Campaign Email #7 - Quick Takes
As I mentioned in my last email, campaign season has really kicked into high gear, and there are a lot of both formal and informal meet-the-candidate events coming up. Canvassing is also continuing - if you haven't received any of my info in your neighborhood yet, please let me know so I can make it a point to get there ASAP. And of course, if you already voted - thank you!
Tonight's policy content is going to be in the form of quick takes based on recent conversations on the canvassing trail. Please keep the great questions coming!
1. Data Centers: While I think it’s unlikely the City has the type of property (from both a size and cost perspective) available that would attractive to traditional data center developer, it definitely makes sense to me to ensure our commercial and light industrial zoning are protective against any future use cases that would negatively impact our utility infrastructure and natural resources. City government also needs to be clear about any additional resources necessary to enforce the new noise ordinance, especially if it is intended to be protective against noise from new usages of commercial properties.
2. Speeding: To summarize what I'm hearing - lots of residents are unhappy with speeding and cut-through traffic in residential neighborhoods, but many are [also] unhappy with City spending on what they see as ineffective or simply annoying physical traffic calming measures. Given the strength of opinions on all sides of the issue, I think this is a great topic on which to convene a City-wide forum where residents can weigh on in where they experience the worst speeding impacts (or see the most risk), and what type(s) of interventions they view as most effective. I'll also be tracking the outputs of the Pickett Road Corridor Road Safety Audit closely to see what recommendations might be extrapolated more broadly to the rest of the City.
3. Support for Small Businesses: I've spoken with many residents who are justifiably disappointed to see local businesses shutter and want to know what the City can do to help ease the financial burden of property leases and upkeep, especially in larger multi-tenant commercial properties. As I've mentioned previously in the context of development, Virginia is a very property-owner-friendly state, but as Mayor, I would absolutely be in favor of exploring policy and building code options that protect business owners from undue property maintenance/management costs. I'd also like to formalize the working relationships and meeting cadences between Fairfax City Economic Development, the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, and City government to ensure that local business concerns are escalated to a shared forum in a timely manner so we can all work together to find solutions and build better strategies.