Editorial

The Falls Church City Council made a stunning move Monday to bring an abrupt termination to negotiations with the Akridge Company about being the City’s “master developer” for a redevelopment and renovation of the City's downtown business district. And it’s very good news for Falls Church.

It’s not over for Akridge in Falls Church, and everyone who's dealt with them since they were the first company to show an interest in development here in the late 1990s hopes they will stay on to be an integral part of the City’s future. The company grew up in the D.C. area and has become an industry giant through hard and honest work. It just celebrated the opening of its huge Gallery Place mixed use project adjacent the MCI Center in downtown D.C., and has others underway throughout the Metropolitan area. They are a big player and could do a lot to make Falls Church realize its vision and become a better place.

But unlike before, Akridge is now not the only game in town. We've seen the rising tide of development in the approval of no less than four large-scale mixed use projects now in various stages of realization. But that is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Suddenly, Falls Church has been “discovered,” and is the latest hot spot for a development industry known for following trends more slavishly than some follow fashion.

It makes entirely good sense that the City of Falls Church, once feeling it desperately needed hand-holding by a “master developer” to encourage interest in development here, drop any dependency on a single company and begin to “play the field.” Citizens of Falls Church should applaud the leadership and gumption of City Manager Dan McKeever, the City’s professional staff, the citizen volunteer City Center Task Force and the City Council to act so boldly in their interest.

Now, the City will be able to modify and fine tune how it wants to begin responding to the swelling queue of eager developers now lining up around the block at City Hall. The first, and most important, task following Monday's brave action, will be to create a so-called “overlay” district covering the four-block development area that will define just the kind of look the City wants the area to have when it’s all done.

This is called “formed-based zoning,” and its a very progressive concept that, among other things, gives developers a clear picture, in advance, of what the City wants and what it's likely to approve or not. The citizens of the community will also have a say about what this “look” should be. Plans are underway to begin that work, which, in the interest of timeliness, should be done by the end of the year. This unleashes a mighty, new breath of fresh air that promises to invigorate the community, and speaks louder than words about how far we’ve come, and where we’re headed.