September 28 October 4, 2023
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Founded 1991 • V o l . X X X III N o . 33
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Plans Set for Renovation Of Motel Site Downtown
A Rainy, Happy Festival
A Plethora of New Eateries At Redone Locations Due by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
On top of all the new largescale mixed use projects recently completed or now going up around the City of Falls Church’s 2.1 square miles, there are four crowd-pleasing renovations of existing commercial sites that have either just opened or will in the immediate period ahead. All involve food. Opening this week has been the Godfrey’s Bakery Cafe at 421 W. Broad Street which launched this Tuesday as a key aspect of the handsome new Meeting House building, former site of the Falls Church Florist, that also includes a renovated hotel and beer garden. A “family and friends” staff recognition and training event kicked it off last weekend, and now the family-run operation boasts sourdough bread from a 150-yearold starter and levain (look it up) are added to old-world artisanal techniques and farm-fresh ingredients, says the management. Coming in just a couple weeks now is the revamped restaurant replacing the Liberty Barbecue at the corner of W. Broad and N. Virginia now known as “The Falls.” Its signage is already up. By the same people who set up the Liberty Barbecue not long ago, this new iteration will still feature slow smoked brisket, pork and ribs, adding trout filets, blue crab bisque, and array of unique salads and sides. Their sampling booth at
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IT WAS OVERCAST and a little rainy on Sunday, but the party went on in Falls Church for the annual Fall Festival and Taste of Falls Church. The weather did not deter those who set out to show up and enjoy the event. See Page 18 for Winners of the Taste of Falls Church. (Photo: Gary Mester)
Finally! Pro-HousingT-Zone Reforms Get OK, 5-2 by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
After over two years and two dozen public hearings, the Falls Church City Council gave its final approval to a change in the City’s transitional zones rules that will allow for more diverse housing by a 5-2 vote Tuesday night. It comes as a welcome opportunity for those who are put off by the fact that the average price of a single family home in the City is approaching $900,000. Strident opposition from some citizens, including Mayor David Tarter and Council member David Snyder, failed to change the minds of the five members of the Council who stood firm in their votes from the time they gave preliminary approval earlier in the summer. Vice Mayor Letty Hardi was joined once again by colleagues Marybeth Connelly,
Phil Duncan, Debbie Shantz-Hiscott and Caroline Lian once again to cast “yes” votes to secure passage of the changes. Heightened acrimony once again characterized last night’s hearing, as Snyder, insisting the changes have “fatal flaws” and failing to get any votes for his motion to table the matter, called his vote the most consequential in his two dozen years on the Council and Shantz-Hiscott assailed those who called her actions unethical or negligent. Such remarks, many of which were conveyed to Council members through emails, she said, were “untrue and unkind.” This new policy “will allow for all types of housing, and housing matters,” she said. The options for condos, duplexes and “two over two” housing “is something we all desperately need and want” said Hardi. She said
“the risk of inaction is greater” and assured opponents that “the sky will not fall” as a result of the vote. “At the heart of opposition to this is fear,” she said. Although a lot of the new housing still won’t be cheap, she acknowledged, it will nonetheless offer the option for “starter homes” for many. Connelly said that the issue was “unnecessarily divisive,” and safeguards were built in to insure there would be no more unsightly developments like some feel the backside of The Spectrum has brought to Park Avenue. “This vote is a good move for Falls Church,” she said. Lian, the newest member of the Council, said the process and final vote make her “proud to be a citizen of Falls Church,” because so many were vocal and passionate about the future of the City, and driven by “a very noble intent.” The changes, she
said, “will be incrementally beneficial.” Duncan said “there is hardly anything good that happens without strong disagreements,” and that “there were thoughtful pro and con arguments,” but the vote “tackled the issue of housing” in the context of “good progress on affordable housing.” He said he felt “the heavy weight of our posterity” in the vote. Tarter, in casting the only ‘no’ vote besides Snyder, said the measure was “not yet ready,” and cited the near thousand residential units now or soon to be under construction in the City. There was another strong contingent of citizens who spoke out prior to the vote, split between opponents to the changes such as former mayor Nader Baroukh and Council candi-
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