HomeMy WebLinkAboutVA200300002 Review Comments 2003-03-17 Amelia McCulley
From: Margaret Maliszewski
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2003 5:53 PM
To: Amelia McCulley
Subject: RE: historic- Covesville Store
Yes, this building was surveyed.
The Historic Preservation Committee is currently studying the County's country stores and is formulating recommendations
to send to the PC/BOS in conjunction with the review of the Rural Areas chapter of the Comp Plan. The recommendations
are in draft form, but I have attached the current draft in case you're interested. Generally, the HPC wants historic stores to
be used again as stores. Without knowing the details of the current proposal, I would guess that the HPC would support it.
Do you want advisory comments from them? Do you want any more specific info on the building?
Position Statement
on Country...
Margaret M Maliszewski, Design Planner
County of Albemarle,Dept.of Planning&Community Development
434-296-5823 x3276
Fax 434-972-4012
Original Message
From: Amelia McCulley
Sent: Monday,March 17,2003 3:43 PM
To: Margaret Maliszewski
Subject: historic-Covesville Store
Margaret,
I'm reviewing a variance for the Covesville Store property. They need a variance of area regs, so they can get a
special permit to reopen the store. Do you know if this building is on the survey that Historic Resources did of this
area? It's tax map 109, parcel 7E.
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Position Statement on Albemarle County's Historic Country Stores
by the Albemarle County Historic Preservation Committee (DRAFT: March 7, 2003)
Overview
Historic preservation must be considered an integral component of rural conservation in areas such as
Albemarle County, where an agrarian economy predominated during much of its history. Historic
buildings, ranging from country stores and churches to farm buildings and domestic residences, as well
as historic rural landscapes, often relate directly or indirectly to agricultural pursuits. Accordingly,
preserving rural landscapes, that include both historic structures and archaeological resources, is
essential to preserving the County's heritage. In addition, keeping Albemarle County rural character is
essential to the economic vitality of the region in regards to agricultural businesses and heritage
tourism.
The Historic Preservation Committee strongly believes that choices about growth and change in the
County's Rural Areas should include the preservation of both historic buildings and landscapes. In
addition to supporting County initiatives such as Rural Preservation Developments and Purchase of
Development Rights/Acquisition of Conservation Easements, we encourage the County to adopt
policies that protect historic resources in the Rural Areas. The County has the second largest Rural
Historic District in the state (the Southwest Mountains) and has many properties listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. Properties on register lists primarily reflect the high end on the economic
scale of our cultural heritage, but there are many other lesser-known properties that are not listed on
the registers that are significant to the architectural, historical, and cultural heritage of the County. The
threat appears greatest for these unlisted properties — those local and traditional buildings and
structures used by the majority of our citizens in the past, and most of those properties are located in
our Rural Areas. It is precisely those historic resources that would be most visible and therefore more
recognized by today's residents, and which could be significantly impacted by Rural Areas policies.
In this document we provide recommendations for the protection of country stores — one type of
historic resource located in Albemarle County. Country stores are a microcosm of the historic
preservation issues within Rural Areas, concerns that also include churches, farmsteads, rural
landscapes, local lodges, and archaeological resources. We encourage the County to adopt effective
preservation and conservation policies that can be applied evenly throughout the Rural Areas.
Albemarle County's Historic Country Stores
The Albemarle County Historic Preservation Committee recommends that the County take specific
measures to protect and preserve one of our most quickly vanishing historic resources, country stores.
For generations country stores, and their ancillary businesses, have supplied the material necessities of
life to rural communities. In addition, they have come to mark crossroads as places where rural
neighbors could meet, socialize and conduct business in an expansive rural context. While a dwindling
number of country stores still exist, many have disappeared or have left only a vacant collapsing shell.
These once vibrant structures are still a potent symbol of a rural way of life and are a significant part of
our shared heritage.
Albemarle County's surviving country stores are significant at both the national and local level. The
country store seems to be a largely American building type that appears in greater proliferation in
largely rural and formerly frontier contexts. Unlike more densely settled regions that could support
greater economic specialization, individuals and families living in frontier or otherwise rural contexts
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like eighteenth and nineteenth-century Albemarle County depended on the country store for a majority
of their purchased goods. As a result these stores became critical community centers and points of
congregation for otherwise dispersed peoples. Once the country store was an established community
center, it persisted in that role in Albemarle County and elsewhere through the twentieth century.
Information contained in the extant ledgers of country stores reveal a broad network of trade that
helped shape communities in Albemarle County and reflected the county's social and commercial ties
with other localities. Recent research has revealed that these buildings served as a center of the
community in a variety of ways. Some storeowners offered their spaces for community dances, while
others provided services to local residents, such as shoe and farm tool repair. Unfortunately, the recent
survey undertaken by this committee suggests that a large percentage of these historic community
centers have already been lost and that not a single example dating before 1880 still survives. The
preservation of these remaining examples is of critical importance; the loss of these stores signals the
demise not just of a building type, but of a way of life, community, and memory that once
characterized a majority of our county. As the County begins to assess the adaptive reuse of these
surviving stores, it should take into account their historically multipurpose use.
The Committee believes that, with the County's encouragement, country stores can be both preserved
and reintegrated into our plans for the future. The May 2001 draft of the Rural Areas Chapter of the
Comprehensive Plan states that there are many buildings located in the crossroad communities that are
vacant and could have local significance. The plan further states that these buildings could be
renovated to maintain the rural character of the community and to provide a valuable service to the
immediate local area (page 16). The plan recommends the preservation and rehabilitation of these
historic buildings. Country stores—those purpose-built structures with a history of commercial use in a
rural context—are among these important yet threatened historic resources.
The Albemarle County Historic Preservation Plan, adopted by the Board of Supervisors in September
2000, identifies the protection of the County's natural, scenic and historic resources in the Rural Areas
as a primary goal. The Historic Preservation Committee has conducted research' to better understand
this issue. At the outset of our research it became immediately apparent that these buildings were
seriously threatened. The Committee's research to date indicates that no stores constructed during the
first 130 years of the County's history survive. Only a handful of stores date to the late nineteenth
century. The earliest known store to survive is the Store, which dates to . (EXACT
NUMBER) of these country stores have been lost in recent decades. Furthermore, (EXACT
NUMBER) of them are standing vacant, threatening to join those already lost to conscious demolition
or neglect. Only (EXACT NUMBER) of these stores are still operating in their traditional role. In an
effort to preserve these buildings, we have made a near comprehensive list of all those buildings in the
County (See Appendix A). That appendix includes those historic country stores already lost (List 1),
those stores now standing vacant (List 2), those stores that have been adapted for other uses (List 3),
and those few stores that have persisted in their original use (List 4). This list is limited to buildings
erected after(EXACT DATE).
It is our recommendation that in its plan for the rural areas, the County institute the following measures
to reintegrate the specifically identified country stores found in lists 2, 3, and 4, of Appendix A as vital
and contributing components of our county's rural landscape.
For all buildings listed in the Appendix:
The Committee's research has consisted primarily of a windshield survey,with some research into historic maps,store
ledgers,and photograph collections.This research should not be considered exhaustive.
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1) Eliminate the current two-year window in which a vacant country store loses its non-
conforming and exceptional status as commercial property. The passing of this two-year
limit for many of these properties means that property owners must apply for a Special Use
Permit (zoning ordinance section 10.2.2.22) to return these buildings to their traditional use.
2) Revise the requirements for parking to allow exceptions to accepted practice when the
confines or limits of the property of one of these historic stores do not allow for the
standard requirements. Staff will necessarily work out this exception on a case-by-case basis
in the spirit of returning the property to its historic commercial use.
Discussion: As a means of limiting abuses to these exceptions and preserving the integrity of
the buildings, the Historic Preservation Committee recommends that these incentives be
allowable and applicable ONLY to the store building as it stands on the property. These
exceptional conditions should no longer apply if the building is demolished, moved to another
property, or so altered as to render negligible its historic character.
As is evident from the preceding statement, the preservation of the historic character and
integrity of the building is our principle concern. Nonetheless, we acknowledge that many of
these buildings will necessitate additions to make them viable spaces for many contemporary
commercial uses. We believe that additions designed in accordance with Standards 9 and 10 of
the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation (listed in Appendix B) will preserve
the store's historic character. The Secretary of the Interior's Standards are accepted by the
National Park Service, the National Register for Historic Properties, and numerous other
preservation-minded institutions.
3) Allow for the consideration of multiple uses in any of the buildings listed in the
Appendix.
Discussion: Allowing more than one use in a single building provides additional opportunities
for adaptive reuse and for the ultimate preservation of the County's country stores. Among the
uses that should be considered are any uses that can be considered for home occupations. Using
the store as the place for the home occupation, rather than a residence, could offer a resident
greater flexibility in working near home while providing an opportunity to place a historic
resource in a useful occupancy. The concept of allowing multiple uses in the store is consistent
with the building type's evolution as the needs of the community changed throughout history.
For buildings listed in the Appendix whose rehabilitations are completed in accordance with all
ten of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation:
4) Institute specific property tax abatements (for the structure only) that will serve as
incentives to shop-owners to open or re-open commercial enterprises.
Discussion: Our recommendation is that an owner who rehabilitates one of the stores listed in
the Appendix for use as a store should receive a 10-year grace period from county taxes
assessed on the structure. For adaptive reuses (uses other than country store) of buildings listed
in the Appendix, we recommend a 5-year grace period from county taxes assessed on the
structure only. We further recommend that this tax relief should apply to improvements to
stores listed in the Appendix that are already in operation.
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The small number of properties to which this would apply is not expected to impede the
County's revenue. In fact, nothing is lost since these buildings do little to contribute to the tax
base as vacant shells. Property owners could combine this County tax abatement with the 20%
Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit and 25% State Credit, which would amount to a substantial
incentive to preserve our country stores.
Albemarle County's historic country stores were once a vital component of our county; they are today
an eroding memory of our local heritage. If Albemarle County intends to preserve its distinctive
character, these important and distinctive historic buildings must receive the special attention they
deserve.
Country stores are one component of the built environment in the rural areas. We have addressed
stores first because they are the rural resources with the greatest potential to be impacted by blanket
policies and regulations. However, responsible preservation planning is required for all historic
resources in the rural areas. The Historic Preservation Committee will continue to study the rural areas
and would like to continue to update the Board of Supervisors as other important rural commercial
structures are discovered. Also, the Committee hopes that the Board will remain open to the concept
that previous surveys and future discoveries could expand the current list of historic country stores.
Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to voice our concerns and recommendations.
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APPENDIX A
Country Store Lists
NOTE: These lists may be amended if/when additional stores are discovered.
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APPENDIX B
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR'S STANDARDS FOR REHABILITATION2
1) A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal
change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment.
2) The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic
materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided.
3) Each property shall be recognized saw a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that
create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural
elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.
4) Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their
own right shall be retained and preserved.
5) Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that
characterize a property shall be preserved.
6) Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of
deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in
design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of
missing features shall be substantiated by documentary,physical, or pictorial evidence.
7) Chemical or physic treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall
not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the
gentlest means possible.
8) Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If such
resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.
9) New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials
that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be
compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity
of the property and its environment.
10)New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that
if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property would be
unimpaired.
2 W.Brown Morton,III,et.al. The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and Illustrated Guidelines for
Rehabilitating Historic Buildings, (National Park Service, 1992),vii.
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