An Architectural Design Control Ordinance for a “restricted design district” in Scottsville was adopted by the Town Council on January 17, 1972.  This was one of the conditions for a grant from the Perry Foundation for landscaping at the Scottsville Museum.  The three-member board was charged with “preventing developments obviously incongruous to the historic and cultural aspect of the district.”

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Mayor A. Raymon Thacker tirelessly pursued funding for a flood levee at Scottsville, eventually attracting assistance from Virginia Senator John Warner and Congressman J. Kenneth Robinson.  Construction by the Army Corps of Engineers began in 1983, and in 1984 negotiations to complete the four million dollar funding were still ongoing.  On September 17, 1984, the Town Council unanimously extended the Architectural Design Control Ordinance “to cover the entire Corporate Limits of the Town,” assuring the federal government of Scottsville’s dedication to preserving its architectural treasures.

The A. Raymon Thacker Levee was dedicated September 3, 1988.  A five-person Architectural Review Board, created by the 1996 Zoning Ordinance, was designed “to preserve and protect historic places and areas in the Town through the control of demolition…and…regulation of architectural design and uses of structures.”  The ARB’s powers and duties are defined by the ordinance.