Tuesday: City Begins Process Toward Rewriting Zoning Ordinance

At its Tuesday night meeting, Mayor Scott Silverthorne and the City Council members will take the first official step toward a complete overhaul of the City's zoning and subdivision ordinances.

It all starts with a public hearing and a vote on whether to award a contract to the consulting firm Duncan Associates to help complete the task.

This is the first time in nearly 30 years that the City has reviewed and rewritten its zoning ordinances, and many officials, from the City Manager to elected officials, are saying it's high time, as the current system is outdated and "special exceptions" are taking place so often that its creating more work than it should as it stands currently.

"The ordinances we have now, the majority of them, are out of date and not in keeping with the times we live in," said Councilmember Dan Drummond. "And the question we're getting all the time now is, why so many special exceptions and special permits?"

Drummond explained, as the decades have gone by, rather than updating the zoning ordinances, the City has just created one special exception or special use permit after another, and the result is often convoluted and confusing for those wanting to do business or build developments in the city.

Mayor Silverthorne agrees.

"It's not unusual for every applicant that comes before the City to be required to go through multiple steps and multiple exceptions to the zoning ordinance; special exceptions, all those types of things," he said.

For example, he touched upon a situation with a developer recently who was filing applications to build townhouses next to Providence Square, across from the Twins' Ace Hardware store.

"When they came before the City—there were 14 special exceptions they needed approval for," Silverthorne described, ranging from everything from parking to landscaping requirements. "There were just all sorts of hurdles."

Silverthorne said, he wants the City of Fairfax to be known as a place where it is attractive and relatively easy to open or expand a business, or get a good residential development approved, in order to keep the City thriving.

That all starts with streamlining the City's processes, he said.

"I'd like for the business community in general to have a much more clear understanding of what the regulatory process in the City is, so it's streamlined and fast-tracked, to make the process much more predictable for them, and much more timely," he said. "And the same for residential development as well."

Councilmember Drummond said, he hopes local residents will involve themselves in the process by offering feedback, and said that once the contract for the consultant is awarded, the City will hold several "stakeholder" meetings with business owners, citizens and the like.

"These ordinances will literally help shape what the city looks like 10, 20, 30 years from now," Drummond said. "So this is a real opportunity for the community to have input on it, and have a say in its future."

Mayor Silverthorne said he was pleased that the City was able to fit in funding this overhaul in the 2013-14 budget, and is pleased that it's finally happening. Drummond agreed.

"It's something we've been discussing for several years, and is finally coming to fruition," Drummond said.

The vote by the City Council recently to begin this process was unanimous.

Tuesday Night's Meeting

During its Tuesday night meeting, members of the local public are invited to comment on whether or not to award the contract to Duncan Associates to help the City review and rewrite the zoning and subdivision ordinances.

The Council will then vote on the matter.

In its staff report on the recommendation to award the contract to Duncan, City Manager Bob Sisson wrote, "The selected firm, Duncan Associates, has demonstrated experience evaluating, writing and implementing zoning and subdivision ordinances, including managing the codification process, preparing maps and illustrations, conducting public participation processes, and developing training materials."

The total amount of the contract, including both the zoning and subdivision ordinances, is $216,900, which is already accounted for in the FY 2014 budget.

Mayor Silverthorne said, by everything he has seen, Duncan Associates is the right choice to perform the review and rewrite.

"This is one of their specialties, and they've done similar work in other local jurisdictions in the area as well," he said.

Tuesday night's meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 10455 Armstrong St. The public is welcome and comments will be allowed during designated portions of the meeting.


TELL US - What do you think of the City rewriting its zoning ordinances? What do you think of the process as it stands now? Tell us in the comments below.

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