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19770510 1977-20 ORDINANCE NO. 1977- 20 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND REENACTING SECTION 18 OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA IT IS HEREBY ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, that section 18 of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, be, and the same hereby is, amended and reenacted to read in its entirety as follows: SECTION 18 ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL DISTRICTS 18.01 Purpose of Chapter. In order to encourage the construction of attractive buildings, to protect and promote the general welfare and to prevent deterioration of the appearance of the City which would tend to create hazards to public health, safety and morals, destro opportunity for the development of business and industry, and thereby deteriorate taxable land values and commerce below levels necessary to finance acceptable levels of municipal services, it is the purpose of this section (1) to provide for the designation of architectural control districts within certain areas of the Cit (2) to charge the Board of Architectural Review (hereinafter referred to as BAR) with the responsibility of regulating exterior architectural features and appearance of structures, buildings or improvements, or significant landscape features surrounding such building, structure or improvement to be erected, reconstruct~ substantially altered or restored in any architectural control district; and (3) to set standards and procedures to be followed by the BAR, and on appeal from its decision, by the City Council. 18.02 Desi~nations of architectural control districts. Ail land areas in the City outside the "Old and Historic Fairfax District" which are zoned for other than single-family detached residences are designated as an architectural control 1977-20 -2 district. In addition, any lot, parcel or area of land within any area zoned for single-family detached residencesoutside the "Old and Historic Fairfax District" which is used for other than single. family detached residences or which is the subject of an applica- tion for a use permit or building permit involving any such other use is designated an architectural control district. The provisions of this section shall not apply to auxiliary and ancillary buildings in residential areas, nor shall such provisions apply to parcels zoned for semi-detached or townhouse residences after such semi-detached or townhouse residences shall have been initially erected. It shall be within the province and power of the City Council to enlarge, contract or alter the boundaries of said district in such manner as it shall deem fit or to create addition architectural control districts within the City corporate limits at such time as the Council deems such action to be in the public interest by promoting the general welfare of the community as aforesaid. 18.03 Approval of erections~ reconstructions and alterations in architectural control districts--required; waiver of requirements; statement of guidelines. No structure, building or improvement, or sigmificant land- scape features surrounding such building, structure or improve- ment located on any land within the architectural control district shall be erected, reconstructed, substantially altered or restored until the plans for such shall have been approved by the BAR as to exterior architectural features which are subject to public view from a public street, way or place; provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply to the regular mainten- ance of the same as opposed to the reconstruction, alteration or restoration. For the purposes of this section the repainting of a structure or building which results in the complete change of 1977-20 -3 color of the said structure or building or a substantial portion thereof shall be deemed an alteration and not regular maintenance. The BAR may, after hearing the evidence in any case properl~ before it involving reconstruction or restoration only, waive part or all of the requirements of this section upon a written finding that the application involves reconstruction or restoration only and will not materially affect the exterior appearance of the structure involved. Such decision of waiver shall constitute a final decision of the BAR within the meaning of subsections 18.06 and 18.07 of this section and shall be appealable. The BAR is hereby directed as soon as may be practicable after the effective date hereof and from time to time thereafter as shall be necessary to formulate and publish a statement of guidelines describing the required procedures, exhibits, visual displays and other data required relative to applications for approval by the BAR. The said statement of guidelines and any amendments thereto shall be subject to the approval of the City Council; provided, however, that any such statement or amendment thereto shall be deemed to have been approved by the City Council unless the City Council disapproves the same within 60 days of the adoption thereof by the BAR. i18.04 Application. (a) Any application for approval for the construction, reconstruction, alteration or restoration of any building within an architectural control district shall be submitted to the City Planning Director to determine whether the proposed action lies within the scope of this section in accordance with subsection 18.03. In the event of a disagreement between the applicant and the City Planning Director, the applicant may request the ity Planning Director to schedule an informal hearing before he BAR at its next regular meeting. Such hearing shall be for 1977-20 -4 the purpose of determining whether the applicant's proposal falls within the scope of this section and the applicant shall not be required to present plans, renderings or maps at that time. The decision of the BAR shall not constitute a final decision within the meaning of subsection18.06 and 18.07 of this section and shall not be appealable. (b) If the City Planning Director (or, on appeal, the BAR) determines that a proposed action lies within the scope of this section, the applicant shall submit, in addition to his applica- tion, such exhibits, visual displays and other data as the City Planning Director (or the BAR) shall deem necessary for determina- tion of the application. The applicant may submit such additional material in writing, and graphically, as he desires. Each applica tion shall be assigned a docket number by the City Planning Director. (c) Upon receipt of any application, the City Planning Director shall present the application together with the materials submitted in support thereof to the BAR at its next regularly scheduled meeting, after the City Planning Director determines tha the requirements of (a) and (b) of this subsection have been satisfied. At such meeting, the chairman of the BAR shall thereupon place the application on the agenda for a hearing to consider the approval of such application. The hearing may be held at the same meeting of the BAR at which the presentation of the City Planning Director is made, but in no event shall such hearing be held more than 45 days after satisfaction of the requirements of (a) and (b) of this subsection. 18.05 Hearing. During the consideration of an application filed under this section, the BAR shall hear the testimony of any party desiring to be heard in support of or in opposition to the application. 1977-20 -5 Such testimony shall be strictly confined to the question of whether the proposed construction, reconstruction, alteration or restoration satisfies or does not satisfy the criteria for the same set out in this section. The BAR shall hear any oral testimony that the City Planning Director desires to present. 18.06 Decisions~ Certificate of Approval. (a) The BAR shall vote in open hearing and publish its decision in writing on any matter properly before it not later thai the next regular meeting after the conclusion of the hearing on the application, unless time is extended by mutual agreement between the BAR and the applicant. (b) In all final decisions rendered pursuant to this section, the BAR shall briefly state its findings in writing, and in the case of disapproval, it may make recommendations to the applicant with respect to the design, texture, material, color, line, mass, dimension or lighting of the alteration or improve- ment involved. The requirements of this section shall be deemed to have been satisfied if s u c h findings and recommendations, if any, are set forth in the regularly maintained minutes of the BAR. In case of disapproval, accompanied by such recommendations as the BAR may desire to make relative thereto, the application may again be heard before the BAR, if within ninety (90) days of the decision to disapprove by the BAR the applicant has accepted all recommendations of the BAR and has amended his application in accordance therewith. (c) The BAR shall not reconsider any decision made by it, nor shall it hear, for a period of one year after any such decision, any further applications concerning the same or sub- stantially the same subject matter as contained in any application upon which it has decided, except in cases where an applicant 1977-20 -6 amends his application within ninety days of such decision as hereinabove provided in (b) of this subsection. (d) Approval by the BAR of any application filed hereunder shall be evidenced by issuance of a certificate of approval signed by the chairman and attested by the secretary, designating the docket number, name of applicant, date of approval, identification of property involved and a brief description of the action approved. The applicant shall be entitled to receive the original of the certificate, and the secretary shall forward a copy of the certificate to the Director of Public Services. 18.07 Appeals. Whenever the BAR shall, in a final decision, approve or disapprove, or waive jurisdiction over any application filed pur- suant to this section, the applicant, or any other person with justifiable cause, shall be entitled to appeal such decision and be heard thereon before the City Council; provided that the appellant files with the City Clerk, on or before fourteen (14) days after the decision of the BAR, a notice in writing of such appeal and a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) to cover the cost of advertising for the Council hearing, and provided further that whenever such notice of appeal is filed by a party other than the applicant, such notice shall be accompanied by a petition for such appeal in writing, signed by twenty (20) electors of the City. Upon the filing of the notice of appeal and fee as provided herein, the City Clerk shall thereupon schedule a public hearing before the City Council not more than thirty (30) days after the filing of such notice; provided that no such hearing shall be had unless and until the City Clerk has caused to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation with the City, at least six (6) days before such proposed hearing, an advertisement 1977-20 -7 stating the time, date and place of the hearing before the Council the location of the property involved, the name of the applicant and the nature of the action for which approval is sought. 18.08 Hearing before City Council. On any appeal to the City Council the final decision of the BAR shall be stayed pending the decision of the City Council; provided, however, that the applicant is prohibited from taking any action for which approval is sought during the pendency of such appeal. The Council shall conduct a full and impartial public hearing on the matter before rendering any decision. The same procedure and standards shall be applied by the Council as are established for the BAR. The Council may affirm, reverse or modify the decision of the BAR, in whole or in part. The decision of the Council shall be final, subject to the provisions of sub- section 18.09. 18.09 Appeals to Circuit Court of Fairfax County~ Virginia. In the event the City Council shall disapprove an applica- tion, the applicant shall have the right to appeal to the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, Virginia, for review of the final decision of the City Council, by filing a petition at law setting forth the manner in which the applicant alleges that the decision of the City Council is improper; provided, however, that such petition is filed within thirty (30) days after the final decision is rendered by the City Council. The filing of a petition in compliance herewith shall stay the Council's decision pending the outcome of any such appeal; provided, however, that the applicant is prohibited from taking any action for which approval is sought during the pendency of such appeal. 18.10 Board of Architectural Review. The Board of Architectural Review is created and establishe in section 13 of this Zoning Ordinance and its composition, 1977-20 -8 organization and the conduct of its meetingsfor purpmses of this section shall be governed and controlled by subsections 13.12, 13.13 and 13.14 of the said section 13. 18.11 Design Criteria. The BAR, and on appeal the City Council, shall use the following standards and criteria in considering applications filed under this section: (a) that the proposed structure, building or improvement would promote the public health, safety and welfare. (b) that the proposed structure, building or improvement would encourage the stabilization, conservation and protection of the use and value of adjacent, contiguous and neighboring building structures, areas and open spaces. (c) that the proposed structure, building or improvement would promote the general welfare and protect the public health, safety and morals by tending to maimtain or augment the City tax base as a whole, generating business activity, maintaining and creating employment opportunity, preserving historical sites and structures, and making the City a more attractive and desirable place in which to live. (d) that the proposed architectural design is suitable for a good community in terms of external architectural features, general design and arrangement, texture, color, line, mass, dimension, material and lighting. (e) that the proposed design, material, texture, color, light, landscaping, dimension, line, mass, roof line and/or height of the proposed structure, building or improvement harmonize and blend pleasantly and aesthetically with surrounding and adjacent buildings and area. (f) that proposed free-standing buildings use the same or architecturally harmonious materials, color, texture and treatment for all exterior walls; and, in the case of partially free-standin 1977-20 -9 buildings, that the same or architecturally harmonious materials, color, texture and treatment are used on all portions of all exterior walls exposed to public view. (g) that the combination of architectural elements propose~ for a structure, building or improvement, in terms of design, line mass, dimension, color, material, texture, lighting, landscaping and roof line and height conform to accepted architectural principles for permanent buildings as contrasted with engineering standards designed to satisfy safety requirements only, and exhibit external characteristics of demonstrated architectural and aesthetic durability. (h) that the site plan, the orientation and location of the proposed structure, building or improvement, and the relation- ship of one to the other and to open spaces and topography, is harmonious with surrounding and adjacent buildings and area. (i) that, in terms of design, material, texture, color, lighting, landscaping, dimension, line, mass or roof line and height, the proposed structure, building or improvement is not designed to serve primarily as an advertisement or commercial display, does not exhibit exterior characteristics likely to deteriorate rapidly, would not be of temporary or short-term architectural or aesthetic acceptability, would not be plainly offensive to human sensibilities or would not otherwise constitute a reasonably foreseeable detriment to the community. (j) the effect of the proposed structure, building or improvement on pedestrian and vehicular traffic. (k) the extent to which said alteration or improvement will promote the general welfare by maintaining and increasing real estate values, generating business and employment, attracting new residents, and making the City a more attractive and desirable place in which to live. 1977-20 -10 The BAR, and on appeal the City Council, shall not consider interior arrangement or features not subject to any public view and shall not make any requirement except for the purpose of pre- venting development obviously incongruous to the purposes of this section and the existing development in the City. 18.12 No specific architectural style to be required. The BAR, and the City Council on appeal, shall not adopt or impose any specific architectural style in the administration of this section. 18.13 Restrictions upon use. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as authorizing the BAR to restrict or prohibit a use to which a parcel may be put if such use is permitted under existing zoning regulations or to restrict or limit an applicant from taking full advantage of maximum permissible utilization of building specifica- tions. 18.14 Compliance with Ordinance. Any persons failing to comply with the provisions of this ordinance shall be punished as provided in section 8 of this Zoning Ordinance. This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. Adopted: May 10, 1977 Attest: City Clerkfv ;