Leesburg BAR discusses zoning rewrite: paint palettes, submission timing, demolition rules and sustainability incentives

The Leesburg Board of Architectural Review (BAR) spent its April 9 work session reviewing a draft rewrite of the town's zoning overlay for the historic district that would add and clarify exemptions, set new submission expectations for larger projects, expand demolition-by-neglect language and introduce sustainability incentives tied to development approvals.

The changes under discussion ranged from small procedural edits — for example, exempting routine maintenance and small security cameras from a certificate of appropriateness (COA) — to larger procedural reforms, such as asking for a preliminary site plan for substantial commercial or multi‑unit projects before the BAR conducts architectural review.

Why it matters: the BAR and staff said the draft aims to reduce unnecessary administrative burden while protecting historic character. Board members expressed concern about enforcement, public perception when the BAR reviews projects before site plans are filed, and how incentives would be verified if adopted.

Exemptions and paint color policy

The draft would explicitly exempt a set of small items from COA review — examples discussed included doorbells, small security cameras and certain bollards — and would clarify whether sign rules that now apply outside the historic district also apply inside it. BAR members and staff debated a proposed paint-color policy that would let property owners use approved colors without a COA. Supporters said an adopted palette would reduce minor administrative reviews; skeptics said color judgments can be subjective and that staff still needs discretion to deny colors that are clearly inappropriate.

Board members favored keeping color-change reviews administrative rather than…