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 Women’s History Month! A few years ago, I advocated for free menstrual products at our library public bathrooms (thank you for making it happen, Team MRSPL!) and I’d love to see this expanded at all our public facilities. As we reflect on this month and all the women in our community, past and present – it will be top of mind for me to continue to uplift each other and make room for more at the table.

This week’s post will be brief – a varied number of updates (emphasizing the diverse mix of topics decided at the local government level!) on new laws for pedestrian safety, what we do with decommissioned and unclaimed guns, and new public parking info. We’re also 2 weeks away until our part of budget season begins, with the budget presentations occurring at our March 24 meeting. The School Board is set to adopt their budget request of us next Tuesday night. And after a year of work, next week is also our final work session on Accessory Dwellings, ahead of our vote in April.

Remember tomorrow is a resource fair for federal workers and contractors, in partnership with Congressman Beyer, Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax County. There will be resources on unemployment assistance, mental health support, housing information, food aid, federal workers’ rights. We encourage everyone to attend.

Take care,
Letty

PS – With daylight savings time and spring weather coming, April will have a fun, new community challenge. Follow the city’s economic development page on Instagram for the reveal!

What Happened This Week:

(1) Stop vs Yield for Pedestrians

As pedestrian safety is the top issue I hear in the community, here is another tool we’ll be deploying. Being a Dillon Rule state, local governments only have authority expressly granted by Virginia, which means our hands are sometimes tied when we want to do more. The General Assembly granted local governments new authority to enact and enforce to address specific local traffic safety concerns. We’ll be adopting new requirements that cars stop (not just yield) for pedestrians within marked crosswalks and at street intersections, a provision that police may not stop pedestrians for crossing the street outside a marked crossing, and the authority to install stop signs at marked crosswalks and to assess special fines for violation of those signs.

And in case you haven’t seen them, remember our new HAWK signals on Broad St will be coming online soon too! (more education and publicity will come as they will be new to Falls Church and we want cars and pedestrians to know what to do).

(2) Firearms Destruction

We also discussed a new provision to require all unclaimed firearms in possession by Falls Church Police and Sheriff departments to be destroyed when legally permissible, and to prohibit the reselling of decommissioned service firearms to firearms dealers in return for rebates or discounts for new firearms purchases.

(3) New Public Parking Map

Did you know that we have 4 lots and garages available for public parking in the downtown? Check out the new downtown public parking map. Bookmark and share with your visiting friends and family! Discussions underway on publicizing this new map around the city.

We’ve had a number of parking studies done over the years that confirm we don’t actually have a serious parking shortage in the city. With the most recent parking study done in January/February 2020 (probably time for a new one!) that during weekday peak hours between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, 52% of the study area spaces were occupied. Despite certain “hot spot” areas where parking use exceeded an occupancy rate of 85%, the findings suggest that there is adequate parking supply for current demand, with excess parking available nearby even during peak use hours. (Note this study was done before we’ve added parking and wayfinding signage – since then, we’ve expanded the agreement with the Kaiser garage and just opened the new parking garage at Broad and Washington). The main challenge in the city is not to build more parking, but to help drivers navigate to the available spaces – whether that’s garages, surface lots, or on-street public parking spaces, encourage sharing – and continue to invest in other modes of transportation.

What’s Coming Up:

Monday, March 10 – City Council Meeting*

Monday, March 17 – City Council Work Session*

Monday, March 24 – City Council Meeting* (Budget Presentations)

Wednesday, April 2 – Ask the Council Office Hours (City Hall, 9 am)

Monday, April 7 – City Council Work Session*

Monday, April 14 – City Council Meeting* (final vote for Accessory Dwelling ordinance)

*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:

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

Friday, April 11 – 12 pm (Walking Office Hours – meet at Broad St entrance of Howard Herman Trail)

Wednesday, May 21 – 5 pm (Walking Office Hours – meet at Cherry Hill Park)