“It lives,” laughs Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review vice-chair Syd Knight, recalling the previous plans for a two-story CVS building at the intersection of Ridge/McIntire and West Main, which the BAR did not respond well to. “…with a different developer and a different configuration.”

On November 28, the BAR voted to reject a proposed design for the pharmacy on the site of RSC Equipment Rental, a project that had the developer and BAR members at odds for months. At issue was a “false” second-story design, the use of vinyl trim and columns, and the general appropriateness of the design.

“It was like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole,” said Knight at the time. “All the things about the building were not suited to the site.”

“The BAR down there doesn’t understand economics,” groused Richmond-based developer Rob Hargett, who admitted he’d grown impatient and angry with the BAR’s insistence that he follow their guidelines.

The new project, although spearheaded by a less contentious Richmond-based developer named Bob Englander, seems to have grown more ambitious.

At a February 20 BAR meeting, Knight says Englander talked about plans to build a 9-story mixed-use edifice on the site instead of the original three-story building.

“They’re trying to completely rethink the project, and do it right this time,” says Knight.

PHOTO RIGHT: This was the two-story plan for a CVS that the BAR rejected.

“It lives,” laughs Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review vice-chair Syd Knight, recalling the previous plans for a two-story CVS building at the intersection of Ridge/McIntire and West Main, which the BAR did not respond well to. “…with a different developer and a different configuration.”

On November 28, the BAR voted to reject a proposed design for the pharmacy on the site of RSC Equipment Rental, a project that had the developer and BAR members at odds for months. At issue was a “false” second-story design, the use of vinyl trim and columns, and the general appropriateness of the design.

“It was like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole,” said Knight at the time. “All the things about the building were not suited to the site.”

“The BAR down there doesn’t understand economics,” groused Richmond-based developer Rob Hargett, who admitted he’d grown impatient and angry with the BAR’s insistence that he follow their guidelines.

The new project, although spearheaded by a less contentious Richmond-based developer named Bob Englander, seems to have grown more ambitious.

At a February 20 BAR meeting, Knight says Englander talked about plans to build a 9-story mixed-use edifice on the site instead of the original three-story building.

“They’re trying to completely rethink the project, and do it right this time,” says Knight.

PHOTO RIGHT: This was the two-story plan for a CVS that the BAR rejected.