June 25 - July 1, 2015
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U.S. Rep. Don Beyer introduced the Keeping Guns from Criminals Act to close a loophole in federal law that allows straw purchasers and gun traffickers to funnel firearms to felons, juveniles and other restricted purchasers with little to no risk of being prosecuted. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 8
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Commercial Development By Metro Can Be Super-Dense, Planner Says
‘Stakeholder’ Ideas For Annexed 40 Acres Get Shared
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
With the recent opening of DGS Delicatessen in Mosaic District and Buffalo Wild Wings debuting on Monday in Skyline, the Falls Church area’s restaurant boom continues.
ish the parking deck, build a new one on the other end of the property and construct a new sanctuary building. Fairfax County’s Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross, who was aware the church group was looking for something in her district in that area, told the NewsPress that “there will be challenges for them” at that site. “There will have to be a close look taken at land use regulations and the
A veteran leading member of the Falls Church Planning Commission, included in an effort by consultants to the City of Falls Church and School Board to elicit comments on how to best develop the near 40 acres annexed to the City as part of the deal to sell its water system to Fairfax County, said Monday that if commercial development of 10 acres of the land was on the area nearest the West Falls Church Metro station, she would have no opposition to whatever height or density variances might be sought. That’s because that portion of the 40 acres, roughly constituting what is now the football field at George Mason High School, has no residential neighborhoods around it, at all, she noted. The Planning Commission former chair and current influential member Ruth Rodgers said that she would not like the idea that the 25 percent of the land that will be available for commercial development use (under terms of the sale) will be isolated from the City if goes over there. On the other hand, if proximity to the Metro station can provide for a highly-lucrative use, necessary height and density matters would not be a problem for her, she said. Rodgers made her comments in a small group meeting, one of a half dozen or so hosted Monday by the consultants from Cooper Carry and VHB. The succession of meetings were held at the School Board central office to elicit ideas about the development of the land from a variety of small groups of
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SEE FOOD NEWS, PAGE 23
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Hillary Clinton had an awkward collision last week juggling her past role as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state, her current role as Democratic front-runner and her coveted future role as president. SEE PAGE 15
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The Quebe Sisters have been playing music together virtually their entire lives. In 1998, they attended a fiddle competition and decided that’s what they wanted to do with their lives. SEE PAGE 25
FALLS CHURCH PLANNING Commissioner Ruth Rodgers (rear right) looks on as Paul Moyer of VHB reaches across the table to point out a site on the aerial photo of the nearly 40 acres recently annexed by the City of Falls Church as part of the deal to sell the City’s water system to Fairfax County. (P����: N���-P����)
Expelled from Historic Church, Anglicans Buy a New Home BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
INDEX
Editorial.................6 Letters...................6 News & Notes 12-13 Comment .......14-17 Sports ................19 Calendar ........20-21
Food & Dining.....23 Classified Ads ....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Business News ...30 Critter Corner......30
The Falls Church Anglican, the large congregation of defectors from the Episcopal Church denomination who occupied but was eventually forced by the courts to vacate the historic Falls Church site on S. Washington St., has bought a new five-acre location at 6565 Arlington Blvd. within a mile of its former site in Fairfax County. The Rev. John Yates, who led
the congregants en masse out of the Episcopal Church in 2006 but occupied the F.C. church property for over six years, announced to his flock last week that the closing on the new property was completed, and now the hurdles associated with permits and licensing from the county will be pursued. The property, on Route 50 at the intersection of S. Cherry Street, is currently home to a fourstory commercial office building and a two-story parking deck. Preliminary plans are to demol-