Blog posts are the personal views of Letty Hardi and not official statements or records on behalf of the Falls Church City Council

Dear Friends,

With the July 4th holiday next week, I’ve been thinking about our country’s upcoming 250th anniversary and the choices that shape a community. Milestones like these invite us to celebrate the past and also ask what we’re leaving for the next generation. That question was on my mind throughout Monday night’s City Council meeting.

Virginia Village took center stage in one of our longest meetings in recent memory (we finally wrapped up around 1 am!). It’s one of the biggest decisions we’ll make this year, and I know many residents have been following it closely. We had a packed room, extensive public comment, and several hours of discussion before voting 6-1 to issue an RFP to help determine what comes next. While much of the conversation over the past several months has focused on technical details like zoning and process, underneath those debates is a much simpler question: will future generations have the same opportunity to build a life in Falls Church that so many of us have had?

Read on for the top concerns we’ve heard, how I think we’re addressing them, and the comments I made Monday night. And what’s next – this is just the first of many decisions, far from the finish line.

We’re taking a mini recess before returning on July 13, so these updates will be back in a few weeks too. In the meantime, I’ll be holding my monthly office hours next Monday June 29 at 630 pm at Harvey’s. Stop by if there’s anything you’d like to chat about.

Best,
Letty

What Happened This Week:

On Monday night, we took several votes on Virginia Village:

• Updated the South Washington Street Small Area Plan and Comprehensive Plan (first reading)
• Created a new Virginia Village Overlay District (first reading)
• Authorized staff to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to affordable housing developers with 3 scenarios (preservation and small expansion, lower density redevelopment, medium density redevelopment)

As we approach America’s 250th birthday, I hope we remember that every generation inherits a community and leaves one behind. The parks, schools, neighborhoods, and small businesses we enjoy today all exist because previous generations chose to invest in the future, not simply preserve the present. My hope is that years from now, people will look back and say we made room for the next generation to call Falls Church home.

Top 5 concerns we heard and my thoughts:

(1) This is moving too fast.

Over the past five years, the City has been thoughtfully acquiring quadplexes in Virginia Village (see my post about our first acquisition in 2021). The goal has always been the same: preserve and expand affordable housing in a community where the demand for low to moderate income housing far exceeds the supply, despite doubling our affordable units inside the new mixed use buildings the past few years. We also updated our affordable living policy last year, which was a year-long process with the community. Staff has also done a commendable job in community engagement, with 11 public meetings so far – with Virginia Village residents, with adjacent neighborhoods and stakeholders, and broader community.

The vote this week was one of the first milestones with many more decision points to come at the end of the summer, the fall, and into 2027. We’ll get responses to the RFP at the end of this summer, the community will see executive summaries of the proposals, an evaluation committee of city residents/key stakeholder groups like the Planning Commission and Housing Commission will help evaluate the proposals, City Council will decide on a top proposal, begin negotiations with a partner, and make any final tweaks to the zoning code in a “second reading” this fall.

(2) Wait until zoning is finalized before issuing the RFP.

My view is that we actually make better policy decisions when we know what’s feasible. The RFP isn’t selecting a developer or approving a project. It’s gathering information with responses from experienced housing developers about what they could realistically build (based on the city-owned parcels, financing conditions, construction prices, etc) under several different scenarios. In the city’s experience, we have also had several examples where we created zoning rules in a vacuum, only to have no market response and no one use the available zoning.

(3) Any project needs to be compatible with the neighborhood.

I agree that compatibility with the neighborhood is important. I also want to balance leaving enough flexibility in those zoning and RFP rules so we get high quality, creative, financeable options in the RFP responses. We listened to concerns about neighborhood transitions, building heights, setbacks – and those have all been adjusted from staff’s original proposal of 25′ setbacks to 35′ setbacks facing Winter Hill, 3-4 stories facing Winter Hill, and gradually increasing to a maximum height of 6 stories, reduced from 7 stories, on the side facing Maple Ave. Under the medium density redevelopment option – keeping the entire project to 3 stories isn’t financially realistic given high land values.

(4) The zoning overlay changes or removes property rights from owners.

The new zoning overlay is optional. If a private owner wants to keep using their property under today’s zoning, they can continue to do exactly that. The overlay simply creates an additional pathway if an owner chooses to redevelop in the future with more density than what is allowed in their zoning today, by adding open space or adding affordable housing – both are public policy goals that are encouraged with this overlay. While we welcome additional properties to join in the potential city project, we are not using eminent domain to force anyone to sell their properties either.

(5) City Council should not give up control and retain a special exception/special use permit process for any project.

I’ve linked my remarks from Monday night’s vote which covered much of this. If you’ve ever wondered why someone who is naturally cautious (me) would argue for less discretionary review, I’ve tried to explain my thinking. 10 years of observing and being a part of housing and land use decisions in Falls Church have convinced me that good outcomes come from clear rules and thoughtful planning – not the illusion that more control always produces better results – especially if we are serious about affordable housing and smaller scale, infill projects that can’t afford the time and cost of our traditional approval processes. I believe we can be “careful without being fearful.”

What’s Coming Up:

July 1 – Ask the Council Office Hours (9 am, City Hall)

July 13 – City Council Meeting*

July 20 – City Council Work Session*

July 27 – City Council Meeting*

Summer Recess

August 24 – City Council Work Session*

August 31 – City Council Meeting*

*All Mondays (except 5th Mondays and holidays) at 7:30 pm. You can access the agenda and livestream here, including recordings of past meetings

Letty’s Summer Office Hours:

June 29 – 630 – 8 pm (Harvey’s)

July 15 – 630 – 8 pm (Grillmarx)

August 26 – 630 – 8 pm (Little Beast)