LETTER: Please Support Falls Church City Businesses

By BECKY WITSMAN
July 10, 2012

Nearly all of us were impacted in one way or another with the recent storm. Some suffered through hot days with no air conditioning, some of us had to clean out our refrigerators and throw away significant amounts of food, some of us had to wait in lines to get gas and some of us spent money to stay in a hotel to try to avoid as much of the discomfort of it all as possible. Luckily, many of us were not scheduled to work over the weekend, when the storm’s aftermath and impact was greatest, so we didn’t feel the effect of the storm so directly to our paycheck.

But many of our “Little City” retail, service and restaurant business owners, managers and employees were not so fortunate and they are feeling the impact in many ways. Most of them could not open their doors for business over the weekend (and many into mid-week!) because they had no electricity. Consider too that the weekend represents the most profitable part of the week for many of our businesses. So, not only did many businesses fail to make any money over the weekend, they also lost money if they had to throw away any refrigerated items – like our restaurants, grocery stores and other shops that sell food. Employees who counted on income from wages or tips will feel the impact severely; many lost out on a significant amount of their monthly income. Our businesses also still have to pay their rent, vendors, utilities, etc, regardless of whether or not they had a good or bad weekend and paying those bills this month will no doubt be a challenge.

None of us could have prevented this most recent storm from doing the damage that it did, but we can all be mindful of how much our businesses would especially appreciate our patronage at a very difficult time.

Becky Witsman is Business Development Manager for the City of Falls Church

SATURDAY, 6/23: Washington Street Area Plan Meeting

A community meeting to kick off the South Washington Street Small Area Planning will be held on Saturday, June 23, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Columbia Baptist Church, 103 West Columbia Street, in the Fellowship Hall.  The purpose of the small area plan process is to determine community desires for development and redevelopment within the planning area.

For a map of the boundaries of the Small Area Plan, see http://bit.ly/Me0M6n. The bold section in the center, outlined in red, is the parameter of the study area.

At the meeting, community residents, property owners, and other interested persons will receive a presentation that includes existing conditions and potential redevelopment opportunities. After a presentation on existing conditions, attendees wil

l have the opportunity to ask questions and/or to provide comments and ideas on desired land uses, density, transportation, and environmental/open space features.

Attendees are encouraged to walk, bike, or use the parking lot behind Columbia Baptist Church. Entrances to the parking lot are off of North Maple Avenue and from south bound on North Washington Street (Route 29). Enter the building through the double glass doors closest to North Maple Avenue. After entering the building, the staircase and the elevator are in the hallway to the right. Take the stairs or the elevator to the second floor. The Fellowship Hall is across the corridor from the elevator shaft and the staircase.

Attendees are asked to RSVP to [email protected] or 703-248-5040 so the organizers can provide sufficient seating.

Washington Street Area Plan to be Discussed June 23

By FALLS CHURCH CITY COMMUNICATIONS
June 11, 2012

A community meeting to kick off the South Washington Street Small Area Planning will be held on Saturday, June 23, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Columbia Baptist Church, 103 West Columbia Street, in the Fellowship Hall.  The purpose of the small area plan process is to determine community desires for development and redevelopment within the planning area.

For a map of the boundaries of the Small Area Plan, see http://bit.ly/Me0M6n. The bold section in the center, outlined in red, is the parameter of the study area.

At the meeting, community residents, property owners, and other interested persons will receive a presentation that includes existing conditions and potential redevelopment opportunities. After a presentation o

n existing conditions, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and/or to provide comments and ideas on desired land uses, density, transportation, and environmental/open space features.

Attendees are encouraged to walk, bike, or use the parking lot behind Columbia Baptist Church. Entrances to the parking lot are off of North Maple Avenue and from south bound on North Washington Street (Route 29). Enter the building through the double glass doors closest to North Maple Avenue. After entering the building, the staircase and the elevator are in the hallway to the right. Take the stairs or the elevator to the second floor. The Fellowship Hall is across the corridor from the elevator shaft and the staircase.

Attendees are asked to RSVP to [email protected] or 703-248-5040 so the organizers can provide sufficient seating.

COMMUNITY COMMENT: Building Falls Church Together

By MIKE NOVOTNY
February 15, 2012

As residents of Falls Church, we are incredibly fortunate.  We are the beneficiaries of earlier generations who decades ago created something special – a small, personal place with great schools. Great local institutions were created around that concept, like Citizens for a Better City (CBC) and the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS), which have made our home even better.

And we are fortunate in other ways.  By geography, we have incredible assets.  Land within the Capital Beltway.   I-66 and I-495, two Metro stations, two airports, and the crossroads of two major thoroughfares – Leesburg Pike and Lee Highway.  We are one of the most affluent and best educated communities in the nation.  And we are surrounded by some of the best examples of new urban development in the country.  If utilized properly, through thoughtful planning and development, all of these assets can make our future even brighter.

High-quality development, however, has not always been our history.  Stretches of our main street are home to haphazard buildings and tired storefronts, there is a lack of good public pedestrian space, and there is an abundance of asphalt parking lots.  What we need is 21st Century planning that proactively addresses these issues and incorporates the spirit of the community.

For the past several years a number of us on the City’s Economic Development Authority have been pushing for “Area Planning,” also known as “Sector Planning”.   I wrote on this topic in an earlier article in the Falls Church Times in  2010.  Since then we are fortunate that Jim Snyder agreed to become the City’s Planning Director, and that the current Council has made Area Planning a priority.  Snyder is a world-class planner previously working  in Arlington who is now laying the foundation for Falls Church City’s first Area Plan, focused on North Washington Street.  The development of this plan, and others to follow targeting the West End, Broad Street and areas near Seven Corners, is extremely important if we are to take full advantage of the assets we have inherited.

Shirlington is an area far removed from any Metro station, but it has become a very dynamic place to live, work or enjoy dinner and a movie. Its strengths are a pedestrian-friendly area that supports restaurants, shops, and an artsy movie theater within a few compact blocks. The entire area was achieved through significant planning and related efforts on the part of Arlington County. The small scale of Shirlington makes it an especially good example for Falls Church City.

Clarendon shares some characteristics with Shirlington, preferring small shops and ethnic restaurants over shopping malls.  Its progressive design, mix of retail, and availability of mass transit makes the area attractive to young professionals.

Bethesda. Downtown Bethesda really came to life with Bethesda Row, built in phases beginning in the early 1990’s by Federal Realty Investment Trust.  Bethesda Row was a revitalization of a suburban commercial area into a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly downtown.  The design of the area and mix of uses provides a great example of how a downtown area can go through a complete transformation.

Ballston took a different approach and tried to create a “downtown” feel, with a greater emphasis on high-density office and residential, a shopping mall and hotels.  Many people think Ballston is too big for a comparison with Falls Church City, and I agree.  But still there are lessons we can take from Ballston and apply on a smaller scale.  For example, Ballston has achieved a nearly 50/50 balance between office and residential uses, which drives a significant portion of Arlington’s tax base.  Further, they are incorporating more street-level retail to enrich the area, and the County has modified its roads in the area to make them more pedestrian-friendly.

1. Develop the Vision, Allow for Variation.  We need to establish a vision for the City’s commercial areas, but still allow variation between them.  The areas near the East Falls Church and West Falls Church Metro stations, as well as the area near Seven Corners, have the best chance at attracting office space because of their proximity to Metro.  Areas along Broad Street, on the other hand, which have more limited land and are farther from public transit, could be more focused on a retail and residential mix.  South Washington has critical mass of land, is centrally located, and is buffered from most neighborhoods, which provides great potential for becoming our most urban and vibrant downtown area.

2.  Street Level is Important.  What happens at the street level of any new building is really important. This is the part of a development that people experience the most.  Both the “design” and “use” of this space is critical.  First-floor retail should be included in all new developments in our commercial areas, providing neighborhoods with amenities, encouraging pedestrian activity and attracting employers.  There should be high-quality design standards to ensure attractive storefronts with transparency, ventilation for restaurants, and the ability of retailers to be unique and successful.

3. Public Space is Critical.  Public space is also critical when planning an area.  Good urban public spaces have wide sidewalks, quality street furniture (benches, bike racks, etc.), well-spaced tree pits, pedestrian-scale lighting, and interesting art and signage throughout.  Travel lane widths should be squeezed down to 10-11 feet to slow car traffic and make room for bike lanes or on-street parking.  There should be more frequent and well-marked pedestrian crosswalks, sometimes even mid-block, and sidewalk bump-outs at crossings to emphasize the pedestrian over the vehicle.  Long stretches of sidewalk along Broad Street are too narrow and have long, raised planters that limit space for street furniture and pedestrian activity.  This actually encourage cars to travel faster.  It is not the design we want moving forward – we can do much better.

4.  Mix of Uses Creates Energy.  We need a mix of uses to help energize each area and to help build a commercial market in Falls Church. This means office, retail, hotel and yes, residential.  But any new residential construction should be designed for young professionals in order to limit the impact on schools.  Units should be smaller with a focus on one-bedrooms and studios.  Residential is still needed in a newly-planned area, as residents will support the retail in the evening while the office employees support it during the day.  Moreover, it attracts employers wanting to locate close to where young professionals live.

5.  Transportation Is Crucial.  Transportation is a crucial component of any area plan. For the North Washington area, for example, we absolutely must support the concept of the western gateway entrance to the East Falls Church Metro station, which Arlington proposed in its earlier planning efforts. This would significantly shorten the walking distance to the North Washington area and downtown Falls Church City.  We also need to contemplate future streetcar service, currently being planned and implemented in Arlington, Fairfax and D.C.

I think these principles are important and will serve us well.  But I also believe it is critical for planners to hear from others in the community regarding their values and desires.  Any successful planning effort must be a joint partnership between jurisdiction, developers and residents.  Creating this partnership and laying the foundation for a strong path forward is the real value of Area Planning, and I encourage all Falls Church residents to let their views be known.

Mike Novotny is a real estate development professional, a member of the Falls Church Economic Development Authority, and served on the City’s Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee.

El Zunzal Closes Doors in Preparation for Building’s Demise

By STEPHEN SIEGEL
February 6, 2012

The new owners of the Broad Street eatery El Zunzal shut the restaurant down last week as they prepare to receive a permit for the building’s demolition and reconstruction as the new location for the City-based Dominion Jewelers.

Dominion, located next door to the restaurant in the Old Brick House Square development on Rowell Court, purchased the El Zunzal site last year. They expect to receive a permit soon, probably this month, said Rachelle Barimany, daughter of the store’s founder.

The new store will house the jewelry business on the first floor and will have two spaces on a second floor for lease. The building will face Broad Street, unlike the current building, which faces the parking lot, and will feature a big Palladian window, which was suggested by the City’s architectural review board.

“We went through a couple of revisions, talked about a couple of things. The City gave us some really great ideas and collaborated on a lot of stuff,” Ms. Barimany said.

The upstairs suites will be 1,500 and 1,000 square feet — spaces big enough for an office or other retail establishment. But the owners don’t yet have an idea what kind of business they would like there.

In an interview with the Times last summer, Ms. Barimany said she liked the idea of a restaurant, which would likely be busiest in the evening when the jewelry store is closed, but there hasn’t been any more thought since on the topic.

“We’re open to lots of different things,” she said.

The site is unusual for Broad Street in that there is ample parking, making it not only possible but desirable to have multiple retail spaces on the site.

If all goes according to plan, they hope to finish construction and open the new store this fall.

Latest City Real Estate Assessments Up 4%

By CITY OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

February 2, 2012

The total taxable assessed value for all properties in the City as of Jan. 1, 2012, is $3,229,692,600 ($3.2 billion), a 4 percent increase from January 1, 2011. The City plans to mail assessments for 2012 by Friday, Feb. 3, so property owners should receive the notices on or after Tuesday, Feb. 7. Updated assessment information will be posted on the City website Monday, Feb. 6.
 
Overall residential real estate values increased 3.8 percent over the last year. Single family home values increased by 4 percent, townhomes increased by 4.3 percent, and residential condominiums had varying changes.
 
Overall commercial property values increased 4.9 percent since January 2011. The real estate value of multi-family apartments increased 5 percent, large office buildings are up 2 percent and large retail properties are up 2 percent. The value of City hotels increased 4.2 percent.
 
As set forth in the Virginia Constitution, real estate is assessed at 100 percent of fair market value. The City’s Office of Real Estate Assessment calculates property value annually using mass appraisal techniques that are standard in the real estate assessment industry.
 
Real Estate Taxes and Public Hearings 

The notice of assessment is an appraisal of the fair market value of the property; it is not a tax bill. Property tax payments will be due in two installments on June 5 and Dec. 5; property owners will receive bills prior to these dates.
 
The real estate tax rate will be determined on April 23, 2012, when the Falls Church City Council adopts the Fiscal Year 2013 Operating Budget and Capital Improvements Program and sets the tax rate. Public hearings on the Fiscal Year 2013 Proposed Operating Budget will be held on March 26, April 9, and April 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers (300 Park Ave.) To see the complete budget schedule, visit www.fallschurchva.gov/budget.
 
Assessment Appeals 

Homeowners wondering if their assessment is correct should ask the question, “Would my home sell for the assessed value if I put it on the market?” If the answer is “yes,” the assessment is probably accurate. If the answer is “no,” contact the Office of Real Estate Assessment at 703-248-5022 (TTY 711).
 
Deadlines for assessment appeals are Friday, March 16, 2012, for an Office of Real Estate Assessment review and Friday, July 6, 2012 for a Board of Equalization review. More information about the assessment review process is available online at www.fallschurchva.gov. 
 
Real Estate Tax Relief Program for the Elderly and Disabled

The City’s Real Estate Tax Relief program assists eligible City homeowners by reducing their property tax through exemptions (grants) and deferrals.
 
Eligibility requirements:
• The owner must be at least 65 years of age, or totally and permanently disabled;
• The property must be the owner’s primary residence;
• The combined income of all household members must not exceed $37,650 for exemptions (grants) and $75,000 for deferrals; and
• Assets must not exceed $540,000.
 

The deadline to apply is April 16, 2012. For more information and an application, visit or contact the Treasurer’s Office (300 Park Ave., Suite 103 East) at [email protected] or 703-248-5045 (TTY 711).

Falls Church Common Place – the Success Continues!

By STEVEN VALLEY
January 9, 2012

This month marks a year since the Falls Church Times reported on our own Peter Davis and his efforts to bring a new type of community awareness web site to life.  Falls Church Common Place is the brainchild of Pete and his partner Max Novendstern and they unveiled it here in Falls Church to considerable acclaim.  As of this month www.ourcommonplace.com/fallschurch has over 1,100 members who post news about garage sales, civic events, blood drives, book readings, home rentals… on a daily basis.  When we met with Pete a year ago, we told him we’d be impressed if his site got more than 200 registered members, guess we were wrong huh?

When you talk with Pete you can’t help but get the feeling that he deeply cares about connecting families, neighborhoods, and cities.  You can tell it’s in his DNA.  His father was a local activist and Pete is continuing the family tradition by creating a place based networking site.  Before we go any further though we need to be clear, Commonplace (CP) isn’t about social networking on a national or global level, it’s about something more intimate, something we can all understand – Who are the people raking their leaves 2-doors down from me?  CPs goal is to make sure that in this hyper connected world we now live in, we don’t become “neighbor blind”.  Or, to put it more simply, its aim is to be the front porch… the building stoop… the neighbors lawn that we can congregate at.  Once there we can share information about baby sitters, snow shoveling, trust worthy handy men, the need for a new stop sign on the corner of Pine and Lincoln, or info on good deals at local stores.

By now we’re all pretty familiar with how CP works, but for those of you who don’t here is a short explanation from the web site, Social Capital Blog, http://socialcapital.wordpress.com/tag/peter-davis/:

Residents can find out what’s happening locally or post about local happenings, needs (a good roof repair company, or interest in starting a Boomer ultimate frisbee league, for instance).  They can

-Ask to borrow a ladder or power drill
-Publicize a tag sale or block party
-Find out how they can take cooking classes
-Ask who has a used loft bed they can have or buy
-Find people and organizations with shared interests or hobbies around them
-Ask how to fix a pot hole
-Find out where their lost cat wandered off to
-Organize a service project

Users can connect one-to-one or one-to-many (to their neighborhood or to their town).  These one-to-many posts can either be a neighborhood post (e.g., do you have a lawn edger I can borrow, or offering babysitting services, or need someone to help me with my computers.) or a community announcement that notifies the whole town of some upcoming event.  Residents can also be e-mailed a weekly summary of key interesting posts and events.

CP has been written up in several blogs and has been featured on social media industry sites, newspapers have interviewed them, as well as local TV news shows, they’ve had radio interviews, and they’ve promoted themselves to local governments and at community gatherings.  All of the press seems to be working for them, as they move into new cities and set-up shop they begin broadcasting their presence and then they get discovered in the cities and states next door.

Burnsville, Minnesota CommonPlace: http://youtu.be/_PZ3rcJ8fv8

Marquette, Michigan CommonPlace: http://youtu.be/6yD_MCgyFBI

I sat down with Pete at Paneras on Broad Street back in August, he told me about what he and his team had been doing to both build and promote CP.  He told me that currently there were 5 cities that had adopted CP and that they would consider the effort a success when they had 10 cities under their belt.  Well as of November Our Common Place is now in 10 cities and growing:

1. Falls Church, VA
2. Harrisonburg, VA
3. Vienna, VA
4. Warwick, NY
5. Marquette, MI
6. Burnsville, MN
7. Golden Valley, MN
8. Clarkston, GA
9. Owosso, MI
10. Chelmsford, MA

I asked Pete if he was having a good time doing this and he answered with an enthusiastic “Yeah!”  He went on to tell me about the Memorial Day 2011 training retreat they had for CP student organizers.  The meeting was held locally here in Northern Virginia, Pete went on to say “Nine students were flown in from all around the country – Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, and of course Falls Church.  Of the nine, two gave up… kinda, we’ll see if they can get their cities up and running, the others were able to get CP going in their cities.”  Pete went on to explain “we consider a city fully adopted and bought into the concept when it has 6 posts per day.”  Falls Church City currently has 2-5 posts per day.  Pete told me that they had a lot of goals for CP in the next year; expansion, new features, expanded support for current markets, but their main goal will be to make our common place THE PLACE BASED community network sometime in 2012.

As we talked about the mechanisms his team was using to get CP to be that place based community network Pete told me some interesting anecdotes.  He related how the Falls Church Garden Club was discovered on CP, a single Moms group was started on it, people connected with yoga clubs through it, and how discussion threads on environmental issues took place in it.  He related a funny story about how someone posted a note on the Falls Church Patch, that note failed to get a response from anyone.  So, two days later, the poster wrote a reply to their own note that stated; “Thanks, but I got a response on Falls Church Commonplace”.

Commonplace has had many new features added to it in the past few months:  a groups feature was added in September to help add clarity to discussions and the directory feature was beefed up in October to allow for easier use, several more enhancements will be coming in late January so stay tuned.

So, ten markets and growing and it all started here in Falls Church.  I think it goes without saying that Pete and his partners have really hit on something.  It’s great that as a city we were able to help it get off the ground and move into other markets.  Pete has a year to go before he graduates form Harvard with a degree in Political Science but we all know what he’ll be doing when that day comes and we couldn’t be prouder of him.

Vacant Chicken Out Building is Demolished

By STEPHEN SIEGEL
Falls Church Times Staff

December 6, 2011

The vacant Chicken Out restaurant building, which has been empty since a fire there many years ago, met the wrecking ball today.

Well, it wasn’t a wrecking ball; it was a demolition excavator.

Either way, it’s the first activity in years at the building, which is slated to become a new BB&T bank branch when demolition and the subsequent new construction are complete. BB&T, of Winston-Salem, NC, will close its nearby branch in the strip mall anchored by Giant Food at that time.

It’s a lot of money to spend to move across the parking lot, but BB&T has been seeking to make that move for some time. They were looking for a more prominent location and the ability to have drive-thru banking, but their plans were stalled by city officials who deemed the bank’s plans for traffic management inadequate.

City officials also have been holding up a proposal by McLean-based Capital One to move its banking center from the 1100 block of West Broad Street to the prominent northeast corner of Broad and West streets — now occupied in part by the Sunoco gas station — because of concerns about traffic flow.

Likewise, officials declined to allow a drive-thru bank to operate in the old Falls Church Cabinetry building at the southwest corner of Broad and West when one or more banks inquired about the property, which has been vacant now for 23 months.

While some may criticize the city for making it tough for new businesses interested in a Broad Street location, adding drive-thru facilities would be a challenge at the already-congested Broad-West intersection. But perhaps more importantly, putting a small bank at either of the two prominent corners available there would ultimately shortchange the City coffers, because the zoning allows for much larger, denser, and lucrative development.

As many as five stories could be built at either location, possibly allowing something similar, albeit smaller than, the Gateway and Northgate developments that are approved and beginning to rise on North Washington Street.

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