| MANASSAS Keeps Ban on Sheds in Side Yards
City Now Faces Decision On Forcing Removals By: Jennifer Buske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 29, 2009; Page PW01
A proposed ordinance that would have allowed Manassas residents to construct sheds in their side yards was axed by the City Council this week.
After delaying action for almost three months, the council voted 4 to 2 Monday against the proposal to amend a long-standing law that prohibits people from building sheds and accessory buildings anywhere but in their back yards.
"We already have an ordinance in place that I feel should be enforced," said council member Mark D. Wolfe (R), who voted against the new ordinance. "There are a few issues with the [proposed] ordinance, one being the public safety perspective. You also have an aesthetic issue when sheds are visible from the street."
Manassas Zoning Administrator Lorene W. Payne said the issue with sheds came up several months ago when Manassas officials discovered that about 240 sheds in the community did not comply with the existing ordinance. Because of their findings, Payne said, her staff thought it was time to see whether the council was interested in changing the city's policy on sheds.
"This is a land-use issue and a quality-of-life issue," she said. "The question is: Has the area transitioned from a rural environment to a more urban environment? Because in an urban environment, you do see more accessory structures in yards."
The city has not enforced the shed ordinance over the years because of staffing issues. Payne said that Manassas has had only two field inspectors for the past five years and that sheds were considered a low priority compared with issues such as overcrowding and tall grass. Now, however, with four zoning inspectors in place and more sheds popping up, staff members deemed it time for a change.
"I voted for this [change] because staff recommended it and it didn't require us to spend a lot of staff resources in these lean times looking for sheds that may not meet requirements," council member Marc T. Aveni (R) said. "I've never had a call about a shed in a side yard. . . . It seems like we do have more pressing zoning issues to address."
Although the council killed the proposed ordinance, the shed issue is not resolved. The land-use committee and other planning officials must determine whether the sheds breaking city code should stay or go, Payne said, adding that other city codes will allow sheds that have existed for 15 years or more to remain no matter what officials decide.
"I would like to see us grandfather in all existing sheds but prohibit new ones," said council member Jonathan L. Way (R), who chairs the land-use committee. "I think we need a balance. We never really wanted side sheds in the first place, but we also never stopped people from putting them up. . . . We'll just have to sit down and argue out all our options."
Also during Monday's meeting, Manassas Mayor Harry J. "Hal" Parrish II (R) gave the annual State of the City address. The 20-minute speech addressed Manassas's accomplishments during the past year but also tribulations ahead.
Over the past year, Manassas has created a Fire and Rescue Department, opened a parking garage with the Virginia Railway Express and watched the Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center open a new 200-bed facility.
Parrish said that for the fourth straight year, crime in the city decreased. Overall crime fell 9 percent, and serious and violent crimes dropped 5 percent. Manassas police have added two canine units and implemented an illegal immigration enforcement policy in line with Prince William County's.
Although the community was plagued by foreclosures, residents and volunteers pitched in this summer to mow 70 overgrown lawns and clean up about 40 abandoned properties, Parrish said. The number of active homeowner associations in the community grew from five to 20 in the past two years and the number of neighborhood watch programs doubled, he said, making Manassas neighborhoods stronger than ever.
"The successes in individual neighborhoods are observable and has excited neighbors to join neighbors in improvement projects," Parrish said.
He cautioned, though, that the road ahead will be tough.
"While we have so much to be proud of achieving, we of course cannot ignore the immense economic threat confronting our city and country," he said. "We will have great financial challenges to meet not only this year but for the foreseeable years."
Late last year, Manassas reduced the number of city departments from 12 to seven, eliminating the equivalent of 20 full-time positions.
Like localities nationwide, Parrish said, the city could receive fewer state and federal dollars for mandated programs this year. One program that will be particularly hard hit is family services, which needs money now more than ever, Parrish said, noting that in the past 18 months, the number of families receiving food stamps in Manassas has almost doubled.
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