Concerns About Eden Center In Small Area Plan Prompt More Community Engagement

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Final action on the proposed East End Small Area Plan was delayed and community feedback will continue after concerns about displacing Eden Center businesses were shared.

The City of Falls Church has been sharing a draft small area plan, a vision for redevelopment and investment, in the East End of the city. The East End, bordered by Wilson Boulevard, E. Broad Street and Hillwood Avenue, includes commercial locations like the Eden Center, BJ's Wholesale Club, Koons Ford, 24 Hour Fitness and smaller businesses.

The draft plan's goals include preserving the Eden Center and its cultural identity with programming and public art investments to celebrate Vietnamese-American culture. The draft also calls for improving multimodal transportation mobility, activating public spaces, preserving and providing housing opportunities in and around the east end, providing design transitions between existing housing and new development, supporting economic revitalization, and developing in an environmentally-friendly way.

Potential concepts in the plan include a permanent plaza at the Eden Center for programming, renaming the city's part of Wilson Boulevard as Saigon Boulevard, an East End Farmers Market, pocket parks, senior and family-sized housing and more.

The Planning Commission held a public listening session on Jan. 18 to hear feedback on the draft plan. City staff had expected to revise the plan and bring it forward for Planning Commission and City Council final action in March.

But after hearing comments from the public, that action has been postponed to continue the public feedback period.

While the draft plan highlighted the preservation of the Eden Center, members of the Vietnamese community raised concerns about potential development displacing the Eden Center's Vietnamese businesses. Some of the comments came from members of Viet Place Collective, a group seeking to protect and uplift Vietnamese culture.

Amanda Luo, a Northern Virginia native with Viet Place Collective, said her family frequents Eden Center and Asian American cultural centers in the region. She expressed dismay with gentrification causing displacement of Asian American communities in major cities, such as Chinatown in DC. A similar displacement happened with Little Saigon in Arlington's Clarendon neighborhood with the opening of a Metro station and resulting development.

"Eden has remained true to its Vietnamese roots to those who were displaced many times before, but that may all change if we do not remain vigilant," said Luo.

Luo supports reinvestments and improvements, including the lack of a proper gathering space, road safety and accessibility around the Eden Center. However, she believes the city should also prioritize a legacy business program and support businesses through anti-displacement, business literacy and legal aid programs as well as limit displacement through special exception criteria for development.

Quynh Nguyen, another Northern Virginia native with Viet Place Collective, said the city needs to do significantly more outreach to the Vietnamese community. Nguyen was dismayed by a previous pop-up outreach event at the Eden Center in late 2022 being canceled and a survey only being available in English.

"I think the businesses that established their vibrant culture in your city deserve proper outreach," said Nguyen. "Outreach is affective when you meet people where they're at, rather than making them come to you."

The city appears to have made improvements to outreach, sharing information about upcoming pop-up outreach and frequently asked questions in English and Vietnamese.

Victor Nguyen-Long, an Arlington native from Viet Place Collective, said the vision should be revised to center around the Vietnamese community and anti-displacement efforts. He pushed for a vision designating the East End as "Little Saigon East" to honor the community and create a potential marketing opportunity.

"Without the Vietnamese people, Eden Center is nothing but shoddy brick, mortar and cracked asphalt," said Nguyen-Long. "It is the Vietnamese people and the community that make it what it is, the number one tourist destination in the City of Falls Church and one of the top tax revenue drivers."

Chi Connie Park shared what the Eden Center means to father came from Vietnam during the 1975 fall of Saigon. She said the Eden Center provides him with "familiar sounds, smells, faces and tastes that remind him of home."

"Eden Center has deep cultural significance for a large population of Vietnamese Americans, some who came here as refugees like my dads and others like me and my kids who were born in this country," said Park.

Park urged the city to learn the stories and perspectives of the people most impacted by the Eden Center plan.

Cayce Utley, an organizer with Showing Up for Racial Justice Northern Virginia, expressed support for the Vietnamese community with concerns about displacement of businesses and the Vietnamese community.

"We support the organizers calling for you to directly and vigorously consult affected Vietnamese community members and prioritize protecting them from displacement and rent hikes," said Utley.

Planning Commissioner Derek Hyra said it was the city's responsibility to get to the Eden Center and listen to the people impacted by the plan.

"It's so encouraging to see all of you and hearing about what the Eden Center means, and it's much more than a place. It's home place, and we heard many of you say that," said Hyra. "And I don't know if that notion is really reflected in our small area plan as it stands now, and I really hope that it gets closer to a real comprehensive understanding of what this place means to many of you."

Pop-up community engagement events will be held at the Eden Center March 18 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., March 22 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., March 29 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and April 22 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.