The purpose of the wiki is to provide information regarding the parking situation at the Westbriar during the facade repair effort.

What are the Westbriar parking rules in general?  (updated 5/ 3/ 2015)

Here are the general rules for Westbriar parking.

Where can I post questions to the Board and the community about parking?

In the Parking Forum

Is Bellforest Court parking permitted?

  Yes.  As of 11/23/2014 all parking spaces in Bellforest Court are available for parking, 24/7.  A Westbriar parking permit must be present for any parking space in Bellforest Court.

Is Carnegie Hall Court parking permitted?

Yes.  As of December 2014, parking in Carnegie Hall Court is permitted. 

On what date will the 8181/8183 outdoor parking lot (Carnegie Hall Court) no longer be available?

Starting at 7am on Monday, July 23rd 2012 all parking in Carnegie Hall Court will no longer be available.  The prime contractor, C.A. Lindman, will use the lot for construction trailers and staging materials.

Residents are reminded not to park in Carnegie Hall Court at all.  Even on the weekend.  C.A. Lindman needs the spaces for materials and for their workers to park.  Also, for safety and liability reasons, Westbriar residents are not permitted to park in that lot.  

Any resident or guest parking in Carnegie Hall Court is doing so at their own risk and will result in being towed at their own expense, even on the weekends.  Dominion Virginia towing company will especially be towing any car parked in  Carnegie Hall during the hours of 6pm to 7am.

As of 11/3/2012, the reccomendation for those seeking parking when no other spaces in Bellforest Court or Park Tower Drive are available is to use the Dunn-Loring Merrifield parking lot.

Why can't residents park in Carnegie Hall Court at night or on the weekends?

This question was asked at the 12/3/2012 monthly Board meeting.  The reasons are twofold:

1. It is a liability problem.  C.A. Lindman is not willing to assume the risk that someone's car might get damaged while materials are being brought and stored in the lot.



2.  Now that the fence is up in the lot, we need to keep the lot clear for emergency fire truck access and for large delivery vehicles of construction materials.

Can residents park in the spots marked "2-hour Parking" on Park Tower Drive that are just North of Bellforest Drive?  

Yes, but with certain restrictions.   From 8am to 5pm on weekdays, the spaces are 2-hour parking only.  After 5pm  and on weekends, the spaces are just like the rest of Park Tower.  Anyone from the 3 Metroplace communities (including Westbriar Condominiun residents) can use those spaces as long as they have a valid parking tag.

 

Why was the 8181/8183 parking lot chosen as the main work trailer location and staging area?

The 8181/8183 parking lot chosen as the main work trailer location and staging area primarily because it was the only parking lot that did not block garage enterances.  The other viable staging area option, the Westbriar Court parking lot, was not ideal because residents would have to drive through the lot in order to reach the garage doors.  Having cars drive through a construction material staging area while construction is going on is not ideal.

Due to the many questions and concerns of Westbriar residents, the Westbriar Board asked Eric Henry, the Senior Project Manager of C.A. Lindman this question.  Here is his response as on May 30, 2012:

I can appreciate the concerns of the residents of building # 4 [building 8181/8183], but in reality their parking will not be available regardless of the sequencing.  Another thing to take into consideration is that while the parking will be the staging area for the duration of the entire project, performing the work on building # 4 earlier would leave a finished product subjected to the work activities taking place in the staging area while the other buildings are worked on. 

Why couldn't Park Tower Drive be used for the construction trailer and staging area?

Park Tower Drive is a private road that is owned by the Metroplace master association, not exclusively by the Westbriar Condominium association.  Thus, it was not a viable option for a staging area due to lack of authority to use the road in that manner. 
 

What are the rules for parking at the Metro lot?

Residents can park in the Dunn-Loring Merrifield metro parking lot.  However, several restrictions apply:
 

• Overnight parking is acceptable, however current regulations do not allow parking for over 24 straight hours.
• Monday through Thursday -  Parking is free as long as you don't exit before midnight and do exit before 10:30 am
• Friday  -  Parking is free between midnight to 10:30am.  However, you must pay if you exit  between 10:31am (Friday morning) and  3am (Saturday morning). 
• All day Saturday and all day Sunday are free

The parking cost is $4.75 and payment can be made with SmartTrip cards or credit cards.  See the WMATA parking page for more information.

When will the Dunn Loring / Merrifield metro station open up the new parking garage that is being built?

The 1,355 space parking garage that is currently being built in the Northwest corner of the Dunn Loring/Merrifield Metro lot is anticipated to open on August 21st, 2013 at 5am.

With the opening, all remaining surface lots, including the Western lots which are close to Gallows Road, will close at midnight Tuesday, August 20th to be turned over to the developer.  The Western parking lots will be used for the new mix of residential and commerical buildings that are scheduled to be built.  The new development will include a Harris Teeter grocery store.

Westbriar residents will not be able to continue to park in the surface Metro parking lots.  Westbriar residents will have to park in the new parking garage.  Parking rules will not change, though the walk home will be a little longer so residents should plan accordingly and add a few more minutes to their commuting time.

See this flyer from WMATA for a map of the Dunn Moring / Merrifield metro stop.
 

Can we ask the Metroplace master association to paint parallel parking lines on Park Tower Drive?  Will doing so create more parking spaces?

The Metroplace master association has investigated painting parallel parking lines on Park Tower Drive in the past and came to the conclusion that doing so will not create more parking spaces.  The reason for this is because the parking spaces must be painted to accomodate large vehicles such as pickup trucks.  Thus, extra space would actually be lost evey time a compact car parks on Park Tower Drive.  Due to the mixture of car models and sizes that park on Park Tower Drive, it is more efficient not to paint parallel lines (that is, sets of parallel lines that are perpendicular to the curb) on Park Tower Drive in order to outline and define each individual parking space.

What is the history behind asking the Metroplace master association to paint diagonal parking lines on Park Tower Drive in order to create more spaces?

July 2012

In July of 2012, the Westbriar representative to the Metroplace master association brought up the idea of painting diagonal lines on either side of Park Tower drive in order to create more spaces.  The idea was well received, but the Metrpolace board had liability concerns.  The action was taken to research the concerns, and the decision was made in July to hold off on implementation until the concerns were addressed.
 

November 2012: 

On November 3, 2012 The Metroplace Association decided to actively pursue painting diagonal parking lines on Park Tower drive to help alleviate parking problems.  This decision was a direct result of Westbriar Condominium's representative to the Metroplace Master association.

Metroplace Master Association planed to paint diagonal parking lines on one side of Park Tower drive.  Drivers parking in the new diagonal spaces must back their vehicles into the spots when parking. This is required for safety purposes - backing into diagonal spots makes it much safer to pull out of the spot.  "Back-in Parking Only" signs will be posted where appropriate.  The new parking lines will create about 12 additional parking spots once the project is complete.

Here is a link to a photo of the proposed areas for diagonal parking.  The yellow lines are where diagonal parking will likely be painted.

December 2012

On December 3rd, 2012 The Metroplace Master Association approved the painting of diagonal lines on the eastern side of Park Tower Drive (the side opposite of building 2701/2011).  The dates for the painting still remains to be decided.  Painting will be performed either in January 5th or 12th.  This effort will create about 12 additional parking spots.

On December 6th, Diagonal parking lines were scheduled to be painted on Park Tower Drive on Saturday, January 5th 2012 with January 12th as an alternate date in the event of rain.

On December 20th confirmation was obtained from the asphalt painting company and from the company responsible for signage that the work will be performed on Jan 5th.  Residents will have to park in the metro lot on that day if no other parking is available.  
 

January 2013

On January 5th, 2013 the diagonal parking lines were painted.  Additional signs were also put up and the project was completed.

See the Diagonal Parking Spaces Wiki for detailed information on this effort.

Are any measures being done to improve safety on Park Tower Drive?

In conjunction with the diagonal line painting, Metroplace Master Association is planning on the following additional actions:

In order to improve safety on Park Tower drive, double yellow lines (from the intersection of Park Tower and Gallows, to the intersection of Park Tower and Bellforest Drive) would be painted. Also, a "Private Road No Thru Traffic" sign and a "15 mph speed limit sign" will be posted.  

 

Can we ask the Metro Place office buildings for permission to use their parking garage? 

The following is a response from Susan R. - a Westbriar homeowner: 

I responded to a request from the Board to help with two issues our community is trying to resolve.  Those issues are the Clubhouse/Pool opening and additional parking for our community.  Here is a brief update on the effort to obtain permission to park in the Metro Place Office Tower parking garage. 

As a reminder, here are the entities that were involved with this effort:
      

Westbriar Condominium (our HOA Association)
Metro Place Office Tower 1 (the east office building)
Metro Place Office Tower 2 (the west office building)

Metro Place Tower 1 : Did not allow us to park there because it is a secure facility (i.e. government contractors rent space there) and therefore they cannot allow access.

Metro Place Tower 2: The Board has been working with the managers of this building to allow us to use their parking garage.  The risk of damage to cars and the risk of injury to residents has been the greatest liability from the beginning and is still their concern.  Westbriar Condo lawyers have presented several solutions to date but the Metro Place building managers are not willing to allow their garage to be used by Westbriar Condominium residents overnight and on weekends.  If and when there are any further developments I will  pass it on to the community.

Are residents allowed to sell their parking passes to non-residents?

No.  Several complaints have been made regarding non-residents parking their cars on Bellforest Court in the morning and then taking the metro.  These non-residents have supposedly obtained parking tags from Westbriar Condominium residents in exchange for money.  This is illegal.
 

Are residents allowed to reserve empty parking spots using signs?

No.  Per the Westbriar Condominium Association Rules and Regulations section 5-b-Xi and xii, No signs, initials, numbers, storage containers, or any other additions or alterations to Common Elements parking spaces may be painted, displayed, or erected without the prior written consent of the Board of Directors. No other items or articles of any kind may be stored in the parking spaces.

This is illegal: