Buying Land in Montgomery County, Virginia

A university-anchored county with genuinely rural land outside two towns

Montgomery County sits in Virginia's New River Valley, seated in the town of Christiansburg, and is best known as home to Virginia Tech in the neighboring town of Blacksburg. That gives the county a genuinely mixed character: a suburban, university-driven core in and around Blacksburg and Christiansburg, and a more rural, agricultural landscape through the rest of the county's New River Valley terrain. A buyer's experience of "Montgomery County land" will differ enormously depending on proximity to those two towns versus the county's more rural stretches.

The single most important structural fact for a Montgomery County land buyer to understand is that Blacksburg and Christiansburg are incorporated towns with their own governments and their own zoning ordinances -- entirely separate from Montgomery County's zoning ordinance, which governs only the unincorporated parts of the county. A property just inside Blacksburg's town limits is subject to Blacksburg's zoning code; a property just outside those limits, even a short distance away, falls under the county's separate ordinance instead. Always confirm which jurisdiction actually governs a specific parcel before assuming either one's rules apply.

Zoning outside the towns: A-1 Agricultural and Agricultural/Forestal Districts

In the unincorporated county, Montgomery maintains an A-1 Agricultural zoning district covering much of the rural land outside Blacksburg and Christiansburg. As with any Virginia county, the A-1 district's specific minimum lot size and its list of by-right versus special-permit uses should be confirmed directly with the county's Planning & GIS Services office -- this research pass found references to A-1 zoning in the county's rezoning records but could not independently confirm the current minimum lot size figure.

Separately from base zoning, Montgomery County also administers Agricultural and Forestal Districts (AFDs) under Title 15.2, Chapter 43 of the Code of Virginia. This is a voluntary program: a property owner who enrolls agrees not to convert their farm, forestland, or other open-space land to more intense commercial, industrial, or residential uses for a term of eight years, in exchange for whatever local incentives (often including land-use tax treatment) the county attaches to the program. If you're evaluating a parcel currently enrolled in an AFD, understand that the enrollment is a binding, term-limited commitment tied to the land -- confirm its current status and remaining term with the county's Planning office before assuming you can develop it differently right after closing.

Septic, well, and health-district permitting

Septic and private well permitting for a Montgomery County parcel -- inside or outside Blacksburg and Christiansburg -- runs through the New River Health District, a Virginia Department of Health office that also covers Floyd, Giles, and Pulaski counties and the City of Radford. The district's headquarters office sits inside the Montgomery County Health Department building in Christiansburg. Given the county's varied New River Valley terrain, from valley floor to more mountainous edges, soil and slope conditions can differ meaningfully across even a short distance -- a site-specific perc test and evaluation from that office is the only reliable way to confirm a given parcel's buildability.

Short-term rentals: a genuine three-way split

Virginia Tech's presence drives real demand for short-term rentals across the Blacksburg/Christiansburg area, and Montgomery County ended up with three separate ways of regulating that activity depending on which jurisdiction a specific address falls in: Blacksburg's own Homestay Ordinance (a bedroom-count and night-cap structure, in effect since 2017), Christiansburg's separate Homestay Ordinance (a primary-residence test, adopted in 2019), and a case-by-case Special Use Permit process for anywhere in the unincorporated county outside both towns. See our standalone short-term-rentals page for the full breakdown of all three before evaluating a Montgomery County property specifically for its rental income potential.