Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Site Plan Econize Closets topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Econize Closets seeks new Falls Church showroom; commissioners press for parking, buffer and program details
Summary
Econize Closets proposed a four-story, ~15,600 sq ft showroom/office at 821 W. Broad St.; applicant requested waivers including a ~65% parking reduction. Commissioners asked for a transportation demand management plan, stronger rear buffering next to single-family homes and a smaller Plan B; applicant agreed to revise and resubmit.
At a Nov. 20 work session the Falls Church Planning Commission reviewed an initial site plan for a proposed Econize Closets showroom and office at 821 West Broad Street.
Staff case planner Jeff Holland summarized the submittal and flagged several outstanding items: waiver narratives, stormwater and ADA documentation, and a transportation-demand-management plan to support any parking reduction. Holland told commissioners the application proposes a four-story, 15,600-square-foot building on a one-third-acre, split-zoned (B-1 / R-1A) lot and noted staff’s expectation that a resubmittal would return to the commission in 30–45 days after additional materials are filed.
Architect Zach Gasper presented the design and the applicant’s parking analysis. “By our calculations, based on the 15,000 square feet, we need about 30 parking spots,” Gasper said, and added the project as drawn could likely provide only about 11 — “that’s about… a 65% reduction.” He described locating the building tightly to Broad Street, hiding parking in the rear, and seeking waivers for landscape buffers and planting-island sizes because the site is only about 57 feet wide.
Commissioners pressed the applicant on several fronts. They asked for:
- A clearer breakdown of program (how much of the building is showroom versus office or potential co-working) because the number of employees and regular visitors affects the validity of a large parking reduction. - A transportation demand management plan and explicit commitments (bike parking, EV charging, TDM measures) to show how off-street demand will be managed. - Stronger rear buffering and screening where the lot adjoins single-family homes; commissioners flagged the 10-foot minimum buffer shown on plans as potentially insufficient for meaningful planting and screening. - Reconfiguration options (for example, eliminating one driveway, reducing the building area) to increase buffer width and/or add parking. The applicant said a Plan B is under consideration that would reduce gross square footage from about 15,500 sq ft to roughly 11,000 sq ft, and that the applicant will evaluate removing the third floor and reworking the back parking layout.
The applicant and owner emphasized their desire to keep the business in Falls Church. Owner Noel Sweeney said the project would reinvest proceeds from other local development and expressed a commitment to working with staff and commissioners to resolve technical and design issues.
No formal votes were taken — this was a work session — and staff and the applicant agreed to return with a revised submission that provides the requested waiver narratives, a TDM/parking-management plan, more detailed floor plans to justify parking, and options to strengthen buffering for adjacent residences.
