Welcome to FIVE FOR FRIDAY: A weekly roundup of Public Policy Issues and Headlines from around the Northern Virginia Region, the Commonwealth and on Capitol Hill. 

1. Learn About the Updated and Modernized Countywide Zoning Ordinance in the Latest Fairfax County Conversation Podcast

   The County Conversation is a podcast featuring employees and subject matter experts from the Fairfax County Government discussing programs, services and items of interest to residents of Fairfax County.

   On this edition of the conversation, host Jim Person talks with Casey Judge, senior planner, Zoning Administration Division, Department of Planning and Development. She talks about the newly updated countywide zoning ordinance, what it is and what it means, as well as changes and updates – including a “plain English” approach and a more modernized online presence.

    

2. Community invited to participate in Code Create Vienna, an online engagement platform for the Zoning Code and Subdivision Ordinance Update

   This fall, the Vienna Town Council will consider proposals to amend lot coverage in the zoning code ahead of the full code update and the Council wants to hear your thoughts. Staff will be out in the community, in person and through zoom, at the following events to answer your questions and gather your comments about lot coverage in Vienna. 

   • Friday, September 10, 12pm – 1 pm, Lunch and Learn webinar on Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4e66gsPNQz-Dmp8lQJwl7Q)
   • Saturday, September 11, 9 am – 12 pm, in front of the Community Center
   • Wednesday, September 15, 4 -7 pm, inside the Community Center
   • Friday, September 17, 6:30 – 9:30 pm at Chillin’ on Church

    

3. New policy could open up more 'co-living' options in Alexandria

   At an upcoming meeting on Thursday, Sept. 9, the Alexandria Planning Commission is docketed to look at a new policy that would open up more “co-living” across the city. Co-living, as defined by the city, is a residential use which allows housing where private bedrooms can be connected to shared spaces, like kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms. Suites can have private bathrooms, but no private cooking facilities are allowed in individual suites or bedrooms under this use.

    

4. Back to 1986 for the Waters of the U.S. Definition (What’s Old is New Again) 

   On August 30, 2021, a U.S. District Judge reversed the major Trump administration changes to the definition of Waters of the U.S. While the ruling was issued in the District of Arizona, the implications are apparently nationwide, though it remains to be seen if the ruling will be appealed and the effects of any appeal. The decision would appear to bring the definition back to its 1986 status, before the 2015 Clean Water Rule and the 2020 Navigable Waters Rule; it leaves in place the Supreme Court’s 2006 Rapanos and Carabell decision regarding significant nexus in surface waters. 

    

5. Virginia’s Redistricting Commission has its first draft maps. They look… normal?

   The Virginia Redistricting Commission got its first look at draft General Assembly maps Thursday as consultants delivered proposals for part of Northern Virginia with districts that look far more normally shaped than the ones that exist now. A pair of consultants drew their proposed House of Delegates and Senate districts from scratch, following the guidance of the new commission that was supposed to empower citizens to lead the process previously dominated by incumbent legislators. The initial result was maps with more straight lines and less meandering squiggles.

    

6. (Bonus Read) Dollars and Dirt: Fairfax County’s Investment in Affordable Housing

Beginning with the award-winning Residences at Government Center community on the campus of the Fairfax County Government Center Complex, the Board of Supervisors and the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) have recognized the significance of combining both funding and land investments to promote sustained advancement in the preservation and new development of affordable housing opportunities.