February 11 - 17, 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. XXV NO. 51
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Strap on your bibs and get ready for a week full of fantastic dining options in and around The Little City; the dates for Falls Church Restaurant Week 2016 have been announced for March 14 - 20.
Lobbyists Scramble in Richmond as Beyer Wins Predatory Towing Law Towing Reps Now Anxious to Meet With State Solons
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
SEE FOOD NEWS, PAGE 23
the City to take the lead on redevelopment” by “prioritizing public investments and showing desired development to private investors,” concerned stakeholders mostly, because it suggested to constrain height limits in key areas of the West Broad strip between the 300 block at Little Falls St. and where the W&OD trail crosses W. Broad in the 1100 block. Since the Council gave a 6-1 preliminary approval to the West Broad plan, concerns for building
In his first public town hall meeting since taking office just over a year ago, held at Falls Church’s historic James Lee Community Center this Monday night, U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr. highlighted among his major achievements so far legislation that passed and was signed by the President last month to allow state and local jurisdictions to regulate the kind of “predatory towing” that has been a well-documented bane in Falls Church and the region. It suddenly created a hot potato for Richmond legislators, who were confronted by lobbyists for the towing industry for the first time this session as the result of Beyer’s new law. While no bills were passed this time, it was only to allow for the legislators to get to meet these lobbyists for the first time and to hear their side of the story, State Del. Kaye Kory told the News-Press yesterday. Beyer cited his legislation as what his predecessor Jim Moran tried for years to get passed. Beyer said he accomplished it by attaching it as an amendment to the highway re-authorization bill that President Obama signed into law in December. Introduced by Beyer and his Maryland colleague, U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the new law establishes that local jurisdictions, and not the federal government, will have the authority to curb predatory practices. A flurry of bills were quickly crafted to be presented to the Virginia State Legislature last month, with principal ones by Del.
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Nova Firearms, the former Falls Church gun store which relocated to McLean in 2013, returned to The Little City last Saturday when it opened a second location on West Broad St., across the street from St. James School. SEE PAGE 8
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As this primary season has gone along, a strange sensation has come over me: I miss Barack Obama. SEE PAGE 12
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Last year was the 50th anniversary of the The Wailing Wailers, the first album of The Wailers, the forerunner to Bob Marley and the Wailers that started in 1963. SEE PAGE 24
U.S. REP. DON BEYER held the �irst town hall of his �irst term in of�ice at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church Monday night. (P����: N���-P����)
Property Owners Look for More Flexibility in W. Broad St. Plan BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
INDEX
Editorial.................6 Letters...................6 News & Notes 10-11 Comment ........ 12-15 Sports .................16 Business News ...19
Calendar ........20-21 Food & Dining.....23 Classified Ads ....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Critter Corner......30
An unexpectedly robust outpouring of concern by property owners and other stakeholders on the West Broad Street commercial corridor of the City of Falls Church led to a decision to slow down action on the so-called ‘West Broad Street Small Area Plan” by the F.C. City Council Monday night, even though the plan is only a guiding document with no force of law. The eight-block strip between
the 300 block of W. Broad at Little Falls St. up to the 1100 block where the W&OD Trail crosses W. Broad is considered the most critical for intensive commercial development, having already experienced a considerable amount since 2002 and with more plans approved. The latest conceptual plan, the fourth to cover commerciallyzoned areas of the tiny City’s 2.2. square miles (following previous adoption of the others – S. Washington, N. Washington and City Center), is designed to “allow