A Virginia county's tourism board gave final approval to an elevation site plan for metal buildings to comprise a plaza on Rte. 60 East.

The discussion with the Grazianos on the design of the metal buildings to be used in the their proposed shopping center brought up the fact that small developers are not familiar with what type of architectural rendering should be submitted.

Moreover, there is uncertainty as to what, if anything, will improve the looks of a boxy metal building.

Officials say smaller developers often require a lot of questioning to figure out what the steel buildings will finally look like.

Also problematic is the wording of the ordinance, which only says a building must be in keeping with those in the surrounding area.

There is a document with photos of acceptable styles, but it is only a guideline and metal buildings are not really addressed.

In this case, the area of Rte. 60 that is now starting to be developed consists of different styles, but no general metal buildings.

For their part, the Grazianos came with an engineering elevation but no artist rendering of the steel building.

"I don't really know what you want or what is possible," Carol Graziano said. "I'm just trying to get the best building for what I can afford."

She explained that when they bought the property they didn't know they would be limited on what part of the land they could build on by the VDOT and would have to pay to upgrade sewer and connections."

Board member Anne Russek said that she wants to raise the bar and not just accept the minimum. Russek pointed out that it's good that they have an experienced builder that knows the possibilities.

After a heated discussion, the state and Grazianos finally agreed on some inexpensive trim and molding of the finish to soften the look of the general steel building.