A central point driven home at the annual planning “retreat” of the Falls Church’s semi-autonomous Economic Development Authority, where the proverbial “everybody who is anybody” attended at City Hall Tuesday night” was that time does not stand still. “We either grow or go backward” it was noted more than once.
Surely, it was an extraordinary gathering of persons who have been major contributors to the City of Falls Church’s astonishing economic development achievements of the last 20 years. They have transformed the Little City from “also-ran” status in the region to one of the most dynamic anywhere in the nation. The people who filled the conference room to overflowing at City Hall were in no mood for pausing the efforts here at becoming an even more “welcoming and inclusive” community in the context of also being “prosperous and desirable.” The City’s aggressive economic growth promises to not only pay for one of the best school systems anywhere, but also to continue to improve its infrastructure (sidewalks and other pedestrian friendly measures) while keeping taxes under control in the way no other jurisdictions are currently able to do.
City Planning Director Paul Stoddard’s presentation summarizing the developments now underway was breathtaking, and did not even touch on new prospects coming soon, including the latest, a plan for a mixed use building at the northeast corner of Annandale Road and Maple Avenue, adjacent the Harris Teeter. That new plan that will require a special exception from the Council was unveiled at the City Council work session Monday night, and was praised as a “laudable use” by Mayor Letty Hardi while still needing improvements.
Hardi’s presence at the EDA “retreat” Tuesday came with three other of her Council colleagues also present, namely Vice Mayor Debra Shantz-Hiscott, Marybeth Connelly and Justine Underhill, and Planning Commissioner Phil Duncan, all actively participating in the discussions. It bodes well for the future. Longtime EDA member Ed Salzberg noted that when Falls Church embarked on its development push two dozen years ago, “Nobody wanted to invest in Falls Church,” and that it is very different now. That was certainly how it was, as this newspaper can attest. The biggest development news in the city was a controversy that arose over the construction of a new Taco Bell and earned the screaming August 1993 headline, “Taco Wars.”
The identical “NIMBY” (“Not in My Back Yard”) arguments that have been repeated over the last two dozen years were used then, as well. Elements of the anti-development arguments that have been rehearsed countless times here involve claims like “it’s not that it’s a bad idea, but just not here and not now.” The claim is made that more study is always needed before a deciding vote can be taken, along with any manner of other delaying tactics. But despite all that, a solid majority of citizens of Falls Church have always stood for the kind of good developments here we can all be proud of.