December 5 — 11, 2019
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d e d 1991 • V ol. XXIX No. 42
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Toy Collection Boxes Set Up in F.C.
The City of Falls Church is now collecting blankets and coats, in addition to toys, for several donation drives during the holiday season. See News Briefs, page 9
Police Warn of Phone Scamming
With Region’s Best Growth, F.C. Council Issues 3.1% Budget Guidance for 2020 CONCEPTUAL RENDERINGS
by Nicholas F. Benton
Scammers are spoofing City of Falls Church Police phone numbers to try a scam victims out of money, F.C. police are warning the public.
Falls Church News-Press
See News Briefs, page 9
Mason Mustangs Ready for Fall Season As the air gets colder, fall sports gives way to the winter season, with George Mason High School’s girls and boys basketball, swimming and wrestling teams all kicking off competition this week. See Sports, page 22
Addict-Turned-Artist Rewriting Life’s Script
Former heroin addict Eric Ryan is looking to channel his obsessive edge into launching a musical career he hopes will serve as an evolving memoir for his journey. See page 25
Index
Editorial................6 Letters..................6 News & Notes.10,11 Comment.... 12,13 Business News.17 School News.... 23
Calendar..... 26,27 Classified Ads... 28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword........ 29 Crime Report.... 30 Critter Corner.... 30
Formal Adoption Of Resolution Set For This Monday
B ROAD & WA S H I N GTO N A CONCEPTUAL RENDERING of Insight Property Group’s mixed-use development project proposed for the northeast corner of the E. Broad St. and N. Washington St. intersection in downtown Falls Church. Revisions to the plan include a 50,000 square-foot Whole Foods, which signed a 20-year lease in the proposed development last month, and the removal of almost all office space originally proposed. (Image: Insight Property Group) FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA — MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT
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Revisions to Broad-Washington Plan Spark Concerns at City Hall by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Changes in the plans for the development of 2.46 acres on the northeast corner of the City of Falls Church’s central intersection to include a 50,000 square foot Whole Foods grocery, remove almost all office space and expand its footprint to subsume the purchase of a City-owned surface parking lot. The revisions were contained in the Insight Group’s formal submission to City Hall early this week, and have already
elicited a lot of concern and comment. The changes to an earlier plan that won the unanimous approval by the Falls Church City Council in April 2018 are considerable and therefore will require another full deliberation, inclusive of public hearings and consideration by advisory boards and commissions prior to another decisive City Council vote. With the submission of the formal plan, roughly outlined by Insight principal Maury Stern in an exclusive to the
News-Press two weeks ago, City Hall will soon establish a date for an initial work session with the Council, but that is yet to be set. However, there has been considerable buzz about the new proposal and how it will fly with the Council, especially since the earlier plan for 100,000 square feet of Class A office space has been entirely removed. Of course, the major occupant of that office space was to be filled by Kiddar Capital, the now
Continued on Page 5
In a joint work session with the F.C. School Board Monday night, the Falls Church City Council resolved to adopt guidance for the coming fiscal year by setting a ceiling on budget growth at 3.1 percent, compared to 2.0 percent a year ago. The meeting marked the kickoff of the next budget cycle for the City and its schools, a process that will work toward a final adoption of the FY2021 budget by the end of next April and is expected to be the first operating budget ever in the City’s history to top $100 million. F.C. Chief Financial Officer Kiran Bawa reported to the joint session that the preliminary revenue forecast for the current fiscal year includes a 3.6 percent growth in real estate assessed values (3.7 percent for residential and 3.5 percent for commercial) compared to 3.04 percent for neighboring Fairfax County and between 2-3 percent for Alexandria. While real estate tax growth is forecast to be 3.6 percent, other taxes (personal property, sales, meals, business revenue and others) will grow by only 1.8 percent, such that total tax revenue growth is projected at 3.1 percent, or about $2.5 million. As the City is required by law to balance its budget each year, the 3.1 percent growth limit was then set at the end of a lengthy meeting of deliberations. The City also has the happy problem of divining where a $4.2 million surplus from the last two
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