The Falls Church City Council Monday night formally adopted two new Comprehensive Plan chapters that will guide the development of City policy in their respective areas for the next few years. The chapters, on Housing and Demographics, have been studied and evaluated by the Council and City staff in recent months, and nothing in them represented any surprises Monday.
The housing chapter, in deliberations over its development in recent months, has been a lightning rod for growing concerns over the affordable housing crisis facing the City and the region, and while an array of possible approaches to addressing the crisis, including the promotion of auxiliary dwelling units, are included in the chapter, they’re all presented as mere potential options with no definitive mandates or recommendations.
The chapter on demographics involves the adoption of a study done earlier this year that, among other things, recognizes that Falls Church is the fastest growing jurisdiction in the region of new single housing occupants.
The Council also gave a preliminary approval to a change in the name of the City’s Tree Commission to Urban Forestry Commission. That change will become official when the Council reconvenes for its next business meeting after Labor Day.
The Council’s Economic Development committee will meet next Monday at 10 a.m., with issues on its plate such as the recent vacancy of the Mad Fox Brewing Company and Locker Room sports bar spaces in the downtown area of the City.
