There will be a several-week delay, pushing the matter into November, before Falls Church officials return to the issue of accessory-dwelling units.
The request to hold off for an additional two weeks was made by city staff as they work through potential zoning language before heading to the City Council chambers.
The matter is now set for discussion at a Nov. 4 work session and formally will be considered by the City Council later in the month. It is another preliminary step; any final decisions are months off.
Accessory-dwelling units are ancillary housing on single-family lots. They are one tool being promoted as a way to provide additional housing options across the region, but have drawn brushback in some quarters for potentially making residential neighborhoods too urban.
At a recent debate between City Council candidates Laura Downs and John Murphy, the issue was front and center, with both candidates expressing general support for the concept but saying the devil was in the details of implementation.
Under the current timeline, any formal proposal would be vetted by a number of advisory panels before circling back to the City Council in early 2025.
City May Seek More Housing Powers — Falls Church city officials may seek General Assembly approval for wider affordable-housing powers.
At an agenda-setting meeting led by Mayor Letty Hardi on Oct. 2, city officials discussed getting Falls Church added as a locality where broader powers are permitted.
Arlington, Fairfax, Albemarle and Loudoun counties and the cities of Alexandria, Charlottesville and Fairfax already are included in Code of Virginia Section 15.2-2304, which provides the broader authority.
The matter likely will be discussed before city leaders next month zero on in their legislative wish list for the 2025 General Assembly session, which opens in January.
Virginia is a so-called Dillon Rule state, where all power emanates from the state government and must be formally delegated by the legislature to localities.
City Could Expand Restrictions on Towing — Falls Church officials soon may be mulling whether to enact additional restrictions on towing firms removing vehicles private property.
“Everyone in the region is evaluating it. It would be great for us to move on it,” Mayor Letty Hardi said at an Oct. 2 agenda-setting meeting with city staff.
The General Assembly earlier this year gave localities slightly expanded powers to regulate towing, including a “second-signature” requirement for real-time authorization of tows by the requesting business or parking lot during business hours.
“Let’s take advantage of it — we should take the authority where we get it,” the mayor said.
Any consideration of the issue would have to start at the city’s Towing Advisory Board, which currently has a vacancy in the towing-industry slot. Staff said applications are being vetted and a new member should be approved shortly.
That body meets on an as-needed basis.
Council May (Ceremonially) Rename Roadway — Falls Church City Council members next month may vote to rename a portion of Wilson Boulevard as “Saigon Boulevard,” albeit only in an honorary way.
City officials nearly two decades ago requested that the Virginia Department of Transportation unofficially rename the stretch of Wilson in front of the Eden Center (between Route 7 and Roosevelt Boulevard) in honor of the capital of what had been South Vietnam until its fall to North Vietnamese forces in 1975.
The end of the Vietnam War brought thousands of South Vietnamese refugees to the Northern Virginia area; the Eden Center is one hub of the community.
VDOT never picked up the ball, leaving the matter in limbo. More recently, during development of the East End Small Area Plan, the issue was raised anew.
If City Council members agree to the renaming, it will have no impact on street addresses, which would retain the Wilson Boulevard designation. Smaller Saigon Boulevard signs would be placed underneath those bearing the name Wilson Boulevard.
Consideration and potential action is slated for Nov. 12.
