South Washington Street Small Area Plan

A Guide to Development Supporting the City's Comprehensive Plan
The South Washington Street Planning Opportunity Area (POA) is the second of several opportunity areas to be studied for redevelopment potential in the City of Falls Church. These opportunity areas are being studied and planned to help guide development in a proactive manner. Planning in advance of development helps the city create an environment that maximizes community benefit and minimize negative impacts.
South Washington Street Small Area Plan Cover
Approved Plan
The approved South Washington Street POA Small Area Plan displays the history and current conditions of the area, current public and private redevelopment projects, and future concepts.

Public Meetings
There have been three community meetings to allow citizens to review and comment upon the draft plan.

First Meeting, Kickoff
City staff hosted a community meeting on June 23, 2012 to kickoff the small area planning effort for the South Washington Street POA. Staff began with a presentation describing existing conditions in the area. Following the presentation, meeting attendees were invited to participate in breakout discussion groups covering topics of:
  • Arts, culture, and history
  • Open space
  • Land use
  • Height and density
  • Transportation
In the discussion groups, participants described what they would like to see preserved,changed, and added as the area redevelops. Staff concluded the meeting by summarizing the main points brought up in the discussion groups and reporting those points out to all attendees.
Second Meeting, Arts, Culture & History
As a follow-up to the kickoff meeting city staff organized a special meeting to discuss in more depth Arts and Culture in the South Washington Street Planning Opportunity Area (POA). The meeting was well attended by members of the arts community as well as the economic community. Meeting participants discussed ways to preserve and highlight the cultural history of the area and how to strengthen economic conditions in the area.
Third Meeting, Feedback
city staff hosted its third public meeting for the South Washington POA on April 27, 2013. The meeting began with a presentation by city staff describing the draft small area plan and how the plan relates to public input provided during the kickoff meeting. Following the presentation, meeting participants engaged in breakout discussion groups to provide feedback on specific areas of the plan. The discussion topics were:
  • Open space
  • Arts, culture, and history
  • Land use
  • Height and density
  • Transportation
Staff concluded the meeting by summarizing the main points brought up in the discussion groups and reporting those points out to all attendees.

Approved Plan

  1. Cover and Table of Contents
  2. Introduction
  3. Background
  4. Arts, Culture, and Historic Preservation
  5. Proposed Land Use
  6. Zoning
  7. Economic Development
  1. Transportation
  2. Urban Design
  3. Utilities and Environment
  4. Implementation
  5. Full Approved Plan
  6. Existing Land Use