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,

Our last City Council meeting of the summer was a long one. While actual business on the agenda was light – it was City Manager Wyatt Shields’ final meeting, plus we received extensive public comment and the quarterly deep dive on capital projects is always interesting. Read on for highlights on various capital projects – including the first-ever roundabout and recommendations from a police organizational assessment. We also got a process update on Virginia Village, whose RFP responses are under evaluation right now. Finally, I’ll include snippets of business updates and openings around the city, including Wonder – which has opened in the space of beloved, former Browns Hardware.

For any new readers – I don’t attempt to summarize all that is happening on our dockets – you can always see the full agendas and staff reports, watch the recorded meetings, or read summaries about City meetings – these are AI-generated summaries, without any bias, based on the meeting recordings and transcripts (full disclosure, I’m a member of Falls Church Forward).

I hope you have a good long weekend – we’ve canceled our work session next week with the holiday weekend so we’ll be back on September 14 and my posts will resume that week. I look forward to hearing your input – besides official City meetings, you can catch me 1:1 at my office hours (schedule below) or via email. I’ve been writing and holding office hours for 11 years now to keep you engaged, share my point of view and hear yours before votes, and to keep government accessible – in a city so small, you should have a regular, direct line into your local government! Along those lines – strong local journalism is the backbone of democracy and part of the secret sauce of Falls Church. I’ve seen firsthand how misinformation (or lack of information) derails important community priorities. I am grateful we have smart, committed neighbors who want to keep it going so please share your input here.

Best,
Letty

What Happened This Week:

(1) CIP Updates

It was a pretty infrastructure-heavy Council meeting this week – which may not sound terribly exciting, but these are the kinds of projects that are the most visible deployment of tax dollars and shape Falls Church for years to come. A relatively new concept a few years ago, we now discuss our CIP (Capital Improvements Program) once a quarter outside of budget season. The CIP is the City’s long-term capital wish list and investment plan. It covers the big, expensive things that have a useful life beyond a single budget year: roads, sidewalks, stormwater infrastructure, public facilities, vehicles, parks and other major investments.

The current six-year CIP represents roughly $163M in planned capital investments, with transportation making up a particularly large share. And importantly, about 60% of the overall CIP is supported by grants and other outside funding. That matters because we are a very small city with a very big-city infrastructure bill.

We have aging roads and sidewalks, stormwater challenges, facilities that need investment, and a growing list of projects that make it safer and easier to walk, bike, drive and take transit around town. The goal isn’t simply to build new things—it’s to take care of what we already have while making smart investments in what comes next. That’s not always the most glamorous work of local government but it’s some of the most important.

Our first roundabout is finally taking shape

If you’ve been through the Maple Ave and Annandale Rd intersection lately, you have probably noticed that the intersection looks… different.

As of Monday, August 31, the traffic signals have been removed and the new traffic pattern is officially in effect. The orange barrels are currently outlining what will soon be our first roundabout. We are now in the final phase of construction, with the center median, lighting, paving and new crosswalks still to come. And yes, I know: driving through a roundabout for the first time can be harrowing.

The basic rule is simple: slow down, yield to vehicles already in the roundabout, enter when there is a safe gap, and travel counterclockwise to your exit. And please watch carefully for pedestrians and people biking in the crosswalks. The new intersection will include pedestrian refuge islands, ADA ramps, improved sidewalks and flashing beacons. The roundabout is designed to reduce conflict points and slow traffic through the intersection, making it safer for everyone—not just people behind the wheel. You can find more information and why they’re safer when we first discussed this roundabout in my January 2022 post!

Construction began back in July 2025, so I know it has felt like a very long time coming. We’re getting close to the finish line now, with construction expected to wrap up this fall. Thank you to everyone who has navigated the construction with patience.

Other projects underway and coming soon

You can also read status updates on the Greening of Lincoln project (yes, also messy and disruptive with Lincoln Park closing soon) and the intersection upgrades at Columbia/Washington and others. We have several projects that are short funding or are delayed due to right of way acquisitions (ie, we need permission from nearby property owners to improve the public infrastructure on their properties) or Dominion Energy work.

Finally – pay attention to Broad St. Likely starting early in 2027, the Broad Street Multimodal project will widen and upgrade pedestrian facilities and sidewalks on Broad St between West and Virginia, including a much-desired mid block crossing between Virginia and Pennsylvania.

(2) Police Organization Recommendations

Chief Fard shared recommendations from an organizational assessment for our Police Department. I always appreciate that we’re thinking about how to do things better vs resting on our laurels. The full study and recommendations are here, with the shorter presentation that Council heard here. Among the recommendations:

• Patrol operations: Community-generated workload averages approximately 13 calls per day. Response times are strong and officers have approximately 84% proactive capacity—well above the 50% threshold at which staffing increases would be recommended. The recommendation is not to add patrol officers, but to restructure from a two-shift to a three-shift model with staggered overlap, adding two lieutenant positions as watch commanders for two platoons.
• Investigations: Current detective staffing is insufficient; the study recommends adding two detectives and shifting to four-day, 10-hour shifts to extend availability Monday through Friday.
• Community support: Recommends creating a sergeant position to provide first-line supervision; recommends reducing one photo enforcement position and redirecting that capacity to social media and community outreach.
• Emergency Communications Center: Recommends adding eight technicians (for a total of 14 technicians and two supervisors).
• Administrative services: Recommends creating a full-time public information officer, adding one records specialist, and establishing a police accreditation specialist position.

More to come as it will need further Council discussion if there are headcount and budget implications – 12 net new positions is a significant impact if that can’t be achieved with reorgs, attrition, etc

(3) Business Updates

At the EDA’s meeting this week – among other updates, there are some changes and moves at Founders Row – Nue is expanding and Roll Play will be moving closer to West St. I also regularly field questions about the status of Sweet Leaf, Dark and Unbound, and there’s new exciting news from Dogwood Tavern.

On Wednesday, we welcomed Wonder at the corner of Broad and Washington, the space of the beloved, former Browns Hardware. We’re always happy to add new businesses of all kinds to Falls Church. I appreciated the early outreach from the team at Wonder when I was able to share the significance of this corner and they were open to the idea of the mural, recognizing how Browns Hardware was such a meaningful part of this community.

I know many of us were sad to see Browns close and wish it could have stayed open another 142 years. But like all things – time marches on and it’s up to us to determine how we want the community to change. Lamenting about change doesn’t stop it – it just puts you on the sidelines. Two things can be true: we can honor history and welcome change at the same time. I hope the Wonder team will keep looking for other ways to acknowledge the importance of their new home. I think that starts by serving the community with the same reliable, steady, and helpful service Browns was known for.

And more importantly, I encourage the community to keep supporting, shopping, and eating at the businesses you value so they stick around.

What’s Coming Up:

Monday, September 14 – City Council Meeting*

Monday, September 22 – City Council Work Session*

Monday, September 28 – City Council Meeeting*

Letty’s Fall Office Hours:

Tuesday, September 15 – 630-8 pm (Dogwood Tavern)

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

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