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Board of Architectural Review mission: to protect, preserve
Some developers argue BAR process too complex
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer
If you are going to build, demolish, remodel or paint a structure south of Mount Pleasant Street in peninsular Charleston, chances are you will become well acquainted with the city’s Board of Architectural Review.
This seven-member volunteer board, appointed by the city council and required to include two architects, one lawyer and one engineer, oversees both the protection and preservation of historic structures and is in charge of design review for all new structures.
Because of this two-part mission, the BAR is often considered more stringent than the Commercial Corridor Design Review Board, which oversees major roadways outside the BAR’s boundaries.
The BAR process, which takes several weeks, or longer depending on the project, is often a sore subject for architects and developers.
“It’s not consistent. That’s the biggest thing. It’s design by committee, and anytime you have that, there will be problems,” says Ted Stoney, of Charleston’s Stoney Co.
Stoney, who nearly two years ago announced plans for a 69-room, $12-$15 million hotel on John Street near King Street, says the BAR causes lengthy delays, which in turn creates problems later in the construction process.
“I think Charleston sells itself short. We ought to require better quality and architecture out of the BAR. Some of the members want one thing, and some want another. They’re not all there at one time, so you get conflicting direction from them depending on who is at the meeting,” Stoney says.
The process of redrawing plans to satisfy the BAR is costly.
“It increases the cost of the project because time is money so that cuts down on the quality of the construction,” Stoney says, adding the BAR process has taken him as long as a year to complete. “Later on, you’re going to have to do something to make the numbers work.”
A longtime member of the BAR, Sandy Logan, vice president and design principal at LS3P Architects, took issue with the claim that every meeting is conducted by a different group of members.
“That’s not entirely true,” says Logan, BAR vice chairman who has served for more than six years. BAR members are appointed to serve four-year terms and can serve twice.
“While there will be some people that don’t appear at every meeting time in and time out, the composition of the board doesn’t change—only the numbers present. There have to be four members for a quorum. You might not always get the same four people but at least one or two will be the same.”
Houston’s Bomasada Group Inc., the company building the 108-unit Bella Vista condo development in downtown, also expressed troubles with the BAR.
“We’ve been planning for over three years,” John Gilbert, a principal in Bomasada told the Business Journal earlier this year. “It has taken a long time to get all the approvals from the Board of Architectural Review.”
The BAR is often used as a scapegoat, says Eddie Bello, the city’s urban design and preservation architect, adding that in Bomasada’s case the delay was the result of a new architectural team it brought in halfway through the process
Still, Bello says BAR is not a perfect entity. For example, he says, BAR may on occasion request certain changes be made to a set of plans but, after seeing their request on paper, may decide it is not going to work after all.
A balancing act
The BAR process is a balance between business and preserving the city’s beauty—one that inevitably causes problems for those whose job it is to worry about the bottom line.
“Right now, because land prices are so high, people have spent a lot of money on land that they’re almost required to put as much useable square footage on as possible. This is making buildings very big because they’re trying to cram all this stuff on one lot,” Bello says.
“The BAR struggles with making things fit in. Over time, we’ll have all these big buildings and that will change the face of Charleston.”
Even Logan, who as an architect and a BAR member has the unique perspective of having presented to the board and being presented to, admits the process has not gotten any easier over the years. Actually, he says, it is just the opposite.
“I think it’s become more cumbersome because citizen involvement has become greater, and the city can’t help but be influenced by the people who come and scream about something being too much, not enough or wrong,” Logan says.
The turning point in citizen involvement came with the construction of the Renaissance Charleston Hotel on Wentworth Street, which opened about five years ago.
“Zoning said it could be two stories taller, but it ended up being two stories shorter and making less money because the people across the street rose up and said ‘not in my neighborhood,’” Logan says. “That was a major victory, and it allowed citizens to feel they had more power.”
The result was a “watershed of citizen involvement,” he says, making the BAR process more frustrating for those who navigate it.
Be prepared
Charleston’s BAR, established in 1931, is the oldest in the nation. It is charged with reviewing “any exterior alterations visible from any public right-of-way,” according to the BAR’s general guidelines.
The board’s jurisdiction extends from Mount Pleasant Street south, though there are some differences in its authority in certain parts of the area.
For those who plan to do any type of construction work, be it as minor as repairing siding or elaborate as building an office complex, the key to a quick and painless BAR experience begins with preparation.
It is important to understand the process, Bello says.
The first step, though not required but certainly helpful, is to meet with city staff, namely Bello, for an introduction to what the BAR will want to see in a project’s plans.
“That gives me the chance to say ‘the board doesn’t usually approve 10-story houses made of Styrofoam,’ ” Bello says. “The thing is to make sure (a project)
doesn’t stand out too much. A lot of people think if all the houses around theirs are historic, theirs has to be traditional. It really just needs to work with the area.”
With that out of the way, the next step is to meet with the technical review committee, made up of city staff members in charge of everything from transportation to zoning.
“They’re looking at just the site and site issues,” Bello says. “If you’re going to have to cut down trees, they’re going to identify those issues.”
The third step is to gain zoning approval, if necessary. Finally, a project is presented to the BAR.
Facing the BAR
The BAR process is different for every project. Small jobs, including repairing shutters on an existing house or changing paint colors, often require no BAR review and are simply taken care of by city staff. The city staff reviews 2,000 minor alterations every year.
More involved projects, however, including new construction and additions, must be presented to the BAR at meetings conducted on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month at 4:30 p.m. in the city of Charleston conference room.
The BAR process, though it varies, is meant to be three-fold.
“Each level is more work,” Bello says.
The first step is preliminary approval. BAR members review the plans and determine whether what is being proposed will work in the surrounding area.
Two weeks later, conceptual approval may be sought. This is when the BAR reviews the materials to be used and examines plans in more detail. In some cases, a project may be approved after coming before the BAR just once or twice.
In others cases, a third review, this time for final approval, is required. The third go around, BAR members plunge even deeper into the details of a project.
At each step along the way, members of the public are allowed to comment. Comments may also be heard from both the Preservation Society of Charleston and the Historic Charleston Foundation, which offer advice and suggestions to the BAR.
Because BAR meetings are also public forums, the meetings may take a while to complete, Bello says.
“You might have a neighbor or the neighborhood council or sometimes a whole neighborhood come out,” he says. “The public gets real involved.”
After discussion, the BAR approves, revokes or asks that changes be made to a set of plans.
“They discuss and vote right then and there,” Bello says.
Once the BAR signs off on a project, permits can be obtained. Then the BAR is essentially done, though Bello does visit projects and must approve construction before a certificate of occupancy is issued.
The keys to a painless experience: “Have an architect that knows the process. Talk to the city first about what they expect of that site, and be sensitive and listen,” Logan says.
Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@crbj.com.
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