Blog posts are the personal views of Letty Hardi and not official statements or records on behalf of the Falls Church City Council

Dear Friends,

Happy new year! I hope your 2025 is off to a great start.

We’re back from our recess (kind of) – with the snowstorm this week, we canceled our first City Council work session of the year and rolled the items into our meeting next week. A big thanks to our public works crews, public safety and first responders, and multiple teams across the city who worked around the clock to get the city and schools reopened.

With the devastating fires in Southern California, snowstorm, plus the beginning of the new year, I have been thinking about community, responsibility to each other, and intentions for 2025 – so I’ll also share info on related topics and musings. Read on for our winter weather central (especially ahead of a little more snow tonight) and snow removal policy that I’ve received a lot of inquiries about, and a reminder about Accessory Dwellings open houses. And IMO, a must-watch worth your 30 minutes.

Stay warm and safe,
Letty

PS – Listening and being accessible continues to be one of my priorities – check out the Q1 schedule for my office hours below if you’d like to meet me at a business and chat. We also hold “open door/ask the Council” office hours the first Wednesday mornings of every month in City Hall if you’d like to see us outside of Monday night meetings.

What Happened This Week:

(1) Winter Weather Central & Supporting Each Other

Bookmark Winter Weather Central, the city’s one stop shop on winter weather – including operating status, what happens to trash collection, snow emergency routes and more. This is a good time to sign up for Falls Church Alerts, the city’s official emergency communications system, so you don’t have to rely on social media, which can be spotty in reaching everyone.

Also I’ve been fielding a lot of questions and concerns (and have seen firsthand myself) about sidewalks and the city’s snow removal policies – TL;DR: residents have 12 hours after snowfall ends to clear sidewalks and businesses have 6 hours.

Letty’s Thoughts: the city’s responsibility is snow removal in the public right of way. As of this morning, I saw Public Works continuing to work out there, including clearing crosswalk ramps, which I know are just as important as sidewalks. I have been heartened by seeing neighbors collectively work together – clearing each other’s sidewalks, digging out cars, adopting bus stops and fire hydrants. And fun things like building snowmen and sledding ramps together! At the same time, I’ve gotten many alerts about various stretches of sidewalk that remain dangerous and inaccessible. Know that city staff have been reaching out to property owners to do their part. As we value our walkability and accessibility – especially for those who get around on foot – let’s live these values year-round. I saw too many examples where sidewalks were shoveled in front of businesses/properties but the “no man’s land” sidewalk in between the properties was left untouched. With some thawing this weekend, let’s all work together ahead of more frigid temps on the way.

(2) Housing

Accessory Dwellings: Join City staff in the Library on Sunday, January 12, (10 a.m. – noon) and Tuesday, January 14, (6 p.m. – 8 p.m.) for two separate open house sessions covering proposed updates to the City’s accessory dwelling regulations. More information can be found at fallschurchva.gov/ADUUpdate. ADs will be back in front of the City Council for a work session on January 27.

Affordable Homeownership: our fledgling affordable homeownership program has been delivering some real results – to date, we’ve created first time ownership opportunities for 7 families. If you know of someone who might qualify or would consider selling their home for competitive, all cash offers – please reach out to inquiries@fallschurchahp.org.

Explainer Video on Housing: if you haven’t watched any “explainer videos”, they’re short form videos that explain complicated concepts in an easy to understand way. And this one is by my colleague Justine Underhill about housing affordability is well worth your 30 minutes. The TL;DR – building more housing, even market rate housing, helps everyone – even low income and those experiencing homelessness. The video also challenges many assumptions you may hold. And if you’re a fellow nerd (I enjoyed the flashback to my math classes about R-squared) you can read all of the data sources and articles linked at the end too, some of which I’ve linked in previous posts. Kudos Justine!

(3) Supporting Local

With the immeasurable losses in Southern California, Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, and other humanitarian crises across the world, I find it helpful to take small actions locally to combat the despair. Whether that’s giving time or resources to local non profits that do important work, volunteering (a plug to consider joining our city boards and commissions), or eating/shopping local – you can make a difference and touch someone’s life here.

Restaurant Week 2025 is just around the corner – save the dates (January 31 – February 9) and start picking out where you’ll eat. And thanks to the Falls Church Independent for a fun conversation about why this new tradition is personally meaningful. Restaurant Weeks occur specifically this time of year when business is slowest. And especially when there is cold, inclement weather, we’re all more likely to hunker down at home. So if you have the means, venture out this weekend to support your favorite small business. Know that you’re supporting real families and livelihoods.

What’s Coming Up:

Sunday, January 12 – Accessory Dwelling Open House (10 am-12 pm, Library)

Monday, January 13 – City Council Meeting*

Tuesday, January 14 – Accessory Dwelling Open House (6-8 pm, Library)

Monday, January 27 – City Council Meeting*

Monday, February 3 – City Council Work Session*

Wednesday, February 5 – Ask the Council Office Hours

Monday, February 10 – City Council Meeting*

*Mondays (except 5th Mondays and holidays) at 7:30 pm. You can access the agenda and livestream here, including recordings of past meetings

Letty’s Office Hours:

Tuesday, January 21 – (9 am, Cafe Kindred)

Wednesday, February 19 – (5 pm, Harveys)

Friday, March 21 – (12 pm, Clare and Dons)