Parks Commission plots out picnic, pop-up concerts, and an art walk

With the Fairfax Festival behind them, commissioners spent Monday's meeting debriefing on how the event went before turning to a full slate of things still to plan. Chief among them: the August 30 picnic at the Ball Field, a noon-to-5 affair that still needs a DJ booked, a food-sales plan, an ABC license application filed, and volunteer roles assigned.

Resident Ian Jensen asked the town to sponsor a three-date "House by the Park Series" at Peri Park — pop-up music, art, and lawn games running 5 to 9 pm on July 25, August 15, and September 26. Commissioners are also lining up an Art Walk for September 25, led by Maria Baird.

None of it is controversial, but together it amounts to a busy back half of the year for a commission that just wrapped its biggest event of the summer.

Planning Commission opens a study session on formula businesses

Thursday's Planning Commission meeting had no public hearings and nothing on consent — just a single, potentially consequential item: a study session on Fairfax's formula business ordinance, the zoning rule that governs chain and franchise storefronts in town.

Staff asked commissioners to take public comment and talk through options for changing the ordinance, but no specific amendments were on the table yet and no vote was taken. It's the kind of low-key session that can quietly set the terms for a much livelier debate down the road, once actual language comes back for a hearing.