Manassas Council meeting tonight: Parking saga continues at GTS

The Manassas City Council will meet tonight for the next installment of the parking-space drama in Georgetown South.

On tonight’s agenda, council members are asked to pass a resolution creating a third set of parking permits for the neighborhood, which will be issued to 100 people.

The proposal comes after the city council voted in 2021 to create a special parking district in the neighborhood long plagued by parking issues. Unlike other townhome communities with designated parking for residents and visitors, city taxpayers own and maintain the streets in Georgetown South, preventing the homeowners association from setting similar restrictions.

Several complaints from neighbors who said it was nearly impossible to find a parking space in the neighborhood due to cars parked in the area with out-of-state license plates and out-of-city decals prompted the special parking district.

If approved, up to 100 homes will be allowed three parking permits. Here’s how it will work, according to city documents:

Eligibility Requirements:

• Vehicle must be registered to an address in the Georgetown South Parking District at which two permits have already been issued, and at least three licensed drivers must reside at that address.
• Vehicle and vehicle owner must be current on all taxes and fees owed to the City.
• Property at which third permit is desired must be current on all taxes and fees.
• Only one additional vehicle per address is eligible to receive the third permit.
• Application for third permit must be completed by the resident of the Georgetown South Parking District on forms to be determined by the City Manager or his designee.
• A non-refundable application fee of $5.00 must be paid with the submission of the application.

Also, tonight, the city council will not vote on a proposal that would have required the school board to present a plan to replace Dean Elementary School by July 2025 or face the possibility of the city council choosing to fund the government school division’s budget categorically.

The proposal comes after the school board has shifted its focus from replacing Dean to purchasing the city’s largest office building, 8700 Centreville Road, for $11.5 million. The school board has asked the city council, a key school funding source, to adjust its budget to clear the way for the purchase.

Categorical funding would contrast with years past, such as in 2023, when the city council handed over $140 million of its $410 million budget — the most significant transfer to any government agency — no questions asked.

Assistant City Manager Bryan Foster told PLN the school board and city council continue to negotiate a deal on how to fund a replacement for the 64-year-old elementary school. In Fall 2022, city councilman Mark Wolfe said the city council had already raised taxes to construct the bundling and expressed his disappointment that work on the project (now expected to cost $75 million (double the cost of Baldwin School, which opened in 2017) had not begun.

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at Dean Elementary School, 9601 Prince William Street, Manassas. It’s open to the public and can be viewed online here.