ARB approves minor site amendment for Colonial Web building at 2275 Seminole Lane; landscaping conditions revised

The Albemarle County Architectural Review Board approved ARB 2024-78, a minor site plan amendment for a 6,000-square-foot building at 2275 Seminole Lane to accommodate a commercial mechanical contractor. The approval removes several landscape-related conditions from staff’s initial recommendation after staff and the applicant clarified that most landscaping on the plan reflects a 1989 site plan approval.

Staff described the proposal as a minor amendment to renovate the existing building, add a screening fence around a refuge/recycling area, reconfigure some parking and update exterior finishes, including painting stucco masonry gray and adding a metal canopy over the main entrance. Staff recommended approval with conditions but, after discussing the plan’s reliance on landscaping established in the 1989 approval, recommended striking several specific landscape-related conditions from its list.

The nut graf: The board concluded the proposed screening fence design and modest architectural updates are appropriate for the entrance corridor when considered with existing site landscaping; members approved the amendment and removed conditions 10, 11, 12 and 13 from the staff report, while retaining other standard conditions.

Applicant Steve Davis, principal at Thrive Architecture, told the board the project team does not object to most staff recommendations and acknowledged constraints to planting along a fence located on asphalt and near moving gates. Davis said the southern fence segment already has deciduous screening trees that could be replaced with evergreens for year-round screening. Staff and the applicant also discussed interior parking-lot trees and whether they were part of the 1989 approval; staff said those trees were not part of the prior plan and discussed whether to retain a condition requiring them. Board members generally praised the fence design and the applicant’s approach to color and limited canopy additions.

After a brief discussion, an ARB member moved to approve the amendment with the conditions listed in the staff report but amended to remove items 10, 11, 12 and 13; another member seconded. The motion passed by roll call; the transcript records aye votes from Mr. Vanderwerff, Mr. Matsuno, Mr. Stoner, Mr. Hancock and Mr. Henningsen.

Staff will incorporate the amended conditions into the project record and coordinate any clarified landscaping or canopy work with the applicant.