BAR approves Ace Hardware accessory storage container with screening and paint-match conditions

The Purcellville Board of Architectural Review voted to approve Ace Hardware's request to place an accessory storage shipping container behind the former Rite Aid building at the corner of Kent Colbert and East Main Street. Staff described the proposed container as 8 feet wide, 8 feet high and 40 feet long and recommended permitting placement as close under the portico as possible, matching the container to the building's cream siding and installing screening to obscure public view.

"The application here...proposed to be 8 feet wide, by 8 feet high, and and 40 feet long," staff said during the presentation, calling for screening along the western and northern elevations and paint that matches the existing structure. Vice Chair Beth Goldsmith moved to approve the application with conditions that the container be closely matched to the siding color, placed at or just outside the portico, and fully screened along the listed perimeters. The motion carried by voice vote.

Staff noted practical constraints—delivery and maneuvering under the portico may require special equipment—and flagged town easements and a stormwater retention area further back in the parking lot as reasons not to push the container farther into the rear drive aisle. The board agreed to give staff latitude to work with the applicant on screening options administratively and to return precise screening language for inclusion in the approval.