Charlottesville BAR denies large 7th Street development, citing incompatibility with adjacent protected cottages

The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review voted 6–1 to deny a certificate of appropriateness for a proposed development on the 200 block of 7th Street SW after concluding the project’s size and massing were not compatible with two individually protected properties at 204 and 208 7th Street SW. The board’s motion cited the design guidelines’ criteria on material, texture, color, height, scale, mass and placement as the basis for denial.

The denial came after more than an hour of public comment in which neighbors and local activists described the project as a risk to the Fifeville neighborhood’s historic character and longtime residents. Resident Shanti Levy said the plan would remove ‘‘45 large trees’’ and replace forested areas with a narrow pool and terrace area she described as a private amenity, arguing that the project ‘‘locks the fabric of our city…