Charlottesville BAR approves COA for 1609 Gordon Avenue with conditions on EIFS texture, lighting and garage screening

The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review voted to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness for a proposed apartment building at 1609 Gordon Avenue, with conditions requiring the applicant to provide a more textured EIFS finish for the record, limit exterior lighting and adopt a permanent louvered system for screening garage windows.

The decision followed a presentation by Kevin Schaffer, who identified himself as "the Charlottesville Studio Director for Design Develop" and described changes since the October review: a new Gordon Avenue‑facing full glass entrance with a four‑foot overhang, recessed balconies to reduce visible circulation, a common‑space lobby, bike storage and rooftop screening. Schaffer said the project will use a mechanically fastened EIFS system in a fine finish that would be field‑painted and showed brick and metal roofing samples.

Board members focused their questions on materiality and long‑term durability. Several members said they were concerned that a very fine EIFS finish could appear "stark" and asked for a sample and a more tactile texture. In response the board amended the motion to require the applicant to "investigate the texture of the EIFS and submit what that texture is to staff for the BAR record," language the applicant agreed to provide. The board also required that exterior lighting have a color temperature not exceeding 3,000 K and a color rendering index of at least 80, and that EIFS assemblies be drainable and reinforced at ground‑level locations likely to receive impact or pedestrian traffic.

The board further directed staff to accept a louvered screening solution for the garage windows instead of reliance on climbing vines. Schaffer said the team had tried several vine species and supported a more permanent louver solution. The motion passed on a voice vote (board members recorded six votes in favor and one opposed).

The applicant will provide EIFS texture samples and details to staff for inclusion in the BAR record; the COA approval is conditioned on the materials and screening language adopted by the board. The applicant said staff would bring the selected EIFS texture back for the record.

What happens next: the project will proceed with the condition that the chosen EIFS texture and the louver details be submitted to and accepted into the BAR record by staff. If the applicant changes materials or major details they must return to the BAR.