The Mercer County Commission in West Virginia records in its minutes of January 28, 2025 that "Mercer County does not have zoning laws," but outside its towns the county's Floodplain Ordinance requires a permit from the county Floodplain Administrator for development and for placing any structure within the county, and inside Bluefield, Princeton or Athens the town's own offices answer first.
That makes the county floodplain office, at 1500 West Main Street in Princeton, the first call for a container on rural land.
Countywide zoning in Mercer County, in the county's own records
Mercer County's comprehensive plan, the version the county posts with an August 2018 cover, says of zoning: "There are no plans to pursue countywide zoning, however zoning has been discussed as an option near the interstate interchanges, which are areas that have also been designated as the preferred development areas of Mercer County." The County Commission approved a comprehensive plan by resolution on November 13, 2018. The plan calls itself "a policy guidance document" rather than an ordinance.
The Commission's later minutes say it outright. The January 9, 2024 discussion list reads "No zoning laws in the County now"; the June 25, 2024 minutes note "No zoning in Mercer County"; and the January 28, 2025 minutes record that "Mercer County does not have zoning laws". The county's ordinance page, read on October 12, 2026, runs from dilapidated buildings and fireworks to floodplains and noise, and we found no zoning or subdivision ordinance on it.
For a container on unincorporated land, that leaves no zoning permit or district to look up, by the county's own account; the county rule worth a call is the Floodplain Ordinance.
We found no Mercer County adoption of the State Building Code
West Virginia's State Building Code has "force and effect in those counties and municipalities adopting the State Building Code," the rule our West Virginia container permit guide walks through, and an adopting county has to tell the State Fire Marshal it has adopted the code.
We found no record that Mercer County has done so: not on the county's ordinance list, not in the Commission minutes we searched from August 2016 through December 2025, and not in the State Fire Commission minutes posted from 2021 to 2026, and we found no list of adopting counties on the Fire Marshal's site. The county's dilapidated-buildings ordinance says as much about itself: adopted March 23, 2021, it states that the Commission "specifically intends that this ordinance shall NOT, in any fashion, implement any zoning restrictions, building code restrictions".
So, as far as we could find, a storage container on unincorporated land meets no county building inspection. A box wired in our shop still gets its final hookup and inspection from a licensed electrician, and inside a town the town's own code can reach it.
Section 1.3 of the Floodplain Ordinance asks for a permit within Mercer County
The county's Floodplain Ordinance, passed on final reading June 12, 2007 and printed on the county's ordinance page, makes it unlawful to undertake "any development, new construction, substantial improvement, repair of substantial damage, or the placement or relocation of any structure (including manufactured homes) within the Mercer County unless a permit application has been completed and a certificate of compliance has been obtained from the Floodplain Administrator." Section 7.1 repeats the rule for work "within Mercer County" and adds a standard site plan.
Two definitions carry that rule. The ordinance defines development as "Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials," and a structure as "A walled and roofed building, site built or manufactured home and to include a gas or liquid storage tank(s) that are principally above ground." Whether a container set on blocks for storage meets either definition is not our call. Section 1.4 hands matters the ordinance does not specifically cover to the administrator, who "shall determine the applicability of the provisions of this ordinance in accordance with its intent."
The permit sections speak of work within Mercer County, while the construction standards in Article VI apply to development "occurring in the Floodplain Area." Ask the office how those reach your parcel, and whether a newer text governs: the county also posts the ordinance as a 2024 PDF scan with no readable text.
Anchoring, stored equipment and the creek setback on Mercer County's mapped flood land
Mercer County's identified floodplain is the land the federal flood map for the county shows in the 100-year flood, a map "dated March 2, 2005 or the most recent revision thereof," plus areas the county marks on its "Local Flood Hazards Map".
Inside that land, Article VI includes these, in the ordinance's words: "All buildings and structures shall be firmly anchored in accordance with accepted engineering practices to prevent flotation, collapse, and lateral movement," and "Storage of other material or equipment may be allowed if not subject to major damage by floods and firmly anchored to prevent flotation or readily removable from the area within the time available after flood warning." It also says "No materials that are buoyant, flammable, explosive, or in times of flooding could be injurious to human, animal or plant life, shall be stored below Base Flood Elevation." Near a creek, the ordinance keeps a Flood Protection Setback of "twice the width of the watercourse channel measuring from the top of one bank to the top of the opposite bank or 50 feet, whichever is less" from the top of the banks, and says necessary public works and temporary construction "may be exempted" from it.
The ordinance closes with advice worth taking for any placement: the Commission "urges all applicants proposing development in or near a flood hazard area to locate all development as far away from, and as high above, all flooding sources as possible." High, dry ground is kinder to the steel too, as our answer on putting a container in a floodplain explains; where the mapped line falls on your land is the county's call, not ours.
Bluefield, Princeton and Athens handle their own lots, and Matoaka is no longer a town
Mercer County's site lists as its towns the City of Bluefield, the City of Princeton and the Towns of Athens, Bramwell and Oakvale, and a lot inside one of them starts at the town.
Inside the City of Bluefield the city's own code comes first, with a zoning chapter, a flood chapter run by the city manager and a section adopting the State Building Code, each read section by section on our Bluefield permits and placement page; our page on containers in Bluefield, WV covers sales and rentals there. The City of Princeton keeps its own Code Enforcement and Building Inspections departments and a Zoning Board of Appeals, and the West Virginia guide linked above names that desk; the drive is on our Princeton container page.
The Town of Athens issues its own building permits. Its application says "Building construction in the Town of Athens is regulated by the following ordinances" and names a rental housing code and a planning and zoning chapter, though the town's site says its ordinances are "under construction" and posts no text of them. The town office at 202 S State Street, (304) 384-3525, lists hours of Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. In Bramwell and Oakvale we found no zoning or building permit pages on the towns' own sites; the county lists a floodplain manager for each, so start with the town hall and then the county floodplain office.
Matoaka is no longer a town. The Commission's minutes of March 14, 2023 record that "As of October 5, 2022, it is recorded that the Town of Matoaka is dissolved," and the county's floodplain page lists no Matoaka manager, so a lot in the former town is a question for the county floodplain office. When you call, have the tax map and parcel number ready, since the county's floodplain permit application asks for them; our Bluefield delivery page shows how a mailing address can name a town the parcel is not in.
Who answers for a Mercer County parcel, place by place
| Place | Zoning | Building code or permit | Floodplain | Start here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unincorporated county, including the former town of Matoaka | No zoning ordinance on the county's list | We found no county adoption of the State Building Code | County Floodplain Administrator | County floodplain office, 1500 West Main Street, Princeton, 304-431-8520 |
| City of Bluefield | City zoning, Chapter 44 | State Building Code adopted, Sec. 6-31 | City manager, under Chapter 18 | City offices, 200 Rogers Street, 304-327-2401 |
| City of Princeton | City Zoning Board of Appeals | City Building Inspections | County lists a Princeton floodplain manager | The desk named in our West Virginia guide |
| Town of Athens | Planning and zoning chapter named on the town's permit form | Town building permit | County lists an Athens floodplain manager | Town office, 202 S State Street, (304) 384-3525 |
| Town of Bramwell | None found online | None found online | County lists a Bramwell floodplain manager | Town hall, then the county floodplain office |
| Town of Oakvale | None found online | None found online | County lists an Oakvale floodplain manager | Town hall, then the county floodplain office |
None found online means we found no zoning or building permit page on the town's own site.
The County Commission's own office is at the Mercer County Courthouse, 1501 West Main Street, 304-487-8306, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., per its contact page; a county-level question with no other office behind it goes there.
What the county floodplain office wants on paper, and what to ask it
Mercer County's Floodplain Ordinance says a permit application includes "a description of Site location sufficient to locate the project including tax map and parcel number" and "A standard site plan showing size and location of the proposed development as well as any existing buildings or structures," with nearby roads and watercourses drawn in, on forms the county's Office of Floodplain Management supplies. The county's page posts no form, so ask for one.
- Is the spot inside the identified floodplain or on the county's local flood hazards map?
- Does the office read a container placed for storage as development or a structure, and which permit or certificate applies?
- In the floodplain area, what does it want for anchoring the box and for what goes inside?
- How long does a permit run?
Bring the container's size, 20-ft or 40-ft, and a photo of the spot. The box is set and leveled on blocks where you choose, and the permit stays between you and the county, because we do not pull permits.