Goochland design review panel conditions bank elevations, directs staff to work with applicant on glass, stone base and lighting

The Goochland County Design Review Committee on May 19 directed staff to work with Burke & Herbert Bank on revisions to the bank’s proposed exterior, asking the applicant to reduce the amount of primary glazing, add a stone or brick base along the front and ensure lighting is dimmed after business hours, and said staff could administratively approve the revisions if they matched the committee’s direction.

Ray Cash, assistant director of planning and zoning, opened the staff presentation by describing the Design Review Committee’s role in reviewing exterior materials, lighting and landscaping under the Centerville Village overlay. He told the committee the COA application (COA 20 26 1) for a proposed bank at 1650 Wilkes Ridge Parkway (tax map 5970 B 0) required relief from an overlay provision that treats glass as an accent material. "The COA is required by county zoning ordinance section 15.4.35," Cash said, explaining why the material exception had been appealed to the committee.

Planner John Michael Whelan, who reviewed the COA application, said the elevations showed glass as a dominant material on two primary facades and that this exceeded the overlay’s "accent-only" approach. "The only thing administratively that I had a hard time approving was the use of glass," Whelan said, noting past exceptions the committee granted for other sites required significant framing, columns or other architectural breaks so the result was not "a big wall of glass."

An applicant representative and designer defended the amount of glazing as broken into bays and pilasters and said the lobby visibility created safety and marketing benefits. "We intentionally like to see a lot of glass, to help you look into the lobby for safety, for aesthetic, there are a lot of reasons," the presenter said, and offered to provide percentage breakdowns of glass versus solid materials.

Committee members responded with specific design guidance rather than a blunt denial. Members suggested subdividing large panes with mullions or transom windows, carrying a roughly 3-foot stone or brick water table across the front so there is less glass at grade, and using pilasters or headers similar to previous approvals (examples cited included other overlay-area projects) to break up the massing. Members also discussed nighttime visibility and enforcement of the overlay’s expectations that lighting be reduced after hours; staff advised that the site-plan review includes a photometric report and that lighting can be conditioned to security levels after business hours.

After discussion, a committee member moved — and the motion was seconded — that staff work with the applicant on the design using the committee’s input regarding glass and the stone base; if staff can administratively approve a revised elevation consistent with those conditions, they should do so, and if not, the item should return to the DRC. The committee voted to approve that motion. The committee’s action will be recorded as a conditional approval tied to the applicant’s revised elevations as modified in the meeting and subject to staff consistency review and a lighting condition requiring dimming to appropriate after-hours levels.

The committee’s direction is procedural: it does not itself change the ordinance or specify exact glazing percentages. The motion asks staff to confirm any administrative approval meets the committee’s stated criteria; if staff determines the resubmittal deviates from the committee’s direction, the application must come back for formal committee action.

Next steps: the applicant will provide revised elevations reflecting more subdivided windows and a stone base; staff will review for consistency and notify the applicant about after-hours lighting requirements. If the revised elevations fully satisfy the committee’s conditions, the revisions may be approved administratively; otherwise the item will return to the Design Review Committee for further action.