Planning Commission Votes To Adopt Changes After Contentious Meeting
Last night, the City of Falls Church Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the proposed changes for transitional zoning, known as the “T-zones.” The meeting began with a presentation of a staff-amended version of the recommendations provided to the public at a community forum on Thursday, February 9. The meeting lasted nearly four hours, and included impassioned statements from both community members and Commissioners.
“What we do here this evening… it’s not the end of the process, as many of us have said here but rather, it’s a continuation.” said Planning Commission Chair Tim Stevens, who urged his fellow Commissioners to support the motion to approve. “I believe the zoning amendments will get better over time as we collect public comment, as we think about it, as council thinks about it, and we continue to work towards [what] I think ultimately will be a better solution.”
The proposed T-Zone zoning changes, if adopted by City Council on March 6th, will have completed the first of likely many cycles of review before a final decision on the future of the T-Zones is reached. If adopted, the next cycle will begin with a new “First Reading” by City Council, which would restart the Commission review, additional public town halls and community input before being returned by the Commission for Council review (multiple amendments should be expected to be included in at least the first few rounds of recommendations, likely necessitating the cycle to continue).
The News-Press will provide the final language of the approved motion once made available.
