F.C. Council Grants Preliminary OK to New Mixed Use Project

A marathon session of the Falls Church City Council concluded at 1:48 a.m. Tuesday morning with a 5-2 vote of the Council to give "first reading" preliminary approval to a large, mixed-use project slated for the 400 block of West Broad Street.

Action on the item did not begin until midnight. With a couple dozen people still on hand to address the matter, the first speaker's greeting to the Council of "Good morning" drew considerable dry laughter.

A crowded Council agenda began with a one-hour exchange with U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, and included a lengthy consideration of revisions to the City's compliance with the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act that would up being tabled for future action. A long discussion of whether or not provision for a second new school should be included in long-term budget planning also occurred, with a 5-2 vote to comply with the School Board's recommendation to remove it.

The Council was unanimous in its vote to authorize the sale of $25 million in municipal bonds, as approved overwhelmingly by City of Falls Church voters last fall, for the construction of a new middle school that is already in its preliminary stages. According to City financial czar Shirley Hughes, the bonds will be sold in last March at an interest rate of between 5 and 5.5%, as originally projected.

But the 5-2 vote for a zoning change and special exception for The Pavilion at 444 West Broad, the meeting's biggest order of business, offered hope that the project will ultimately be approved by early March, setting in motion a construction effort that will yield considerable new revenues to the City.

After the vote to OK the $25 million bond issue, the later vote to preliminarily OK a project that could yield $1 million a year in net new tax revenues to the City's operating fund seemed in order.

The make-up of the vote was important, because of the zoning change required by the project. On matters of zoning, should the Planning Commission, which will rule on the matter later this month, fail to approve the zoning change, under the City's charter it will require a "super majority" of the Council to override the Planning Commission decision to give the project a final OK. A 5-2 vote in favor would do that, whereas a simple 4-3 majority would not.

Mayor Dan Gardner, Vice Mayor Marty Meserve and Council members Robin Gardner, Lindy Hockenberry and Ron Parson all voted to give the project a preliminary OK, while Council members Sam Mabry and David Snyder said "no."

But Snyder, in comments made later to the News-Press by telephone, said he wanted to go on record saying "I want to make this project happen." He said he wants "to make sure the numbers (of projected income) are real and questions being explored by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development are resolved."

In addition to the five "yea" votes on the Council, the most significant development in the wee hours was expression of support for the project from a wide representation of the community, including from a homeowner association adjacent the proposed project.

Representatives from the Falls Church Housing Corporation, the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Authority, and a number of citizens living near the proposed project spoke in favor of it, including former four-term Falls Church Mayor Carol DeLong.

"The project forwards the longest goals of the City," she said. "It will bring pedestrian life and vitality. I urge you to move forward."

Only one petitioner, a resident on Park Avenue, spoke out against.

Jan Zachariasse of Waterford Development that is building The Broadway almost completed in the 500 block of West Broad, offered the Council a "vision" of the kind of community The Pavilion, in conjunction with The Broadway and a recently approved similar project, The Byron, would create. "The City is in the process of remaking itself while maintaining its connection to its historical past," he said. "This is reflected in the architecture we've chosen."

"We will create a vibrant, urban, pedestrian-friendly project that will bring a `sense of place.' We will be a good neighbor to adjacent neighborhoods and will, with The Broadway and The Byron, bring a critical mass to become a destination location for people from throughout the region to shop and use the restaurants."

The Pavilion will include a total of 191 condominium units, including eight affordable dwelling units, along with 32,000 square feet of office space and 29,800 square feet of ground floor retail on 2.7 acres.

Larry Watson, Falls Church's Business Services Manager, reported that the City's economic model indicates that the project could bring in over a million dollars in net new tax revenues annually. This was compared to $308,000 annually from the previous project considered for the site.

In addition, the developers will offer "proffers" of cash, undergrounding of utilities and other amenities totaling $2.8 million.