December 1 – 7, 2016
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I No. 41
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Thanksgiving Homicide At Skyline Apartment Three suspects are in custody and a fourth is still at large in the case of a homicide at a Falls Church apartment complex on Thanksgiving Day. See News Briefs, page 8
Holiday Lights: Digital or Analog?
Inside the winter edition of the News-Press Real Estate Guide inside, we look at new holiday light technology, a housing project proposal and more.
F.C. Council OKs 2 New Incentives To Spur Commercial Growth in City Light it Up!
Residential Cottages Proposal Also Gets Preliminary Approval
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
a few blocks south of the VDOT’s proposal., where the W&OD trail currently crosses Route 29 (N. Washington inside the City) at the on-ramp to Exit 69 of I-66. The City plan, part of its effort to come up with a so-called “Greenest Street” game plan for upgrading the three-mile portion of the W&OD Trail that comes
Monday night the Falls Church City Council gave final approval to a pair of ordinances designed to further incentivize commercial development in the City. The first provided a tax abatement for improvements or new developments to all-commercial office structures in the City, and the second to redefine the conditions under which technologyrelated commercial entities in the City can also qualify for tax abatements. It was made clear in the meeting that these abatements would apply only in cases where no taxes are currently coming in, at all, so there is no “give away” in that sense. An earlier 1996 City ordinance on office space tax abatements was aimed only at limiting the vacation of certain sites, but the new ordinance, at the recommendation of the City’s Economic Development Authority aligned that program with “current City objectives to encourage higher commercial density, expand the commercial base, encourage land consolidation and increase the inventory of office spaces” by “encouraging developer investment in commercial properties,” according to a City staff report. A motion to amend the measure to place a 10-year “sunsetting” limit on the incentive was defeated by the Council in a tight 4-3 vote, with Mayor David Tarter, David Snyder and Karen Oliver voting in favor, and then the measure passed unanimously 7-0. The revised technology zone ordinance also passed unanimous-
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See pages 15-21
Paul Krugman: Why Corruption Matters
Remember all the news reports suggesting, without evidence, that the Clinton Foundation’s fundraising created conflicts of interest? Well, now the man who benefited from all that innuendo is on his way to the White House. See page 14
Press Pass with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has been playing holiday shows for at least a decade now and its latest tour, the Wild and Swingin’ Holiday Party, is coming to The Birchmere next Monday. See page 29
FALLS CHURCH MAYOR DAVID TARTER (left), Santa Claus and a group of City children pushed down a plunger in a ceremonial act to light the trees on West Broad Street with holiday lights this past Monday. Upwards of 50 people attended the lighting of the tree ceremony including City Council members Marybeth Connelly, Phil Duncan, Letty Hardi and Karen Oliver. (Photo: Drew Costley/News-Press)
VDOT’s I-66 Revamp Includes A W&OD Bridge Over Rt. 29
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.12-13 Comment...14, 22-23 Sports..................24 Business News....26
Food & Dining......27 Calendar.........30-31 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........33 Critter Corner.......34 Classified Ads .....35
New elements of the coming eastbound widening and introduction of tolls both ways on Interstate 66 were spelled out by VDOT’s Amanda Baxter to the Falls Church City Council Monday night, and the biggest surprise was plans to build a bridge over Route 29 barely north of the City limits in Arlington to facili-
tate traffic on the W&OD Trail. Among other reasons this came as a shocker Monday was the fact that the City’s own staff had worked arduously on plans for a similar bridge for more than a year, a plan that was angrily shot down by neighbors and environmentalists, alike. The only difference is that the City’s plan diverted the trail to find a way to place a bridge inside the City limits at Gresham Place,