The Falls Church Planning Commission will soon change from being a final decision-maker to an advisor for some new development projects in the city.
The shift in responsibility comes in response to new state laws, which took effect July 1 and aim to speed up the creation of new housing across the commonwealth. Under the new rules, many localities must move from planning commission approval of projects to staff approval of development plans.
Additionally, localities’ deadline to respond to development proposals is shortened.
City officials did not seek the change, but it’s “in response to changes coming out of Richmond,” said Matt Mattauszek, the city’s director of planning.
While the number of projects submitted for city action varies, a typical year brings “a dozen, maybe,” Mattauszek said at a City Council work session on Monday. Council and Planning Commission members met to discuss the changes before beginning formal consideration in autumn, and approving changes in December.
Once that happens, the Planning Commission will become one of several advisory bodies that will weigh in before the “designated agent” makes a final determination.
Other bodies that have advisory roles in the city’s process include the Architectural Advisory Board and the Urban Forestry Commission.
Across the commonwealth, various localities are being impacted differently by the new legislation, depending on where authority to oversee development is vested.
According to a Falls Church staff report: “A locality’s Charter takes precedence over the Virginia Code, while the Virginia Code overrules the local City Code, when terms are in direct conflict.”
In Falls Church, the city charter does not specifically authorize the Planning Commission to approve development projects, staff said. As a result, the changes in state law are applicable to the city.
Another change to state law made during the 2025 session cuts the amount of time a local government has to review proposed projects. It reduces the first review of a proposal from 45 days to 40 days. If revisions are needed, the deadline is shortened from 45 to 30 days for a second review and from 45 to 14 days for third and subsequent reviews.
However, the shorter deadlines may not apply to mixed-use development, which typically involves ground-floor retail uses with housing rising above it.
In theory, a developer in future could deliver a development plan to the city and demand a decision in 40 days or less — but the process generally is unlikely to work that way in practice. On more complex projects, developers typically meet with city staff well in advance of any submission, in order to ensure the paperwork is complete and can move through the review pipeline without delay.
City staff plan to provide future applicants with clear checklists in order to further streamline the submission and review process.
During the work-session discussion, Planning Commission member Phil Duncan expressed concern that the new legislation appeared to represent a solution in search of a problem, at least when it comes to localities that are working hard to bring in new housing.
The new regulations put communities like Falls Church in “a really tough situation,” he said.
“We worked so long here, for so long, to get the process we’ve used here for years,” Duncan said. “The point of the process is to get good development.”
He predicted the end result of the new state mandates will be “a dumpster fire.”
At the Sept. 15 work session, Mattauszek said additional zoning mandates may come out of the 2026 General Assembly session. It’s possible that the newly imposed rules could change in response to localities’ concerns.
“In the meantime, we need to comply” with the new regulations, said Cindy Mester, the city’s director of community relations and legislative affairs.
