Students attending McLean High School could find another nearby street off-limits for parking starting as soon as next month.
At its meeting today (Tuesday), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors authorized a public hearing for Sept. 29 to consider a petition for parking restrictions by residents of a portion of Felix Street. They are seeking to have the road in front of the 13-home stretch incorporated into the McLean Residential Public Parking District.
The petitioners cite “the large number of non-resident vehicles parked on the residential street during school hours,” staff said in a memo to the board.
The affected stretch of Felix Street runs from Westmoreland Street to Broyhill Street, southeast of the high school. It meets the requirement of being within 2,000 feet (walking distance) from the pedestrian entrance to the school and/or 1,000 feet from the property boundary of the school.
To get a petition application certified, at least 60% of residents on a proposed restricted road must sign on.
If the addition is approved, Felix Street would join a large number of streets around McLean High School that are off-limits during the day to non-residents without visitor parking passes.
They include stretches of Westbury Road, Center Street, Sea Cliff Road, Margie Drive, Craig Lane, Girard Street, Tyndale Street, Warner Avenue, Great Falls Street, Bonheim Court, Ridgedale Court, Simmons Drive, Rosemont Drive, Broyhill Street, Hamel Hill Court and Symphony Court.
Parking in those areas is by permit only on school days from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Those who violate the parking restrictions are subject to a $75 fine per occurrence, plus the possibility of towing.
There is student parking on the McLean High School campus, though sometimes demand outstrips supply and students are placed on waiting lists. A parking permit for students costs $200 per school year.
Parking restrictions sought across Dranesville District
Also at the Aug. 25 meeting, supervisors set a separate public hearing for Sept. 29 to consider adoption of a Dranesville District Community Parking District.
If approved, the following types of vehicles would be banned on public roadways in the district:
- Watercraft, boat trailers, camping trailers and motorhomes
- Vehicles used in the transportation of hazardous materials
- Any vehicle with three or more axles
- Any vehicle with a gross weight of 12,000 or more pounds
- Any vehicle designed to transport 16 or more people, with exceptions for school uses
The parking district would apply to residential communities in two distinct areas north and south of the Town of Herndon.
Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman had requested consideration of the community parking district “in response to reports of an excessive number of watercrafts, recreational vehicles, and trailers parking on public streets” next to residential neighborhoods, according to a county staff memo.
Joined by the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, Bierman’s office had hosted a “well-attended” community meeting on the proposal in April, staff said. Between that meeting and a public survey, the county determined that there was sufficient support for parking limits in those areas around Herndon.
Similar restrictions are in place in community districts located throughout the county, with the largest concentration in the southern and eastern portions of Fairfax.
