Parking Identified as Challenge in Nichols Renovation Effort | News
As the Nichols family moves forward with efforts to renovate their buildings in downtown Purcellville to add apartments, a key challenge facing those plans is not a new one for the shops along 21st Street—parking.
While the Nichols can commit to 14 off street parking spaces, the Purcellville Planning Commission said it was not convinced that would be enough.
Nichols Hardware envisions 11 apartments in the four buildings owned by the company. Zoning regulations for the C-4 District permit two apartments per building, leaving the plans three apartments above the limit. Nichols has applied to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance to build the three additional apartments.
Nichols’ application states that the by-right allowance of two units per building would result in units larger than 2,000 square feet and claims those are not economically viable for the area. More apartments in smaller sizes would be more feasible, according to the documents.
The Planning Commission last week was briefed on the variance and given an opportunity to provide input to the BZA ahead of its next meeting.
After research, the town’s planning staff determined that the parking considerations should not have “disproportionate weight on the consideration” of the variance request. The current Zoning Ordinance does not have any specific parking requirements for apartments and those are determined on a case-by-case basis, according to a staff report.
In addition, existing buildings along 21st Street are exempted from parking requirement regardless of their use, Planner Jordan Andrews said.
Town planning staff members also noted that two larger apartments would likely be occupied by working professionals, rather than families, while the smaller apartments could more likely be used by local workers who might not need a vehicle.
“Lastly, a key consideration for a variance necessitated by a hardship is that the hardship is not self-inflicted, pre-existing, and is unique to the subject property. Nichols Hardware is the oldest continuously operating business in Purcellville and Loudoun County at over 111 years. As their buildings and business are integral to the character and history of Purcellville, the Town would be very unlikely to support any potential demolition or extensive exterior modifications to their structures,” according to the staff report.
All three attending commissioners said they were concerned primarily with parking.
Commissioner Matthew Davis said one parking space per unit would be too low and while he could likely support 1.5 spaces per unit, he would rather see more.
Those concerns were echoed by Chair Ronald Rise Sr. and Ryan Feber.
Rise said he would recommend that the BZA use the county’s method of determining parking requirements. The apartments should not impact parking availability for businesses along 21st Street, he said.
The BZA will review the variance request and hold a public hearing on the proposal during a Sept. 10 meeting at the Town Hall.
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