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,

Tuesday night’s Council work session went a little longer than planned, finishing at 1 am. I mention that not to suggest that staying late is somehow a measure of good government – it isn’t – but because sometimes the public doesn’t get to see just how much discussion happens before Council takes a position. Our work sessions tend to go long as that’s when we ask questions, debate, disagree, and offer changes all around the table. If you only tune into the votes without seeing the proceeding deliberations, you may think you’re being ignored. You may still disagree with where we land. That’s entirely fair. In fact, disagreement is part of democracy. But disagreement should not be confused with a lack of listening or undermining public trust. Our job is to listen, consider the facts and the long-term interests of the entire City, ask hard questions, and ultimately make decisions we believe are in the best interests of Falls Church. That process can be messy. It can be frustrating. And, apparently, it can occasionally last until 1 am.

The big item of the evening was Virginia Village. Council met jointly with the Planning Commission to continue working through the proposed Virginia Village zoning changes. When we discussed zoning changes in the spring and summer at first readings, we were very clear that we wanted to be informed by the responses to the RFP, paired with neighborhood input – which is why we are considering the tweaks staff is proposing now that we have responses from the development community. We had a lengthy discussion about the proposed regulations, what is and isn’t changing, and how to make sure the zoning supports the affordable housing goals we’ve been working toward. The Planning Commission input was particularly useful because this is exactly the kind of policy work where having another public body makes the deliberations and eventual code changes stronger.

Read on for more nuts-and-bolts items that I actually think are more interesting and impactful to all of Falls Church – Broad Street multimodal project that will start next year, whether we should allow Pilates studio to open at the Broad and Washington project, and a tenant relocation policy. These are the topics that make up a lot of the day-to-day work of your City government: transportation, economic development, housing.

I also spent Wednesday morning in DC – I was invited by the Council of State Governments to kick off their convening of state legislators across the US. It was fun to brag a bit about the Little City, offer a perspective on housing policy, and the collaboration needed between local and state levels. The challenges in Falls Church and Virginia are largely the same across the US, so it’s important to learn from each other.

Take care,
Letty

PS – Another busy weekend coming up. Join me here on Saturday and here on Sunday!

What Happened This Week:

(1) West Broad Street Multimodal Project

Ahead of authorizing the construction contract next week (this project uses VDOT dollars), we got a refresher on the Broad Street Multimodal improvements on Broad St, between West St and Virginia Ave. The project will bring wider, 10-foot sidewalks (where sidewalks have not yet been upgraded), safer and more accessible crossings at five intersections, curb extensions, ADA-compliant ramps, and a new mid block pedestrian-activated HAWK signal between Pennsylvania Ave and Virginia Ave. Construction is currently expected to begin in February 2027 and take one year, The goal is pretty straightforward: make it safer and easier to walk along this stretch of Broad Street while supporting the businesses and activity along the corridor.

(2) A little more flexibility at Broad & Washington?

City Council also reviewed a request to amend the voluntary concessions for the Broad & Washington development to allow a Pilates studio in one of the ground-floor retail spaces. As a primer – “voluntary concessions” are the community benefits a developer offers to the city and commits to as part of development process in mixed use projects. VCs contain everything from green building requirements, affordable housing, streetscape improvements at the project, and traditionally, the allowed and prohibited uses in their commercial areas.

The applicant contends that their final retail space, between Whole Foods and Little Beast, has has been difficult to lease to the types of uses originally contemplated (restaurant use), and the proposed change would affect about 2,800 square feet. They would like relief from that VC and instead allow a fitness use which city staff supports.

Letty’s Quick Thoughts: I generally support the idea that we become more market-responsive vs prescriptive in what should go in our ground floor uses. While it’s great to encourage diverse commercial uses we don’t have to create a more complete city, government isn’t the most attuned to changing market forces. For example, in our list of prohibited uses – which are at least 10+ years old and have generally been recycled with each project – we list arcades and roller rinks as prohibited uses. Perhaps those were not desired uses 20 years ago, but I think would be great entertainment options in the city now!

To be fair, fitness uses may not bring in as much revenue as other uses – and fiscal impact is a key part of our decision-making – but I also believe that good public policies should be more holistic than just financial.

(3) Tenant Relocation

We also continued our work on a city-wide tenant relocation policy. This has been through several rounds of discussion, and staff incorporated a number of Council’s questions and suggestions. The proposed policy would create a more consistent process for residents who are displaced by qualifying redevelopment or other covered activities, including advance notice, relocation assistance, help finding replacement housing, and a right-to-return framework.

Letty’s Quick Thoughts: New is the addition of a weighted priority system that considers multiple circumstances such as age, disability, income, children, prior displacement. While length of tenancy is an important consideration (ie, displacement could be more disruptive for long-time residents), I offered that it should be a tiebreaker so that acute, current housing needs aren’t outweighed by tenure.

(4) Virginia Village Zoning Changes

As I mentioned in my opener, we continued discussions on Virginia Village zoning changes, incorporating lessons learned from the RFP process that concluded this summer, as well as refinements from the previous work sessions. (Note as City Council and evaluation committee members remain under NDA regarding RFP responses until a comprehensive agreement is executed, we all are careful in how we discuss the zoning changes without sharing the RFP responses as covered under the NDA.)

Zoning is super wonky – so the quick TL;DR is we’re continuing to deliberate on max heights, setbacks, and parking requirements – all to continue balance the market’s perspective on affordable housing that is feasible (buildable + financeable) with neighborhood compatibility. If you want the specific details of what was discussed, Falls Church Forward offers AI-generated meeting summaries. This week’s is here. We’ll be asked to vote on another “first reading” next week in order to refer the zoning changes to the Planning Commission and then finalize in late October.

Separate from zoning, we will now begin negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding with Urban Atlantic, who we decided was the top-ranked respondent to the RFP, which Council is expected to review on Monday, October 5, and Tuesday, October 13.

What’s Coming Up:

Monday, September 28 – City Council Meeting*

Monday, October 5 – City Council Work Session*

Tuesday, October 13 – City Council Meeting*

Monday, October 10 – City Council Work Session*

*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 Fall Office Hours:

Tuesday, October 20 – 630-8 pm (The Cheese Cartel)

Wednesday, November 18 – 630-8 pm (Lucky Thai)