Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the Afton Inn Plaza as envisioned by lead architect Bob Dunning was a variance on the town's height limit of 45 feet for a building to be constructed behind and connected to the landmark at the corner of Royal Avenue and Main Street.

Built to match the Afton, the new 58-foot building would provide structural support for the inn, which is intended to house a 12-room bed and breakfast on the upper two floors, with a coffee shop and a spa on the ground floor. The 19,454-square foot addition would also house an elevator and other support systems for the inn and restaurant.

Manassas Park developer Frank Barros, was requesting a fourth story in the new building for professional office space.

Dunning, the project spokesman, admitted during the May 15 Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting that the project met no financial hardship requirements for the variance and that ultimately the issue was space.

The office space is needed to make the project commercially viable, Dunning said.

If the variance were not granted, he said the planned outdoor plaza on the corner of Main and Royal - with outdoor seating for the coffee shop - would most likely have to be sacrificed for office space.

"I really don't think a fourth story will affect the view on Main Street," BZA chairman Timothy Tewalt said.

Dunning said that the roof of the new structure would be stepped back from the street, lessening the effect of the building's height.

Dunning also said that he believed the structure would not be taller than the cupola of the Court House or the steeple of the Front Royal United Methodist Church.

The BZA, after a short public hearing in which several people spoke for and against the project, granted the variance with a 3-1 vote.

BZA member Thomas Stickler, who motioned to approve the variance, said he'd been in Front Royal more than 70 years  and "it would be a pleasure to see a nicer building on Main Street than the old Murphy Theater, which is the highest building in the area and also the ugliest."

In the minority, BZA member Linda Selover expressed concern over the completion of such an ambitious project.

"I recommend that the town have some concrete assurance the Afton Inn will not be torn down," she said. "I'd like it noted that no opinion from the Town Attorney was included [in the board packet]."

Barros has estimated construction will take between 18 and 24 months, and hopes to break ground on the project by the end of this year or in early 2007. Unofficial estimates put the project's price tag at several million, but neither Barros nor Dunning have been willing to say what they think the renovation will ultimately cost.

Dunning said after the meeting that his firm is proud of the project design and hopes the completed Afton Inn Plaza will be a featured part of its portfolio.

Barros, who bought the Afton for a reported $600,000 last August, developed the Park Center in Manassas Park where he owns JSC Concrete Construction and the Carmello's & Little Portugal restaurant run by his sister-in-law Alice Pires. He said he plans to open another Carmello's at the Afton Inn Plaza.

Four days before the BZA meeting, the project had gotten the go-ahead on one of its two requests from the Board of Architectural Review (BAR).

The Board of Architectural Review (BAR) was impressed when Dunning previewed the project before them in February and members reacted favorably in their May 9 meeting with the application now official, by granting a Certificate of Appropriateness to begin some preparatory demolition for the renovation of the Afton Inn.

Before granting a similar certificate for the new construction, the BAR requested more exterior detail to be reviewed at its next meeting June 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Warren County Government Center.

Acting planning director Steve Burke said that once the BAR signs off on the project, it would come before the town's planning commission for approval as a redevelopment project.

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