BAR defers review of large L-shaped mixed-use proposal at 211 South King and 4 South Street, extends critical action date after public easement and floodplain‑s

The Leesburg Board of Architectural Review on June 18 deferred action on a large, L-shaped mixed-use proposal that would span 211 South King Street and 4 South Street Southwest, after staff and multiple neighbors said the design is premature and needs substantial revision to address massing, setbacks, floodplain constraints and multiple private easements.

Staff presented the project at a concept level and said the submission lacked engineering materials and that several town engineering and zoning comments could materially change the design. "Staff currently finds the spacing acceptable, but that doesn't excuse the fact that the mass, height and scale overwhelm adjacent historic structures," Preservation staff Ashley said, recommending the BAR treat the presentation as a high-level discussion and defer detailed review until a later work session.

Applicant Kevin Ash and architect Ron Schneck said they had met staff in a pre-application review and that county and town reviewers told them much of the proposal was feasible; the applicant emphasized civil- and code-driven constraints, floodproofing measures and nonconforming building footprints the design seeks to reuse. Ash said the proposed rooftop/podium and parking layouts reflected code and flood-plain constraints and that residential use above the floodplain is the applicant’s preferred approach but could convert to office/retail if zoning changes do not proceed.

Neighbors strongly objected to the scale, visibility and the plan’s impact on existing perpetual ingress/egress easements. Brooke Brown (213 South King Street) told the board the applicant’s drawings did not accurately show the perpetual vehicular and pedestrian ingress/egress easement recorded in 1989 and argued that construction could not be accomplished without blocking that easement. “There is an ingress egress easement that is perpetual between 213 South King Street and the property in this application,” Brown said, and asked that the board keep the public hearing open so abutting owners could continue to weigh in.

Other nearby owners raised parking and access concerns and asked the BAR to rely on existing conditions rather than hypothetical future redevelopment on adjacent lots. Multiple members of the public and board said the design as presented relied too heavily on fenestration and materials to disguise a massing that is out of context with West Side South King Street’s smaller historic residences.

Board action: the applicant agreed at the meeting to extend the application’s critical action date to Dec. 1, 2025 to allow time for revisions. The board voted to defer the case to a work session on August 4, 2025 for more detailed review; motion to defer and the extension were made and seconded on the record and the motion passed 6-0-1 (one recusal recorded). The board asked the applicant to provide more complete site and engineering documents and to meet with zoning and engineering staff before the August work session.

Why it matters: this is a large infill proposal adjacent to multiple contributing historic structures; the BAR and neighbors said scale, floodplain remediation, parking and private easements must be resolved before the BAR can evaluate appropriateness under local guidelines.

Next steps: applicant to coordinate with town zoning and engineering staff, prepare revised massing/site engineering, and submit materials for the Aug. 4 work session; the critical action date is extended to Dec. 1, 2025 by agreement of the applicant and BAR.