What is the East End Small Area Plan?

The East End Small Area Plan (SAP) is intended to guide urban planning in the East End area, focusing on recommendations for public and private investments, infrastructure improvements, and zoning code changes. The plan proposes future land use in the area. (Note that small area plans do not require developers and land owners to act or follow the plan.)

Where is the East End Area?

The East End includes the Eden Center, BJ’s Wholesale, Koons Ford, and 24 Hour Fitness. The map (non-grey areas only) is shown below.

Why has the East End Small Area Plan been proposed?

The East End is one of eight Planning Opportunity Areas identified in the City’s Comprehensive Plan as currently underutilized. The plan is intended to provide an area-specific framework to guide reinvestment and redevelopment. The goal is to create a vibrant, economically viable, walkable, bicycle-friendly, environmentally sustainable, and resilient destination, while being mindful of not displacing existing small businesses especially in the Eden Center.

Less obvious in the plan is the consideration of revenue. The plan compares tax revenues generated per acre in the East End with other localities. By encouraging increased density, taller buildings, and reducing land being used as parking spaces, the intention is to increase tax revenues per acre.

What is in the plan?

The plan proposes future land use, organized into 4 nodes:

Green & Open Spaces – scattered throughout the area.
24 Hour Fitness & Koons – In conjunction with adjacent Fairfax county land, this area can potentially become a town center-styled development.
Eden Center – Enhance as a cultural anchor for the Vietnamese American community.
East of Roosevelt – Opportunity to consolidate this area for redevelopment.

The plan sets out several strategies for meeting its goals. They cover:

Infrastructure improvements – improve transit service, ensure accessibility to Fairfax County’s proposed Ring Road and future street grid, a greener streetscape, crosswalks, utilities, parking, bike lanes, parklets;
Zoning code changes – allow the Special Exception (SE) process to be accessed in the M-1 zone (Eden Center) that may allow for negotiations with developers to promote cultural preservation and enhance community benefit, impose a 15% tree canopy requirement, convert T-1 lots to B-1, and create affordable housing requirements; and
Support for business and economic development, especially in the Eden Center, to ensure that development does not lead to displacement of small businesses. An anti-displacement “toolkit” has been proposed, comprising strategies that include grants and loans to support legacy businesses, education and counseling support, Vietnamese-language outreach services, enhancing existing buildings, and establishing a list of registered Vietnamese community organizations.

What has been the response?

There was a community meeting to kick off discussions and gather input from stakeholders on the future of the East End on November 6, 2021. City staff then drafted a plan and presented it to the Planning Commission, the City Council, and the various advisory boards and commissions during the following year.

It was clear that the East End is strongly associated with the Vietnamese community at the Eden Center. Also, the possibility of displacement of the 125+ small businesses in the area as a result of redevelopment has become a prime concern. City staff launched a 14-question online survey, available in English, Vietnamese, and Spanish, from October to December 2022. They received 2,005 responses. The results were generally supportive of the plan but wanted strengthened language around the preservation of the Eden Center and the Vietnamese culture, anti-displacement strategies to address the rent affordability concerns in the area, and a decreased emphasis on new development, particularly on the Eden Center lot. The survey report can be found here.

At the Planning Commission’s January 18, 2023, public listening session, the Vietnamese community supported infrastructure improvements but worried that history would repeat itself. The redevelopment of Clarendon resulted in rent hikes that drove Vietnamese small businesses out of Clarendon and into the Falls Church Eden Center. (This history is available in this video and here.) Many criticized the City’s community outreach as having failed to connect with the Vietnamese community, many of whose members only learned of the proposal details and the listening session recently.

As a result, the City staff conducted four pop-up meetings at the Eden Center during March and April 2023. Staff discovered several misconceptions about the plan, such as that the Eden Center would be torn down and high rises built in its place. Staff were asked if the City owned the land or could implement rent control. Preserving the Eden Center and preventing the displacement of small businesses were the topmost concerns. The resulting staff report can be found here.

The owners of the Eden Center, Capital Commercial Properties, Inc, responded to say they have no plans for any change. While they generally agree with the SAP, they disagree on the renaming the area “Little Saigon” and have concerns about plans to narrow Wilson Boulevard.

Other property owners, Koons, 24 Hour Fitness, and BJ’s did not respond to the proposed SAP.

In the final East End SAP, June 26, 2023, staff report, the City incorporated several recommendations from the Vietnamese community and responded to the concerns of both the community and the Eden Center’s owners.

City Council unanimously (7-0) approved the East End SAP on June 26, 2023.

Where to get information about the East End Small Area Plan?

The Falls Church Pulse posts on the East End Small Area Plan may be found here.

City staff have created a webpage dedicated to the East End Small Area Plan, including meeting videos, staff reports, and other documents, and listings of past and upcoming meetings. This resource may be found at http://www.fallschurchva.gov/2128/East-End-Small-Area-Plan.The Washington Post published an article on the East End Small Area Plan proposal in its June 23, 2023, issue