Albemarle County ARB recommends no objection to Flow dealerships' outdoor display expansion at 960 Seminole Trail

The Albemarle County Architecture Review Board on Sept. 8 recommended no objection to a special use permit to expand outdoor vehicle display and paved parking at 960 Seminole Trail, the site of the Flow Subaru, Flow Honda and Flow Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealerships. The board's recommendation included revised concept-plan conditions to add interior parking trees and require that new light poles match the finish of existing on-site fixtures.

The recommendation is advisory and will be forwarded to the county Planning Commission and then to the Board of Supervisors for final action. Staff said the proposal would convert a portion of frontage landscaping into paved parking, add roughly 52 parking spaces and rely on planting along the entrance corridor and additional interior islands to mitigate the visual impact of expanded vehicle display.

Chris (county staff presenter) told the board that motor vehicle sales are a permitted use in the zoning district but that outdoor display in the county's entrance corridor requires a special-use permit. The site previously received two special-use permits in February 2003, one for outdoor vehicle display and one for structured parking, he said. To accommodate the expansion the property owner acquired just over one-third of an acre of right-of-way from the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Board members focused discussion on landscaping and interior parking trees. Staff noted the county parking-lot landscaping guideline calls for roughly one interior tree per 10 parking spaces; with 52 added spaces that would equate to about five interior trees but the concept plan showed a single interior island. "I think the proposed planting along the entrance corridor seems to be a nice improvement," said Member Dade, who asked for one additional interior tree and for a second board member's perspective. Member Tara and others said they had no objection provided the trees can flourish in the proposed islands.

Applicant representative Chris Marshall of Chimp Engineering said the team had not prepared slides but believed "the application was pretty straightforward and self-explanatory." He added the interior island would be slightly larger than shown and likely able to accommodate additional interior trees.

After discussion the board amended the staff-recommended motion to (1) add one tree in the display area south of the site entrance, (2) enlarge the northern island to accommodate two trees, and (3) revise the site-plan lighting recommendation to require that new pole finishes "match the finish of existing light poles" on site. The ARB approved the recommendation with those amendments. The motion, as stated to the record, was to "recommend no objection to the request for the special use permit, with the recommended revisions to the concept plan and conditions of approval and provide the comments for the final site plan submittal," amended as described.

There were no public comments at the meeting on the item. The applicant and staff indicated willingness to incorporate the additional trees and the lighting finish change into the concept/site plan prior to Planning Commission review. The ARB did not identify other changes to the staff conditions.

Vote at the ARB meeting: Member Mitsuno — Aye; Member Vanderwerff — Aye; Member Henningsen — Aye. The motion passed. (Other board members present did not have separate recorded votes in the transcript excerpt.)

The board had one regular review item on its Sept. 8 agenda and no consent agenda items. The next Architecture Review Board meeting was scheduled for Monday, Sept. 29, 2025.