Entrance Corridor

The Entrance Corridor Overlay (ECO) is comprised of all of the properties (and parts thereof) located within five-hundred feet of the following rights-of-way:

• Battery Park Road
• Benns Church Boulevard
• Courthouse Highway
• Route 10 Bypass
• W Main Street
• N Church Street (from the Pagan River to the corporate limits)
• S Church Street (from Cypress Creek to Benns Church Boulevard)

The Town maintains a map of the approximate boundaries of the ECO (PDF).

The purpose of the ECO, as stated in Article 3.R of the Smithfield Zoning Ordinance (PDF) "is to protect the aesthetic and visual character of land in the Town of Smithfield adjacent to major existing and proposed highway corridors... and to provide for and promote their orderly development." As with most districts of its type in Virginia, virtually all exterior additions/alterations (to include demolition, new construction, additions, signage, etc.) necessitate some form of review and decision/recommendation from the Town's Planning Commission. View an ECO design review application (PDF).

In 2005, the Town Council voted to adopt the Entrance Corridor Design Guidelines. The guidelines serve as an "owners' manual" of sorts for property owners within the ECO who wish to conduct additions/alterations, etc. to their properties.

As the ECO is a beautification district intended to control and guide large-scale commercial and residential development, all proposed projects of or related to a single-family dwelling are exempt from ECO design review.

To discern what actions would necessitate Planning Commission review or decision, please contact the Community Development and Planning Department at 757-365-4200, or email Tammie Clary, Community Development and Planning Director.