Move .htaccess contents from .htaccess file to config directives in the Apache config file, this should improve site performance and make config maintenance more centralized too.
For instance rename your /var/www/.htaccess as /var/www/mysite.rule and include this file in apache vhost file as mentioned below.
<Directory "/var/www"> Options Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks SymLinksifOwnerMatch ExecCGI MultiViews AllowOverride None Order deny,allow Allow from all AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .html .htm .php AddType application/x-httpd-php .php Include /var/www/mysite.rule </Directory>
You can create multiple rules file based on your web directory structure and include in the apache directives.