The former Peet’s Coffee and Tea on Maple Avenue is officially going to be converted into a drive-thru bank.
The Town of Vienna Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved Burke & Herbert Bank’s request for a conditional use permit at the conclusion of a public hearing on March 17, allowing the Alexandria-based company to utilize and renovate the existing 2,575 square-foot building at 332 Maple Avenue East.
Burke & Herbert currently operates a branch in Vienna without a drive-thru at 302 Maple Avenue West.
“I think Burke & Herbert moving from their present location up on the corner down into the middle of Maple Avenue gives them a much better facility,” Board of Zoning Appeals Chair George Creed said during last week’s meeting. “…I think that’ll be an excellent location for them.”
Burke & Herbert Executive Vice President of Marketing Terry Cole confirmed to Tysons Reporter that the bank’s existing Vienna branch will be closed, and operations will be relocated to the new site once the renovation is completed.
Constructed in the 1980s, the building at 332 Maple Avenue originally housed a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise until Caribou Coffee took over in 2012. The shop was rebranded in 2013 after the Peet’s Coffee owners bought Caribou.
Peet’s permanently closed the Vienna shop and another location in Tysons Station last summer after they shut down in the spring on what initially appeared to be a temporary basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burke & Herbert submitted a proposal to the Town of Vienna to convert the building into a drive-thru bank on Dec. 30, stating that the change in use would benefit the town by allowing the now-vacant facility to be refurbished and reducing traffic on Maple Avenue.
A traffic impact analysis conducted by a consultant hired by Burke & Herbert found that the proposed facility would generate an estimated 27 trips during morning peak hours and 57 trips during evening peak hours — 222 fewer morning peak-hour trips and 64 fewer evening peak-hour trips than Peet’s Coffee.
“I think the conditions will probably be significantly different than they were when this was a coffee restaurant,” said Walsh Colucci land-use attorney Robert Brandt, who represented Burke & Herbert at the public hearing. “Just the nature of the bank drive-thru use tends to get a little less of that drive-thru demand than a coffee restaurant, so the bank is very comfortable with the conditions on the site as proposed.”
Brandt says Burke & Herbert plans to make “significant improvements” to the interior and exterior of the building, but no expansions will be needed, and the existing drive-thru facility will largely be left intact, aside from moving a speaker from the back of the facility to the left side.
The bank has committed to making some accessibility improvements, including the addition of sloped sidewalks and restriping to create wheelchair-accessible parking spaces. The parking lot’s asphalt surface will also be repaved in places where it’s “in a little rough shape,” according to Brandt.
According to a report by Vienna’s planning and zoning staff, the proposed hours of operation for the new bank are between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. on Saturdays. The facility will be closed on Sundays. Four to five employees are expected to be on site at any given time during business hours. Read More
Virginia Becomes First Southern State to Abolish the Death Penalty — Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation yesterday (Wednesday) that made Virginia the 23rd state to eliminate the death penalty. The move reflected a “dramatic shift” for a state that has recorded the second-most executions in the U.S. Del. Mark Keam (D-Vienna) celebrated the new law as “one of the most consequential votes” he’s cast in his 12 General Assembly sessions. [Associated Press]
Inova Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Site to Open Next Week — The mass vaccination facility that Inova Health Systems is setting up in Alexandria will open next Monday (March 29), Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay says. The site has the capacity to vaccinate about 12,000 people per day and “will be particularly helpful to those in South County.” [Chairman Jeff McKay]
Judge Sets Hearing for Park Police Shooting of McLean Resident — U.S. District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton has scheduled a status hearing for April 23 to determine whether the two Park Police officers charged in the 2017 fatal shooting of Bijan Ghaisar “can be criminally prosecuted by the state of Virginia…or whether they fall under amnesty for federal officers from state criminal laws.” [The Washington Post]
Virginia Senator Discusses Experience with COVID-19 — “During a Senate health committee hearing earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine made a surprising admission: Long after contracting COVID-19, the Virginia Democrat is still experiencing strange symptoms. Kaine revealed last May that he and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies following an onset of symptoms in March.” [U.S. News]
Falls Church Native Develops Website to Help Navigate Vaccine Registration — 20-year-old Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology graduate Eric Lin worked with a classmate at Harvard University to design a website called COVID Vaccines Info Guide that “would act as a one-stop-shop that provides comprehensive information for all 50 states.” [Falls Church News-Press]
McLean Resident Opposes Proposed Comprehensive Plan Changes — A Dominion Woods resident argues that Fairfax County’s proposals for revitalizing downtown McLean would overburden schools and create longer commutes by inviting an influx of new residents with “little upside” for existing residents. He says residential construction should be capped at 960 units over the next 10 years, high rises should be prohibited on properties next to Franklin Sherman Elementary School, and additional traffic studies should be conducted. [Connection Newspapers]
More townhouses are coming to Falls Church, this time at Graham Park Plaza on Arlington Boulevard.
Ownership of the Giant-anchored shopping center is now split between two developers after EYA announced last week that it had closed on the purchase of 8.3 acres from property manager Federal Realty, which still owns 10.3 acres.
The sale represents the latest step in a years-long effort to redevelop Graham Park Plaza into more of a mixed-use neighborhood, though the current plans are more limited than what Fairfax County had previously approved back in 2016.
EYA will build up to 177 townhomes on the western portion of the shopping center and has committed to providing a public park and some infrastructure improvements, including a new street grid to connect the residential and commercial parts of the site, five-foot wide sidewalks, a 10-foot wide shared-use path, and bicycle facilities.
EYA Executive Vice President of Acquisition and Development Evan Goldman says the plaza’s proximity to “major Northern Virginia job centers like Tysons and [the] Mosaic” District make it an ideal location for the planned residential development.
“We are providing housing at attainable prices in an area that has not seen much development,” Goldman said. “Working with a fantastic partner such as Federal, which is reinventing the shopping center, will make this a truly walkable mixed-use neighborhood.”
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and planning commission approved EYA’s proposal in October.
Federal Realty won approval from the county in December 2016 for a more intensive mixed-use development with 248 multifamily housing units, but it later downsized its plans before moving to sell part of Graham Park Plaza to EYA last year, according to The Annandale Blog.
EYA, which is also collaborating with the City of Falls Church and Metro on developments in the West Falls Church area, says the new townhouses at Graham Park Plaza will be priced starting in the $600,000s. 12.5% of the units will be categorized as affordable housing.
The developer anticipates breaking ground on the project sometime this spring.
“EYA and Federal Realty are bringing new investment to a corner of the county which has not seen much development in the last two decades,” Mason District Supervisor Penelope Gross said in a statement. “This will be a catalyst for further redevelopment and revitalization up and down the Route 50 corridor.”
Image courtesy EYA LLC
A collection of local religious groups called Tysons Interfaith has created a new website to provide information about places to worship in the Tysons area, community service opportunities, and other resources.
Tysons Interfaith President Bill Larson announced the website’s launch yesterday (Tuesday), calling the new platform at tysonsinterfaith.org “a community service for people who live and work in the Tysons area.”
“Since there is currently no physical space available for worship or spiritual practice in Tysons, Tysons Interfaith is creating a virtual space where people can learn of public services available, plug in to their personal faith tradition, or explore options for their own spiritual growth or public service,” Larson said in a news release.
Formed in 2013, Tysons Interfaith describes itself as a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing “the principles of diversity, mutual respect, compassion, and ethical engagement” by providing a network of resources, advocating for equity, and serving as a platform for dialogue between groups from different religions.
Participating houses of worship include the St. Thomas Episcopal Church of McLean, the McLean Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Temple Rodef Shalom, the McLean Islamic Center, McLean Bahai, and the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, among others.
According to its new website, Tysons Interfaith came into being because local faith communities realized that there are no houses of worship located directly within the boundaries of Tysons.
“While we recognize the challenge of fitting houses of worship into a plan for a contemporary city, we are also convinced that those within Tysons would be well-served and their quality of life enhanced by the presence of and ministries provided by a variety of faith communities,” the organization says.
Tysons Interfaith initially focused on implementing service projects and providing volunteer support for local philanthropic events, but its mission evolved last year to also include social justice advocacy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and last summer’s racial justice protests.
The new website features a map of faith communities in the area surrounding Tysons, a guide to communities offering virtual worship services, and a calendar of upcoming events. There is also information on local volunteer opportunities, nonprofits, and Fairfax County social support services.
“By working together, we have learned that people of different faith practices and spiritual traditions share many values and enjoy working together to better our community,” Larson said. “We invite congregations, groups, and individuals to join in this unique opportunity to build a vibrant Tysons community that is welcoming for all.”
Photo courtesy Tysons Partnership
Virginia to Further Ease COVID-19 Restrictions in April — “As COVID-19 vaccinations continue to rise in Virginia, certain sports and entertainment venues may begin to operate with additional capacity and indoor and outdoor gathering limits will increase starting Thursday, April 1…More than two million Virginians, or approximately one in four people, have now received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.” [Gov. Ralph Northam’s Office]
Fairfax County Board Adopts Resolution Condemning Anti-Asian Racism — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously yesterday to adopt a resolution condemning “all bigotry, harassment, and hate violence directed at Asian Americans in our community.” The move came in response to the murder of eight people, including six Asian women, in Georgia on March 16 and reported increases in discrimination against Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Chairman Jeff McKay]
Falls Church City Advertises One-Cent Reduction in Tax Rate — The Falls Church City Council voted 5-2 on Monday (March 22) to grant a first reading to the city’s proposed FY 2022 budget with a real estate tax rate of $1.34 per $100 of assessed value, a one-cent decrease from FY 2021. Public hearings on the budget, tax rate, and capital improvement program have been scheduled for April 12 and 26. [City of Falls Church]
Access to D.C. Cherry Blossoms Will Be Limited — “The National Park Service announced today it will be “limiting all vehicular and pedestrian access” around the Tidal Basin once the cherry blossoms start to bloom, which would close down access to parking and paddle boats as soon as this weekend…Pedestrians will still be able to access the Tidal Basin and admire the flowers, the agency said, until crowds surpass a certain capacity.” [Washingtonian]
Town of Vienna Revamps Website — “We have lift off on the Town’s new website!! Info has been streamlined, and navigation organized to be user-focused. On the homepage, scroll down to see links to popular pages, news items, calendar, and links to meeting minutes & media.” [Town of Vienna/Twitter]
A 27-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at the Tysons West shopping mall earlier this month, the Fairfax County Police Department announced today (Tuesday).
According to the police report, the assault occurred around 4 p.m. on March 3 and was reported to the police on March 4 when officers were called to the 1500 block of Cornerside Boulevard in Tysons.
The FCPD says that the woman was sitting on a bench near the shopping center when “an unknown man approached her, engaged her in conversation then sexually assaulted her.”
“The woman screamed and was able to leave,” the police report says. “As she walked away, the man continued to follow her. A bystander saw the man following her and escorted her inside a business.”
The man was spotted in the area again on March 12, and responding officers took him into custody. Police have identified the individual as Mohamed Souidi and says he has no fixed address.
Souidi has been charged with object sexual penetration and abduction. He is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
The FCPD says detectives with its major crimes bureau are continuing to investigate the case and are looking for potential witnesses.
“Considering the time and location of the assault, detectives believe there may have been people in the area who unknowingly witnessed this crime,” the department said.
Information can be shared with the investigating detectives by calling 703-246-7800, option 3, or submitting an anonymous tip through the FCPD’s Crime Solvers phone line (1-866-411-TIPS), app, and website.
Construction on the new Bowlero that will occupy part of the shuttered Macy’s in Tysons Galleria is scheduled to commence around next Monday (March 29), a spokesperson tells Tysons Reporter.
Bowlero Senior Public Relations Manager Jillian Laufer says the bowling alley operator hopes to finish construction in late November.
This will be Bowlero’s fifth location in the D.C. area. The company currently operates venues in Arlington, Bethesda, Centreville, and most recently, Annandale, which had its grand opening in February 2020.
“Tysons Galleria is situated in one of the country’s most well established and affluent markets, and we saw an underrepresentation of family fun options in the community,” Laufer said. “Bowlero is a one-stop entertainment destination for all ages complete with signature blacklight bowling, interactive arcade games, and extensive food and beverage offerings which make it a great fit for Tysons Galleria.”
The Washington Business Journal first reported Bowlero’s plans to move into the former Macy’s at Tysons Galleria in January.
The space has been vacant since the clothing store closed in 2019, as Tysons Galleria owner Brookfield Properties has been working to redevelop the 300,000 square-foot, three-floor building so that it can accommodate multiple tenants.
According to the Washington Business Journal, Apple, Tiffany & Co., Balducci’s, and iPic Theaters have all been in discussions about potentially getting space in the converted building, but Brookfield has not released any new information about those plans.
The new Bowlero will occupy 39,851 square feet on the first floor of the former Macy’s, and it will feature 36 bowling lanes, along with arcade games, a full-service kitchen, and a sports bar, the Washington Business Journal reported.
Bowlero has applied for licenses to serve wine and beer on its premises and to have a mixed beverage restaurant with a capacity of up to 100 seats. Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority records indicate that its applications have been pending since Feb. 22.
Photo courtesy Bowlero
Editor’s Note — Tysons Reporter is running Q&As with the candidates who qualified for this year’s Vienna Town Council election on May 4. The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Howard Springsteen is one of four candidates running for the three Vienna Town Council seats that are up for election this year. A retired Fairfax County employee and firefighter for the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, Springsteen has served on the council since 2009 and is now seeking his sixth term.
Why did you decide to run for reelection?
Well, I’ve been on the council since 2009, and I still think I make a difference. I enjoy serving the town and serving the community, and I just think we have a lot of issues that we’re dealing with that I’d like to see through to fruition. We have a great mayor and council right now. Everyone’s pulling together as a team, and I enjoy doing it…I bring a really good history with my experience of the community, and also my experience on the council is very valuable. I have a good institutional knowledge, what has worked, what hasn’t worked, what needs to be done.
What has it been like dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic from your perspective?
It’s been really challenging this year, but we’ve continued to maintain essential town services. Sidewalks are being built, maintenance projects being done, water and sewer pipes being done…We’ve cut the budget back, but I think the biggest challenge we’ve had is trying to keep everyone safe and maintaining essential town services and moving forward with projects.
We started the new police station…That was five, 10 years in the planning stages, and we’re getting that done. We bought the First Baptist Church that gives us much more ability to have additional recreational facilities around town, so we’re surviving.
How well do you think the town has handled its pandemic response? What’s been your approach to balancing keeping people safe and supporting businesses?
We have different areas of responsibility than [Fairfax County] does. We don’t have a health department. We have a police, public works. I think Natalie [Monkou], who’s our new economic development person, has done a good job. Linda [Colbert], the mayor, has worked with the business community. We’ve had a lot of campaigns, lot of carry-outs. We’ve extended these ordinances where you can have tents in the parking lot.
We really have gone out of our way to reduce the regulations and actually try to be as helpful to businesses as possible. It’s still a challenge for businesses, but…we’re definitely trying to reach out to the community. We got CARES funds. We’ve used those in areas that we could. We basically have used a commonsense approach. We maintained county services with an eye towards safety, and I think it’s paying off.
What are your thoughts on how the zoning code rewrite has gone so far?
I’m not opposed to growth. I just want reasonable, realistic, responsible growth…We repealed the MAC [Maple Avenue Commercial zone], so by doing this code update, we’re being very measured. We’re getting community input, we’re getting buy-in, and it probably won’t be approved until the end of this year or beginning of next year.
We’re being very careful. We did a survey. We want to reach out to folks. We did the residential first and the commercial. I don’t believe in knee-jerk reaction. Development’s going to happen, but we want to do it so it’s managed. The town’s in the driver’s seat, not the developers. That’s the key. The town and residents need to be in the driver’s seat, and we have to do it to be very respectful of our past and sensitive to our future. Read More
Public transit workers and mail carriers can now register for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment after the Fairfax County Health Department announced another expansion of eligibility, effective today (Tuesday).
Eligible workers include bus drivers, rideshare drivers, and people who work in school and employee bus transportation and special needs transportation. Mail carriers for the U.S. Postal Service and private companies, such as Amazon, FedEx, and UPS, are also now eligible to get vaccinated.
“Employees should be prepared to show some form of work-related identification or paystub as the vaccine appointment could be offered by one of our vaccine partners that may require ID,” the county health department said.
In the past, Fairfax County has organized clinics for specific workers, including working with Inova Health Systems to vaccinate public school employees, but a health department spokesperson says the county is “not planning occupational clinics at this time.”
Newly eligible individuals can join the waitlist for an appointment by registering through the health department website or contacting the department’s call center at 703-324-7404.
After seeing no change for nearly two months, Fairfax County has now opened up appointments to additional essential workers twice in the past week. Grocery store employees and workers in the food, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors became eligible last Wednesday (March 17).
With this latest expansion, eight out of the Virginia Department of Health’s 11 priority groups in phase 1b can sign up to get vaccinated in Fairfax County. The three remaining groups are government officials, religious leaders, and janitorial and cleaning staff.
As it did last week, the county health department says that increases in supply have enabled it to move through its existing waitlist at a faster pace, keeping the Fairfax Health District on track to enter phase 1c by mid-April and to expand vaccine availability to the general population in phase 2 by May 1.
According to the health department’s vaccine dashboard, Fairfax County received 43,454 doses during the week of March 15-21, which is over 10,000 more doses than it got the previous week and more than double its supply from just three weeks ago.
As of 10 a.m. today, the health department had 89,673 people on its waitlist, about 25% of the 361,619 people who have registered for an appointment with Fairfax County. The county is currently scheduling appointments for people who registered on March 2.
So far, the county health department and its partners have adminstered 322,961 vaccine doses. VDH data shows that 250,585 people in Fairfax County have gotten at least one dose, and 133,978 people have been fully vaccinated — roughly 15% of the county’s adult population.
Even with supplies increasing, jurisdictions in Northern Virginia say they have the capacity to deliver more doses. With additional supplies from the state, Fairfax County could administer 34,000 doses per week, on top of an additional 84,000 doses per week from a mass vaccination facility that Inova is preparing to open in Alexandria by the end of March, according to a letter that the Northern Virginia Regional Commission sent to Gov. Ralph Northam.
“We’re grateful for the increase these last few wks, but we still have over 300K in the region on the waitlist,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said in a tweet. “We have the capacity to vaccinate equitably/efficiently and are working to get doses to meet demand.”
Photo via Fairfax County Health Department/Twitter
A cleaning services contractor based in Merrifield is undergoing an audit ordered by George Mason University in response to allegations of labor law violations.
In recent months, LT Services Inc. (2815 Hartland Rd.) and its subcontractors have faced numerous complaints by workers who say they have experienced poor working conditions, including delayed payments and retaliation for engaging in union activities.
GMU President Gregory Washington announced on Feb. 22 that, after conducting an initial review of the complaints against LT Services, which provides janitorial services at the university’s 220 buildings in Northern Virginia, he has ordered an outside audit of the contractor by the accounting firm Baker Tilly.
“George Mason University values everyone who works on our campuses, whether they are faculty, classified staff, student employees, or contractors. We hold high standards toward the treatment of everyone,” Washington said. “…I look forward to learning the results of what I expect will be a thorough, fair, and thoughtful audit.”
Washington added that Mason would not “offer any further public comment” until the audit is completed “in order to be fair to all involved.” A GMU spokesperson reiterated that sentiment, telling Tysons Reporter that Washington’s statement would be the university’s “only comment” on the issue.
LT Services declined to comment when contacted by Tysons Reporter.
While Mason’s audit is ongoing, the National Labor Relations Board is investigating LT Services and two of its subcontractors — Reyes Cleaning Contractors and Seth Ean Service — for allegedly engaging in unfair labor practices to shut down workers’ efforts to organize, according to documents provided by the Local 32BJ chapter of the Service Employees International Union, which filed the charges on March 9.
In its charging statement, SEIU states that LT Services promised workers at GMU a $2 raise and money to pay hospital bills in response to “protected concerted activities” and told a worker “to not discuss their working conditions with others.”
The charges against Reyes Cleaning accuse the company of interrogating employees and creating “more onerous working conditions” in retaliation for union-related activities. SEIU alleges that Seth Ean Service interrogated and intimidated workers, told them not to talk to union organizers, and disciplined a worker and reduced their pay for participating in union activities.
The three new cases come on the heels of two settlements won by SEIU on behalf of the contract cleaners at Mason. H&E Cleaning Service Inc., a subcontractor of LT Services, signed a settlement on Nov. 11 and again in January after the union accused the company of threatening and intimidating workers, sabatoging their work areas, and denying them compensation.
LT Services was also one of five companies required to pay back wages in 2016 after Montgomery County determined that they had violated its living wage laws.
SEIU expressed skepticism of the outside audit ordered by George Mason University, urging Washington to instead hire a new, responsible contractor immediately.
“Essential workers that keep Mason clean every day cannot wait for an audit to finish,” 32BJ SEIU said in a statement. “They have brought numerous allegations and violations against L.T. Services and their subcontractors to President Washington for nearly a year. President Washington cannot delay ensuring that these essential workers be treated with respect, especially in a global pandemic.”
Pressure on GMU to address concerns about the treatment of contract workers has been growing both internally and externally.
Several state elected officials, including Dels. Kathleen Murphy (D-McLean) and Mark Keam (D-Vienna), wrote a letter to Washington on March 15 urging the university to “ensure its contracted and subcontracted janitors, students, and broader community are kept safe and healthy during this pandemic by choosing to employ a responsible janitorial contractor.”
In addition, over 220 Mason faculty, staff, students, and alumni have signed a resolution from the American Association of University Professors’ GMU chapter expressing support for the janitors and calling for the adoption of a policy that would require contractors to give workers a living wage, benefits, and other rights.
“We don’t want to prejudge the audit, but we think that we already have enough information for what we think is the solution, and the solution is for Mason to adopt a responsible contractor policy,” GMU-AAUP interim president Tim Gibson, who teaches communications at Mason, said. “…If you want to contract with our institution, with our community, then you need to commit to treating your workers with fairness and respect.”
Along with forming a GMU Coalition for Workers’ Rights, GMU-AAUP joined SEIU for a “car caravan” protest at Mason’s Fairfax campus on Thursday (March 18).
“We hope the widespread outpouring of support for the janitors helps President Washington take seriously the trauma these essential workers have been through, while risking their lives to keep GMU safe,” 32BJ SEIU Vice President Jaime Contreras said. “Such an esteemed institution, focused on social justice, should simply hire responsible contractors. President Washington can and should utilize his power to ensure janitors a new employer that upholds the school’s values.”
