Home Care In Falls Church, VA

Falls Church City Council discussed proposed legislation that would require policies on accessory dwelling units.

|Updated Wed, Jan 24, 2024 at 1:26 pm ET

FALLS CHURCH, VA — As legislation to require accessory dwelling unit uses in Virginia localities has been proposed, Falls Church City Council discussed Monday what it would mean for the Little City.

Accessory dwelling units, defined as a second living unit on the property of another residence, can be an option for an in-law or nanny suite or a rental. State Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-Falls Church) has introduced legislation in the Virginia General Assembly to require localities to adopt policies that allow accessory dwelling units on a primary residence's property. The bill says that localities could not require dedicated parking for the accessory dwelling unit or for the occupants to be related to the primary residence owner. The units' lot sizes and setbacks could not be larger than the primary residence. The proposed effective date of the legislation is Jan. 1, 2025, giving time for localities to adopt policies if adopted.

Neighboring localities like Arlington County, Fairfax County and City of Alexandria have already adopted accessory dwelling unit policies but not with the same guidelines as the proposed legislation.

Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Councilmember Dave Snyder, chair of City Council's legislative committee, said the bill "pre-empts" local discussions and decisions on the topic. He would support a longer-term study being done on accessory dwelling units.

"The big thing for me is I want us to make these decisions, and if it's informed by a state study of this legislation, then I would be fine with that," said Snyder.

Mayor Letty Hardi noted the Virginia General Assembly effort to precede local decisions on accessory dwelling units means localities aren't making quick progress to address the housing crisis.

"I think the fact that the state wants to do something about it, we should take that as a signal, right, because we've all talked about how this is a housing crisis, and we certainly feel that in Northern Virginia," said Hardi. "But the fact that the state wants to pre-empt some of the local decisions means this local authorities are not moving fast enough, frankly."

Councilmember Justine Underhill wanted to know how the legislation stacks up against existing accessory dwelling unit policies in local places like Arlington and DC. She has "conditional support" for the legislation, believing a regional strategy to tackle housing is necessary.

"Lack of housing and thus soaring housing costs cannot be solved by any individual locality, or any one locality to dramatically increase their housing supply overnight," said Underhill. "That could potentially have the impacts that some City Council members have expressed concern over, things like traffic stress and utilities, overburdening schools, but if our entire region synchronizes to increase our housing supply together, then none of us face those issues directly."

Underhill believes the bill still allows individual neighborhoods and homeowner associations to set their own regulations.

"This bill supports the rights of individual citizens, and I support that," said Underhill. "Some may see that as dangerous precedent of the state taking away powers from local governments. But by enacting zoning policies, local governments have taken away power from neighborhoods."

Councilmember Caroline Lian said she'd support a state-level policy to stimulate growth of housing units.

"I would not oppose this bill. I would just say that we work with them to do a study," said Lian. "We allow some flexibilities for local control, but I do not think it's wise to oppose it in totality."

Several City Council members mentioned how city leaders discussed having more community engagement on these types of issues during the transition zoning approval last year.

Councilmember Erin Flynn also mentioned improving local community engagement after the T-zone update.

"We've now seen that ordinances in Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax differ wildly from one another in terms of the parameters of what those jurisdictions are and aren't allowing," said Flynn. "And I think that it's prudent for us to have a community conversation that's informed by public input on these issues. Before we would support a state bill."

According to Hardi, City Council's consensus on the matter is that they want local parameters to regulate accessory dwelling units and support it being studied on the Virginia General Assembly level.

A new butcher shop is set to open in Falls Church within the next few weeks, giving Arlingtonians more options for high-end, locally sourced meats.

Brick House Butcher, owned and operated by brothers Afsheen and Arash Tafakor, will be located just off of W. Broad Street, next to Dominion Wine & Beer, which they also own. They aim to open the shop by the end of January.

The shop at 109 Rowell Court will offer an array of beef, poultry, pork and seafood products and a variety of homemade items — like crabcakes and meatballs — that are ready to cook or eat. It will additionally feature different types of compound butter made and sold in-house and will serve OddFellows Ice Cream.

The two butchers working at Brick House, Mike and Emma Ferguson, have a combined 23 years in the hospitality industry, including fine dining and livestock management, according to the shop’s Instagram account.

Afsheen says Brick House Butcher has a “farm-to-butcher-to-table” concept and will source meat from Virginia farms. The butcher will also find ways to use the whole animal, rather than focus on specific cuts.

“We’re a whole-animal butcher shop, so we’ll break down a whole animal,” Afsheen said. “We don’t just get, like, loins of ribeye. We have a lot of the parts of the animal that we gotta use.”

The brothers decided to open Brick House Butcher after noticing a lack of “old-school American butchers” in Falls Church, Afsheen said. The closest option is The Organic Butcher in McLean, a perpetually busy shop that serves many Arlington clients.

Afsheen and Arash grew up working at Georgetown Square Wine and Beer, owned by their father. In addition to Dominion Wine and Beer, they own Downtown Crown Wine and Beer in Gaithersburg and have plans to open a restaurant called Stratford Gardens elsewhere in Falls Church.

The butcher will eventually provide meat to Dominion Wine and Beer’s in-house, second-floor restaurant, as well as to Stratford Gardens, according to the brothers.

HITT Contracting, a national commercial construction firm, will relocate its headquarters to a 7.5-acre campus it’s building in Falls Church, Va., in 2026.

HITT received approval this summer from Fairfax County to develop Converge, an 820,000-square-foot mixed-use project on 7.5 acres. The project will add several buildings and nearly 3.2 million square feet of development near the West Falls Church Metro station.

As part of that, the company will build a six-story, 270,000-square-foot building at 7024 Haycock Road as its headquarters. The firm will focus on sustainability at the property, which will feature a 100,000-square-foot photovoltaic solar canopy, generating all energy needed for the building.

HITT Contracting will be moving from its current Falls Church home at 2900 Fairview Park Drive. The firm has 14 locations across the U.S.

“We’re deeply committed to being good stewards of the local community and the environment,” Kim Roy, HITT’s CEO, said in a prepared statement.

Additionally, Virginia Tech has leased ground-floor space for a Coalition for Smart Construction, which HITT said would train the next generation of construction professionals and drive groundbreaking research and educational collaborations within the built community.

Together, the two parties envision a nationally recognized innovation hub that will advance building practices and ultimately shape the industry’s future, according to Roy.

“As we continue to grow our presence in the greater D.C. metro area, creating innovative industry partnerships will enable the future of smart construction,” Julie Ross, the Paul and Dorothea Torgersen dean of engineering at Virginia Tech, said in a statement. “The partnership will provide our students and faculty with a state-of-the-art facility built for collaboration. We’re excited to see what we can do together.”

Designed by Gensler, the headquarters will feature collaborative work zones, wellness facilities, a 1-acre outdoor terrace with landscaping, a conference center and a café.

The greater development will include more than 55,000 square feet of urban parks, including a 1,400-square-foot interactive digital experience pavilion designed to be a nucleus of the community.

Keith Loria can be reached at [email protected].

Keywords: 2900 Fairview Park Drive, HITT Contracting Building, Julie Ross, Virginia Tech

The Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday will bring closures and schedule changes around Falls Church.

FALLS CHURCH, VA — If you're planning any errands or outings in between your Thanksgiving feasts, be sure you know the openings and closings in Falls Church.

City government, schools and other services will be closed on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 23 as well as Black Friday, Nov. 24. Services like transit and trash collection will be open with modified schedules.

If you're looking for things to do around the holiday, a Very Victorian Christmas hosted by the Victorian Society at Falls Church is scheduled on Saturday, Nov. 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit the Cherry Hill Farmhouse during this open house to view period decorations and learn how the Blaisdell family celebrated Christmas in the 1860s. Costumed re-enactors will be present to welcome guests and share holiday tradition.

Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Fairfax County government offices: Closed Nov. 23 and 24.

Falls Church City Public Schools: Closed Wednesday, Nov. 22 through Friday, Nov. 24.

Fairfax County Public Schools: Closed Wednesday, Nov. 22 through Friday, Nov. 24.

Courts: Commonwealth of Virginia courts in Arlington and Fairfax counties will close at noon on Nov. 22 and be closed Nov. 23 and 24.

Community Center: The Falls Church Community Center will be closed on Nov. 23 and open from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Nov. 24.

Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles: Closed Nov. 23 to 25.

Fairfax Connector: Fairfax Connector will operate Sunday Service on Thursday, Nov. 23. All Fairfax Connector stores, and the Customer Service Call Center will be closed on Thanksgiving. On Friday, Nov. 24, Fairfax Connector will operate Holiday Weekday Service. The Fairfax Connector stores, and the Customer Service Call Center will be open and operating regular service hours.

Libraries: Mary Riley Styles Public Library and all Fairfax County Public Library locations will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 23 and Friday, Nov. 24.

Metro: Metrorail will run on a Sunday holiday schedule from 7 a.m. to midnight on Nov. 23 and a Friday schedule from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Nov. 24. Metrobus will run on a Sunday schedule on Nov. 23 and Friday schedule on Nov. 24. For more information, visit https://www.wmata.com/schedules/timetables.

Post offices: Closed on Nov. 23.

Trash and recycling: City of Falls Church customers have collections on Wednesdays. Fairfax County collection customers will have collection services on Thursday, Nov. 23. Private collection customers should check with their hauler for any changes.

Two retail tenants will fill 19,900 square feet at the Crossroads Place retail center in Falls Church, Va.

Fortunoff Backyard Store inked a 17,800-square-foot lease, and will use the space to feature a wide assortment of outdoor and patio furniture, décor and accessories. The Houston-based company has showrooms in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Charleys Cheesesteaks and Wings, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, signed for 2,100 square feet and will open its restaurant in early 2024. The Charleys brand has more than 700 locations worldwide.

Levin Properties owns the 339,777-square-foot Crossroads Place, having originally developed the property in 1964. Levin Management, a separate third-party manager, serves as the exclusive managing agent for the shopping center.

“Having the most sought-after retailers leads to strong consumer traffic, which drives profitability,” Matthew Harding, CEO of Levin Management, told Commercial Observer.

Located at 3516 South Jefferson Street, at the intersection of Leesburg Pike and South Jefferson Street, Crossroads Place is anchored by a Giant food store, and discount stores Burlington and T.J. Maxx. Other tenants include Mattress Warehouse, Longhorn Steakhouse, Einstein Bagels and Quickway Japanese Hibachi. One 12,500-square-foot space remains available.

Rappaport’s Melissa Webb arranged the leases for Levin Management. Bryan Davis and Geoffrey Mackler of H&R Retail represented Fortunoff Backyard Store, and Davis and the firm’s Sean Harcourt represented Charleys Cheesesteaks and Wings.

More than 579,000 people live within five miles of Crossroads Place, according to recent Rappaport data. That population has an average household income of more than $186,000, and the traffic count on Leesburg Pike is about 38,000 vehicles per day.

Keywords: 3516 South Jefferson Street, Bryan Davis, Charleys Cheesesteaks and Wings, Crossroads Place, Geoffrey Mackler, Matthew Harding, Melissa Webb, Sean Harcourt