City Council Meeting

Catherine ReadI would like to call the regular meeting of October 14, 2025 to order. Welcome to everyone in the chamber. By way of explanation, I would just like to do a little explaining on one of the topics we're discussing tonight. Tonight there are two public hearing agenda items related to the Willard-Sherwood Community Center land use. One for the city and one for Fairfax County's application. Both items will be presented and discussed together with a combined public hearing, but the City Council will take separate actions on each application. The public hearing for the proposed amendments to the firearms ordinance will also be held tonight as the last public hearing. I'd like to remind everyone to please maintain decorum in the chamber and throughout the

meeting and let's be respectful of all speakers and allow everyone the opportunity to be heard without interruption. So, if you are able and so choose, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Carolyn Grubbspublic commentI pledge

Catherine Readallegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. So we have several proclamations tonight, and I'm going to ask Lainey Kalilang, Assistant Director for Domestic Violence and Supportive Housing of Shelter House, to come down for the Domestic Violence Awareness Month proclamation, along with anyone else who would like to join us in the well for the Domestic Violence Awareness Proclamation. This is great. So we can all come in here behind the microphone.

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerThere we go.

Catherine ReadThank you so much, lady. All right. to join us. Whereas, Domestic Violence Awareness Month has been observed during the month of October for over 30 years with the goal to increase awareness of this pervasive crime and provide support to survivors in our communities. And whereas, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, one in four women and one in ten men have been victims of severe violence by an intimate partner. This crime affects more than 10 million people each year regardless of age, race or economic status. And whereas we celebrate programs that provide support to individuals experiencing domestic violence and embodies what it means to be with survivors. And whereas Shelter House, in partnership with Fairfax County Office for Women in Domestic

and Sexual Violence Service, has been operating an emergency shelter, Artemis House, since By calling the 24-hour hotline, survivors maintain access to an advocate that can screen for emergency domestic violence shelter or domestic violence prevention programs. And whereas shelter houses, domestic violence and support housing, rapid rehousing and prevention services addresses the needs of victims exiting emergency shelter by providing housing location support, financial assistance and case management services geared towards safety and housing stability. And whereas these trauma-informed services are designed to help victims of domestic violence who wish to flee, but not able to enter emergency shelter by providing flexible financial assistance and mobile advocacy.

And whereas by raising awareness we can play a vital role in breaking the cycle of violence, this year's theme, With Survivors Always, reminds us to focus on providing support, safety, and solidarity. Now, therefore, I, Catherine S. Reed, Mayor of the City of Fairfax, do hereby proclaim the month of October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the City of Fairfax and encourage as a community to create a compassionate and safe environment for survivors to be able to share their experiences, lift their voices, and seek adequate support. And with that, I will turn it over to Lainey. Thank you so much.

Lani CalalangHi, everyone. My name is Lonnie Callaling. I'm the Assistant Director of the Domestic Violence and Supportive Housing Program operated by Shelter House. It is really amazing to be here with you all tonight and to also accept this proclamation on behalf of Shelter House. Mayor Reed, thank you so much for just really summarizing a lot of our really wonderful DV-specific programs that we operate. You've done a wonderful job at really separating and providing a great overview of what those programs do specifically and how we serve survivors of domestic violence here in Fairfax County and Fairfax City. I do want to say that while we have different programs that meet different needs of survivors, it is often that we are seeing survivors go through each of our programs, maybe at different phases of their life.

And this is due to the fact that the cycle of violence is so complex in its nature that oftentimes someone may be seeking support through our hotline at a different part in their life. They'll be seeking support through our emergency shelters. And maybe at a different phase, they'll be seeking support through our community-based programs. Ultimately, I want you all to know that our programs work very hard to serve survivors of all backgrounds. and all experiences and that our Artemis House hotline is available 24-7 for anyone who is seeking immediate support. I do have some business cards that I have with me that has the Artemis House hotline. I'd like to leave some here for you all to pick up on your way

out. But as much as you can, just share the information with those in your community, with your neighbors, with your coworkers, really with anyone. We want to support all that we can. And the truth is that there is the threat of violence that is very much present in our community. But I believe that it's the community response that's able to heal those evils and those injustices. So again, I really appreciate you all coming out today. And our services are available to any of those who may need them. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Catherine ReadOkay, so speaking of crisis response, we have a crisis response team that we're very proud of here in the city. It has added a lot to the services that we're able to provide in situations where there needs to be an added level of compassion or understanding or very specific kinds of services. And I'm glad that we were able to stand up across this crisis response team here in the city. We will now have a photograph. I am going to now ask Jennifer Rose to join me down here from the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce has always been a very, very important partner here in the city with our economic development and the Old Town Fairfax Business Association. Much of what we are able to do in this city is because of a robust partnership with the Chamber.

Speaker 16I'm giving my board some.

Catherine ReadCome on. Come on down. Come on down. Okay. Whereas Chambers of Commerce strive to address the community's top challenges and greatest opportunities through bold leadership and innovative problem solving. And whereas Chambers of Commerce fosters stronger, more vibrant communities by advocating for priorities to promote economic prosperity, enhance quality of life, and create access to meaningful employment and opportunity for all residents. And whereas the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce is a champion of the City of Fairfax and surrounding Fairfax County, serving as a trusted resource for businesses, residents, and other stakeholders. And whereas the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce creates catalytic community partnerships to build resilient economics and promote community-wide prosperity.

And whereas 27 small business owners established the Courthouse Square Businessmen's Association, now known as the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, in 1958. And whereas over the decades, the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce inaugurated many traditional events in and around the city of Fairfax, including the Chocolate Lovers Festival. And whereas the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce has become a valued partner of the City of Fairfax and Fairfax City Economic Development, supporting impactful programs such as Civic Connections, the National Civics B, Fairfax City Restaurant Week, Always Favorite, and Small Business Saturday and numerous other small business initiatives. And whereas the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce has grown to nearly 400 members strong since 2018.

And whereas the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce has grown, well, I've done that, 400 members. Now, therefore, I, Catherine S. Reed, Mayor of the City of Fairfax, do hereby proclaim October 15, 2025, as Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day in the City of Fairfax and encourage residents to learn more about their local chamber, its impact, and support of local businesses.

Judy Fisherpublic commentMadam Executive

Speaker 16Director. Thank you, Mary. I started this morning with the County Board of Supervisors, and then I drove to Newport News to take a kid back to school, and I came back. So it's rare that I have prepared remarks. You guys know I like to shoot from the hip, but too many miles on 95 today, my friends. So on behalf of the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, thank you for this wonderful proclamation. whereas is recognizing support your local chamber day here in the city of Fairfax. We're proud to serve a community where business and civic life are deeply intertwined, where collaboration is a part of our DNA. Our chamber's mission and purpose, much like the city's, is to make Fairfax a place where small businesses thrive, families feel connected, and partnerships

create opportunity. Every day our chamber works alongside local entrepreneurs, restaurants, nonprofits, and civic leaders, helping them grow, connect, and contribute to the vitality of this great city. Through our Fairfax Forward Foundation, we invest in long-term economic and community development. Through our Community Impact Council, we unite nonprofits and businesses to learn, grow, and collaborate. And now, through our brand-new Civic Connections Program, we're building even stronger bridges between our business community, residents, and local government, fostering understanding, engagement, and leadership for the future of Fairfax. But beyond the programs, what truly defines our chamber is our people,

some of my

Carolyn Grubbspublic commentfavorite board members with me tonight,

Speaker 16our business owners, volunteers, and partners who truly make the city so special. They remind us that when we support local, we're not just helping businesses, we're strengthening the very heart of our community. So as we celebrate tomorrow, support your local chamber day. I encourage everyone to get involved. Shop local, attend a chamber event, or connect through one of our programs. Right now, it's a little rough out there in the economy. We all know this. Now more than ever is when the business community needs their chambers of commerce. And what most people don't realize is you can be a part of a chamber for about a dollar, our chamber at least, for just a little more than a dollar a day.

It's a very low price point to get involved with your community and to have great support for your business. So, when we celebrate Support Your Local Chamber Day, we are supporting Fairfax businesses. When they thrive, the city thrives. Thank you again, Mayor and Council, for all the support you provide the Chamber and for your partnership in our community.

Catherine ReadThank you. Thank you. Now, Cotto. Okay. I'm now going to ask Dr. Rachel Payne, VP of Advocacy and Public Policy for Did Lake Hamilton, program manager, if they will join me down here in the well so that we can issue yet another proclamation. And these are all ways that we celebrate what we're doing in our community to make it better. Thank you.

Tracy Van Dustinpublic commentThank you.

Catherine ReadWhereas, no surprise beginnings here. Whereas, October 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of Employment Awareness Month, NDEAM, a time to celebrate the many contributions of America's workers with disabilities and to raise awareness about the importance of inclusive employment practices. And whereas NDEAM traces its roots to 1945 and has since evolved to recognize and support individuals with all types of disabilities, including physical, developmental, intellectual, sensory, and mental health conditions by promoting equitable access to meaningful employment opportunities. And whereas the City of Fairfax recognizes that workplace inclusive, workplaces inclusive of people with disabilities strengthens our economy, enriches our communities, and reflects the core values of

dignity, equity, and opportunity for all. And whereas this year also marks the 60th anniversary of Did Lake Inc., a nonprofit organization headquartered in Manassas that has been at the forefront of creating pathways to employment and community inclusion for people with disabilities since 1965. And whereas Did Lake began as a school founded by visionary families and evolved in response to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to focus on employment as a vehicle for empowerment and independence. And whereas Did Lake has expanded its reach, providing diverse employment opportunities for more than 1,000 people with disabilities across more than 40 federal, state, and commercial sites.

And whereas Did Lake's innovative programs, including supported employment, day support programs, programs, document and photo scanning, and ownership of two UPS stores franchises demonstrate a deep commitment to building communities where Virginians with disabilities are valued, respected, and empowered. And whereas did Lake partners with the Mason Life Program to offer paid internships for students with disabilities at the UPS store on the George Mason University campus in Fairfax. And whereas did Lake's 60 years of leadership and service exemplify the very spirit of NDEAM and serve as a model for how local organizations can lead the way in fostering equitable employment opportunities. Now, therefore, I, Catherine S. Reed, Mayor of the City of Fairfax, do hereby recognize

and commemorate October 2025 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month and honors Dead Lake, Inc. on the occasion of its 60th anniversary for its extraordinary contributions to disability inclusion and employment. And be it further known that the City of Fairfax encourages employers, schools, nonprofits, and community organizations to participate in INDEAM through programs and activities that promote the value and talent people with disabilities bring to our workplaces and communities. And be it further resolved that the City of Fairfax pledges to continue advancing efforts to recruit, hire, retain, and promote individuals with disabilities and to support a future where every person,

regardless of ability can realize their full potential and participate fully in society. Thank you for the work that you do. A few comments?

Rachel PayneThank you so much, Mary. Thank you, everyone. I think I might have to make this go a little bit taller. So really that last part is big. I think it takes the community and it takes everyone working together really to help us, you know, meet our mission and see that vision of more inclusive communities for people with Thank you again. Again, my name is Rachel Payne, and this is my coworker, Tipper Hamilton. She's a program manager for Dead Lake's Support and Employment Program. Thank you to the City of Fairfax for recognizing Disability Employment Awareness Month, ending, we call it for short, and for honoring Dead Lake's 60 years of service. We are deeply grateful for this recognition and for the City's support of inclusive employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Again, we are a nonprofit organization founded in 1965 with a mission to create and promote opportunities that enrich the lives of people with disabilities. Over the past six decades, Ditlake has connected thousands of individuals with meaningful employment and community engagement across Virginia, Maryland, and DC. We are very proud of the work that we do and that we have done through our UPS stores on the campus of George Mason University providing those paid internships to Mason Life students. With partnerships like this, we are helping to build a stronger, more inclusive local economy. National Disability Employment Awareness Month celebrates the contributions of workers with disabilities and highlights really that importance of the contributions and benefits of hiring

people with disabilities in our community. 60 years, Dead Lake remains committed to expanding access to employment and creating inclusive communities for the next generation. On behalf of every member of the Dead Lake family, Tibber and I express our heartfelt gratitude to the City of Fairfax for this recognition and thank you guys for celebrating with us. Thank you.

Speaker 33She

Rachel Paynedidn't want to say anything. I

Speaker 33have thoughts sometimes. I just, you know, piggybacking on the Chamber of Commerce and anyone that has a business or knows someone with a business and that is willing to work with us, we welcome you. Please come. You can contact us. I have business cards if you need one. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Don't go

Catherine Readanywhere. We'll have a picture. Thank you so much. We appreciate you. Okay, now I'm going to invite Brian Sullivan, President of the Fairfax Volunteer Fire Department, for a check presentation along with all of his people. So Brian Sullivan and all of your folks from the Volunteer Fire Department, I think you're bringing us money is my understanding. Always a happy, happy occasion. Well, we've always wanted to have a big check.

Speaker 4Always a presentation of a big check. Okay, well, the microphone is yours. Wait for some of our folks. So, Mayor and Council, good evening. On behalf of the Fairfax Volunteer Fire Department, it is an honor to present the $250,000 check to refurbish our tower ladder. This is more than a check and not just a big check. This is a tangible example of the partnership between the volunteers and the city. By investing together, we extend the life of a critical piece of equipment, showcasing a strong partnership and ensure our firefighters can reach our residents when seconds count. This check reflects the strength of our community. The donations that make this possible become ladders, hoses, safety equipment, and in this case, help extend the life of a frontline apparatus that is used every day.

We're proud to serve alongside our career partners and city leadership, and we're grateful to work to keep Fairfax safe. Together, we deliver the service our community deserves. And I promise we have a real check. Okay. So. Just

Carolyn Grubbspublic commenta cup of tea. No

Speaker 33premise? Okay. So

Philip Van Cleavepublic commentwe definitely need the picture.

Speaker 4Thank

Ellen Pencepublic commentyou very much.

ShinaberryclerkWe can move to the adoption of the agenda.

Catherine ReadIs there a motion to approve the agenda? Councilmember Hardy-Chandler?

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerI

Catherine Readmove to

Stacey Hardy-Chandlerapprove the agenda as presented.

Catherine ReadIs there a second?

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerSecond.

Catherine ReadI think it did. A roll call vote.

ShinaberryclerkCouncil Member Amos? Aye. Council Member Hall? Aye. Council Member Hardee-Chandler? Aye. Council Member Bates? Aye. Council Member McQuillan? Aye. Motion passed unanimously. We will go to initial general public comment. I only had two speakers sign up by 5 o'clock p.m. today, and I'm going to call the first speaker up, which is Ellen Pence.

Ellen Pencepublic commentI'm here again about the carts. My name is Ellen Pence and I live at 3211 Adams Court. I have a question. Are the carts our property as homeowners or are they city property? That seems like a legal question. Are we storage units for city property? for these carts. I think they do belong to the city because you've got your little numbers or things embedded in them. Most of you, or maybe all of you, have nice big garages with lots of room in them for carts,

Carolyn Grubbspublic commentfor carts with wheels on them.

Ellen Pencepublic commentI live in a townhouse and there are 17 slate steps that go down from the front of my house around to the back of my house and those slate steps in the wintertime you can't even navigate because they are slick with ice

Judy Fisherpublic commentusually.

Ellen Pencepublic commentSo there's it just doesn't work for me to have carts and for most of my neighbors it doesn't work for them to have carts either some of the members of our association live close to cardinal road and they could take their carts out to cardinal road except when you have townhouses you've got houses that are jammed right up next to each other and that's two carts per house and so that means there would be a lot of carts going out on cardinal road and cardinal road would be jammed with these carts parked on it anyway. So it's just, the carts just don't make sense for us. And anytime we've tried to talk to the staff about this, they say we're working on it. That's their, those are their words. We're working on it. But the only thing I've come up with is

smaller carts. We don't need any carts. We take our trash out through our front doors. and we have a little tiny hallway in the front and we take our trash out through the front door and we put it on the sidewalk and the truck comes along and picks up the bag it's in a bag and our homeowners association issues us bags every year they have done that for 60 years now and i've i've been in cambridge station the whole time i was an original owner i've owned two houses in Cambridge Station. And so we get rid of our trash. Once the truck takes that bag, the only thing we have is the recycle. And if we've got too much recycle, we can have more than one recycle bin.

ShinaberryclerkThat's it. Our next speaker, Susan Kyler. Okay. sign up by 5 o'clock.

Catherine ReadSo we'll move on to the consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Council Member Hardy-Chandler.

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerI move adoption of a consent agenda for agenda item 6A, consideration of the September 30, 2025 regular meeting minutes. Agenda item number 6B, consideration of the October 7, 2025 special meeting minutes. Agenda Item 6C, consideration of scheduling a public hearing on the proposed resolution requesting that the General Assembly amend Section 2.2C of the city charter relating to the levy of transient occupancy tax, Section 3.1 of the city charter relating to the election of the mayor, the members of city council, and by implication, the members of the school board, and Section 5.2F of the city charter relating to compensation of members of boards and commissions. I move to approve the consent agenda items 6A through C

and the motion accompanying the consent agenda item as printed.

Catherine ReadIs there a second? Second. Okay. A motion has been made by Council Member Hardy-Chandler and seconded by Council Member Peterson. Are there any items Council would like pulled for additional discussion? Seeing none, a roll call vote.

ShinaberryclerkMcQuillan I councilmember Bates I councilmember Peterson I councilmember Hardy Chandler I councilmember Hall I councilmember Amos I motion passed unanimously we will go to public hearings as the mayor noted 7a and 7b will be combined but I will read both titles so that way it's into the record since they're different applications all right 7a is a public hearing and Council action on the request from City of Fairfax applicant by City of Fairfax City Manager for consideration of a special use permit to allow expansion of government use pursuant to City Code section 110-6.7 and a joint redevelopment agreement between the city and the county for a health and a community center in the RM residential medium zoning district in the architectural

control overlay district consideration of a special exemption to pursuant to the city code section 110-6.16 for required yards and parking and a major certificate of appropriateness for architecture and landscaping on the premises identified as 3740 and Blenheim Blenheim Boulevard tax map parcel 57-2-02-175A and 7B being public hearing and council action on a request from Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County applicant by Project Manager Fairfax County for consideration of a special use permit to allow government use pursuant to City Code Section 110-6.7 and a joint redevelopment agreement between the city and the county for a health and health and community center and the rh residential high zoning district and the

architectural control overlay district consideration of special exception seven pursuant to city code section 110-6.16 for lot coverage building height required yards parking signage building coverage and tree canopy requirements and a major certificate of appropriateness for architecture and landscaping on their premises identified as 3750 Blenheim Boulevard tax map parcel 57-2-02-172. I will now recognize Anna McClintock, city planner, to provide the staff presentation.

Anna McClintockstaffThank you. Thank you, Mayor and Council members. This is a public hearing for 3740 and 3750 Blenheim Boulevard for the proposed Willard Sherwood There was a work session with the City Council for the land use application this year in June 2025. Tonight's public hearing is for City Council's consideration of the land use applications required for this project. These applications are a step in the regulatory permitting process, but do not signify authorization to proceed to construction for the project. the presentation and discussion will focus on the land use matters and will not cover the budget or financing or operating costs which are not part of the land use decision this subject property is bounded on the east by

Blenheim Boulevard and on the south by Lane Hall Drive Van Dyke Park is located to the north of the site. Fairfax County's Joe Jorgensen Laboratory is located to the west. The primary uses surrounding the sites include health and government uses along with public park amenities. The zoning designation on the subject property is RM, residential medium, and RH, residential high. The applicant city of Fairfax owns a more northern site, which is seen on the aerial image 3740 Blenheim Boulevard that is currently developed with the Stacy C Sherwood Community Center and the City Police Department building the Stacy C Sherwood building is approximately 14,000 square feet and provides performing arts visual arts recreation and related programming

and was built in 2011. The applicant Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County owns the lower site, which is 3750 Blenheim Boulevard. There is currently a Joseph Willard Health Center that provides health and human services for the county, which was built in 1954. and then this slide shows the future land use map which is green social civic network there are goals seen in the city's comprehensive plan that are in the staff report for future land use community design multimodal transportation environmental sustainability and economic vitality The larger photo on this slide shows the project limit boundaries and the existing site photos from the right of way. The applicant is requesting to demolish the existing Joseph Willard Health Center and

replace it with a new health and community center. The applicant proposes a bridge connection to the existing Stacey C. Sherwood Center with a possible addition connecting the existing building to the proposed Health and Community Center. Access to the site would be via curb cut along Layton Hall Drive, along with the existing entrance to the Stacey C. Sherwood site along Blenheim Boulevard. Both sites would be linked via inter-parcel connection. fenced outdoor playgrounds, and rooftop amenity space. The proposed Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center building would serve the county and city residents. There would be an underground parking garage and a visitor drop-off area located to the

rear of the building along the internal street. County-operated health department programs would be located inside the proposed health and community center and would include a welcome and administrative area, health department district office, public health clinical programs, a pharmacy, speech and hearing, a woman and infant center, children nutrition program, vital records, and dentistry. County operated infant and toddler connection program and early childhood development programs would be located inside the health and community center as well. There would also be a city operated community services programs that includes a gym, a track, a fitness center, a senior center, multipurpose classrooms, administrative offices,

preschool and youth programs, and potentially performing arts space. The performing arts space currently exists in the Stacey Sherwood Community Center but would potentially undergo upgrades and an expansion. This slide shows the bridge connection to the Stacey Sherwood Center. along with the possible addition. As seen in this design, the connection is seamless and blends in with the existing building. Proposed site features include bike racks, playgrounds, the bridge connection, landscaping, other site connections, and outdoor seating amenities. The building access has been coordinated with the Blenheim Boulevard multimodal transportation project. Therefore, the site design aligns. The applicants request two special use permits to allow government use on the county-owned parcel

and allow expansion of government use that's on the city-owned parcel, and then two major certificates of appropriateness with the Board of Architectural Review for architecture and landscaping and then nine special exceptions, which I'll be going through in the next few slides. The first special exception request is to allow an increase in lot coverage in the RH residential high zoning district, which is the county parcel where the community center would be located. There is a 50% maximum required for the RH zone and the applicant requests 89% to accommodate the community center building. The second special exception request is to allow an increase in maximum building height in the RH district to exceed 35 feet.

the maximum proposed building height for this community center is 54 feet and then special exceptions three and four are to allow modifications for the required yards on the county owned parcel there is a modification to the front and side yard and then on the city owned parcel it would be for the side addition and the bridge connection and then special exception number five and six is to reduce the amount of required parking spaces pursuant to shared parking the total parking supply would be 347 spaces which includes the existing surface parking, proposed underground garage, and shared parking on the Jorgensen lab site, which reaches the maximum parking demand according to the applicant's studies.

Required parking for use of the performance space at the Stacey Sherwood building, the full seating capacity of 430 would be provided on weekdays after 6 p.m. and anytime on the weekends the proposal would provide required parking for the performance space on weekdays before 6 p.m. up to 120 seats at the maximum consistent with the current approval for the Sherwood building and then the seven special exception request is to allow an increase for public civic and institutional use signs in the residential district on the county-owned parcel where the community center would be developed. This SE request would allow for more directional and building signage from what is currently allowed in the

city's zoning ordinance. the aid special exception request is to allow an increase in the building coverage in the RH district the maximum building coverage is 35% and the applicant proposes 49% to accommodate the proposed community center and then the ninth and last special exception request is to allow a decrease of the 10-year tree canopy requirement in the RH district the applicant is required to have a minimum 10-year tree canopy of 20% and the applicant proposes 3.3% on the applicant has proposed additional 68 caliper large deciduous trees or the management of invasive plant species, the combined total of which is not to exceed the cost of 68 caliper large deciduous trees to be planted or performed off-site in a location determined by the city's urban forester

before site plan approval. The applicant also proposed a .5 tree canopy on the city's parcel that would go towards the overall total. The 20% requirement would be met with these parameters, and it is seen as a condition in the staff recommendation. The street trees being planted along the perimeter of the site along the right-of-ways do not count towards the total tree canopy, but are proposed as part of the project. and then there is a monumental tree just south of the police station that would remain through a modified inter-parcel street design. The major certificate of appropriateness was recommended for approval by the Board of Architectural Review on September 3, 2025. The facade consists of brick, stone, and metal with

the wing canopy element along Blenheim Boulevard staff and the board agreed that the applicant has responded to previous comments regarding architecture and landscaping city staff has recommended an additional certificate of appropriateness condition to the City Council to allow the proposed building addition to the Stacy Sherwood Community Center to be approved as an optional component of the project consistent with the staff recommendation for the special use And then lastly, here are staff recommendations. Staff recommends approval of both special use permits with conditions in addition to the special exceptions and the major certificates of appropriateness for both sites. And then this concludes my presentation, but the project team has a presentation to cover

thank you

Catherine Readthank you I will open the public hearing for each of the items as noted previously these items will be heard through a single combined public hearing mission a berry has his public hearing been properly advertised yes

Sarah Creelpublic commentit has

Catherine Readdoes the applicant have a presentation they would like to share

Ellen Pencepublic commentyes

Sarah Creelpublic commentthey do

Brooke HardinstaffGood evening, Mayor, members of the council. Pleased to be with you this evening for the Land Use Public Hearing for the Willard Sherwood Health and Community Center. I am Brooke Hardin, the city's point of contact for the project. With me this evening is Deepa Joshi with Fairfax County, who serves as a project manager with the county on this. In addition to Deepa and myself, there are other members of the staff from both the City of Fairfax and Fairfax County that are with us this evening, along with members of the design team, including Grimm and Parker Architects, Urban Engineering, who handles landscape architecture and civil engineering, Grove Slade, Handless Parking and Traffic, and the Christman companies who represent

the construction manager at risk. Next slide, please. So shown on this slide, we can pull that up in presentation view, but is a general overview and context for the project, which extends back formally about 10 years, and there's been discussions about a community center project here in the city for years prior. Fire, site studies and concept evaluations by both the city and the county led to the proposed site being selected for the joint use facility. And in the case of the city, a committee investigated opportunities at the current Green Eggers location and provided recommendations for alternatives early on in this process. noting the desire for a central location with access to public transit and

specifically citing the opportunity at the Willard property for a campus setting with the Sherwood Center and Van Dyke Park and inter parcel connectivity the city and county have been operating in partnership in this effort through a number of agreements with robust community engagement throughout the project's planning and design. With this project, the existing Willard Health Center would be removed and replaced with a new 102,000-square-foot joint-use facility located within a campus environment with improved pedestrian and vehicular connectivity. This project includes spaces for programs offered by the City's Department of Parks and Recreation and the county's health department office for children all serving residents of both the city

and the county with that I'll turn it turn it over to Deepa to step through some of the details and I'll have some comments at the end

Deepa Joshistaffthank you Brooke good evening Mary Reed council members and members of the community our project design team has done a great job in adhering to the design principles of the city's comprehensive plan and in the next few slides we wish to highlight some of the important features of this project and how they complement the city's land use goals one of the goals of the land use strategies is to reuse existing properties the comp plan recognizes that the city is mostly built out leaving few opportunities for large community developments of the scale and the need for repurposing existing properties important. Most programs envisioned for the facility have been in this space for decades, and so the location is ideal in the sense that it expands and enhances the government uses

already existing on the two connecting properties. Another important thing is that this location is near the Old Town area, which is an activity center, and the two streets, Blenheim and Layden Hall are identified as active streets. Active streets connect multiple destinations and mixed-use development along these streets is strongly encouraged. The city is pedestrian oriented and will be connected to all the surrounding areas with comfortable walking, biking paths, and public transportation. The project is sensitive to the physical character and context of the surrounding buildings and users, and the design complies with the standards for architectural control overlay districts. An important goal of the multimodal transportation plan is to actively plan towards connecting

the street network for enhanced mobility and accessibility for users, and this project fully supports that effort. The project has been coordinated with the Blenheim multimodal transportation project design, and the two teams have been actively working together since the beginning of the project. The inter-parcel connectivity between the two properties aim to minimize traffic on the main streets. On this slide, we will emphasize some of the important design features recommended in the architectural control overlay district and how we have incorporated them in this project. The building is designed with minimal setbacks and is closer to the streets to bring more engagement and vitality to the street corridor, hence strengthening the street edge.

The project reinforces human scale by mixing up different materials, colors, textures to break up the massing. The building uses a red brick that matches the adjacent existing Sherwood Center building, but is also complemented with a warm grayish brick, metal panels, wood-looking natural columns to break the monotony and reduce the perceived scale. The third floor of the building is mostly set back and is not really visible from the streets, reducing the effective height of the building. The massing, the material changes, window proportions, facade articulation, and the trees and planter walls along the streets all emphasize in bringing the human scale of this building. A nice corner plaza, accessible walking and biking facilities,

and multiple entrances enhance the public realm of the pedestrians to interact and enjoy activities together. The comprehensive plan also encourages that parking near activity centers can be located below grade if it's reasonable. There are two parking garage levels that are located underground and completely hidden from the public view. This helps reduce the height of the building and help maintain the aesthetics of the streetscape mechanical equipment and service areas are also hidden and discreetly integrated now let's take a look at some of the site enhancement enhancements provided in the proposed design currently there is no stormwater management on the health center property that is an

off-site pond along across the blendable over that receives runoff from the site but that is it so this situation will be improved by providing an on-site stormwater quantity management with a proposed underground stormwater management world the proposed site design will also enhance the stormwater quality management on the property through manufactured filtering devices the proposed landscape design prioritizes the inclusion of native resilient plant species especially along the two major roads. The design is natural and organic in form and an important consideration has been given to blend the landscape with the area's landscape. Total of 20% of the required tree canopy is proposed on and off-site as recommended by the city's urban

forester. The facility is designed with public safety in mind in foremost and and incorporates vital elements of the principles of crime prevention through environmental design. The building will also have latest security features, access controls, lockdown buttons, security cameras, etc., and its vicinity to the police department also helps. The team understands and respects the social and community aspect of the facility and makes this comfortable for all users by providing accessible ramps and sidewalks, adequate outdoor racks and seating for social gathering. Expanding upon some architectural design features from the previous slides, one of the design features in the ACOD guidelines is that the project incorporates very well.

It's an open corner plaza recommended on the corner of the buildings. This project design has a distinctive corner with natural wood-looking columns and a large overhang that provides visual interest a sense of arrival and almost serves as a landmark feature for the building double-hive gymnasium with large windows along the Blenheim Boulevard enhance openness and visual accessibility and interaction with the outside there is a wayfinding and entrance hierarchy with the main Blenheim Boulevard entrance accessible from the sidewalks bike paths and public transport and the secondary entrance from the Layton Hall Drive which serves for vehicular entrance. The project uses energy efficient LED lighting throughout the site and the exterior features

will be shielded, exterior fixtures will be shielded and positioned to highlight the architecture of the building yet minimize light pollution. The new development will support county sustainable development policy goals while complementing the sustainable strategies noted in the city's comprehensive plan. Some of the strategies used for these goals are solar panels on the rooftop areas for renewable energy. We can see that in the right side picture, the blue portion on the rooftop. indoor water use reduction by using low flow plumbing fixtures appliances and other water saving strategies use of a high performance building envelope and LED fixtures to optimize building energy large overhung large overhang canopies

horizontal and vertical shading devices reduce glare and heat gain as can be seen in the bottom right picture. Yet the larger openings also enhances natural light usage. The project contributes and complements to the surrounding urban density and diverse uses around. One of the sustainable goals of the comp plan is supporting physical activities and healthy lifestyle. Walking, biking to the community center, fitness programs, they all contribute towards that goal as well. Now before passing on to Brooke to conclude the presentation, I want to mention that the county really appreciates this joint venture. It has been a pleasure working with Brooke and his team as we navigated through the challenging

design process and several community engagement sessions throughout the years. We saw great enthusiasm for the project, got very constructive feedback which helped us in developing this exciting community-driven plan, which will greatly benefit the county and the city residents. We look forward to continued collaboration with the city as we move into the next phases of the project. Our entire team is here today to answer any questions at the end of the presentation. Thank you very much.

Brooke HardinstaffThank you, Deepa. And in conclusion, when the project team met with city council before the conceptual design work had commenced. Council articulated a vision at that time of success for this project. And what they shared was that the facility should create a sense of place with design and architecture that's innovative and adds to the community, not be a standard government building, be a hub of social activity, somewhere inviting and open for people to gather, incorporate indoor and outdoor spaces and opportunities for artwork, be a safe place for those of all ages, and that the opportunity to connect health, wellness and recreation is a unique one that we should capitalize upon. So since then the

team has been working with community toward that vision of success. As shown on this slide, essential services that are being offered to the community today together under one roof in an up-to-date facility to serve city and county residents. Both children and seniors are served through numerous programs in a multi-generational environment. The facility addresses community needs from wellness with the health department and pharmacy to recreation with the gym and fitness facilities. and it's all contained within a project that is considered public and visitor safety by incorporating security measures and designing for crime prevention and healthy environments thank you mayor and council for your

consideration this evening

Catherine Readthank you very much miss Shinneberry will you call speakers forward

ShinaberryclerkI had two people sign up prior to the start of the meeting after we have the two speakers if there's anybody else in the room i'll let you come up front so i will call the first speaker michael de marco

Michael DeMarcopublic commentgood evening mayor reed and members of the city council my name is michael de marco 10212 scout drive fairfax and i had the privilege of serving on the original green acres feasibility study committee which was the genesis of this Willard Sherwood Community Center project. That committee began its work nearly a decade ago with a clear mission to evaluate how best to meet the community's recreation, health, and social needs for the next generations. We reviewed many locations for a new community center, looking for a site that was accessible, centrally located, and connected by public transit. One of the six site recommendations to council was, in fact, the Willard location. However, we didn't believe the site would be available because the county was actively using it for critical health care programs.

But circumstances do change, and the county has since completed its own feasibility study and determined that the Joseph Willard Health Center building, a 1950s-era building and former school, has reached the end of its useful life. That study opened the door for a city-county partnership that simply didn't exist when we completed our initial work. So the opportunity before us now is exactly the type of collaboration we had hoped for. This project combines the city's long-identified need for a new community center with the county's plans for modern health and human service facilities. It will allow us to co-locate essential programs under one roof, serving both city and county residents, while maximizing the efficiency of shared parking, open space, and infrastructure.

Just as important, the Willard site fulfills one of the core goals of the original committee, a central transit-accessible community center. The location on Old Lee Highway connects neighborhoods north and south, is walkable from nearby schools and civic facilities, and can integrate seamlessly with the existing Sherwood Center. This is the kind of civic investment that unites a community rather than divides it by geography. I strongly support these land use requests in this project as a whole because it advances the city's vision from the Green Acres Study, which was to provide a modern facility with a full gym, senior center, fitness, and multipurpose spaces, and now in a location that is accessible to all residents and achieved through partnership, not duplication.

In short, this is the right project in the right place at the right time. it honors years of planning meets the needs identified by our residents and I urge you to continue moving this project forward with your approval tonight of these land use requests thank you

Shinaberryclerkour next speaker Susan Kyler

Mary McDanielpublic commentokay she's not

Shinaberryclerkhere so with that if there's anybody else in the room that would like to speak on this agenda item they may step forward

Catherine Readokay seeing none I will close the public hearing council are there questions of staff or the applicant okay there are a series of motions for this application is there a motion for the special use permit for city parcel 175 a I

Stacey Hardy-Chandlermove that the city council approved the quest of the city of Fairfax for a special pursuant to city code section 110-3.3 to allow expanded government use in the RM residential medium zoning district on the premises known as 3740 Blenheim Boulevard and more particularly described as tax map parcel 57-2-02-175A with the following conditions. one the operation of this establishment shall be consistent with the application statement of justification and plans the zoning administrator shall be enabled to approve minor changes and to the proposed building addition to the Stacy C Sherwood Community Center shall be approved as an optional component of the project

Catherine Readis there a second second a motion has been made by councilmember Hardy Chandler and seconded by councilmember Amos is there any discussion on the motion seeing none a roll call vote

Shinaberryclerkcouncilmember Amos aye council member Hall no councilmember Hardy Chandler

Catherine Readaye

Shinaberryclerkcouncilmember Peterson no councilmember Bates aye councilmember McQuillan no married

Catherine Readmayor votes aye

Shinaberryclerkmotion passed

Mary McDanielpublic comment42 right now five it's okay

Shinaberryclerkthank

Catherine Readyou

ShinaberryclerkI'm still catching my breath from reading the titles okay

Catherine Readis there a motion for the special use permit for County parcel 172

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerI move that the City Council approve the request of the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County for a special use permit pursuant to City Code Section 110-3.3 to allow government use in the RH residential high zoning district on the premises known as 3750 Blenheim Boulevard and more particularly described as tax map parcel 57-2-02-172 with the following conditions. the operation of this establishment shall be consistent with the application statement of justification and plans the zoning administrator shall be enabled to approve minor changes and to the proposed building addition to the Stacey C Sherwood Community Center shall be approved as an optional component of the project

Catherine Readis there a second second a motion has been made by council members Hardy Chandler and seconded by councilmember Amos is there any discussion Seeing none, a roll call vote.

ShinaberryclerkCouncilmember Amos? Aye. Councilmember Hall? No. Councilmember Hardy-Chandler?

Catherine ReadAye.

ShinaberryclerkCouncilmember Peterson? No. Councilmember Bates? Aye. Councilmember McQuellen? No. Mayor Reed?

Catherine ReadThe mayor votes aye.

ShinaberryclerkMotion passed 4-3.

Catherine ReadIs there a motion for the special exception for City Parcell 175A? Councilmember Hardy-Chandler?

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerI move that the City Council adopt the attached resolution to approve the request of the City of Fairfax two special exceptions pursuant to city code section 3.6.1 point a to allow a modification for the required side yard in the rm district and 4.2.3 point e to reduce the amount of required parking spaces pursuant to shared parking on the premises known as 3740 blenheim boulevard and more particularly described as tax map parcel 57 dash 2 dash o2 dash 17 5a with the following conditions development shall be in conformance with the special use permit plan and to the proposed building addition to the Stacy C Sherwood Community Center shall be approved as an optional component of the project is

Catherine Readthere a second second a

Stacey Hardy-Chandlermotion's been made by councilmember

Catherine ReadHardy Chandler and seconded by councilmember Amos is there any discussion on the motion Seeing none, a roll call vote.

ShinaberryclerkCouncil Member McQuellen? No. Council Member Bates? Aye. Council Member Peterson? No. Council Member Hardy-Chandler? Aye. Council Member Hall? No. Council Member Amos? Aye. Mayor Reed?

Catherine ReadThe Mayor votes aye.

Shinaberryclerk4-3. Is the motion

Mary McDanielpublic commentpassed? 4-3.

Catherine ReadIs there a motion for the special exception for County Parcel 172? Council Member Hardy-Chandler? I

Stacey Hardy-Chandlermove that the city council adopt the attached resolution to approve the request of the board of supervisors of Fairfax County for seven special exceptions pursuant to city code section 3.6.1.a to allow an increase in lot coverage in the RH district. 3.6.1.8 to allow an increase in maximum building height in the RH district 3.1 3.6.1 point a to allow a modification for required yards in the RH district 4.2.3 point e to reduce the amount of required parking spaces 4.6 point 7 point a to allow an increase for signage 3.1 3.6 point 1 point a to allow an increase coverage in the RH district and 4.5 point 6 point a to allow a decrease of 10-year tree canopy requirements in the RH district on the premises known as

3750 Blenheim Boulevard and more particularly described as tax map parcel 57-2-02-172 with the following conditions one development shall be in conformance with the special use permit plan two an additional 68 feet 68 two feet two foot caliper large deciduous trees and or the management of invasive plant species the combined total of which is not to exceed the cost of 68 two feet caliper large deciduous trees shall be planted and or performed off-site in a location determined by the city's urban forester and three the proposed building addition to the stacy c sherwood community center shall be approved as an optional component of the project

Catherine Readis there a second

Anthony Amossecond all power to you for reading that

Brian Lubkemanstaffand um mayor just to correct the record the two inch not two foot caliper apologies

Stacey Hardy-Chandlerthat was fine

Catherine Readit's a lot it's a lot you

Stacey Hardy-Chandlerhave to spell it out

Catherine Readthank you for that for that correction a motion has been made by council member Hardy Chandler and seconded by council member Amos is there any discussion on the motion seeing none a roll call vote

Shinaberryclerkcouncil member Quillen

Catherine Readno council

Shinaberryclerkmember Bates aye council member Peterson no council member Hardy Chandler aye council member Hall no council member Amos aye mayor Reed

Catherine Readthe mayor votes aye

Shinaberryclerkmotion passed four to three

Catherine Readis there a motion for the major certificate of appropriateness for city councilmember Hardy Chandler I

Stacey Hardy-Chandlermove that the City Council approve the request of City of Fairfax for a certificate of appropriateness in accordance with section 110-6.5.6 point B of the city code on the premises known as 3740 Blenheim Boulevard and more particularly described as tax map parcel 57-2-02-1 seven five a with the conditions as follows one the proposed modification general conformance with the plans and renderings received by staff in August 2025 and recommended for approval by the Board of Architectural Review as of September 3 2025 to the applicant shall secure all required zoning approvals and permits prior to construction three landscaping is subject to charge per urban Forester comments at site plan approval stage and for the proposed

building addition to the stacy c sherwood community center shall be approved as an optional component of the project

Catherine Readis there a second second a motion's been made by councilmember hardy chandler and seconded by councilmember amos is there any discussion on the motion seeing none a roll call vote

Shinaberryclerkcouncilmember amos aye councilmember hall no councilmember hardy chandler aye councilmember peterson no councilmember bates aye councilmember McQuillan aye okay and

Catherine Readthen in the mayor votes aye

Shinaberryclerkwe got 42 so McQuillan said

Tracy Van Dustinpublic commentaye right yep

Shinaberryclerkyou

Catherine Readsaid I

Shinaberryclerkyep 42

Catherine Readyep 42 thank you very much okay is there a motion for the major certificate of appropriateness for council County parcel 172 I

Stacey Hardy-Chandlermove that the city council approve the request of the Board of supervisors of fairfax county for a certificate of appropriateness in accordance with section 110-6.5.6 point b of the city code on the premises known as 3750 blenheim boulevard and more particularly described as tax map parcel 57-2-02-172 with conditions as follows one the proposed modification shall be in general conformance with the plans and renderings received by staff in august 2025 and recommended for approval by the board of architectural review as of september 3 2025. the applicant shall secure all record to the applicants shall secure all required zoning approvals and permits prior to construction three landscaping is subject to

change per urban forester comments at site plan approval stage for the proposed building addition to the stacy c sherwood community center shall be approved as an optional component of the project

Catherine Readis there a second second

Stacey Hardy-Chandlera motion has been made

Catherine Readby council member hardy chandler and seconded by council member amos is there discussion on the motion seeing none a roll call vote

Shinaberryclerkcouncil member amos aye council member hall

Catherine Readno

Shinaberryclerkcouncil member hardy chandler aye council member peterson no councilmember Bates aye councilmember McQuillan no mayor Reed

Catherine Readthe mayor votes aye

Shinaberryclerkmotion passed 4 to 3 we will go to the next public hearing which is a public hearing and council action on an ordinance amending chapter 66 in Prens personnel article 2 in Prens retirement plan for general employees division 7 in Prens benefits on termination of employment Section 66-167 and Article 3 in Parenz Retirement Plan for Public Safety Employees. Division 7 in Parenz Benefits on Termination of Employment. Section 407 regarding the treatment of accumulated contributions for non-invested participants. I'm going to recognize J.C. Martinez, Chief Financial Officer, to provide the staff report.

J.C. MartinezstaffGood evening, Mayor and Council. at its meeting on August 27th 2025 for the retirement administrative committee unanimously recommended that the change recommended in the attached ordinance be brought forward currently some employees who contribute to the city's supplemental retirement plan leave city employment before becoming vested currently seven years of service upon separation HR notifies these individuals of their options they may request a lump sum payment of their accumulated or initiate a rollover to another qualified retirement plan unfortunately a significant number of these separated non vested participants do not take action resulting in their account balances continuing to be managed by the

city to address this issue we recommend amending the city code to ensure timely distribution of funds and reduce the administrative burden on HR and finance staff specifically we propose that if a non-vested participant does not elect either a lump sum payment or a rollover within 90 days of separation the city will automatically distribute the employees accumulated contributions after the 90-day period subject to the $7,000 limit imposed under the internal revenue code if the amount to be dispersed is more than $1,000 the account will be rolled over to an individual retirement account established for the participant as required under the Internal Revenue Code note I'd like to thank councilmember Hall who is another fellow finance professional and

she attended the meeting on August 27th and actually suggested that we look into rolling over these balances into an individual retirement account which we did and we are now hopefully going to gain compliance with the Internal Revenue happy to answer any questions are

Catherine Readthere questions of staff any oh well you did a great job and thank you council member hall um i will open the public hearing ms shinaberry has the public hearing been properly advertised

Shinaberryclerkyes it has no one has signed up prior to the meeting is there anybody that in the room that would like to speak on this agenda item all

Catherine Readright seeing none i will close the public hearing is there a motion yes

Stacy Halli move that the city council enact the attached ordinance amending chapter 66 personnel division seven of articles two and three retirement plans for general employees and public safety employees pertaining to the treatment of accumulated contributions for non-vested participants

Catherine Readis there a second second okay a motion has been made by council member hall and seconded by councilmember McQuillan is there any discussion on the motion okay seeing none a roll call vote

Shinaberryclerkcouncilmember McQuillan aye councilmember Bates

Catherine Readaye

Shinaberryclerkcouncilmember Peterson aye councilmember Hardy Chandler aye councilmember Hall aye councilmember Amos aye motion passed unanimously we will go to the last public hearing which is a public hearing on an ordinance amending chapter 54 and provisions article 1 in paris general section 54-4 of the city of Fairfax Virginia pertaining to the prohibition on the possession carrying or transportation of firearms ammunition or components or combination thereof in city buildings or facilities on public property or at permitted public events this proposed ordinance would align with the city's existing regulations prohibiting firearms and specified locations to more closely match those in fairfax county by adding a prohibition where city permitted events are occurring in surrounding areas and

increasing the penalties for violations as well as some technical amendments and but this is just a public hearing there's no council action and i'm going to recognize brian lokeman the city attorney to provide a staff report

Brian Lubkemanstaffthank you wonderful staff report introduction there so Good evening, Mayor and Council. As you all recall, at the most recent work session, the Chief and I put a presentation on and answered quite a number of questions from the City Council. We think it was a productive work session. And as noted by the Clerk at that meeting, the consensus was to place this item on for public hearing or continue the public hearing to tonight. And as the City Clerk noted, Council's consensus was also to delay action on this until the 28th regular meeting. So very briefly and just as a reminder regulation of firearms in Virginia is preempted by the Commonwealth and no locality may take any action governing the purchase,

possession, transfer, ownership, carrying storage of or transportation of firearms, ammunition or components other than expressly authorized by statute. The city has had regulations on the possession carrying or transportation of firearms in enumerated locations since 2021. the work session there were significant discussion in 2021 on what for well if and what form an ordinance should take the City Council's determination at the time was that the city should follow suit with a number of surrounding jurisdictions so the current ordinance prohibits and then to be clear just to clarify what it does and doesn't provide the current ordinance prohibits the possession carrying or transportation of firearms and ammunition components in

buildings, in public parks, and in recreation and community centers. And as we noted at the work session, the word in is very important. It's within these areas, not in the areas surrounding unless there's another prohibition. The proposed additions are limited to permissible prohibitions contained within the state enabling authority. We have been very careful to craft, as have most of the other jurisdictions surrounding who have enacted this and elsewhere strictly using the language of the state enabling authority so the changes would be to align the city's regulations with those in fairfax county by adding to the list of prohibited locations the areas of city permitted events and events that

would other otherwise require a permit by the city and adjacent sidewalks roads and other rights away clarifying certain provisions pertaining to parks prohibitions as I noted at the work session the Gateway Park is operated by Nova Park so this would clarify that it would apply within the boundaries of Gateway Park and then third increasing the penalty for violations from and I have an error in the staff report from a class 4 misdemeanor to a class 1 misdemeanor so with that be happy to answer any questions otherwise as noted you'll be conducting the public hearing this evening and we'll have the opportunity night of consideration on october the 28th thank you

Catherine Readare there questions at this time before we open the public hearing okay and with that i will open the public hearing ms shinneberry has this public hearing been properly advertised

Shinaberryclerkyes it has i have seven speakers sign up prior to the start of the meeting tonight i will call up the seven speakers and after that we'll open the floor if there's anybody else that would like to speak so our first speaker is philip van cleave

Philip Van Cleavepublic commentI'm Mayor, City Council, a little bit of a drive from Chesterfield. I'm representing the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights organization. I've been watching the proceedings here online leading up to this, what the discussions have been. I do note that the chief had mentioned, or one of his staff had mentioned, that he hadn't had any problems with permitted events. localities around us that had any problems, so you're sort of looking at fixing a problem that isn't there. But the other thing I wanted to speak about was concealed handgun permit holders. Virginia has almost three-quarters of a million. These people have had training. They've had a background check. The state police follows them.

If you get in trouble, the state police know, yank your permit. these people have proven to be among the most law-abiding people we have and this is true across the country regardless of anything else all the other states have had the same success with permit holders many of them carry because they may have a threat upon their lives by an ex-spouse ex-boyfriend whatever and so they carry because they don't know when that person might show up and do them harm. And so anytime you put up a boundary where people like that can't carry, you're not making them safer. Taking the claws off a cat does not make the cat safer, for example. If you're disarming them, they're not safer. The police are there, of course,

to try to watch the community. They're not obliged to protect any individual. The Supreme Court's ruled on that many times. So permit holders basically carry for their own protection. They've not had problems with permit holders. I mean, you hear all these fantasies, oh, something happens, they might stand up and just start shooting. It doesn't happen. There is no indication that's ever happened. These are good people. I mean, let's look at it this way. There's nothing to keep anybody from taking a firearm, a handgun, and concealing it. God's not going to strike you dead for doing that if you don't have a permit. doing this are doing it because they are law abiding. They're going to go down, they're going to wait the 45 days, they're going to do the

training, they're going to do the background checks, they're going to be monitored by the state police. Letting them be an exception to this is not something that would endanger the public whatsoever. Like I said, three quarters of a million people with concealed carry permits were a problem. But you don't. And the state police can back up this kind of information. You'll have time to look into that if you wish. They have a department that takes care of nothing but concealed handgun permits. And they can get you statistics and all that. The chief accidentally quoted like 10 years' worth of revocations. They average about $900 a year out of three quarters of a million. So it's a .0001 kind of thing.

Thank you very much.

ShinaberryclerkOur next speaker is Judy Fisher.

Judy Fisherpublic commentMy name is Judy Fisher. I am again asking the city council to adopt the proposed amendments to our weapons ban ordinance. Fairfax City needs to align with the surrounding jurisdictions, as well as other localities in our state to prohibit weapons at street events. The penalty should also match that of other Virginia jurisdictions, which specify a Class 1 misdemeanor. These two provisions were removed from the original ordinance as proposed. Every jurisdiction in Virginia which has an ordinance includes these specific conditions. Listening to Congressman James Walkinshaw this morning at the vigil at the NRA headquarters, I realized again that most people are unaware of the jurisdictional independence of the city of Fairfax from Fairfax County.

Walkinshaw spoke proudly of the gun safety legislation put in place in Fairfax County, including the prohibition of guns in parks and public spaces. I think that most visitors to our city believe they are protected by these same ordinances and have no idea that the city events held in the street are not protected by these county rules. There are people who think that gun violence can be prevented if we just introduce more guns. The proponents of concealed carry exemptions are among this group. Just FYI, the Virginia Beach shooter who killed his colleagues, as well as the shooter seeking the NFL official in New York, were concealed carry permit holders. More guns, concealed or open carried, do not make us safer.

If that were the case, the United States would be the safest country on earth. The intent of this ordinance is to create spaces where there are fewer guns present. We need to lessen the possibility of participants being shot at our public events. Fairfax has been fortunate that no shootings have occurred at our many street events. We want to welcome our neighbors to a safer space for these popular attractions. please don't wait for a tragedy to occur before taking this action thank you

Shinaberryclerkour next speaker is Jim Gillespie

Jim Gillespiepublic commentGood evening, Mayor Reed and members of council. I'm Jim Gillespie, and I reside at 3604 Colony Road in the city of Fairfax. This is to express my support for revising the city's ordinance to restrict firearms at city-permitted events or events that would otherwise require a city permit and to revise the penalty from a Class 4 to a Class 1 misdemeanor. The city has many events at which carrying a firearm serves no useful purpose and can be a risk. As the police chief recently noted, carrying a gun at a public event can result in the weapon being used in the mistaken belief that the carrier or others are at risk or in an emotional state. For those of you who attended Fall Festival this past weekend, can you imagine any valuable or useful purpose in a gun in the midst of 40,000 people?

Even more worrisome is the risk of a mass shooting or assassination. Our events are attended by thousands of people and many prominent officials. Strengthening our ordinance would result in event attendees knowing that weapons are never permissible, thus leading to faster reporting to the police and that may crucially reduce response time. Concealed carry permit holders should not be exempted because the purpose of a concealed carry permit, personal protection, is not relevant to these large public events. We cannot have gunfights at the fall festival. You can't protect yourself with a gun with 40,000 people around you. Also, Virginia recognizes concealed carry permits of states with lower requirements.

So such permits provide insufficient assurance that the holder is not a risk. Thank you for your consideration, and thank you for your service.

ShinaberryclerkOur next speaker is Mary McDaniel.

Mary McDanielpublic commentI'm Mary McDaniel. I've lived in the city for a very long time now. I'm speaking as a private citizen tonight, not in my capacity as a member of the city's electoral board. I support the proposed amendments to the city's firearm ordinance. I'm going to tell you a story about something that happened on the 4th of July so you can understand my perspective. That day, I was talking to another long-term resident of the city, and I commented I was thinking about going up to the fireworks display. I said, but I was feeling really uneasy. and she shared that she hadn't gone to the fireworks display in many, many years because she's so uncomfortable being in a crowd. And I asked her, is this a claustrophobia issue?

Is there something else? And she said, it's guns. I look at crowds now and I wonder how many people are carrying guns. And I nodded and I said, I feel the same. So we talked about it and I said, you know, I gave up on attending city festivals years ago. And we just kind of sighed. So we talked about it, and we decided that we would go together, because if we were both there, we could both keep an eye on our surroundings, and if something happened, we could work together to seek safety. As we sat on the football field, we kept talking about this. And on this day that we celebrate our freedom, something hit us like a ton of bricks. For us, our world has become smaller and less joyful, because we are aware that people are allowed to carry guns at these kind of events,

and we stay away. Now, my friend and I are not fearful people. We really don't live our lives in fear, but both of us are moderating our behavior in an attempt to try to avoid random violence. So here's the thing. For us to enjoy a festival or something like that, we have to go to the festival. They're not televised, and even if they were, you really cannot experience a craft fair a cultural festival by looking at a screen. But you do not need a gun on you to enjoy such events. So why do we have to give up part of our community life, part of being with our fellow citizens, in order to accommodate someone else's desire to carry a lethal object that is not necessary to them enjoying an event? Why do their rights supersede our right of freedom?

Amending this ordinance is not going to solve the gun violence problem. I'm not naive. But I think it can help mitigate the danger. Human psychology will tell you if you know there are consequences to your actions, you might modify your behavior. Please pass these changes. I just don't want my world to get any smaller.

ShinaberryclerkOur next speaker, Sarah Creel.

Sarah Creelpublic commentGood evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Sarah Creel, and I stand before you tonight to ask you to pass the proposed amendments to the Firearms Ordinance without delay. My family and I have lived in Fairfax City for 23 years and have enjoyed many different events in the city. Rock the Block, the Independence Day Parade, Fall Festival, and more. Fairfax City is a great place to live. As some of the other speakers have said, the city lags behind legislation passed by surrounding jurisdictions over the past several years, and you can fix this. A brief side note here. In August 2024, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia upheld Fairfax County's Common Sense Gun Safety Ordinance prohibiting guns in parks

and at county permanent events against a Second Amendment challenge brought by NRA-backed plaintiffs. We, city residents, staff, business owners, visitors, all of us, I think it's safe to say, want people to come to the great events in the city and to feel safe doing so. More guns make us less safe. Moreover, people's stress levels are elevated in our current divisive political climate. Crowded community events, heightened stress, and the presence of firearms are a potentially lethal mix. Please don't be complacent and think a mass tragedy couldn't happen here. It could. Your vote on October 28th to accept the proposed changes is a win-win-win. It will strengthen safety at city events event participants will feel safer and making

the city ordinance consistent with those of the surrounding jurisdictions also benefits firearms owners who don't have to worry about different standards in different localities to those of you who sought and were awarded the moms demand action gun sense designation when you ran for council this is your chance to back up your words with your actions thank you for helping make our community safer our

Shinaberryclerknext speakers Ellen Pence

Ellen Pencepublic commentHi again, Ellen Pence, Adams Court. The city must prohibit firearms from gatherings that are sanctioned by the city within the city limits. We need to be in line with our neighboring jurisdictions laws concerning guns. We need to support the police. The police should have the guns, not the citizens. We don't want the unthinkable to happen in Fairfax City. You know what can happen.

ShinaberryclerkOur next speaker is Sabrina Ashwell.

Sabrina Ashwellpublic commentOkay. Hello. Yes, my name is Sabrina Ashwell. Speaking as a mom of a five-year-old and a baby to come in a few weeks. Also, as someone who enjoys going to Fairfax City festivals, our family especially likes the chocolate festival and the holiday one at the end of the year. And I was debating whether to come speak today. I don't necessarily enjoy public speaking, and it's not my forte, but I thought, you know, so often when we hear about gun violence, at least for me I feel helpless what can I do this is what I can do I can speak out even when it's uncomfortable even when I'm physically uncomfortable and I told my daughter before coming here because I was going to miss dinner with her and I was still writing down notes I said what what do you think I should say what what should

I tell them I explained what we were going to be talking about she said don't bring guns any single place it might go off on accident and I looked at her I said okay and she saw the paper I had in front of me she said write that down so I wrote it down I'm sharing it with you I think that it's so important to pass these amendments now. We have such a great opportunity. No accidents have taken place yet. This is our chance to be proactive, not reactive. How tragic would it be to wait for something to happen and then say, oh, now is the time to act. I certainly don't want my daughter's or my newborn babies name on some ordinance that will honor them for some tragedy that then spurred action no now is the time before anything has happened

because gun violence is preventable it is not inevitable there are things that we can do to keep our communities safe this is one thing and I think the city council part of your job is to keep us safe to bring communities together and this is something that we can do to put structures in place that will keep us safe I would never want to say you know what if what if we had acted sooner would that have saved someone I want the biggest concern I have when I come to the chocolate festival holiday festival to be where am i going to park not am i going to have to jump in front of my daughter to save her is someone going to do something terrible what was that am i over time okay okay um okay thank you goodbye

Shinaberryclerkis there anybody else in the room that would like to speak on this item you can come forward and we can start a line by the window and when you come forward please state your name and street address with your statement

Ethan Kaufmanpublic commenthi my name is ethan kaufman i've resided 10 532 providence way and i received my degree mechanical engineering from george mason in february 2021 a carry ordinance was proposed that was more or less identical to today's. I wrote Councilman Yee at the time with my proposed changes, most of which were adopted and became the current Cary ordinance. My concerns today are the same as they were in 2021, and I will submit my full comments separately. Chief among these concerns is the vagueness of the adjacent clause dealing with banning Cary on public streets, roads, alleyways, or public rights-of-way. that are open to the public adjacent is terribly vague as many streets such as university 236 blenheim and chain bridge run the full length of the

city and you cannot reasonably expect people including non-residents to be able to predict or have knowledge of events permitted or otherwise taking place in the city i'm sure the city attorney will talk about discretion involving these cases as he did in 2021, but as I'm sure everyone's aware at this point, that even if it isn't done consciously, discretion isn't applied evenly and frankly is an easy out for poorly thought out legislation that gives the attorney the ability to arbitrarily enforce the law on the basis that he'll be reasonable or that his successors will be reasonable in perpetuity.

Speaker 4furthermore and perhaps

Ethan Kaufmanpublic commentmost importantly to the city the Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments in the Wolford v. Lopez case it granted cert on October 3rd case out of the 9th circuit dealing with the issue of concealed carry in largely the same cases here places otherwise open to the public I would certainly say that based on their previous ruling in Bruin, the city would be able to shield itself from any legal fallout of this upcoming case by providing an exemption to those with a permit to carry. Thank you.

ShinaberryclerkNext speaker can go forward.

Carolyn Grubbspublic commentHi, my name is Carolyn Grubbs. I live at 4043 Roberts Road, and I've been in the city since 1959. I didn't come prepared to speak so bear with me because I don't like public speaking either but as the first gentleman spoke talking about how the training that people go through to carry guns concealed weapons and all it's very impressive but as he spoke I was remembering a case which some of you might that happened in Florida in 2014 and the shooter was a gentleman by the name of Curtis Reed years old. He was a retired police captain and SWAT commander. They were in the movie theater, and he got into an altercation. It was while they were showing the previews with a young man who was calling his babysitter to see if everything was okay. Well, he asked the guy to stop, you know,

texting and talking, and they got into this altercation. The guy left, and the victim went out, you know, and then he came back in, I had popcorn, and they started arguing again. The victim threw popcorn in the shooter's face, in the old man's face, who was a SWAT commander and retired police officer, and just on impulse, because he had a gun, I'm sure he, I'm sure it was on impulse, he shot the father and killed him, and I think that's what can happen when people have concealed weapons. I mean, I'm sure the man regretted it as soon as he shot him. This was in 2014. And it seems like these days people are just kind of trigger happy. You know, everybody's on edge and things are just apt to happen.

I mean, and so I just wanted to bring that up. even the most trained people who retired law enforcement people of anybody that they would be, you know, you would think they would be conscious of this. But it happens. And it's more to happen now than in 2014. Thank you.

ShinaberryclerkOur next speaker can come forward.

Trice Burgesspublic commentGood evening, Mayor and City Council. I had not come prepared really to speak either, but I did want to speak out on this issue. My name is Trice Burgess. I live at 10601 Railroad Court. I've been a Fairfax City resident for 35 years. I'm speaking as a private citizen tonight, but I have been involved in public safety over 45 years and with 25 years in a law enforcement position. I am asking that you please exempt concealed handgun permit holders. they do go through background checks that are pretty sufficient and they get training before they are allowed to get this permit very few permit holders are charged with firearms violations no one's perfect in this world and they're always bad apples in every group so I do understand that perspective from the

other person that just spoke this proposed ordinance will only embolden criminals as they know they'll be in gun-free zones and they don't have to people protecting themselves and this does not protect the good citizens of Fairfax City with this ordinance there have been no issues with any firearms violations at any city events in the last 10 years I think there have been only three issues in parks in the last 10 years two may have been criminal in nature there are already laws on the books to deal with criminal activity involving firearms such as brandishing or discharging in public places where so there are already laws in place to handle that I want to thank you for exempting the retired law enforcement through Leosa and I want to thank you

for your consideration of this matter thank you very much next

Shinaberryclerkspeaker can come forward

Tracy Van Dustinpublic commentgood evening mayor red and members of the City Council my name is Tracy Van Dustin. I live at 4104 Oxford Lane. I'm a proud Fairfax City resident. That's my first capacity in which I come here today. My second capacity is I'm a member of Moms Demand Action, City, or Burke Fairfax. I adopt every comment of my colleagues. I come to you also as a former spouse of a city council member. My first husband, Mark Schwartz, served on the Oklahoma City Council from 1987 to 1999. He also served as president of the Oklahoma Municipal League and this little organization located in D.C. called the National League of Cities. You might have heard of it. He was president. Let me bring a different perspective. I adopt this. I strongly encourage

adopt this ordinance but I remember when Mark was traveling around the country speaking to different municipal leagues in the late 90s when he served as president as NLC he mentioned something to me that stopped me in my tracks and I say this as a former spouse as a city council member

Lani Calalangbut

Tracy Van Dustinpublic commentcity councils all around the country started hardening their diocese like this they were they bulletproof them because people would come in with guns and shoot at the city council I've had members of the Oklahoma City Police Department stationed outside of my house for safety purposes because we were under threat because of a vote I I also bring to you, sorry, it also, while I was listening to the hearing on the Willard Fairfax about the new ordinance there on lockdown procedures, how they could do that. Prohibiting firearms in open air events in our beautiful city is just common sense. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your consideration. And please vote for this ordinance. Thank you.

ShinaberryclerkNext speaker can come forward.

Richard Harringtonpublic commentGood evening. My name is Richard Harrington. I live at 10487 Courtney Drive here in Fairfax. I've lived there since January of 1998. The city council work session on September 30th was enlightening, as are many of the citizen comments and council discussion that happened on the 30th. It reflected a degree of a hoplophobia of which I was unaware existed in the city. The chief of police and his staff did an excellent presentation, most professional, and was reality-based. The reasons for these proposed changes, the city does not now match Fairfax County, so the city has to be as controlling as the county. Inductive reasoning appears to have been used to support these additional firearms restrictions, concerns especially about the citizens that legally carry firearms.

The changes, as pointed out by the police department, will not deter or stop criminals focused on violating established laws for one reason. People are criminals. The changes lack enforcement mechanisms to quell hopophobia, but will inhibit law-abiding citizens, especially in the peregrinations. The proposed change is virtue signaling, a message. Look at us, we are doing something. We will make our citizens safer because we are exercising more control with more regulations. As a civics refresher, sworn peace officers do not have duty to protect any specific individual from harm. It's a legal principle known as public duty doctrine. Our police officers do carry firearms, not to protect individual citizens, but to protect

themselves. Just like our citizens, our police are responsible for the personal safety and security. The proposed change is about trust. Written policy and signs promulgating restrictions are inanimate and require sentient attention to be effective. When a governing body demonstrates mistrust of the body politic, it opens the door for diminished appreciation of governance, especially when people believe imposed governance does not pass the sanity test. Changing the city's firearms regulations will not deter criminals' focus on violating established laws. It will, however, inhibit the activity of law-abiding citizens. but perhaps that is the real goal. Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to the council's discussions,

their arguments, premises, and conclusions. Thank you.

ShinaberryclerkIs there anybody else in the room that would like to speak on this agenda item?

Catherine ReadAll right. Seeing no more public comment, I will close the public hearing. Is there a motion to defer city council action?

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerI move that the City Council defer action on the attached ordinance amending Chapter 54, Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions, Article 1, General Chapter 54-4 of the Code of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, pertaining to a prohibition on the possession carrying or transportation of firearms ammunition or components or combination thereof in city buildings or facilities on public property or at certain public events to a date certain of october 28th 2025.

Catherine Readis there a second second motion has been made by council member hardy chandler and seconded by council member peterson is there discussion on the motion? Discussion on the motion? Discussion on the motion. Seeing none, a roll call vote.

ShinaberryclerkCouncil Member Amos? Aye. Council Member Hall? Aye. Council Member Hardy-Chandler? Aye. Council Member Peterson? Aye. Council Member Bates? Aye. Council Member McQuellen? Aye. Motion passed unanimously. We will go on to the second general public comment. Is there anybody in the room that would like to speak on any other items that was not a public hearing item tonight? You can come up forward, sir. Just make sure you state your name and street address with your statement.

Peter Kloskypublic commentHello. My name is Peter, Peter Klosky. I live at 10518 Providence Way in Fairfax City, and I'm very proud to live in Fairfax City. I'm here mostly just to say thank you to mayor, city council, staff, and the contractors that serve our city. An issue that is important to me that I feel the council staff and contractors are addressing is creating a walkable city. I'm really happy that the new Brightview Senior Living in North Fairfax, that there'll be a walkable path from there to the center of the city so people can enjoy our wonderful city. The last time I commented on that project, Councilmember Bates noted it is treacherous to walk in the center of 123, that we really do need a sidewalk. Regarding sidewalks, I've got to say that my favorite department of the city of Fairfax, I mean, I apologize for having a favorite, would have to be the Department of Public Works.

When people say, do you live in Fairfax City or a county? I'm like, our trash men are the best. Trash people, men and women. I can't say enough about the quality of the service that they provide. They really get things done. Creating a walkable space requires some maintenance. It's very easy to wreck the walkable spaces by placing a dumpster or a structure or a vehicle to block sidewalks, then people are forced back into 123 and can be killed. And when we have problems, the Department of Public Works will respond, and they will trim the shrubs and really get the job done. So, again, I want to say thank you to the City Council staff, contractors, for creating a great Fairfax City, a place that I love and cherish.

I do think there is one opportunity for growth. I'm not sure we address public safety much at a council meeting. It's often about zoning and city code. However, I think the Department of Code Administration, I think there's an opportunity for that department to be led and staffed in a way which is more effective and more professional. It seems like it's the Department of Public Works that is getting the job done, that property owners are not really being addressed by the code administration. And again, thank you, everyone.

Shinaberryclerkis there anybody else in the room that would like to speak okay we can move to future meeting topics

Catherine Readthere we go mr. Foster thank

Fosterstaffyou mayor members of council the future for the future meeting topics we'll look at I think the you were provided the information of the the lit current list that's up to date and so we'll focus on the 28th of October which is your next regular meeting there are several presentations on your consent agenda is the we are ready to move forward with the license agreement or proposed license agreement with the Breckenridge Lane homeowners association to take care to keep their lighting where they're going to take care of it again that's just introduction there will be a public hearing at a future meeting but that's just that is our normal process to get that on the agenda and start the process this evening you set a public hearing for the charter proposed charter

amendments that were just that we discussed last week at the work session which relating to transit occupancy tax and the compensation members of boards and commissions and then cleaning up the language about elections now being in November you have two items that you put on the agenda for a date certain the first was the combined courthouse land use application and then from this evening amending chapter 54 related to firearms both of those public hearings are closed so if anyone were to speak it would be under general public comment but the action for you to take would be at that meeting on the 28th and then for work session the planned work session was our financial first quarter financial review

and potential updates to financial policies. If you recall, we moved or we postponed three work session items that were originally scheduled to be this evening, one on attached accessory dwelling units, one on the potential for doing video testimony for public hearing comment and discussion regarding provisions to rules and procedures. So as a placeholder, they just all got put on the 28th. I do know from staff, talking with staff, the ADU presentation that was in front of Planning Commission between presentation, all the questions and comments, that was in excess of one hour. And so if you assume that yours might be similarly situated, I just give that, I mention that to you whether or not you wish to have all of those on the 28th or if you would rather

have one or more at a future meeting beyond the 28th

Catherine Readcomments on that council member amos

Anthony Amosso uh looking for the october 28th meeting since we have you know five of the items that that did end up three of them getting rescheduled to that date it would probably make sense at least move one or two of them because I don't think we'll realistically get through all five considering public comment might if it's like tonight not be too extensive but still enough to where we might run late into the evening so potentially if we feel is there one that stands out that could potentially move to November 4th work session or maybe even December 2nd

Catherine ReadGo ahead, Mr. Foster.

FosterstaffI would just say from staff's perspective, I don't think any of those are extremely time-sensitive. They're just follow-ups and bringing information back to you. We need the ADU by the 4th of November? ideally we need the adu by the 4th of november so maybe that it which is a work session only that night

Catherine Readright so maybe stick a pin in that one for yes councilmember hall um i

Stacy Halli mean i think we're getting out a lot earlier tonight than we were anticipating so i i personally am okay with having a longer meeting next week um i really would not like to push the possible video testimony any further i've been asking for this for months and staff has done it it's not that they haven't so it's just we've had challenges in being able to do that so i think the other items are might be a bit lengthy but i think that's what we're here for so i'm good with next week being as is

Catherine Readcouncil member mcquillen

Rachel McQuilleni too uncomfortable with keeping this uh agenda as is right now or I'm sorry, the October 28th meeting proposed. I'm comfortable with keeping them all for the 28th.

Catherine ReadThank you. All right. That's two people keeping it all. Do we have Council Member Peterson?

Thomas PetersonWell, just maybe a clarification, perhaps this is for our Chief Financial Officer, but to the review of FY25 prelims and FY26 first quarter, sense of the duration of that how much time you anticipate so

J.C. Martinezstaffthat's going to depend on the robust robust conversation that might come from that because we are combining the 25 preliminary results and first quarter I would say without questions probably a 40-minute presentation 20 minutes on each and then And if you include potential questions,

Trice Burgesspublic commentmaybe 60 minutes.

Thomas PetersonAnd then the next one, financial policies, et cetera.

J.C. MartinezstaffSo I would suggest that that sort of stay if possible. Currently in the guidelines, we have to adopt financial policies by November 15th because of the situation of meetings this calendar year or this year. this would ensure that we get as close as we can to the 15th to adopt these policies again depending on conversation and questions regarding the presentation and the suggestions maybe 30 minutes at the most on that

Thomas Petersonand I don't know whose court this is in but the ADU discussion do we have some sense of the duration excess

Fosterstaffit's at least an hour based on the how it went at Planning

Thomas PetersonAnd I'm not advocating that we remove the discussion on video testimony, but what duration would we expect on that?

ShinaberryclerkAt most 10 minutes for

Thomas Petersonthe

Shinaberryclerkpresentation.

Thomas PetersonMr. Lubcoman, boards and commissions.

Philip Van Cleavepublic commentExcuse

Thomas Petersonme. I'm out

Philip Van Cleavepublic commentof

Thomas Petersonorder in terms of the dates here. Rules and procedures, duration of that.

Brian LubkemanstaffThese are modifications. We've had several discussions. It depends on the conversation. And you will have those in advance to review and comment. So as shorter, as long as you all would like to have a discussion on. Presentation will be less than five minutes. MR.

Thomas PetersonSo depending on how things go prior to that, we have the courthouse conversation and then the gun conversation, both of which could involve some time. I would just rather not be worn out and up real late attempting to have a conversation around rules and procedures if that becomes something that we need to put some brain power in. The other thing I wonder about is the ADU issue. It sounds like we need to spend some time on that. If it looks like we're cramped for time, those would be the two candidates. for maybe pushing them forward, but I really can't tell what the duration of the items before that is likely to be with respect to courthouse and guns, but those are certainly big issues that may have some discussion.

So not sure how others feel about that, but I'd just like to avoid a situation where we stretch ourselves pretty thinly to do some substantive decision-making.

Catherine ReadCouncil Member Hardy-Chandler?

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerI'll make the recommendation I made when we talked about today's work session items and that is I would be in favor of keeping them on the agenda and on that day if at that time we want to push something out we can but I think these are topics that we can cover so I would be in support of keeping the agenda as is councilmember Hull

Stacy Hallthank you I recognize that we're gonna vote on the 28th about the firearms ordinance but are there any discussion items that you anyone would like to have now any comments or concerns that we want to express that we wouldn't need to say for next week or I'm asking out of turn.

Brian LubkemanstaffMr. Lepkeman? I'm sorry, is that specific to the firearms?

Stacy HallWell, I guess what I'm saying is it says on here items not requiring public hearing, the consideration for the combined courthouse, and then the consideration on the ordinance. Those are really just votes, correct? Not discussion items?

Brian LubkemanstaffWell, no. So I'll take the firearms. I would assume there'll be some discussion and perhaps some requests for amendments, perhaps, or not. So there'll be discussion, but the only public comment would come under general public comment that evening because obviously there's no public hearing. So, again, you all will have control over the length of that item.

Stacy HallOkay, but we couldn't have any discussion on that now because we've already closed. No, the item's closed

Brian Lubkemanstafffor this evening. Okay,

Stacy Hallsorry, still learning Robertson's rules. No, it's okay.

Catherine ReadCouncilmember

Stacy HallAmos?

Anthony Amosconcur with council councilmember Hardy Chandler I think that's fine we can play it by ear that evening and see how far we get I'm not gonna lie to you tonight I I may have misunderstood how long we were actually gonna be here so probably would have helped to keep some items for this evening but learning that lesson I think that makes sense

Catherine Readwell it sounds like everybody is good with keeping the work session items as is all right

Thomas Petersoncan I just

Catherine Readcount

Thomas Petersonfor Peterson yeah just to memory, and I think this goes to rules, that I think our standard, if I'm not mistaken, has been 10.30 is sort of the witching hour, that the expectation is that we try to conclude things by then, and if we can't, we would need to make a conscious decision that we're going to stay longer than that. So if that's the case, I would just ask that by 10.30 we do an agenda check, and if it looks like we're stretching real late, let's be sure we have that conversation then rather than sliding it to 11 or 11.30 or something.

Anthony AmosSure, I'm down for that. You know, I'm happy keeping time

Catherine ReadAll right, we'll do a check at 1030.

FosterstaffOkay My only other my only suggestion would be then if you want to keep them all just from a staff perspective 1 2 4 and 5 Staff will already be here. So I would suggest that you make the a to you your first discussion because if you decide to push that later, then the staff will have stayed here all night and then not have done the presentation. So I think from that perspective, we'll reorder it and we'll have ADU first and then the financial piece and so forth. If that is acceptable, we'll do it that way.

Catherine ReadDoes that sound acceptable? I see nodding heads. I see a lot of nodding heads. That seems to be a very practical solution.

FosterstaffAll right, so we will have ADU first, order that is currently listed as far as the happy to answer questions on any of the other dates but just a reminder it's not on on this list of course but the budget open house is on the 21st so a week from today 4 to 7 at the Sherwood Center much like it'll be similar to the one we had last time except the focus will be on front end input because there's not an actual budget proposal because that comes later but just to get folks feedback on how things are going and we'll also have information from our community survey and what was what came from that as far as suggestions for areas of focus and so for so that'll be a part of the open house as well

Catherine Readall right all right so are we done with this because we're sliding into the manager comments no no i still have i still have you still have things

Fosterstaffon this yes a future agenda okay i do if that's right um so in your um in the weekly update from this past week we concluded information about doing some informational sessions in partnership at George Mason at the in the College of Business and it was three three sessions and it's related to development and it's sort of like a for lack of better than like a 101 but basically we've had all these multiple development proposals and so we've had discussions with them about really talking about how development works with developers as far as the things that they are looking for and what's important to them etc to do development and so we really thought it would be very helpful for you as you consider

these both ones that are in front of you but also future potential development proposals and so wanted to find out a if you did want us to follow through and have and have them come and then b FOR FUTURE MEETINGS. SO THAT WAS ANOTHER QUESTION WE WANTED TO DISCUSS THIS EVENING.

Catherine ReadOK, COUNCILMEMBER PETERSON.

Thomas PetersonBEFORE WE DO THAT, CAN I GO BACK TO NOVEMBER 4 AND JUST ASK YOU THE CLIRKING QUESTION. THE FIRST ONE, REMIND ME AGAIN THE BACKGROUND ON THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING STRATEGIC PLAN. WHO HAS CRAFTED THE PRESENTATION? WHO IS MAKING IT?

Melanie Zippstaffby voicethat's that's through Jamie Ergis's office but it is going to be done by TPMA the consultant who put it together Jamie's

Thomas Petersonour housing

Melanie Zippstaffby voiceprogram manager

Thomas Petersonand is this something that happens is this a regular thing or is this the result of a consulting project that's sort of ready for release is that what's our

Melanie Zippstaffby voicehousing program manager and housing program division is brand new as of January so this is or maybe it's January of last year January of last January

Shinaberryclerkthis year

Melanie Zippstaffby voicesorry time melds together so part of that process was to create a strategic plan that is coming out of the homelessness task force and all of their recommendations it's all kind of getting coordinated together but that was a piece of that

Thomas Petersonokay great thank you that's helpful

Catherine Readokay so back to to the question about a real estate councilmember

Anthony AmosAmos more information never heard anyone I'm on board

Catherine ReadI think it's useful I think it's matter of if we're going to do that we have to you know we need to commit and then we need to figure out dates I do think having come back from the Virginia Municipal League conference there was a lot of discussion about affordable housing obviously everybody's talking about that but also real estate development and fiscal impact studies and there's just a lot of there's a lot of discussion in every jurisdiction across Virginia about development but development to affordable housing strategies too so you know having more information and having the expertise of a program at George Mason University I think would be helpful in our evaluation process when we have projects that come

before us but I think it's up to the council as to whether a you want to do that and be whether you're going to carve out time to do that so that we can make a decision one way or another so thoughts councilmember Amos is sort of an affirmative councilmember Peterson just

Thomas Petersonbig picture does the council have a training budget training and capacity building budget

FosterstaffI believe so but it was significantly reduced as were all departments training budgets as part of of how we balance the budget.

Thomas PetersonAnd do we go through any sort of a process to identify priorities for the council in terms of our interests and needs on training? Because I'm just wondering how this fits together. I didn't quite realize we had a budget for this. And if we did, it sounds like it would be helpful to sort of understand, you know, where we think we want to spend some time doing these things. Is it the case we have a budget but we haven't gone through that process? Is that it?

FosterstaffWell, I think historically that's been used. Those funds have been used for things like going to the VML conference, those kinds of, as far as the training. I would have to look to folks who've been here long, you know, when we do retreats, if we bring in facilitators, those kind of food and things for those. That all comes out of that. I mean, certainly if council's wanting something specific or has a specific interest, we can certainly work to meet that need for you. And we, I mean, this came about because you were having some earlier this year, like two or three meetings in a row, you had like pre-development presentations. You had lots of questions, you know, asking, you know. And so when Chris Bruno was here, he and I had a conversation along with Brooke about what we could do to help you as far as, you know,

council and understanding how some of these processes work and so that was the genesis of it and it's we just because of budget and other issues that were dominating our time earlier this year it's we just haven't had a chance to um put that before you so we've circled back um with with the folks from george mason and so they put something together and again it's it's really it's for your what we would say is for for council and and staff's benefit um to to um hear that and and and get some more information as far as learning uh from from the development process to help you be better informed so when these proposals come before you you know what's important for them and how that aligns or doesn't align with your goals and objectives for

what you want development and or redevelopment to look like so it's certainly optional it's nothing required but we just we thought it would be helpful and so that's why we're we're you know presenting that to you if that's something if that's something you'd like to do and if it's not that's fine we'll we don't have to do it

Thomas Petersonwell I guess my question is one of scope is this focused on commercial viability of proposals for development and from a developer's perspective or is this focused on the public finance from the city's perspective because those are two very different no

Fosterstaffthe focus is not from the city's it's it's for it's understanding what what the developer needs to make their projects work. And so for, you know, and so, and how that aligns or doesn't align with whatever our policies are and zoning. So for example, it's help understanding why they need certain heights, why they need certain densities, why they need certain things or don't need certain things in order to make some of these projects work, what some of their challenges are. and so that's that's it's that's what it was intended to be but but not as from a pro like it's just all about the developer it's also what we can do and what's reasonable for us and so it from the city side as far as what we want to require or not require as the as case may be

Catherine Readcouncilmember hall thank

Stacy Hallyou um is this intended to be focused more on strictly mixed-use high density or is it discussions about commercial or residential or is it a global conversation

Fosterstaffyeah i think it's really intended to be a global conversation um we can if there's certainly if they're specific if you want it specific to certain things we can certainly tailor to that it's not about any specific proposal in front of you so it's not about anything that you've seen specifically like oh this is what the benefits of this or the pros and cons of this it's about it's more in general because you you've got more things in the pipeline more things that have been suggested things that are going to come back to you where you've had some pre development or pre-application I said pre-developed pre-application briefings and so it's really to help help you all understand the process better so that

you can you know make better decisions and and understand and help you know what you want what you don't want and so it's it's makes hopefully makes better use of everyone's time okay just

Stacy Hallone follow-up question then is it from an academic perspective or is it from like this is a developer that would like to work with us in the future and so they're giving us an education

Fosterstaffwell it's it's the Center for real estate entrepreneurship at George May so I mean it's from they work with with you know and work with the development you know help train folks I mean you can get a degree from them so it's I would say not purely academic in terms of but it's it's more you know practical real-life application

Catherine Readokay thank you councilman Peterson

Thomas Petersonso I think one of the areas that we've also noted is understanding what it takes for a development proposal to city's needs. So I realize this is focused on the developer's needs and what it might take for that to work, but it would seem to me that we would be doing something in parallel and that these would actually be integrated, which is the question mark from the city's perspective of what is required for something to meet our needs, which means that a broader consideration of scope would be brought to bear. We would be looking at a broader set of costs and a broader set of benefits that would go things should proceed. Part of that is a commercial feasibility question, but there's a public

feasibility question as well. And I'm a little uncomfortable with doing just the commercial side without the public side because we have to make public-based decisions here. That's one of the inputs, but there are other inputs. And that would have been, from my standpoint, point a priority for training capacity building. I didn't realize we had that opportunity, but that public finance side of it would have been a priority because we've spoken quite a bit about the need to try to get it right in terms of how we are configuring commercial development in relation to residential, for instance, how we're configuring either of them to be actually capable of developing adequate revenue generation to support the tax base, all those kinds of things.

and again the commercial feasibility is an input to that but there's a bigger question mark here of how you make it from the public stand stand the public sector standpoint and I wonder if there's a way to do this in parallel or somehow or another address that second issue councilmember

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerHardy Chandler so if I'm understanding this correctly this is just to educate us so that we can frame our questions better have more of an info come from a more informed position it's it sounds to me kind of like a work session item except for it's not about a particular project it's about sort of understanding development so that we have the information to better frame our questions to better see projects that come before us through a more informed lens is that accurate mr. Harden Thank you, Mayor.

Brooke HardinstaffYes. Yes, it is. And to the earlier question, this wouldn't be a discussion with folks that you may see come to you later with a development project. These are experts in the field but not active developers that you would see here. I think a lot of the interaction that local government has with the development community, on the private developer side, it's all behind a veil. We don't necessarily interact with them about what's going on in real estate cycles and what does your capital stack look like and how does decision-making about timelines and due diligence occur because it's not not always an appropriate thing to have conversations about about those kind of in the the heat of the moment with an application

that's before you this would be an opportunity to kind of step away from that learn a little bit more about kind of what some of the factors are that the developers deal with on that side and gain some more understanding and just have some interaction about it you know in a way that's kind of you know not not dealing with a particular application

Catherine Readcouncilmember Hardy Chandler well mr. Love come in and then councilmember Hardy challenge

Brian LubkemanstaffI was just going to follow on to what mr. Hardin said and you know councilmember Peterson's comments as we always note it would be wonderful if you had the pull up the curtain on a development, look at the financial components, look at the merits, how it's going to benefit, et cetera. But your role is very limited. You typically can only look at the land use component of an application. That's what comes before you under Virginia law. So with the example we always give is you don't know whether a particular project is actually going to be built if it's approved. You're looking at the specific land use impacts, what the state code allows you to consider when reviewing a particular application that's before you.

exception if it happens to be a public-private partnership or something where the city has a financial investment in a project you certainly have more ability to look at the financial components prime example being the Sherwood Willard project but generally applications that come before you you're very limited in what you're allowed to examine and discuss that said these educational discussions can be very helpful because I think all of you come to this with differing levels of experience interest and knowledge so I we're looking at this more as an educational component more than anything else and as mr. Hardin noted as mr. Foster noted this is not a presentation by any developer that has a project coming before the city

Catherine Readcouncilmember Hardy Chandler yeah

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerI think it's important to simply acknowledge that there are things that we don't know and when there's an opportunity to broaden our understanding I think we should take it my concern is the scheduling because we know that that can be a challenge but going all the way back to Councilmember Amos's first component more information is helpful and I think it basically helps us serve the public better

Anthony Amosthat's remember Amos just two quick comments one of the most fascinating courses I actually took with Fairfax County when I was working there was training in terms of real estate development. Now we actually went to go see a specific project and that was a mix of different county employees from across the region and developers. So it was a little different than what this is. But the practitioner's perspective is often something that is lacking with not just with most public bodies. I'm the only one up here who's a developer and so when I see these projects I can see the numbers and the financing and the underwriting for the most part. it's not one-to-one no projects the same but having that perspective I do feel

like has helped me have a more cohesive understanding and better presentation overall so I do think that this would be helpful and not saying that we should prioritize one type of project over the other I think a broad scope makes sense here

Thomas Petersoncouncilmember Peterson so if I might get a clarification are you saying that that we're not able to ask and see the financial feasibility of a project that's being proposed.

Brian LubkemanstaffThat is generally absolutely correct.

Thomas PetersonSo the purpose of this training would be?

Brian LubkemanstaffInformative. So you can, again, not my presentation. I'm just saying, to me, I look at it as educational. Whether you think it has merit or not, that would be up to you all.

Thomas PetersonOkay. Well, then the other question is, are we allowed to ask what the tax implications are of the approval of, you know, a special exemption or an application? Because that squarely falls in our court. We could have a public finance burden obligation that's associated with a decision that's associated with infrastructure, services, et cetera. Is that something?

Brian LubkemanstaffAs part of the applications, you usually receive information about the impacts on of it, entirely appropriate to receive that information. Those considerations, though, cannot be the basis of rejecting an application. There are specific criteria in the Code of Virginia as to what you can consider when looking at a land use application that's before you.

Thomas PetersonBut we are allowed to ask for disclosure of that.

Brian LubkemanstaffIt depends what you're asking for disclosure of. The developer is not required to give you any of that information. Well. And you have to be, well, we're delving a little bit here.

Catherine ReadSo, yeah, so the observation I would make is this is exactly the reason that we would have

Brian Lubkemanstaffconsultants where you could ask all of these questions. I'm sorry to interrupt. We provide you on land use applications the information that is relevant to the considerations that you have to consider when deciding whether or not to approve an application. And that's different from application to application because there are different types of requests Again, some are special exceptions, some are rezonings, and there's different aspects associated with all of those. But you are not, for lack of a better term, proforming a project. You're not looking at this like a lender might in looking at the merits of an application. It's a specific examination of projects that municipalities are allowed to do under Virginia

law.

Thomas PetersonI would just say it'd be helpful to get some clarity about what is relevant. Because if the commercial feasibility stuff is not relevant to the decision, it's helpful to know that. And if the tax implications are not relevant, it would be helpful to know that, what it is that's actually relevant when we make these decisions. Because we certainly have to address the consequences of the decisions in terms of public finance, in terms of tax implications, in terms of service and infrastructure loads and all those kinds of things. Those are an actual consequence of the decision we make. I'm a little bit foggy about, you know, what it is that is considered relevant to the decision or not because the actual implication of the decision involves those things. And it would

be helpful to get schooled up on that to be sure we're doing everything we need to.

Catherine ReadOkay. So we're digressing just a little bit. I think the question on the table is, is this something we want? And if it's something we want, when do we want it? So the first question do we want this or not and it's just if you don't you don't if if you want it then what are we looking at are we looking at doing this in january are we looking when when what is the timeline line for doing this

Fosterstaffyeah so what the so it's three they sort of have it broken into three sessions of approximately an hour each so the you know we would if you want to pursue it we would suggest consecutive sessions so you can you know you don't have to absorb it all at once but you're you know a month or two apart each time and and certainly it's on your time schedule so we could certainly something we could do after the first of the year we can really if you if it's something you want to do we we will go back and talk with them about when they can deliver and we'll suggest in this futures list when that could be for your consideration we don't need to decide that now it's just whether or not you're interested and that's how we would envision it would look

could be in consecutive would be in the work session setting but in consecutive meetings is what we would suggest

Catherine Readso the the question I'm gonna I'm gonna recognize you council member but the question I think that we're being asked to answer is our is this body interested in moving forward or not councilmember Amos

Anthony Amosyes

Catherine Readcouncilmember Hall yes councilmember Hardy Chandler yes Councilmember Peterson.

Thomas PetersonYes, but with the preference that we add to it, something dealing with whatever is relevant on the public side, because that is, from my standpoint, a fairly serious omission here.

Catherine ReadOkay. Councilmember Bates? Yes. Councilmember Quillen? Yes. All righty

Fosterstaffthen. Okay, so we will plug it in, schedule after the first of the year, and then when we go over this for future meetings, have a chance to look at it and make sure it fits in the time frame that you want okay last scheduling thing is I know that you all were invited to come go to the elected official summit on Friday in Vienna we need to know how many of you are going because it will trigger an actual public meeting of this council if enough of you are there which we need to notice and so forth and so do you all to attend

Catherine Readcouncilmember Amos are you I

Anthony Amoswas planning on attending

Catherine Readokay councilmember Hall yes councilmember Hardy Chandler councilmember Peterson okay

Fosterstaffso you so so I will turn it over to the attorney who wants to say something but it's going to be considered an actual work session meeting up the council because you'll be having dialogue

Brian Lubkemanstaffyou'll and I'm sure they'll set it up there but you'll actually convene a work session and then participate as long as the quorum is present that'll make it all official well

Catherine Readsomebody will not be there oh i'm sorry so i will not be there so somebody will convene that if it's an actual work session if there's unless that's with four people there if there's a quorum so four people there then somebody has to convene a work session okay okay

Anthony Amoseverybody can

Fosterstaffdo that thank

Anthony Amosyou

Catherine Readall right then council member amos

Anthony Amosso are we on the council comments now

Catherine Readwell i think we start with the manager i don't have anything else

Thomas Petersonokay council member peterson just a futures list thing kind of reaching back we had a conversation uh sometime in the summer i can't remember one when regional transportation issue bus rapid transit and at the time my understanding is there was a plan for nbta to be on the schedule and come and do a presentation or briefing with us about brt and and I've not seen that showing up on the schedule. Is that yet to be scheduled, or where does that land?

Catherine ReadThat is yet to be scheduled, and I think one of the reasons we have not, because they will do it, they will come and do it when we ask, is where on the futures list do we want that? We've got one meeting in November and one in December and two work sessions in each of those. So if you want to propose which meeting you would like for NVTA to come, then this

Anthony Amoswould be the time to do it. Councilmember Amos if we could put a pin in that discussion I can talk to you offline about it but I I feel like there's a reason why we might want to push it out just a little bit if that's okay

Catherine Readokay I mean we don't have to make that decision tonight because it's a futures list but if we you want to have dialogue about where to put an NVTA presentation, that's fine.

Thomas PetersonWell, yeah, it's fine. If it's not already being scheduled or proposed by somebody else, then I'm happy to confer with relevant folks around that. It's an issue that comes up when I'm with NVTA's PCAT group, which I'll be with them shortly, and we talked about it a bit the last time. So just playing a little catch-up there. sure maybe just

Catherine Readask when they have availability based on when our meetings are and see what we can plug into a work session format I think that works all

Anthony Amosright council comments councilmember Amos just gonna shout out the the chamber we love the central Fairfax chamber they do great work and they're also currently leading our local government courses so we greatly appreciate everything that they're doing there also want to recognize I know that we've brought it up multiple times but next week next Friday October 24th is the Fairfax finest Valor Awards so that'll be over at the Sherwood Center from 8 to 10 or 8 to 11 I think it was I have an 8 to 10 on my calendar but regardless it starts at 8 a.m. the chamber does a great job it's an initiative that Jennifer has been extremely proud of and has worked on for many years and it's getting bigger and bigger each year so looking forward to seeing my colleagues

there and any community members who want to attend

Stacy HallCouncilmember Hall I'd like to remind everyone that this Friday is homecoming for Fairfax High School I think many of us will be participating in the parade tossing candy not throwing candy in case you read the email and I will encourage you to come and cheer our students on we will be playing Alexandria City High School and then dance on Saturday and all of the festivities and I did want to thank everyone that came out tonight to speak to us proposed firearms ordinance whether you're for or against as well as all the emails that came in and i do just want to give a special shout out to judy fisher i know we had talked or i'd mentioned before about the gun safe and how to keep things locked up and judy sent me something for that

she found on a website and it was suggesting that a gun owner should never leave home without the ability to safely secure his or her weapon and not in the glove compartment or trunk suggested a metal box with a key lock and importantly a steel cable to connect it to your vehicle like using the seat adjust bar under the seat. There was a specific product called Snap Safe. It was about $29 and this gentleman also pointed out that thieves do not often carry bolt cutters and therefore they would be unable to steal your weapon. So it seems like some straightforward sensible advice and if you are a person who carries a weapon and can't take it into a building with us so thank you

Catherine Readcouncilmember Hardy Chandler

Stacey Hardy-Chandlerand if you're throwing candy you can throw it my

Catherine Readway

Stacey Hardy-ChandlerI just want to once again acknowledge our city staff I think the survey results that just came out there is a lot of positive information there reading a survey may not be the most interesting reading but I think when it reflects how strong our city programs are it's something that we should be proud of and certainly want to acknowledge once again never too much those who are delivering those services every day the other thing is I've talked to several people who are participating in the Civic Connection class who are getting a lot out of that experience and learning about their city government so I want to thank all of the departments and programs that are contributing to the education of our residents about city government getting them excited

about some of the things that happen behind the scenes and just learning about our city at a different level. So I hope we have an opportunity. I'm very pro-education, so I hope we have an opportunity to offer the Civic Connection course again and give others an opportunity, not just residents, but those who have businesses in the city are benefiting from that program and just giving it very high praise. So thank you to everyone who's overseeing that and leading that experience.

Thomas PetersonCouncilmember Peterson? I can't remember which day it was that we posted and published some information about the impacts of federal firings on federal employees. And that, thanks to our city manager and our communications director, went up fairly promptly with resources. and I just wanted to encourage those who haven't looked at it to look at it, look at the resources, and if you need more or have questions, be in touch. I'd like to say, as we all would, that the budget shutdown is something that will end soon. That's not currently what the thinking is, so this could have deepening impacts, and I know that's a great concern to a lot of people. So I just wanted everybody to know that we are acknowledging the importance of what's happening here

and the importance of us doing what we can to help people get help around this. And there may well be more to that story as we look more carefully here at what we can do to be helpful for people who are faced with this situation. I also think that perhaps Mr. Hardin, this is for you and others, We are possibly going to be looking at some shifting circumstances here in terms of our workforce, not just direct federal but those associated with grants and contracts and things that are going to begin affecting commercial vacancies. We are now seeing a notice last week from Washington Council of Governments that tracks job numbers, and the one number that really stands out is, and I don't have the exact number in front of me,

but a pretty substantial loss of professional jobs in this region that have occurred in the last year. And that was prior to the budget shutdown. And so we're really only honestly at the front end of understanding where that goes in terms of implications, but we've seen unexpectedly a professional white-collar job loss here in the metro region, which is a new thing for us to experience. And so I wanted to acknowledge that and be sure we're kind of on top of where that would go in the future. It could be something that we perhaps could factor in to what we're doing here as we make some of our planning decisions. Thanks. Councilmember Bates? Thank you. No comments.

Catherine ReadCouncilmember McQuillan?

Rachel McQuillenThank you. I just wanted to say thank you to all the staff and the city's parks and rec department for the fantastic job that they did on the fall festival this past weekend. I know that a lot of our volunteers were out there very, very early in the morning to set up, and it was a wonderful day. Everything went flawless, a huge turnout. so thank you to all of them for their hard work I also want to wish everybody at Fairfax High School a happy and safe homecoming weekend coming up it's always an exciting time in our city and we're looking forward to attending the parade and all of the events that come with the Fairfax High School homecoming thank you

Catherine ReadI'll just wrap up with a reminder that Nova Labs is hosting an open house on saturday november 18th if you have never been to nova labs it's it's a fascinating place council member amos and i went and took a tour and it's a maker space and you really can't imagine until you see it everything that is going on there including high school robotics teams that are building the most amazing robots to compete at local and district and national levels i spent the last four days at the Virginia Municipal League conference in Roanoke it was a great it was a great venue to meet other jurisdictions I saw people that I knew I met new people that I've never met but some of the breakout sessions that were particular interest were around affordable housing there was a session

on parking and looking at parking as a barrier to two projects and this is harks back to what we were talking about before about having projects and how they pencil that's a term i learned at the housing symposium i attended at mason last week developers developers have to have projects they that they can pencil so you learn all these terms um but one of the breakout sessions was on safety for elected officials and it was standing room only standing room only and there were law enforcement people asking questions about chambers and plans and you know how we post on social media and all of the things that some of which we know and some of which we haven't thought very thoroughly about as far as keeping elected officials safe it's very

serious i mean it was a room full of people who have experienced difficulties in their chambers in the parking lots when they leave their meetings and i know that we have done emergency planning here but even talking about posting where you are on social media when you're there and to be careful about what you're telling people about your movements your patterns your habits your All kinds of things. And this was really brought home when I went to the reception last night, hosted by the city of Roanoke at the Taubman Museum. City manager Valmarie Turner hosted that event for everyone who was attending the conference. And when we left to go to the parking garage, we were escorted by chief of police booth.

And I love meeting new police chiefs everywhere, but it was a new sensation for me to have an escort to a parking garage but people are taking very seriously the safety of both elected officials and officials in general um it's we live in a very divisive very a very divisive situation right now so so i'm you know i have things to share with you all later but you know that the virginia municipal league conference was three changes to the constitution of EML that'll be coming out and also voted on what the legislative priorities will be for the Virginia Municipal League and its member cities so a great investment of time I wish everybody a happy homecoming weekend and with this I will now adjourn the

meeting at 9 46 p.m. let's just celebrate that right now Thank you.