Charlottesville, VA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)
Key Facts
- Designation body
- City Council, by ordinance
- Advisory boards
- Planning Commission, BAR
- Applies to
- landmarks outside ADC districts
- Review criteria source
- same as ADC district criteria
Summary
In the City of Charlottesville, Virginia, landmarks and buildings of special historic, cultural or architectural value that sit outside the City's design-control districts can be named Individually Protected Properties (-IPP) by City Council ordinance, a designation the Development Code lists parcel by parcel across dozens of streets citywide.
The City of Charlottesville seeks, through the creation of a protected property list, to protect community health and safety and to promote the education, prosperity and general welfare of the public, through identification, preservation, protection and enhancement of certain buildings, structures, and landmarks, together with their landscapes and settings, which are of special historic, cultural, or architectural significance, and which are located outside the City’s ADC Districts. ... City Council may, by ordinance, from time to time, designate individual buildings, structures or landmarks as Individually Protected Properties; or remove individual buildings, structure or landmarks from the City’s list of Individually Protected Properties. Any such action will be undertaken following the rules and procedures applicable to the adoption of amendments to the City’s Development Code and official zoning map.
Full Breakdown
A creates the Individually Protected Properties overlay to protect buildings, structures and landmarks, together with their landscapes and settings, that carry special historic, cultural or architectural significance but fall outside an Architectural Design Control District. B prints the current list by street number, street name, tax map and parcel number, covering properties on streets including Belmont Avenue, Ridge Street, Fifth Street SW, Preston Avenue, Rugby Road and dozens more. 1. 2 requires the Planning Commission and the Board of Architectural Review to weigh in, applying criteria that include whether the property is listed or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or the Virginia Landmarks Register, its association with a historic person, event, architect or craftsman, its age and condition, the distinctiveness of its design, texture and materials, and whether it is a rare or the last surviving example of a particular architectural type or detail in the City. 2 governs IPP designations, giving both processes a shared, publicly documented evidentiary standard rather than a discretionary Council vote alone.
Violations & Fines
Once a building is listed as an Individually Protected Property, work affecting it is subject to the same Certificate of Appropriateness and Board of Architectural Review process used for Architectural Design Control Districts; proceeding without required approval is enforced under Development Code Div. 6.8, and the Zoning Administrator can withhold or revoke a building permit pending compliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a Charlottesville building become an Individually Protected Property?
Can an Individually Protected Property be removed from Charlottesville's list?
What kind of properties qualify as Individually Protected in Charlottesville?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Charlottesville
Compare Charlottesville to another location·View the Virginia historic preservation overview
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