The History of Newspapers in F.C.

Editor,

I am writing to express my appreciation for the Falls Church News-Press and its over 30 years of service to the community. As a longtime newspaper reader, I have witnessed the evolution of the newspaper industry and the challenges it faces in the digital age. I have also learned much about the history of newspapers in Falls Church, thanks to the digitized newspapers in the Library of Virginia’s Virginia Chronicle.

The Virginia Chronicle reports that the Falls Church Echo was the first newspaper in Falls Church, starting in 1940 and ending in 1967 when it was bought by another company. The next newspaper was the Fairfax Standard, which started in 1946 and lasted until 1963 or later, as per the Virginia Chronicle. After that, there was no newspaper in Falls Church for almost 25 years until the Falls Church News-Press was established.

As a loyal reader of the Falls Church News-Press, I want to thank you for your dedication and service to our community. You have upheld the tradition and mission of newspapers in Falls Church and beyond. You have also proven that newspapers are not obsolete or irrelevant, but rather essential and resilient.

-Jacob Williams

T-Zone Ramifications Non-Conforming

Editor,

The T-Zone issue is indeed controversial.

But the cause of the controversy, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, is the result of a T-Zone approval process that is “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” and after watching the City’s “process,” I would add “shrouded in ambiguity.”

The City’s approval process hardly conveys confidence, including the fact that several of the T-Zone provisions are poorly written.

A provision that due to its ambiguity can have a significant impact is the issue of non-conformance. Under the current ambiguous and confusing T-Zone provision, certain existing homes in the T-Zone will be RETROACTIVELY and AUTOMATICALLY be redefined as non-conforming to T-Zone requirements, since they are not multiple housing units.

The ramifications of T-Zone non-conformance, again because of the unclear and woolly language, raises questions, including:

• Will the T-Zone non-conformance provision require that your home be sold in order to make room for high-density structures?
• What is the impact on your ability to sell your home or rebuild your home?
• Will affected homeowners be subject to fines and penalties for having a home in a T-Zone?
• What is the impact on the property value of your home?

So, please put yourself in the shoes of a T-Zone homeowner for a moment and think about that. You bought a home many, many years ago. Much of your personal wealth and financial security is contained in the market value of your home. But now, you are told that your home might not conform with the new and retroactively applied T-Zone multiple-family home ordinance!

Honestly, how would any homeowner in the City react if the value of their home might instantly and significantly decrease because of an ambiguous and not well-thought out zoning law that now interpret their home as non-conforming? Would any homeowner sit idly by and passively watch as a big part of their life savings evaporate into thin air due to the slapdash and ambiguous written T-Zone non-conforming language? I think not.

The City needs to pay attention to what it is doing and stop dismissing citizens’ substantive concerns, such as non-conformance, as “nimbyism” or opposition to affordable housing or diversity.

To allay the fears of T-Zone home owners, relative to this non-conformance issue, the City must revise the T-Zone provision to state that “the current design of every structure within the T-Zone is conforming.”

Until the City pulls away this shroud of ambiguity by amending the proposed T-Zone ordinance to remove this non-conformance concern, approval must be delayed.

-William Romenius