OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

BAR Design Guidelines Committee Public Meeting on Updated Chapters - August 21, 2026

Public Meetings — Friday, August 21, 2026
BodyAlexandria, Virginia
SessionPublic Meetings
DateFriday, August 21, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:09:21
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Share the screen.

0:00

It's just okay, got it.

0:02

Yeah, sorry, technology.

0:04

Okay, so we're going to talk about some background to the Board of Architectural Review and the Design Guidelines Committee.

0:09

Then we're going to go over the proposed drafts and what the proposed updates are.

0:14

And then we'll go over the timeline for the community engagement process and the adoption of the updated guidelines.

0:20

And then at the end, we'll have the time for questions and discussion.

0:27

So some background to the Board of Architectural Review or BAR.

0:31

We have three locally regulated historic districts the old historic Alexandria district, the Parker Gray district, and then individually listed 100 year old buildings.

0:41

And in Alexandria, any alteration to a building that's within a locally regulated historic district requires approval from the BAR.

0:50

And the BAR consists of seven members.

0:54

Some alterations to buildings in this director require approval from the BAR at a public hearing, and some require approval from staff through the administrative proof process.

1:08

Hello, welcome in.

1:12

So just to give you an idea of some of the numbers here.

1:14

In the past year, we had 556 total cases go to the BAR, and 418 of those were approved administratively, and the rest of those went to the public hearing.

1:31

The design guidelines that the BAR uses are a set of design standards and principles as opposed to a set of best remote policies that are used to provide information to applicants on required approvals and preservation best practices.

1:47

When someone does an alteration to a building in the historic district streams.

1:53

The design guidelines also provide guidance to the board and to city staff for reviewing the appropriateness of different alterations.

2:08

The BAR design guidelines committee was formed to update the original preservation design guidelines that were adopted back in 1993.

2:18

The guidelines from 1993 have several issues that we're trying to improve.

2:24

The existing guidelines are not searchable, and they don't contain high quality graphics, they're not ADA accessible, they contain many outdated references, and there's a high use of technical language.

2:43

So we have a new format that we're using to make it more user-friendly and readable, better graphics, and then using language that's that's clear and easy to understand.

2:54

There also are some minor updates to the guidelines themselves and different review levels in some areas when necessary.

3:01

But overall, this is not a complete reimagining of the guidelines.

3:05

This is really just putting them in an updated format.

3:09

In 2012, the BAR adopted the Parker Gray Residential Reference Guide, and this is a set of design guidelines specifically for the Parker Gray District.

3:18

I don't think I question.

3:19

Yes.

3:20

Should we district questions?

3:21

Sorry, Robin.

3:22

Who is on the committee design guidelines committee?

3:25

Is that a committee of the bar or committee of staff or a mixed committee?

3:31

Um, okay, sure, I'll talk about that now.

3:34

So the the design guidelines committee was established in 2019, and the committee consists partially of members that are also on the BAR, um, but there are also some members who are not.

3:45

So the members of the committee are appointed by the BAR.

3:49

Okay.

3:52

Yes, so um staff facilitates, but we don't have to.

3:55

Yeah, so staff is not on the committee, we are just the liaisons to the committee.

3:59

Okay.

4:00

So the goal of the committee is to update those guidelines to replace the 1993 guidelines, focusing mainly on the format.

4:08

And the design guidelines committee has meetings that are held about once a month or so, which are open to the public but do not take public comment.

4:17

Um, these meetings of the design guidelines committee are announced through e-news as well as put on the city calendar.

4:30

So far, the design guidelines committee has adopted a new format for the design guidelines.

4:36

And the committee um has created 10 chapters that have been adopted by the BAR.

4:44

Eleven chapters are currently under review, which we're going to talk about tonight.

4:48

And then we have about 12 more to review after this.

4:51

And the next set of chapters will also undergo a similar public review to the process that we're going through tonight.

5:00

Our goal is to finish adopting all of the updated chapters by some point in early next year.

5:09

These images show an example of what our current design guidelines look like.

5:12

So the image on the left is the set of 1993 guidelines, just showing an example of what a chapter looks like.

5:20

You can see there, there are some hand drawn drawings, and it's just some plain text with uh not a lot of other graphics involved.

5:28

The image on the right is from the Parker Gray residential reference guide, which is from 2012.

5:34

Um, this is um a set of design guidelines for the Parker Gray district, which talks about different alterations in what level of reviewers required for those alterations, but it doesn't get into much detail about the guidelines themselves.

5:52

This image is an example of what the new updated design guidelines look like and what the format is.

5:58

So the new format uses color coding to talk about different VAR review levels that are required using some of the same sections as before, such as an introduction guidelines, and then additional information.

6:12

The new format also uses some higher quality photos and diagrams, and then there are some updates to a language that is used, which um will come up throughout the updates as well.

6:24

So in the new guidelines, some some of the review levels use terms such as street facing and non-street facing, which is different than some of the other terms that were used in the previous guidelines, such as side and rear.

6:38

And um also some of the updated guidelines differentiate between early buildings and late buildings.

6:43

So in the historic districts, early buildings are any building that is that is built before the year 1932, and a later building is any building that is built after 1931.

7:02

Now I'm going to talk about some of the proposed drafts that we have.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Historic Preservation████████████████████████████████████████40%
Zoning█████████████████████████████29%
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure██████████10%
Public Engagement██████████10%
Technology and Innovation███3%
Engineering And Infrastructure██2%
Planning And Zoning██2%
Disability Rights██2%
Legal Interpretation██2%
Summary of Proceedings

BAR Design Guidelines Committee Public Meeting on Updated Chapters - August 21, 2026

Note: The metadata provided for this meeting states the date as August 21, 2026, while the agenda and transcript indicate the meeting occurred on August 19, 2026. This summary reflects the content of the August 19 meeting as transcribed, but the official date per the instruction is used in the title.

On August 21, 2026 (per assigned date), the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) Design Guidelines Committee held a public community meeting to present and discuss 11 updated draft chapters of the Design Guidelines for the Old and Historic Alexandria (OHAD) and Parker-Gray Historic Districts. The meeting, facilitated by preservation staff member Brendan Harris, covered the committee's progress, proposed changes, and the public comment process. The meeting was held at the Charles Houston Recreation Center (901 Wythe Street) and was open to all residents.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Resident (Ulyssa Bennett, North Old Town): Raised confusion about the boundaries of the Parker-Gray district, noting that Parker-Gray signs appear in areas that seem to overlap with Old Town. Staff clarified that the locally regulated Parker-Gray district is smaller than the National Register district, and the signs may be related to the latter.
  • Resident (from Houston historic district): Asked about the balance between preserving historic character and improving livability, specifically regarding single-pane windows and noise from Reagan National Airport. Staff responded that the guidelines recommend interior storm windows as an effective acoustic and thermal solution while preserving exterior aesthetics.
  • Resident: Questioned enforcement of design guidelines, noting that developers sometimes claim to have "considered" guidelines but then deviate. Staff explained that the BAR issues Certificates of Appropriateness (COAs) and can deny applications that do not meet guidelines; denials can be appealed to City Council.
  • Resident: Asked about the distinction between design guidelines (recommendations) and zoning ordinance requirements (legal mandates). Staff acknowledged that guidelines are not strict rules but noted that the BAR must state reasons if it deviates from them.
  • Resident: Inquired about the process for preventing building neglect (demolition by neglect). Staff referred to the city's code enforcement and building neglect ordinance, which is separate from the BAR.
  • Resident: Asked about the timeline for upcoming zoning text amendments related to historic preservation. Staff indicated a public meeting would be held the following month (September 2026) with details to be announced.

Discussion Items

  • Background and Process: Brendan Harris explained that the BAR Design Guidelines Committee, established in 2019, is updating the 1993 design guidelines to improve readability, accessibility, and graphics. The committee includes BAR members and appointees, with staff serving as liaisons.
  • Statistics: In the past year, the BAR handled 556 total cases: 418 approved administratively and the remainder at public hearings.
  • Proposed Chapter Updates:
    • Utility Meters and EV Charging Stations: New chapter for EV chargers; minor changes for Parker-Gray utility meters to align with OHAD (staff review required for street-facing meters).
    • Mechanical Equipment (HVAC): Parker-Gray changes: ground-mounted HVAC on street-facing sides requires staff review (previously no review for side/rear). OHAD unchanged. Rooftop HVAC screening remains board review in OHAD, per zoning ordinance.
    • Exterior Lighting: No changes; existing guidelines remain.
    • Security Features: No changes; small cameras exempt, large ones (>1 cubic foot) go to board.
    • Infrastructure in Public Right-of-Way: No changes; clarifications on temporary vs. permanent structures.
    • Small Cell Facilities and Antennas: New chapter based on existing administrative policy; most items administrative, new poles go to board.
    • Accessory Structures: Parker-Gray changes: administrative review threshold lowered from 256 sq. ft. to 65 sq. ft. and 8 ft. height, aligning with OHAD. Demolition of up to 100 sq. ft. remains exempt.
    • Building Accessories (ATMs, etc.): Small accessories (≤4 sq. ft.) can be administrative; larger ones remain board review.
    • Planters: New height and building-age criteria: planters <2 ft. on later buildings no review; >2 ft. on street-facing early buildings go to board.
    • Porches and Porticos: Parker-Gray changes to align with OHAD: any porch/portico visible from public right-of-way requires board review.
    • Decks, Roof Decks, and Balconies: Parker-Gray changes to align with OHAD: all new construction/replacement requires board review. Exception: cable or glass railings on later buildings can be staff review.
  • Timeline and Next Steps: Public comment period open until September 2, 2026. Staff will revise drafts based on feedback and present to the BAR for final adoption at a public hearing targeted for October 2026.
  • Future Chapters: Upcoming chapters to be discussed include accessibility features, storefronts, additions, new construction, demolition, introductory and glossary chapters, and the George Washington Parkway/waterfront chapter.

Key Outcomes

  • No votes were taken; this was a public input meeting.
  • The comment period for the 11 draft chapters remains open until September 2, 2026. Comments can be submitted via email to Brendan Harris at brendan.harris@alexandriava.gov.
  • The BAR is expected to hold a public hearing in October 2026 to consider adoption of the updated chapters.
  • Staff will continue to hold public meetings for future batches of chapters before they are brought to the BAR for adoption.

Meeting Transcript

Share the screen. It's just okay, got it. Yeah, sorry, technology. Okay, so we're going to talk about some background to the Board of Architectural Review and the Design Guidelines Committee. Then we're going to go over the proposed drafts and what the proposed updates are. And then we'll go over the timeline for the community engagement process and the adoption of the updated guidelines. And then at the end, we'll have the time for questions and discussion. So some background to the Board of Architectural Review or BAR. We have three locally regulated historic districts the old historic Alexandria district, the Parker Gray district, and then individually listed 100 year old buildings. And in Alexandria, any alteration to a building that's within a locally regulated historic district requires approval from the BAR. And the BAR consists of seven members. Some alterations to buildings in this director require approval from the BAR at a public hearing, and some require approval from staff through the administrative proof process. Hello, welcome in. So just to give you an idea of some of the numbers here. In the past year, we had 556 total cases go to the BAR, and 418 of those were approved administratively, and the rest of those went to the public hearing. The design guidelines that the BAR uses are a set of design standards and principles as opposed to a set of best remote policies that are used to provide information to applicants on required approvals and preservation best practices. When someone does an alteration to a building in the historic district streams. The design guidelines also provide guidance to the board and to city staff for reviewing the appropriateness of different alterations. The BAR design guidelines committee was formed to update the original preservation design guidelines that were adopted back in 1993. The guidelines from 1993 have several issues that we're trying to improve. The existing guidelines are not searchable, and they don't contain high quality graphics, they're not ADA accessible, they contain many outdated references, and there's a high use of technical language. So we have a new format that we're using to make it more user-friendly and readable, better graphics, and then using language that's that's clear and easy to understand. There also are some minor updates to the guidelines themselves and different review levels in some areas when necessary. But overall, this is not a complete reimagining of the guidelines. This is really just putting them in an updated format. In 2012, the BAR adopted the Parker Gray Residential Reference Guide, and this is a set of design guidelines specifically for the Parker Gray District. I don't think I question. Yes. Should we district questions? Sorry, Robin. Who is on the committee design guidelines committee? Is that a committee of the bar or committee of staff or a mixed committee? Um, okay, sure, I'll talk about that now. So the the design guidelines committee was established in 2019, and the committee consists partially of members that are also on the BAR, um, but there are also some members who are not. So the members of the committee are appointed by the BAR. Okay. Yes, so um staff facilitates, but we don't have to. Yeah, so staff is not on the committee, we are just the liaisons to the committee. Okay. So the goal of the committee is to update those guidelines to replace the 1993 guidelines, focusing mainly on the format. And the design guidelines committee has meetings that are held about once a month or so, which are open to the public but do not take public comment. Um, these meetings of the design guidelines committee are announced through e-news as well as put on the city calendar. So far, the design guidelines committee has adopted a new format for the design guidelines. And the committee um has created 10 chapters that have been adopted by the BAR. Eleven chapters are currently under review, which we're going to talk about tonight. And then we have about 12 more to review after this. And the next set of chapters will also undergo a similar public review to the process that we're going through tonight. Our goal is to finish adopting all of the updated chapters by some point in early next year. These images show an example of what our current design guidelines look like. So the image on the left is the set of 1993 guidelines, just showing an example of what a chapter looks like.

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