Is your vehicle longer than 21 feet? Higher than 8 feet or wider than 102 inches? Does it weigh more than 12,000 pounds? If so, you’d better find another place to park it.

"My neighborhood is a fairly blue-collar area, and so we’ve got a number of residences where people park their work vehicles at home," said Spring Bank resident David Dale, who is co-chairman of the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens Associations. "The problem is that some of these houses have one parked in the driveway and three in the street."

Under the old rules, commercial vehicles over 12,000 pounds were forbidden from street parking. But now that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has approved a new set of restrictions, neighborhood residents throughout the county will start seeing some changes. Aside from the limitations on length, weight and width, the amendment to the county’s existing code includes changes that clarify some vague passages.

"A lot of these changes are going to make it easier for us to identify violators so we can enforce and prosecute them," said Lt. Michael Wall of the Mount Vernon District Station. "We are going to have a one month grace period before we start enforcing the new rules."

POLICE OFFICIALS and county leaders warn that some vehicles might get caught up as unintentional victims of the new restrictions. For example, some large-scale trucks and sport-utility vehicles might exceed the eight-foot height restrictions. Yet Supervisor Jeff McKay says the new county code is not as restrictive as possible under the authority granted by the Virginia General Assembly.

"Your typical Suburban is not going to be in violation," said McKay, adding that he feels the new rules are long overdue. "The neighborhood groups were pleading for help because they didn’t want their streets to be turned into commercial parking lots."

The new code goes into effect Feb. 1. Officers say they will be responding to complaints and issuing warnings to those found to be in violation of the new code. Some vehicle owners will need to find other places to park their commercial vehicles — a victory for neighborhood groups that have long complained about the increasing presence of commercial vehicles parked along neighborhood streets.

"I can’t go to a civic association or a homeowners group without hearing complaints about this," said McKay. "The previous code didn’t do anything to solve the problem, and I think this is a change that frankly should have happened 25 years ago."