During the discussions at the City Council and Planning Commission meetings, members and commissioners often lamented the lack of data and analysis. Citizens made recommendations and provided analyses, attempting to fill that gap.

City Residents Who Support Responsible Development presented recommendations for changes to the zoning code, read here .
In response to the City Council’s desire to promote non-luxury residential development on Park Avenue, W.F. Thompson made the case for a new code for a transition townhouse zone there, read here .
R. Brock, P. Bugg, M. Bugg and P. Highnam put together an analysis of Park Avenue lots that included renditions of how Park Avenue would look under the proposed changes, pictured below. Their work included a shadow study to understand the impact on developing a tree canopy. The complete study is available here.

By June 2023, the planning staff and City Council were seriously considering removing the North Washington T-lots and changing them to fully commercial business zones (B zones), similar to the properties on Broad Street, in spite of these lots immediately abutting single family homes. This prompted an outcry, best captured in this letter:

“Mixed-use developments such as Broad and Washington destroy the tree canopy and the vistas for adjacent homes. We cannot have more oversized projects irrevocably morphing the Little City into just another metropolis. Trees, grass, and sky matter for the health of all residents. In a two-square mile town, any development impacts us all.

Our safety is essential and should be a much greater factor in considering any rezoning. Our neighborhood has seen little progress in addressing the unsafe speeds of 70 mph clocked on E. Columbia last summer. The traffic calming case we opened in December of 2021 was shelved after an 18-month wait. The [Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program] NTC said they must focus on Greenway Downs. How can the city contemplate more businesses along N. Washington prior to addressing the existing threats? Resources are clearly already in short supply and thousands of cars are soon to be added to our street with multiple mixed-use developments underway. We cannot afford more B-zones on N. Washington, which would bring traffic and density that our streets, the NTC, and police department are unable to handle.

If you were listening to the concerns of hundreds of residents, you would:

• Write the ordinance to allow for smaller buildings – triplexes, quadplexes, and townhouses – this would address the Planning Commission’s call for “missing middle” housing.

• Pay attention to the City Arborist’s April 14, 2023, recommendation that proposed building lot coverage for T-Zones be reduced to 55% by-right, 60-65% under the Special Use Permit. Why do we have staff in paid positions if the Council then ignores them?

• Expand the parking per dwelling beyond one spot to not further impact streets plagued by parking and traffic issues.

• Listen to citizen’s concerns that allowable height, setback, and lot coverage exceed the boundaries of a reasonable transition between commercial and residential areas. It seems that the future residents of Falls Church along with developers matter more to certain Council Members than the citizens who pay taxes and vote.

Please take action to prevent the City from going further down the path of becoming a concrete corridor and heat island. Ensure that any changes made to the ordinance improve the quality of life for residents. We ask you to represent our interests and uphold your duty as elected officials for whom we voted.”

-Lauren Thomas and Anthony Cincotta, June 4, 2023

Falls Church News Press

Initially, the Falls Church News Press (FCNP) merely published a brief article mentioning the T-Zone proposal and its goals. No details were given. Readers wrote in to ask for more in-depth coverage. A piece entitled “Are We Paying Attention?” and submitted by Mary Chaves, Erin Flynn, and Lauren Thomas was finally published as a guest commentary on December 1, 2022.

An article about the League of Women Voters’ T-Zone Q&A session held February 9, 2023, appeared in FCNP’s February 17, 2023, issue under the headline “Big Turnout for Meeting on Changes to T-Zones”.

In the April 27, 2023, issue, Nick Benton, owner and editor-in-chief of the FCNP, published an editorial accusing opponents of the T-Zone proposal of NIMBYism, NIMBYs & F.C.’s T-Zones.

Edith Snyder’s response to this editorial, in which she challenged the editor for disparaging people who are advocating for a better statute, was printed in the May 4, 2023, issue. Letter to the Editor, Reflect City Values in T-Zone Debate

The FCNP reported on the June 5, 2023, City Council work session in the June 8, 2023, issue in an article titled “How Huge Are New ‘T-Zone’ Changes?”