Manassas city pride license plates narrowed down to two designs

MANASSAS — As Manassas officials search for a design that could grace the city’s first licenses plate, it’s down to two designs.

City officials took a private vote on the designs they liked and narrowed the designs down to two:

1. A standard white plate with blue Virginia lettering at the top with the city’s seal on the left

2. A standard white plate with blue Virginia lettering on the top with the city’s “historic heart, modern beat” logo

Who wants a special City license plate? Making it happen! pic.twitter.com/ZBfaoRzfnA

— Councilman Marc Aveni (@marctaveni) February 17, 2018

Back in February, Manassas City Councilman Marc Aveni and city resident Robert Keller were considering variants of the finalist plates, with the seal and logo in the center of the plate. They also considered designs with U.S. and Confederate flags noting the city’s civil war history.

“After the public comments via social media, the council will likely have a work session to discuss next steps. This councilman hopes we pick one version and move forward to start the process with DMV because people are ready to start buying the plates! It’s a winner, so why the holdup?” Aveni wrote to us in an email.

There’s a poll on the city’s website asking residents to choose which of the two places they would like to see on their cars. Voting on the poll closes at the end of the month.

Once a design is chosen, Aveni and other city pride plate pushers must work to sign up at least 350 people willing to get the specialty plate, which would carry an annual $25. Along with their signatures, those on the sign-up sheet must also write a $25 check ($10 more for a personalized message) for a minimum payment to the DMV for $8,750.

The annual fee collected by the DMV and then given back to the city would be used to support the city’s downtown museum, said Aveni. If approved, Manassas would join other localities in the s Tate like Fairfax City that has city pride plates available for purchase.