City Council affirmed Tuesday night a decision made earlier this year by the Commission of Architectural Review to allow a rear porch of a house in the Old West Neighborhood to be enclosed with vinyl double doors and vinyl siding.
The CAR also allowed an open rear deck to be constructed where one once stood at the house, located at 944 Main St.
Council voted 5-4 to uphold the CAR’s decision after hearing 90 minutes of public comments from neighborhood residents and CAR board members.
Residents argued that the vinyl siding is “inappropriate” for historic houses and a “detriment to the historic district.” They asked Council to overturn the CAR’s decision.
Michael Nicholas, chairman of the CAR, told Council that city guidelines discourage the use of vinyl siding, but does not prohibit its use. By a vote of 5-2, Nicholas said the CAR did not view vinyl siding, in this case, as a detriment to the neighborhood.
The matter came before Council because of an appeal of the CAR decision was filed. The CAR granted a certificate of appropriateness at its meeting on May 28.
In other action, Council voted to:
• accept a state grant of $100,000 for airport maintenance,
• rezone property on Bishop Road and grant a special use permit to allow construction of a communication tower.
• grant a special use permit that will waive minimum yard requirements so that Biscuitville can remodel and expand its restaurant at 1041 Piney Forest Road.
• rezone property on Altice Drice to allow for consolidation of adjoining lots.
Council also held first readings on whether to accept two grants. One grant is $5,000 to assist local arts organizations. The other grant is $21,250 from the Department of Historic Resources. This is a matching grant that will be used to stabilize and rehabilitate the exterior of 864 Pine Street.
A first reading is an official introductory step required by the City Charter before Council can take certain actions. Council will not vote on these grants until its Sept. 1 meeting.
Council also met Tuesday in two work sessions. The first work session was a special called joint meeting of City Council and the Industrial Development Authority of Danville. This information-only session was held to allow SKA Consulting Engineers to present schematic drawings and an estimated budget for the potential parking facility to be built at the corner of Main and North Union streets.
River City TV airs live all Council business sessions. The first rebroadcast will be at 8 p.m. Thursday. Watch it on cable (Comcast channel 10 and Gamewood channel 122) or streaming at RiverCityTV.org. The taped broadcast is available now on the City’s YouTube channel -- DanvilleVAGov.
River City TV does not air work sessions, but they are open to the public.