the same kind of call, because two county pages print different rates.
The county's checklist puts the lot, the septic and the road entrance ahead of the plans
Wythe County's Building Permit Requirements page, in its October 2025 version, lists its requirements in order, opening with owner details and a property description the county checks against the subdivision ordinance, because no permit may be issued on a lot or tract divided in conflict with any applicable ordinance. Next on the list come a recorded survey plat or deed, a septic permit and a road entrance permit, and only after them the structure's dimensions, estimated cost, contractor details and plans.
The septic permit comes early when the job is a single family dwelling: the county says it is required before a building permit may be issued. That permit belongs to the Wythe County Health Department, 290 South Sixth Street, Suite 300, Wytheville, VA 24382, (276) 228-5507. The Mount Rogers Health District says it provides septic system design directly in Wythe and Smyth counties, where elsewhere private designers submit and its staff review.
The entrance permit is VDOT's, and the county wants it before you apply for the building permit when a new driveway is being cut off a state-maintained road. An existing driveway, or a lot on a private road, falls outside that requirement. VDOT's districts page lists the Wytheville Residency, serving Bland, Grayson and Wythe, at 2843 Chapman Road, Wytheville, VA 24382, 276-228-2153. The county's page prints an older agency name and a different street number, so go by VDOT's own listing. For the application itself, and whose name goes on it, see VDOT entrance permits.
Land disturbance outside the towns is an engineering question, not a building one
Outside the towns, the Wythe County Engineering Department administers the county's erosion and sediment control and floodplain ordinances, and its staff issue land-disturbing and floodplain development permits, conduct inspections and enforce the rules. The county engineer named on its page, in the October 2025 version, was Johnny Kincer.
The county's Land Disturbing Activity page puts the line at any activity disturbing 10,000 square feet or more of soil, with exemptions listed in the county's erosion ordinance, and says land disturbing activity up to and over an acre must contact the Department of Environmental Quality. The same page links three forms: an Agreement in Lieu of Plan for a single family dwelling, a Land Disturbance Permit Application, and a certification for land disturbance of less than 10,000 square feet.
Which exemption fits a job, the fee, and how the county counts a house site and its driveway together are questions for the Engineering Department, asked before anyone assumes a small slab keeps the job under the line.
County zoning outside the towns, as read on September 21, 2026: still a draft
As read on September 21, 2026, Wythe County's own Land Use Classification page calls the Land Use Classification Ordinance, which would cover the county's unincorporated areas, a draft ordinance prepared for public review and input, and says: "No action has been taken for adoption at this time." The newest draft it listed that day was Draft 4.02, dated August 2026. In a news item posted September 18, 2026, the county said it had launched an online survey to gather more public feedback on what it called "the proposed zoning ordinance", and that its review of the ordinance continues.
The county's FAQ, in its July 2026 version, described Wythe as "one of a very small number of counties in Virginia without a countywide zoning system". In place of zoning it listed the Comprehensive Plan, which it called "policy guidance, not regulatory", along with case by case solar siting agreements, state permitting, and subdivision ordinances and building codes. So the subdivision ordinance still reaches a lot through the permit checklist above, and what the draft would change, or when, is the county's to say. For the status on the day you call, ask the county's Planning office; the Planner named on its page in October 2025 was Lisa Shelton, 276-223-4508. Where a setback does apply, the working-out is on how close concrete can go to the property line.
Wytheville keeps its own building department at 150 East Monroe Street
Inside the town limits, the Town of Wytheville's Building Inspection Department administers and enforces the state building code for the town, and says it reviews permit applications and construction documents and conducts required inspections. Its Building Official is Timothy Spraker, 276-223-3339, and its Permit Technician is Jason Hamm, 276-223-3354. The offices are at 150 E. Monroe St., Wytheville, VA 24382, open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
The town moved to online permitting effective July 1, 2022, and its portal lets an applicant request inspections. Its applications include one titled "Building: Minor Construction / Renovation / and Miscellaneous Activities"; which one a slab or a walk falls under is a question for the Permit Technician.
The town's Requirements for Building Projects document asks for a site plan showing the distance from the building to the property lines, a recorded plat, erosion and stormwater plans where they apply, and Health Department approval where public water and sewer are not available, and it says to meet zoning requirements. It prints no frost depth, and the county does not publish one either; the depth question has its own page, frost depth and footing codes. The same document says contractors performing work within the town are required to obtain a Town of Wytheville business license.
Zoning inside Wytheville is the town's too. The town's Planning Department reviews development proposals so that new construction meets the Zoning Ordinance, and enforces that ordinance; the Assistant Town Manager and Director of Planning is Elaine Holeton, 276-223-3352. A Unified Development Ordinance, which the department describes as a major revision of the subdivision and zoning ordinances, is among its projects, so ask which text governs on the day you apply. The town's crossroads traffic, and what it means for commercial flatwork and site access, is the subject of our page on concrete work in Wytheville.
Wytheville's erosion plans and street entrances stay with the town
The Town of Wytheville operates its own Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program, and its ordinance designates the Department of Public Utilities and Engineering "as the VESCP plan approving authority." The director is Billy Anderson, 276-223-3342. Under the town's building requirements, land disturbance of 10,000 square feet or more needs an erosion and sediment control plan and narrative, reviewed by the town's Engineering Department before any grading or construction permit issues. Construction that changes the nature of or increases the impervious surfaces on a site needs a stormwater management plan for areas "over 10,000 square feet", approved by the town below one acre and by DEQ above it.
The town ordinance lists disturbance of less than 10,000 square feet among the activities not required to comply with the Erosion and Sediment Control Law, but a lot in a residential development is not exempt when the development's total reaches 10,000 square feet. When a contractor does the work under a construction contract, the ordinance still puts the plan on the owner, and for a single-family detached house, under conditions it sets, allows an agreement in lieu of a plan if the town's plan approving authority executes it.
A driveway entrance onto a Town of Wytheville street is a Public Works question. The town's Public Works fee schedule, effective July 1, 2025, carries a line for a residential concrete driveway entrance priced "for permit and work to install", beside separate lines for larger, modified and gravel or asphalt entrances. Who does the work on your apron, and which streets are the town's, are the town's to say: Public Works Director Kevin Hackler, 276-223-3357.
Rural Retreat wants a town zoning permit that names driveways
Inside the Town of Rural Retreat, the town's guidelines say a zoning permit is required before beginning any construction, reconstruction or alteration of a building or other structure, and they name driveways among the things it covers, along with dwellings, accessory buildings, porches and decks, and fences. A site plan goes to the Town Manager, and the guidelines say: "There is no charge for this permit." The town's zoning ordinance, in a file titled revised 2014, assigns zoning permits to a Zoning Administrator.
Setbacks differ by zoning district, and the town's application says they are measured from the overhang of the structure or porches. Where a lot has parking space for more than four cars, the town's zoning ordinance limits a driveway or curb cut to 25 feet in width. The setback distance itself comes from the town office.
The town office answers at 276-686-4221, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, and the Town Manager is Jason Childers. What Rural Retreat does not publish is who issues the building permit inside town limits: the town lists no building department, and Wythe County's Building Inspection pages do not say. Ask the town office or the county at 276-223-4505 before assuming either one. Whether Rural Retreat runs its own erosion program or relies on the county is unpublished too, and the county Engineering Department is the office to ask.