Despite being landlocked, some neighborhoods in Fairfax County’s Hunter Mill District have apparently become awash in boats.
Supervisor Walter Alcorn plans to propose expanding Reston’s Community Parking District in order to also ban boats and other large vehicles from parking on public streets in the McNair Farms area south of Herndon.
A proliferation of parked and stored boats has become a recurring concern for residents and homeowners’ associations, who got an opportunity to voice their complaints at a “very well attended community meeting” last Tuesday (Sept. 2), according to Alcorn.
“They cause parking problems for residents who live there, safety concerns for the many school children trying to cross the streets with boats blocking their view, challenges for residents to safely pull out of their neighborhoods onto main roads and difficulties accessing bus stops,” Alcorn said in a Sept. 3 newsletter.
Initially, Alcorn’s office attempted to address the issue by getting the police to crack down on unattended vehicles. Under the Fairfax County Code, any vehicle parked in the same spot on a public road for more than 15 days is considered unattended and eligible for towing, unless it’s within 500 feet of the address on its registration.
However, that approach proved ineffective, because the offending drivers would simply move their boat to a different spot in the area after 15 days, Brian Worthy, a spokesperson for Alcorn’s office, says.
Officials then considered instituting a residential permit parking district for McNair Farms, which would allow restrictions on visitor and cut-through parking and can be requested by an HOA.
“However, this wasn’t feasible since most of the homes face inward on private streets,” Worthy said.
A community parking district, however, would ban all large vehicles from public streets, including watercraft, trailers, RVs and vehicles that can carry 16 or more occupants, with the exception of school buses that are transporting students. Violations would be subject to a $75 fine and the possibility of towing.
The restrictions wouldn’t apply to private streets or parking lots.
Community parking districts are typically requested by HOAs through a petition, but for larger districts that encompass most or all of a magisterial district, the relevant supervisor can make the request. The Springfield, Mason, Mount Vernon and Franconia districts all have district-wide restrictions in place.
Alcorn says he intends to propose expanding the Reston community parking district to include McNair Farms at a Board of Supervisors meeting later this year, possibly in November. A public hearing is required before the district can be approved.
Though participants in last week’s community meeting “overwhelmingly” voiced support for the move, the Hunter Mill District supervisor’s office is encouraging anyone who didn’t attend or has concerns to reach out via email (huntermill@fairfaxcounty.gov) or phone (703-478-0236) by this Wednesday (Sept. 10).
Alcorn’s office has also received complaints about parked boats in the Tysons area, particularly along Old Courthouse Road just outside the Town of Vienna.
Fairfax County Department of Transportation staff are currently reviewing the feasibility of a community parking district there.
“They’re also looking at how widespread the parking issue may be in this area,” Worthy said.
Smaller community parking districts must encompass at least five blocks or 2,000 linear feet of streets, while large area districts that can be requested by a supervisor must contain a minimum of 3,500 addresses, 35 miles of secondary roads or at least 5 square miles of land.
