New meeting on Parking Reimagined
Fairfax County scheduled an additional virtual meeting on Parking Reimagined for Jan. 31.
Community members weren’t able to participate in the last meeting because the county provided the wrong link.
Access the Jan. 31 meeting on Zoom here. This will be the last virtual open house on Parking Reimagined. The Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee will discuss it on Feb. 14.
Parking Reimagined would amend the Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance to give developers more flexibility in the design of new multifamily housing, retail, and office projects. It would discourage the use of vehicles by cutting the number of required parking spaces on a tiered basis with the most reductions in urban areas near transit stations.
Related story: Parking Reimagined would benefit developers, not residents
County planners say the parking reductions would encourage developers to create more affordable housing but there would be no requirements that they do so.
The comment deadline was extended to Feb. 2. Submit feedback here or send an email to [email protected].
Please try to attend this virtual meeting and send comments to the email address given in the article, plus to [email protected] This proposed amendment does not require additional affordable housing nor additional green space for the reduction in minimum parking requirements in new and renovated developments. Also, Annandale is NOT a transportation hub, but is receiving the same percentage reduction in required parking as other Revitalization Districts.
Also, this proposed amendment would allow the Director of Land Development Services (LDS) to be able to issue administrative waivers for up to 60% reductions in required parking. The Director of LDS is a bureaucrat and not an elected official.
It is true that Fairfax County should development a better solution for parking requirements, but this amendment is not ready for prime time yet.
Please see this column I wrote for more on this developer serving proposal. https://reston2020.blogspot.com/2022/12/right-sizing-fairfax-county-parking.html
The theory is that by reducing the number of parking spaces it will encourage the residents to use public transportation. The reality is that for the foreseeable future Fairfax county residents and those who shop and commute here are still going to be relying primarily on personal use automobiles. If the developers don’t provide adequate on site parking the residents, commuters and shoppers are going to be using other parking resources nearby.