County Balks at Enforcing Rules of R-1 Zoning
My wife and I have lived in our single-family home in inner Fairfax County, near Falls Church, for 19 years in what has been a nice neighborhood. I served on the board of my homeowners association for years and on a Fairfax County advisory board for subsidized housing. My wife and I chose a multiethnic neighborhood years ago and feel at home in the diversity.
This year, we have noticed a major problem in our neighborhood of $400,000-plus to $900,000-plus houses. We are zoned as a single-family (R-1) neighborhood, but many of the houses for resale are being bought and modified into multi-family units through the addition of second kitchens, sometimes with the removal of stairs.
Fairfax County's zoning and permits staff seems to be regularly issuing permits for these variances from the code. Consequently, our street is starting to be filled with trucks, often parked in front of driveways and fire hydrants and being loaded loudly at 6 a.m. Our neighborhood is being destroyed.
I understand that at the annual meeting of the homeowners association, our county supervisor advised those present that Fairfax would not be enforcing the R-1 regulations because to do so would be discriminatory.
My wife heard at a recent neighborhood board meeting that the same problem seems to be occurring in Springfield and probably around the county. I spoke with a friend who works for Montgomery County. He said that the same situation is occurring in Montgomery County. He said that the zoning and permits staff and the politicians do not want to be called racist, so they avoid confronting the problem.
We know that Leslie Byrne, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, tried to address the issue, in her usual direct style, and was attacked roundly. I guess we will see the problem grow.
Amending the county plans and zoning would be the correct thing to do. Letting Fairfax self-destruct seems to be the easiest political course. How strange. What an absurd answer to the Washington area housing shortage.
Gil Conrad
Falls Church
Someone Needs to Keep An Eye on Connolly
I read "MetroWest Battle Turns Partisan," [Page A10, July 28] with great interest and much humor. It is unfortunate that Fairfax County voters do not follow local politics a bit more closely.
