Falls Church planning commission recommends 1,500-sq.-ft. parking exemption for small commercial tenants

Falls Church City Planning Commission members voted unanimously on Oct. 16 to recommend that the City Council adopt a zoning amendment exempting the first 1,500 square feet of qualifying nonresidential tenant floor area from off-street parking requirements for existing commercial buildings.

The measure, forwarded as an amended motion from the commission to council, seeks to ease parking burdens for small businesses and older, smaller commercial buildings by reducing the amount of floor area used to calculate required on-site parking. Staff had presented a proposal that would exempt the first 1,000 square feet and offered alternative language supporting up to 1,500 square feet. After discussion, commissioners approved the 1,500-square-foot exemption and inserted clarifying language limiting the change to buildings existing as of the ordinance’s effective date and preserving existing procedures for additional relief from the zoning administrator.

Planning staff told the commission the proposal is intended to streamline relief…