Falls Church council refines 2025 legislative priorities; removes waste‑to‑energy exemption and schedules separate votes on building‑code and bike rules

Falls Church City Council spent the bulk of its work session reviewing its 2025 legislative program and discussing several items that staff said will require follow‑up, including towing rules, building‑code modernization and pedestrian/cyclist safety positions.

Staff outlined a new searchable tracking tool for General Assembly enactments and how those bills may affect local code or administrative policy. The packet contained draft positions across housing, transportation, environment and local‑authority items; staff said the goal is to equip council and staff to respond quickly during the fast‑moving January session.

On waste‑to‑energy, staff recommended removing a proactive legislative position that would exempt the local conversion plant from future DEQ regulation until DEQ completes a requested study. The packet had flagged the issue because the plant is the region’s conversion facility and the city’s current contract requires disposal within a 30‑mile radius. Staff said the state budget language had placed $9 million into the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) for the city but that DEQ’s draft treatment of the money may impose a 50/50 match; staff reported ongoing coordination with DEQ and that Senator Salim had agreed to carry a budget amendment to clarify intent. Council signaled consensus to drop the proactive exemption pending the state study and further staff analysis.

Council also debated the Environmental Sustainability Council’s recommendation to modernize the Virginia building code to allow single‑stair designs up to six stories. Some council members supported drafting conditional language that would endorse modernizing the code pending the Board of Housing and Community Development’s study and staff analysis; others, most forcefully Mayor Dave Snyder, opposed the change on life‑safety grounds and asked for the item to be removed from a general endorsement and taken as a separate vote. Mayor Snyder said, “I will never ever vote for this. I will not put our citizens' lives at risk with something like this.” Staff agreed to prepare separate language and return the item for a standalone vote.

On towing, staff described new optional authorities available after the General Assembly — including a second‑signature requirement for tows designed to curb predatory practices — and recommended a scoping conversation with the towing advisory board, police and council. Council asked to schedule a January work session to scope the ordinance and to return a draft initiating resolution if council decides to proceed.

The council also discussed pedestrian and cyclist safety measures, including whether to support a 'safety stop' (Idaho‑style rule) that allows jurisdictions to permit cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs. Some councilors cited studies reporting reductions in cyclist injuries after such rules were adopted elsewhere and favored adding the position to the legislative packet; others raised safety concerns and asked for a separate vote on that specific item. Staff will add the safety‑stop position and prepare for separate council action.

Next steps: staff will revise the legislative packet to reflect council direction, prepare an initiating resolution for any items council wishes to pursue (towing, ADU authority special legislation, building code language as separate motion), and bring back requested analyses (stormwater SLAF match clarification from DEQ, multi‑year sanitary‑sewer debt projections, and the building‑code study results when available). The council’s formal adoption of the legislative program is expected at the next regular meeting, with the option to amend positions during the General Assembly session as bills emerge.