Shields Drops Falls Church City Block Party Fee

The $100 fee to have barricades delivered to City of Falls Church streets for block parties is a thing of the past.

Tuesday, after some community feedback, City Manager Wyatt Shields did away with the fee. He said the fee was enacted last spring and never brought in any revenue. The fee was first discussed in 2009. Shields said block parties promote community unity and he doesn’t want a fee to stand in the way of that.

“They’re a good thing and we want them to happen,” Shields said Tuesday. “If the fee was keeping that from happening, we had to suspend it.”

The City of Falls Church averages between 15 and 20 block parties a year. Shields said the fee covered the delivery of barricades to block off the ends of streets that are having block parties to prevent cars from traveling down them. Residents still need to apply for permits to host block parties in the city.

Donald Camp, a City of Falls Church resident, was not a fan of the block party fee. He has written Mayor Nader Baroukh expressing his disgust with the fee, he said. Camp was excited to hear the fee was no more.

“I was thinking of what step to take next,” Camp said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “I think it’s welcomed that the city fosters community relationships through block parties.”

City Councilman Lawrence Webb block parties can create a greater sense of community. He said block parties encourage outreach for citizens to get to know there local government officials, fire fighters, and police officers. Also community policing works much better when citizens can identify an officer by name and when the officer know people in the neighborhoods, he said.

“I have been a participant in my own backyard and attended a couple of others here in the city,” Webb said.  “Again, I believe this type of interaction is a great way for me to get to know the citizens on their own turf and outside of the confines of City Hall.  Currently we are relying on citizens to do more so I think that it is appropriate that we suspend fees for this service to allow neighborhoods across our "Little City" to come together and celebrate while getting to know the people who live right next door.”