Planning Commission defers action on Parking Reimagined

The Fairfax County Planning Commission on July 26 deferred action on Parking Reimagined, the controversial zoning ordinance amendment that would cut minimum parking requirements for new developments.

More than 60 people spoke at the public hearing, which didn’t end until about 1:30 a.m. At the Planning Commission’s Sept. 13 meeting, there will be another public hearing after which the commissioners will vote on a recommendation to send to the Board of Supervisors.

Parking Reimagined would reduce the number of parking spaces required for new multifamily, retail, and office developments, with the goal of encouraging developers to provide more affordable housing, encourage people to use mass transit instead of cars and create more walkable communities by eliminating the need for large underutilized parking lots.

Big parking reductions

Revitalization areas, such as Annandale and Bailey’s Crossroads/Seven Corners, and transit-oriented developments would have greater parking reductions than suburban areas.

Several people at the hearing spoke about the impact of Parking Reimagined on Annandale, which is a revitalization area but doesn’t have adequate transit.

Donna Jacobson, president of the Lafayette Village Community Association in Annandale, said the parking reductions are especially severe for multifamily buildings and townhouses in revitalization areas, where there would be “parking reductions on top of reductions.”

Parking Reimagined would reduce the current base rate of 1.6 spaces per multifamily unit to 1.3, a 20 percent reduction. Another 20 percent reduction would be allowed in revitalization districts, resulting in 1.04 spaces – a 35 percent reduction from the current base rate, Jacobson said.

The base rate for townhouses would remain at the current rate of 2.7 spaces per unit with two spaces for visitors, but would drop to 1.8 spaces per unit and .3 spaces in common areas in revitalization areas. This would be a 35 percent reduction from the existing base rate.

Related story: Parking Reimagined would benefit developers, not residents

The director of Land Development Services would be given administrative authority to approve additional reductions for multifamily housing and townhouses in transit-related areas and for shared parking, Jacobson added.

Annandale resident Susan Jollie charged the county failed to carry out a comprehensive analysis before drafting Parking Reimagined. She recommended the parking rates should take into account the number of bedrooms in a multifamily building as a way of predicting the amount of parking needed.  

Without adequate transit, Annandale residents will continue to use cars, and overflow parking would clutter nearby residential neighborhoods, Jollie said.

Transit is not for everyone

Lynne Mulston, representing Reston 2020, said Parking Reimagined has admirable goals in supporting sustainability, addressing the impact of climate change, and allowing more land for landscaping and public spaces.

On the other hand, it would give developers many financial breaks while failing to improve residents’ quality of life, Mulston said. She urged the county to require developers to use half of the parking reduction for green space.

According to Mulston, allowing certain parking reductions to be handled administratively rather than through a public hearing is a change sought by developers and aligns with the recommendations by the Gartner Group, a consulting firm that recommended similar community engagement cutbacks that ended up in zMod.

While proponents of Parking Reimagined say it will encourage people to use mass transit, several people said public transportation is impractical for everybody if that means several transfers. People who work at night can’t rely on transit, and neither can families shopping for a week’s worth of groceries.

Also, there’s no guarantee that public transit will improve. Metro faces a $750 million budget shortfall, which will likely lead to service cuts, Mulston said.

She also charged the proposal ignores the needs of the disabled, as a shortage of parking spaces means abled-bodied people will park in handicapped spaces.

James Hart, a former member of the Planning Commission speaking for himself, opposes the provisions in Parking Reimagined that would shrink the spaces used for loading docks and allow delivery trucks to use the travel lanes in front of multifamily buildings.

As a result, those trucks would block spaces reserved for the disabled, which would be discriminatory and violate the ADA law. “This is a quality-of-life issue,” he said.

More housing

Sonya Breehey of the Coalition for Smarter Growth said the CSG not only supports Parking Reimagined but recommends it limit parking even more, especially in areas close to Metrorail and served by frequent bus transit.

Breehey said reducing parking would encourage pedestrian-friendly communities, reduce the cost of development, support the county’s goals for sustainability, and “support the needs of people rather than cars.”

She said the current parking rules limit the amount of housing that can be built, especially affordable housing; and promote the development of large underutilized parking lots that create heat islands.

Aaron Wilkowitz, representing YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, called Parking Reimagined a step in the right direction but argued that there shouldn’t be parking minimums at all. “Builders do not need legally mandated minimums to build enough parking,” he said.

YIMBYs of NOVA recruited many people, including some from other states, to speak out in favor of Parking Reimagined. 

“Parking is a public nuisance, not a public good,” Wilkowitz said, because “it harms housing affordability.” Developers pass on the cost of parking to residents, and land for parking lots could be better used for more housing, he argued.

Wilkowitz called free parking a “tax” on low-income residents who can’t afford a car so they can subsidize wealthier car owners.

Jenni Bae also spoke in favor of reducing minimum parking rules because the current rules are overly restrictive, driving up the cost for small business owners.

She has plans to open an indoor pickleball facility with 18 courts in the former Kids Choice building on Ravensworth Road in Annandale, but is unable to do so under the current parking regulations.

David Wagner, an Annandale resident and committed bicyclist, spoke in favor of a new provision in the draft zoning ordinance that sets minimum requirements for bicycle parking.

Developers would benefit

Dennis Hays of the Reston Citizens Association said only 4 percent of Fairfax County residents manage to get around without a car.

“Right-sizing parking is good, but we need to look at what people actually need. The people who will be most harmed by parking reductions for multifamily housing will be the young, the elderly, blue-collar workers, minorities, recent migrants, and the disabled,” he said.

“Personally, I haven’t met any YIMBYs, but I have met plenty of YISBYs (yes in somebody else’s backyard,” Hays said.

There is no guarantee that any green space or affordable housing will result if parking minimums are reduced, he said. “If it’s important, make it mandatory – no waivers and no exceptions.”

Whitney Redding, president of Friends of Holmes Run, said the watershed is full of impervious surfaces that lead to increased stormwater runoff, harming water quality and aquatic life.

Parking Reimagined seemed good at first, she said, but it would not reduce impervious surfaces or create more green space.