BAR to take up replacement of 5-unit building with 9-unit building 

The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review will meet at 5:30 p.m. (agenda)

One role of the BAR is to provide direction to applicants seeking to build new projects in architectural design control districts. At this meeting they will take up two such projects. One is a revision for Certificate of Appropriateness for 1301 Wertland Street, an apartment building being constructed on the same property as a historic house. The applicant seems to change some of the building materials. 

The second project is for 1609 Grove Street where the property owner seeks to replace a two story apartment building constructed in 1963 with a three story apartment building. I’ll be writing about this more for my C-Ville Weekly story. 

Another role the BAR plays is in making recommendations for design guidelines for items such as what the furniture should look like for cafe spaces on the downtown mall. At this meeting they will go through potential revisions. The biggest appears to be stricter rules on what can be near downtown mall trees. 

“No tables or service furnishings permitted within 2-ft of a tree trunk,” reads the draft revision. “Nothing may be attached to or wrapped around [contacting] the trees.”

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the October 14, 2024 Week Ahead edition of the newsletter.