Parking restrictions may soon be implemented along Daniels Avenue and Poplar Street in Annandale to prohibit commercial vehicles from parking on those streets at certain times of the day.

Although no official proposal for the restrictions has been put forth, the issue was discussed at an Annandale Central Business District Planning Committee meeting on Tuesday.

The vehicles, which park near the American Legion Post 1976 and office for the Knights of Columbus, have been the cause of several complaints from Annandale residents and business owners.

“It’s getting worse and worse,” said Vicki Burman with the Annandale Chamber of Commerce about the presence of the vehicles in Annandale.

Aaron Frank with Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross’s office said the vehicles are technically not doing anything wrong since the area and street the vehicles park on are zoned commercial. However, Frank said that parking regulations could be worth considering. The vehicles are also a safety hazard, Frank said, making it difficult for drivers to turn onto streets safely due to poor visibility.

According to section 82-5-7 of the Fairfax County Code, commercial vehicles such as tractor-trailers, cement-mixers, garbage trucks or vehicles used for construction equipment, are prohibited from parking in residential districts and “subject to a $100 fine for each violation and may be towed at the owner's expense.”

Commercial vehicles are only prohibited from parking on service roads when “a service road is adjacent to a residentially zoned area… parking restrictions apply to the side of the service road that is adjacent to the residential area except as otherwise provided in section 82-5-37(5). This allows prohibiting commercial parking on that side of the street which is zoned for a use other than residential to further the residential character of the abutting community,” according to the code.

Matt Flis with the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization and Reinvestment said the issue is not unusual for Fairfax County. Areas such as nearby Bailey's Crossroads have seen a high volume or similar complaints from business owners and residents.

To get the parking restrictions, the Board of Supervisors would have to approve the proposal. Before that happens, Frank said a survey would have to be done among business owners and residents to learn more about who the restrictions would impact and if the vehicles parking there belong to the Annandale businesses in the area.

The intent of the restrictions is to “send a message that Annandale is not a commercial vehicle dumping ground” and offer an alternative place for drivers to park such as the Shirley-Edsall Industrial Park for commercial vehicles in order to keep commercial vehicles from looking for parking in residential areas down Ravensworth Road or John Marr Drive, if forced to move.