T-Zone Town Hall Q&A With City Staff

Hosted by the City Council on March 21, 2023, this Town Hall featured a presentation by City Planning Director Paul Stoddard and City Manager Wyatt Shields. Residents again turned out in force to comment on the proposal’s missed opportunity to actually build needed housing, its strong preference for developers’ interests, and ongoing citizen concern about permitting extensive lot coverage and minimal setbacks that could compromise walkability, the tree canopy and the environment, and future development of an attractive streetscape that supports a vibrant street life.

The meeting started with a presentation of the proposal.  Below, we start the video when the public submitted their oral comments and questions.  A participant timetable is included below with a brief description of the comments/questions.

49:05Pete Markham: T-Zones will not promote vibrant street life because sidewalks are too narrow, big box buildings are too close. Canyon effect. It is not what the majority wants.
53:22Fred Thompson: If focus of initiative is housing, why has Washington Street been excluded when it has the largest T-Zone areas?
56:47Alison Brown: For flexible development. Any feedback from developers?
59:16Brian Reach: Concerned about Washington Street traffic and noise, need sound barriers. Sounds like Park is the new Main Street.
1:02:57Alex Strong: Potential consolidation of parcels on N Washington, currently with parks, mature trees, historic properties, and Sunrise Assisted Living. What is the impact?
1:10:49Mary Chaves: N Washington St already has a small area plan. Proposal is inconsistent with height limits in that plan. Suggest separate small area plan for Park Ave instead of same T-Zone code.
1:13:32Silvia Marm: 4- story buildings are not transition buildings for Park. Other T-lots are very different in what heights are acceptable. Founders Row type is not green, causing traffic issues. Plan should use 100-year storm as guidance, not 10-year storms as cited.
1:19:19Erin Flynn: T-lots are too different. Park Ave lots different from N Washington. Want use of small area plan instead. Is City Council saying “underutilized” because of revenue? What about the churches on T-lots? Not achieving goals of varied housing, streetscape for walkability, bikability.
1:28:31Peng Highnam: Wants SUP removed for setbacks. Park Ave T-lots in natural wet areas, need to focus on stormwater issues and to ensure conditions for shade trees to grow. New Arlington code implies multiplex housing possible with same size restrictions as single-family houses.  Why can’t that be done here?
1:42:06Karen Jones: Space professional – Falls church satellite images shows Falls Church has become an urban heat island. This happened in recent years, caused by an increase in impervious surfaces and loss of tree canopy. Need to future proof Falls Church with tree-lined streetscape.
1:44:48Kathy Thompson: Code changes renege on what City once told Broadway residents. It allows a massive structure that would devalue their property. Confusing proposal carving out different codes for Park, N and S Washington. Criticize process of coming up with proposal.
1:55:28Meredith Anderson: Housing Commission chair. City already doing a lot for affordable housing. T-Zone is about making small areas efficient. Is it possible to limit unit sizes for affordability? In theory it is possible.
1:57:45Grayson Timoner: Housing Commissioner, speaking for himself. Many young people are for this proposal but are too busy to attend these meetings. These changes would make our streets more vibrant. How can this make Falls Church more walkable like Old Town Alexandria?
2:01:02Pat Aburano: What is the recommendation for preserving existing mature trees? We need to keep tree canopy.
2:06:03Michael Doctor: Public Utilities Commissioner, speaking for himself. Don’t see requirements on building windows that face each other, or any references to buffer zones that are already required. Don’t assume street parking available to supplement residential parking. Allowing greater height (3-story townhomes) makes less affordable units. T-lots 3% of city, minimal impact on housing stock.
2:18:34Sandy Mitchell: 1 parking spot/resident requirement – what happens with overflow? Parking already an issue on Park, no parking available on N Washington.
2:22:20Nancy Ingrisano: The proposal is going to make Broadway properties less desirable if implemented. Has the City considered the financial analysis of this impact?
2:31:37Dee Lord: Where is the column in the chart for what the neighbors say they want? Who makes the decision that we are not going to negotiate with these folks? Who is representing the citizens? Where does the City Planner take the citizens’ views into account?
2:39:58Justine Underhill: What can be required as part of stormwater regulations?
2:42:14Fred Thompson: Graphic shown is not to scale. Nobody has asked us what we want on the site in a year and a half. The Planning Commission reacted to developers, but didn’t respond to 200+ of us. Broadway has spent almost $300,000 on stormwater issues. Have concerns about lot coverage in Park Ave lots. Need to explain Special Use versus Special Exception process.
2:49:36Pirouz Khanmalek: Owns Park Ave T-lots behind Broadway. A building close to Broadway would sit in total shade of the building. City is dense not because of developers but because of the City plan.
2:56:04Elizabeth Wilcox: If proposal says no residential on N. Washington, then is residential area 1.5% of the City? Is $800,000 units our target for affordable T-Zone units? What is the affordable housing plan? What research has been done on tree canopy and storms, especially around Park?
3:01:25 Alex Strong: The Planning Commission removing residential for 10 acres on N Washington, out of 24 acres total T-lots make this less of a housing plan even though staff was pitching it as such. What is the compelling commercial need?
3:03:08Debbie Doctor: Founders Row doesn’t have a tree canopy. What about the Broad & Washington project? Park is a parade street, needs tree canopy. Don’t need highrise with no canopy like Founders Row. T-Zone proposal will make stormwater issues worse.
3:07:36Kathy Thompson: Why are there not more townhouses built? Once City Council votes to approve, how long before code becomes effective?
3:10:28Michael Doctor: Does planning maintain a list of planning mistakes to learn from?
3:12:26Kathy Thompson: Everyone hates the back of the Spectrum. It was added after the plans were approved. Supposed to have been green space. The City Council said OK. I hope that was on your list [of mistakes].

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