As a Certified Local Government, the Town had an existing set of design guidelines for their local historic district. CPG staff started the project by familiarizing itself with the Town’s existing preservation philosophy.
Commonwealth
Cape Charles Design Guidelines
Community Engagement
Disaster Preparedness for Historic Resources
Flood Retrofit Negotiation & Design
Historic Building Renovation
Local Design Review Consulting
Preparation of Design Guidelines Documents
Preservation Planning
Cape Charles Historic District Design Guidelines
Partners
Town of Cape Charles
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
Project Goals
CPG was hired by the town of Cape Charles to update its historic district guidelines.
Project Design
An important part of the process was to develop a public engagement plan to engage the community and its stakeholders all along the way.
Public engagement included public meetings, an online survey, and interviews to better understand the challenges felt within the community with the existing guidelines and review procedures and to gather input for improvement.
Challenges & Accomplishments
Navigating a community of homeowners with a broad range of priorities made it even more critical to provide opportunities for public engagement so that common ground could be established.
The final document relies on graphic-oriented examples, clarification on the application and review process, and guidance for all stakeholders to inform project planning and review within the historic district. The final updated guidelines received unanimous approval from the Town Council at the project’s conclusion.