Springfield Plaza parking???

Just called the church - said they have closed off parking to repaint some lines, and will be closed to commuter parking for at least the rest of this week and some (possibly all) of next week. But this is not permanent - I was assured that they DO plan to reopen that parking area at back of their lot.

I rode home with two gentlemen who said the church approached the county about paying for the repainting of the lines since they were "commuter spaces". The county is facing severe budget cuts, commuter parking is not high on their list, so they won't (or didn't) pay for the repainting of the spaces. Commuters may lose some more spaces if the church decides to stop allowing commuter parking in the lot.

The owners of those abandoned lots don't want anyone parking in them because they fear a lawsuit if someone falls and injures themselves in their lot.

Last fall when I heard Sharon Bulova was proposing a 3rd slug line at Circuit City when the HOT lanes on 495 are completed (more cars parking in Springfield to access that slug line), I called her office and asked them to come see how adding a 3rd line to the Circuit City lot would be a nightmare, i.e., there is no room for a 3rd line of drivers to pick up riders.

The Fairfax Bd. of Supervisors is trying to buy the Circuit City lot to build a parking lot. But the owner of that lot has so far refused to sell. The Bd. of Supervisors should approach the owners of Chelsea's and Chi Chi's to buy those lots and put the garage there.

Coincidentally, I just heard about this.

Fairfax county is interested in resident feedback on how to address the next snow event. The county is asking resident to propose ideas on how to better address the next snow or other major weather emergency for the county.

The neat thing is that they want all of this online, and are not opening the floor for comment from the public. It's not a black hole suggestion box either. Your idea goes onto the Fairfax County site, and others can agree or disagree with your idea.

Here's one I'll agree with (since it's already on there). Don't pile snow into parking spaces in commuter lots. Treat the commuter lots so they're not an ICE RINK after a refreeze!

Let's show our representatives that slugs are a force to reckon with in Fairfax county. If politicians are going to show up at slug lines to shake hands and hand out cookies during election time, then let's return the favor. Minus the cookies :)

http://fairfaxcountysnow.ideascale.com/

I wrote the board of supervisors about the Chi Chi's, Long John Silvers and CHelsea lots. I suggested that they would have to pay the insurance, pave the lots, paint lines. This should not be a lot of money relatively speaking. And certainly it would be hugely cheaper than building a whole garage. Of course, this is just a short term solution. At this point though I will be retired before anyone reopens businesses there that will stick.

lizmuldrew