So you got this error:
[Wed Jun 15 19:05:40 2011] [crit] [client 72.252.205.36] (13)Permission denied: /var/www/xxxxx/.htaccess pcfg_openfile: unable to check htaccess file, ensure it is readable
And you don't even have an .htaccess file in that location to begin with, why?
Solution
The directory containing your website needs to have execute permissions for user,group and others. chmod 755 on the directory.