Goochland County seeks volunteers for zoning, building and tax boards
Goochland is recruiting volunteers for boards that shape tax appeals, zoning variances, building-code disputes and design rules across the county.
Property tax bills, zoning variances and building-code disputes in Goochland all run through volunteer boards that now have openings. The county is seeking applicants for the Board of Equalization, Local Board of Building Code Appeals, Design Review Committee and Board of Zoning Appeals, positions that can decide whether a homeowner’s assessment stands, whether a project gets a variance, or whether a building plan can move forward.
Residents can apply online through the county website. Goochland says board and committee applications are public records and may be shared with the general public, and some members must file Virginia conflict-of-interest disclosure forms before they begin serving and again every year after that. Board and commission members receive a minimum stipend of $50 per meeting plus mileage reimbursement, a policy adopted by the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 6, 2005.
The Board of Equalization has the most direct impact on tax appeals. It hears complaints about real estate assessments, including claims of nonuniformity and acreage errors, after the informal appeal stage with the Assessor’s Office. Property owners have 30 days from notification of the informal appeal result to apply to the board. Goochland’s board has seven members serving three-year terms, meets the second Friday in June from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Board Meeting Room 250 at the County Administration Building, 1800 Sandy Hook Road in Goochland, and currently shows two vacancies.
The Board of Zoning Appeals is the county’s quasi-judicial forum for zoning decisions, variance requests and map interpretation disputes. Ex-parte communication with the board is prohibited. Goochland’s board has five members and two alternates, five-year terms and one vacancy. Members are recommended by the Board of Supervisors and appointed by Goochland County Circuit Court, and the county says applicants must be Goochland County residents. The board has stayed active, with an annual organizational meeting on Jan. 26, a meeting on May 18 on cases AP-2026-00001 and VAR-2026-00002, and another docket that included a zoning appeal and a design review case.
The Design Review Committee and Local Board of Building Code Appeals also carry real weight for residents and builders. The design panel helps ensure new development follows standards in overlay districts that protect Goochland’s natural, scenic and historic resources, and it can impose conditions or reasonable deviations to meet the intent of the rules. It has five seats, including three members and two alternates, two-year terms and one vacancy. The building code appeals board serves as the first-tier due-process body for people contesting the county’s application of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code or a denied modification; it has five members, staggered one- and two-year terms and one vacancy, and heard three appeals on May 6.
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