The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a policy updating the county’s rules governing parking requirements for new developments on Tuesday night, following years of community debate.
The final “Parking Reimagined” policy is aimed at reducing the number of parking spaces developers are required to include in projects. The new parking minimums depend on a variety of factors, including whether the project is residential, retail, or office, where it is located, and whether it’s close to transit. The plan also adds in requirements for bike and pedestrian infrastructure to help non-drivers navigate large parking lots.
County leaders hope the change — while modest — will ultimately mean more space for housing, parks, and other public amenities, instead of large, mostly-empty suburban parking lots that become heat islands in the summer and produce stormwater runoff when it rains. They also say that lessening parking requirements will make building affordable housing and other developments less costly — and prevent costs from being passed on to residents buying or renting a home. (Building new parking can cost as much as $60,000 per space in Fairfax, according to reporting from The Washington Post.)
“Fairfax County is extraordinarily diverse in its topography and its land use and its design,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay. “It’s very hard to do ordinances or parking [tabulations] in a one-size-fits-all environment with a county...
The lawsuit alleges the CCRB’s online database, 50-a.org, unfairly harms officers by listing serious accusations including sexual misconduct, racial profiling and making false official statements ...