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Manassas council schedules work session on appeal of ARB denial for 9229 Portner Ave windows
Summary
Homeowners who replaced failing windows at a landmark property asked council to overturn the Architectural Review Board’s denial; ARB chair said landmark structures require wood replacements and staff recommended either affirming the denial or approving aluminum-clad wood as a compromise. Council moved the decision to a Nov. 17 work session.
Homeowners Margo Pereja and Chris Lawrence appealed an Architectural Review Board decision denying retroactive approval for vinyl window replacements at 9229 Portner Avenue, a designated landmark in Manassas’ Historic Overlay District. The council opened the public hearing, heard staff and ARB testimony, then scheduled a determination for a Nov. 17 work session.
City staff told council that the property’s original wood windows were removed and replaced with vinyl windows on March 3, 2025, without an ARB certificate of appropriateness (COA). Staff said the applicant later proposed replacing the vinyl with Harvey Majesty aluminum-clad, 1-over-1 double-hung windows; staff described the aluminum-clad wood as “more historically appropriate and compatible” than the installed vinyl, and recommended either affirming the ARB’s denial of vinyl or approving a full replacement with aluminum-clad wood windows as a compromise.
Marcy Settle, chair of the Architectural Review Board, told council that landmark structures receive the “highest level of scrutiny” and the adopted 2022 design guidelines list wood as the only acceptable replacement material for landmark structures. "The guidelines state that landmark structures are of the utmost historic sensitivity and importance to the Manassas community," Settle said, explaining the board’s unanimous denial at its Aug. 19 meeting.
Applicants said the windows they removed were inoperable, drafty and a safety concern. "We did not realize there were all of these rules and regulations from the ARB and from the city," Margo Pereja said, asking council to consider retroactive approval or a less costly remedy than replacing all windows with wood. Her husband, Chris Lawrence, said the replacement had cost roughly $18,000 and that asking them to replace the windows again would be a substantial financial burden.
Council members questioned how the city notifies owners in the Historic Overlay District and whether neighboring properties with vinyl windows were grandfathered in or represent an existing nonconformity. Staff said annual mailings (previously postcards, later mailed in envelopes) go to properties in the overlay and that they would provide the adjacent properties’ approval history to council for review.
After extended council discussion and questions of staff and the applicants, Vice Mayor Wolf moved to close the public hearing and schedule the appeal for determination at the Nov. 17 council work session; the motion carried on a roll call vote. The council did not overturn or affirm the ARB decision at the meeting.
Council and staff told the applicants they will follow up with additional records and documentation for council to review ahead of the work session.
Next steps: The appeal will return to council’s Nov. 17 work session for a formal decision.
