Using a mobile phone while driving will officially be illegal in Virginia starting on Jan. 1.

Current state law prohibits reading a phone and texting while driving and holding a phone while driving through a work zone, but the Virginia General Assembly adopted legislation barring the use of handheld phones while driving a moving vehicle on state highways in March.

While the law was technically enacted on July 1, its effective date was delayed until the new year so that the public could be educated about its provisions and law enforcement agencies could get training on how to enforce it.

Violations of the new law will be punishable by a fine of $125 for the first offense and $250 fine for any subsequent offenses.

There are a few exceptions to the ban on using a phone while driving, including:

• Emergency vehicle operators who are performing their official duties, including law enforcement and fire and medical responses
• Drivers who are lawfully parked or stopped
• Someone using their phone to report an emergency
• The use of an amateur or citizens’ band radio
• Department of Transportation vehicle operators who are performing traffic incident management services

Virginia’s public information campaign on the new law is being led by Drive Smart Virginia, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting traffic safety.

According to Drive Smart Virginia, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles reported that 15% of all fatal crashes in 2018 were related to distracted driving. Fairfax County has the second-most distracted driving fatalities in the state, surpassed only by Prince William County, and the most injuries that result from distraction-related crashes.

The distracted driving ban is perhaps the most significant legal change coming to Virginia on New Year’s Day, but it is not the only new law that will take effect on Jan. 1.

Here are some other measures to be aware of when the new year arrives:

• HB 264: requires in-person training for concealed handgun permits, removing online or electronic courses as an option for demonstrating competence
• HB 1211: enables undocumented immigrants to apply for new driver privilege cards so they can legally drive
• HB 66: prohibits health insurance companies from charging more than $50 per 30-day supply for prescription insulin
• HB 789: sets a 36% annual rate cap on the interest and fees charged for a short-term loan, which can now go up to $2,500
• SB 172: protects people who receive emergency services from an out-of-network healthcare provider from unexpected medical costs
• HB 1407: prohibits employers from misclassifying employees as independent contractors
• HB 742: gives localities the authority to regulate the takeoff and landing of unmanned aircraft on public property

Photo via Alexandre Boucher on Unsplash

(Updated at 3:40 p.m.) Chesterbrook Woods, a tree-lined neighborhood nestled in southeastern McLean, raised $6,000 for charity with a holiday lights event that residents organized on Dec. 19 in lieu of their usual caroling tradition.

Organizers say the donated funds will be given to the Share of McLean food pantry and the nonprofit Get Us PPE, which delivers free personal protective equipment to frontline workers and underserved communities. $200 will also go to the McLean Volunteer Fire Department.

The idea for “Light Up Chesterbrook Woods” came from a place of both grief and celebration, according to resident Carla Post, who says she started thinking about potential substitutes for the traditional neighborhood caroling festivities in November.

“I started thinking about…how so many lives had been lost and how so many traditional holiday mainstays would not happen this year,” Post said. “I started wondering what we could do to come together as a community in joy and remembrance.”

Post reached out to her fellow caroling organizers — Kara Stoll, Lori Boerner, and Amanda Majkowski — about doing an illumination event instead, and they “were unanimously supportive.”

Though they had only a few weeks to stage the event, the four women got such an enthusiastic response to “Light Up Chesterbrook Woods” that it ultimately spilled over into other nearby neighborhoods.

More than 260 households participated in the event, which involved the distribution of 8,000 luminaria – votive candles in paper bags – that residents used to decorate their yards, walkways, and driveways.

Many neighbors assisted by donating paper bags or helping deliver the luminaria kits to different houses. Other households contributed by providing outdoor entertainment during the event, from caroling and a trombone concert to a screening of the movie “Home Alone” and a performance by professional musicians Lynn Veronneau and Ken Avis from the jazz band Veronneau.

Boerner used Google Maps to create a route for residents to find the participating houses so they could admire the lights either by foot or from a vehicle.

Organizers say “Light Up Chesterbrook” was a clear success, and they have gotten requests to turn it into an annual event.

“It was such a beautiful evening all around,” Chesterbrook resident Patty Freeman said. “The weather was perfect for strolling thru [sic] the ‘hood to see all the lights, listen to wonderful music, and view the scenes on the movie screens. We truly have a special neighborhood.”

Photo by Michelle Joss

Mixed-Use Development Near Dunn Loring Metro Sold — Avenir Place developer Mill Creek Residential has sold the property to two different buyers, with the residential portion going to Pantzer Properties and the retail going to Asana Partners. Asana says it “plans to pursue some physical changes to the retail, upgrading the outdoor areas and adding more gathering places.” [Washington Business Journal]

What Census Data Tells Us About Growth in Tysons — The Tysons Census Designated Place has added more than 7,000 new residents since 2010. Key changes include the number of people of Asian descent, who now make up 40% of the population, and people who speak a language other than English at home, a group that now constitutes more than half of all residents. [Greater Greater Washington]

Northam Allocates Additional $20 Million to Economic Recovery Fund — “This new funding will bring the program total to $120 million and will enable more than 300 small business and nonprofit organizations that applied before the last round of funding was exhausted in early December to receive grants.” [Office of the Governor]

Fire and Rescue Department Finishes Annual Holiday Toy Drive — “Via partners/donors, between 3,000-4K toys were given to over 55 schools, shelters and non-profits throughout Fairfax County.” [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department/Twitter]

Staff photo by Jay Westcott

The Church of the Holy Comforter in Vienna raised more than $2,600 in donations with the drive-thru Nativity that it held on Dec. 19.

Patti Boerger, the Holy Comforter’s director of childcare, says the funds will be allocated to local food, shelter, and support services throughout the coming year.

Situated on Beulah Road, the Episcopal church typically stages a retelling of the Nativity — the Biblical story of Jesus’s birth — during its Christmas Eve services, but staff members knew continuing with that tradition would be ill-advised while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage.

While Virginia has not imposed mandatory capacity limits on religious services, the Virginia Department of Health warns that such gatherings present a risk for increasing the spread of the novel coronavirus, and faith organizations are encouraged to offer virtual or drive-in options instead of in-person services.

The Holy Comforter canceled several of the family activities it usually organizes during the holiday season, including events for making Advent wreaths and gingerbread houses. Church staffers came up with the idea of a free drive-thru live Nativity as a way to make up for those cancellations.

“We shifted gears at our staff meeting and asked ourselves what we could do differently,” Holy Comforter Rector Jon Strand said. “…The live drive-thru Nativity allows all ages to be safe in their vehicles and celebrate the glory of Christ’s birth.”

The Nativity featured costumed volunteers and live animals arranged in six scenes around the church’s parking lot. It lasted from 1:30 to 3 p.m.

The Holy Comforter was not the only church in the Tysons area to pivot to a drive-thru Nativity.

Patch reported on Dec. 15 that a similar event hosted by the McLean Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attracted an estimated 3,000 attendees over two nights. Donations went to the Share of McLean food bank run by the McLean Baptist Church.

Photo by Zachary Conroy/ImagesforGood.org

About four months after opening its doors at The Boro in Tysons, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka has found its soup legs.

At first, the ramen shop focused exclusively on its signature noodle soups, but the menu has since expanded with appetizers, desserts, and seasonal items that are available for a limited time.

“We want to make sure that what we do offer was at the highest quality that we could possibly do,” Junchiro Kawakami, the general manager of Santouka Tysons, said. “Now that it’s been a couple months, all of our staff have gotten used to the menu items and the general operation of the restaurant. We felt comfortable expanding our menu.”

Originally started in Hokkaido, Japan, in 1983, Santouka chose The Boro as its first Virginia location because they saw “huge potential” in all the development happening in the Tysons area, Kawakami says.

Plans for the new restaurant got underway in 2019 with the goal of opening this past March.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Fairfax County, and the opening was delayed due to concerns from the construction company about the safety of its crews, according to Kawakami.

The pause gave Kawakami and Food’s Style USA, which operates the Tysons location, time to adapt to the unique constraints imposed by the pandemic.

In addition to obtaining sneezeguards and dividers for each table, as well as protective equipment and cleaning supplies for employees, Santouka Tysons pivoted from a mostly dine-in operation to one that could accommodate more carryout and delivery orders.

That required finding takeout containers that can hold soup and noodles separately and replacing a key ingredient.

“We normally use lard for one of our ingredients, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to use that for carryout,” Kawakami explained. “As you might be able to guess, once it gets colder, it starts to look very unappetizing, so we had to change that ingredient to an oil base.”

While opening in the middle of a pandemic has been a challenge, Kawakami says the restaurant has been “going strong,” thanks to the support of its new customers and its suppliers’ flexibility with the changing construction schedule and operations.

In the hopes of carrying that success over into the new year, Santouka Tysons has added some new menu items over the past month, including tsukemen – where the noodles are dipped instead of kept in soup – and a riff on dora-yaki – a pancake filled with red bean paste – that involves bacon bits and maple syrup.

Kawakami says the family-sized, delivery-only appetizer dishes that Santouka has been offering during the holiday season have proven popular.

He has also gotten adept at using social media, particularly Facebook and Instagram, to stay engaged with customers and share promotions, such as a Japanese snack giveaway that will take place on Jan. 1.

“Our aim is to bring to… the DMV area authentic Japanese ramen,” Kawakami said. “That hasn’t changed, but how we do that, we had to think about it and change that up.”

The Virginia Department of Transportation published its final report on ways to improve the safety of Shreve Road in Falls Church yesterday (Monday).

Now available to view online, the Shreve Road Corridor Study report focuses on two miles of roadway between Route 29 (Lee Highway) and Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) that have had recurring issues with pedestrian and bicyclist safety, including a fatal crash involving a pedestrian and an impaired driver in 2019.

After that crash, local residents formed the Shreve Road Community Working Group to advocate for improvements to address speeding, safety, visibility, and drainage concerns.

The group identified the curve southwest of Oldewood Drive, Shrevewood Elementary School, the Washington & Old Dominion Trail crossings, and the curve between Chestnut and Hickory Streets as areas of particular concern on Shreve Road.

VDOT officially launched its study in March and presented some preliminary recommendations at a virtual public meeting on Oct. 7 that it says was attended by approximately 70 people.

Based on feedback from the community, VDOT’s study team has issued four short-term and six long-term final recommendations, which are listed in order from highest to lowest priority:

Short Term

• Add pedestrian beacons to W&OD Trail crossings
• Incorporate pedestrian median at Fairwood Lane into Safe Routes to School project
• Add and upgrade Shreve Road pedestrian connections
• Install optical speed bars and implement vegetation management

Long Term

• Advance roundabout alternative near Shrevewood Elementary
• Advance chicane design at Pioneer Lane
• Coordinate potential bicycle speed treatments for the W&OD Trail
• Develop a neighborhood gateway near Route 29
• Consider an urban cross-section between Route 7 and Gordons Road
• Potentially revisit mini-roundabouts at Pinecastle Road and Buckelew Drive

VDOT says its team received the most comments about recommendations related to Shrevewood Elementary and the Pinecastle/Buckelew intersection. The reactions to its roundabout proposals were roughly evenly split between people felt favorably and people who opposed the ideas. Read More

An end to 2020 is almost upon us. If ever a year deserved a send-off of champagne and confetti, it was this one, but as they did with many other traditions, concerns about COVID-19 have curtailed or put on hold many of the usual New Year’s Eve parties.

Still, there remain plenty of options for ringing in the new year.

Many local restaurants are offering special meals to eat in or take home as well as festive cocktails created by local bartenders and mixologists that you can order or try to recreate yourself.

For people who like to close out the year with a song, the Times Square Ball Drop will feature singer Andra Day headlining an evening of live performances. The event is closed to the public this year, but it will still be broadcast on TV and online.

Anyone itching for an in-person concert can stop by Vienna’s Jammin’ Java, which is hosting a “Flashback to the ’80s” party led by DJ D, or the State Theatre in Falls Church, where the Nowhere Men are providing a free outdoor Beatles tribute concert.

The great outdoors also offer a world of possibility.

The Winter Walk of Lights at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna will remain open through Jan. 3, and the Fairfax County Park Authority is turning its annual First Hike Fairfax program into a three-day affair that starts on New Year’s Day. People who send in a photo of their hike by Jan. 3 will be entered into a contest to celebrate the park authority’s 70th anniversary.

How do you plan on ushering in 2021? If you have a special New Year’s tradition that’s not included below, feel free to share in the comments.

Image via Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

What if Lincoln Avenue looked more like George Mason Drive?

Falls Church Planning Director Paul Stoddard posed that query to the city planning commission when it met on Dec. 16 to demonstrate how a “green streets” concept could improve the look and safety of Falls Church’s roadways.

“It’s a proposal to improve quality of life through urban design,” Stoddard said.

Citing North George Mason Drive in Arlington and MacArthur Boulevard in Washington, D.C., as examples, Stoddard presented rudimentary renderings of what Lincoln Avenue might look like with trees planted in a median and in planters placed at intervals along the sides of the road.

According to Falls Church City planners, Lincoln could accommodate a median with 43 trees that would provide 13,000 square feet of tree canopy when the plants reach maturity.

The avenue also has enough space for 23 trees in planters on the side of the road, which Stoddard says would encourage slower vehicle speeds without interfering with the availability of parking.

As part of his “green-ing” Lincoln Avenue proposal, Stoddard also suggested installing six new marked crosswalks to make it easier and safer for residents to get to the existing sidewalk.

A rendering developed by a planning consultant shows two crosswalks each at Lincoln Avenue’s three-way intersections with Meridian Street, Walden Court, and North Yucatan Street.

“When you put in crosswalks and trees, the expected outcome is you get an improved look of the neighborhood. You get cooler summer air temperatures, talking about climate resilience,” Stoddard said. “You get improved stormwater management, you get increased pedestrian accessibility, and you get safer, slower auto speeds.”

Emphasizing that the concept is just a proposal, not an official project, Stoddard told the Falls Church City Planning Commission that Lincoln Avenue could benefit from a new median and foliage that would address recurring issues with vehicle speeds, pedestrian accessibility, and stormwater management.

Lincoln Avenue is designed for high-speed travel despite passing through residential neighborhoods. Stoddard said that he has heard from residents who avoid using the available on-street parking because passing vehicles go too fast.

Lincoln also only has a sidewalk on its south side right now, even though many of its connecting streets intersect on the north side.

Falls Church added a crosswalk near Yucatan Street in 2017 after residents advocated for more safety measures, and the city had a traffic calming project to update signaling and pavement markings at the N. West Street intersection in 2019.

However, the planning commission seemed to agree with Stoddard that a more expansive approach might be needed at Lincoln Avenue – or potentially other streets in the city.

“This is the kind of thinking you want to see versus speed bumps and bigger storm drains,” Planning Commission Chair Andy Rankin said.

Planning Commissioner Melissa Teates compared the current situation at Lincoln Avenue to what Hillwood Avenue was like before some tree-filled medians were installed there.

“Having that median with the trees, and they kind of bumped out the parking lanes a little bit, it made traffic go a little slower,” Teates said. “…So, I think it would be a good thing for Lincoln to have more trees, to have a median, to have the things that make a street slower and more residential.”

Photo via Google Maps, slide via City of Falls Church Planning Division

The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.

We’ve searched the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean, and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!

Monday (Dec. 28)

• Providence District Coat Drive — The Providence District Community Center and James Lee Community Center are still accepting donations of new or gently used coats for local community members. Donors can call the location they are visiting ahead of time to ensure a contactless drop-off. The coat drive is ongoing until Jan. 31, 2021.
• ESOL Conversation Group (Online) — 7-8 p.m. — The City of Falls Church’s English as a Second Language Conversation Group will host its weekly meeting for people looking to practice their English. Request a Zoom invite by emailing Marshall Webster at [email protected].

Tuesday (Dec. 29)

• Falls Church Writers Group (Online) — 7-8 p.m. — Writers looking to give and receive feedback on their work can join this group hosted by the City of Falls Church. You can email [email protected] to get an invite to the Zoom meeting.

Thursday (Dec. 31)

• New Year’s Eve Dinner — 5 p.m. at Blend 111 (111 Church St. NW) — The Vienna restaurant Blend 111 is offering a five-course tasting menu to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Both indoor and outdoor dining are available, and there will also be a “Spanish-themed” carryout option for people who would prefer to eat at home.
• Flashback to the ’80s — 8 p.m. at Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E) — Doors open at 7 p.m. for this New Year’s Eve party in Vienna with DJ D, who will play classic hits of the 1980s from Prince and Madonna to The Cure and Billy Idol. There will also be a “Name that Tune” contest, prizes for ’80s outfits, and a midnight champagne toast. Tickets cost $35, and tables come with a two-item minimum purchase. Guests should adhere to social distancing protocols and wear masks at all times except when eating or drinking. You can purchase tickets through Jammin’ Java’s website.
• Be Safe and Bubbly (Dec. 31-Jan. 2) — all day at the Hyatt Regency (7901 Tysons One Place) — The Hyatt Regency at Tysons Corner is offering a promotional package for guests who would like to celebrate the new year from the comfort of a hotel room. The $175 package includes $75 of credit per day for in-room dining from Barrell & Bushel, along with parking and a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine. Reservations can be booked through the Hyatt using the promo code 85936.

Sunday (Jan. 3)

• “Sit and Sip” Meet and Greet (Online) — 10 a.m. — The Junior League of Northern Virginia is inviting prospective new members to a Zoom call to learn more about the organization, which aims to empower women through volunteerism and focuses specifically on addressing childhood obesity. During the call, current members will share their experiences and answer questions. People can RSVP through this link.

Photo by Michelle Goldchain

Fairfax County Receives First COVID-19 Vaccine Shipment — “The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines was received today by the Fairfax County Health Department. These vaccines will be administered to people included in the Virginia Department of Health’s “Phase 1a” – healthcare workers not affiliated with hospitals.” [Fairfax County Emergency]

Fire and Rescue Chief and Personnel Get Vaccinated for COVID-19 — “This morning [Dec. 27] the first COVID-19 vaccines were administered to @ChiefJohnButler & #FCFRD personnel…The vaccine provides another layer of protection for our providers and the communities they serve.” [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department/Twitter]

Falls Church City School Board Seeks Applicants — “The Falls Church City School Board seeks applications from qualified individuals to fulfill the term of School Board member Lawrence Webb, who will resign effective January 4, 2021.” [Falls Church City Public Schools]

Local Legislators Back Attorney General Challenger — “Dels. Marcus Simon and Kathleen Murphy, whose districts include portions of McLean, and Del. Mark Keam, whose district includes portions of Vienna and Oakton, are among those who are supporting Del. Jay Jones (D-Norfolk) in his bid to oust two-term Democratic attorney general Mark Herring, according to the Jones campaign.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]

Staff photo by Jay Westcott