The Vienna Town Council now has until the start of next summer to redesign the Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zone.
The moratorium was put in place last September to allow the town staff time to redesign the town’s guidelines. The moratorium has been extended several times and most recently was scheduled to expire later this November.
While one female resident spoke in favor of the extension during the public hearing last night (Monday), resident C. John Pott told the Town Council that he wants to see an outside consultant share how other places are handling commercial and residential challenges.
“I think it’s very important we get a consultant with national experience and knowledge,” he said, adding that the Town Council also should have a financial analysis regarding the ordinance and affordable housing guidelines included.
Last night, the Vienna Town Council voted unanimously to extend the moratorium to June 30.
Councilmember Douglas Noble said he does not want the Town Council to miss another deadline for revamping the guidelines.
“If we were a business, we would not be doing very well,” Noble said, adding that he wants to see the town update its code and commercial zones by next spring.
Updated at 4:20 p.m. — All of the lanes have reopened, MATOC tweeted.
Southbound lanes of GW Parkway are closed near the intersection with Route 123 in McLean.
The closures are due to a vehicle crash, according to an alert from Fairfax County.
All of the southbound lanes are closed as of 3:24 p.m., according to Virginia 511.
Drivers can expect delays. Traffic is backed up about 1.5 miles, the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination Program tweeted.
Crash w/ Injury. GW Parkway SB at VA-123. Fairfax County, VA. All SB lanes are blocked. Delays are approximately 1.5 miles.
— MATOC Alerts (@MATOC) November 5, 2019
Map via Google Maps
(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) The Fairfax County Police Department is investigating burglaries in Tysons Galleria that have left two jewelry stores with smashed windows.
The incident happened around 4 a.m. today (Nov. 5), Sgt. Greg Bedor, a police spokesperson, told Tysons Reporter.
The police department used its helicopter to search for “several suspects,” Bedor said.
Tysons Reporter spotted smashed windows at the David Yurman and Liljenquist & Beckstead Swiss Watches stores this afternoon. Both stores are closed.
The rest of the stores in the mall appeared to be open.
Bedor confirmed that two stores were burglarized. Police cleared the mall (2001 International Drive) around 11 a.m., Bedor said.
Bedor said that Tysons Galleria is not open 24/7 — the hours listed on the mall’s website indicate that the mall opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, with different hours on Sundays.
“Detectives are reviewing security camera footage for possible suspect information,” Bedor said, declining to provide more information on the suspects.
Kalina Newman contributed to this story.
Painted wooden benches raised thousands of dollars for the Vienna Arts Society during a recent auction.
The benches were auctioned off on Saturday (Nov. 2).
“Vienna Arts Society Auction brought in a capacity crowd,” Lu Cousins, the director of the art group, posted on Facebook. “My sincerest thanks goes out to the community for your support and of course to the artists, their families and the team that worked so hard to make this happen.”
Cousins told Tysons Reporter that the auction raised “well over $50,000.”
The funds will go toward the Vienna Arts Society’s Art Center and outreach activities.
Before the auction, the colorful benches adorned local businesses to mark the Vienna Arts Society’s 50th anniversary. Local businesses sponsored the cost of the Amish-built benches.
During the summer, two of the 42 benches were stolen, leading to extra security measures from the arts group and Vienna Police Department. One of the artists was able to paint another bench, letting Vienna Arts Society auction off 41 benches.
Cousins highlighted one bench in particular — Doré Skidmore’s bench, which features books, will honor Abby — “a beloved pup who enjoyed listening to children reading to her,” Cousins said.
“The public interest story goes out to Lamar Collier who — together with The Friends of Patrick Henry Library — had the winning bid for the bench to be placed at the library in honor of her precious dog Abby and the Read to a Dog, Woof and Paws program,” Cousins told Tysons Reporter.
At the Vienna Town Council meeting on Monday, Mayor Laurie DiRocco lauded the Vienna Arts Society, artists and local businesses that helped with the bench art.
“It was fantastic to see the benches all around town for the six months they were there,” DiRocco said, adding that several benches will stay on display in the town.
The mayor added that she also got a bench with her husband. “We’re going to put it by the Freeman Store,” she said.
Oh no, Take a Seat, Vienna benches created by Vienna Arts Society members are about to go away. But wait…don't despair! You can snag one (or more) of these unique benches at a live auction November 2. Tickets available at VAS, 243 Church St NW, or https://t.co/D9z2HfNHnd. pic.twitter.com/2rcq92eL8P
— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) October 19, 2019
Could it be a Berner and Yellow lab? #ViennaVA #ViennaArtsSociety #ViennaBenches #BerneseMountainDog #labradorretriever @TownofViennaVA # pic.twitter.com/ZcIpjCgqHK
— Msonmac (@msonmac) June 8, 2019
Spotted by the Ben & Jerry’s in Vienna pic.twitter.com/kBHL1VhPjf
— Catherine Douglas Moran (@c_douglasmoran) May 6, 2019
Photo courtesy Lu Cousins
Today is the last chance for Fairfax County voters to head to the polls.
More than half of the seats are contested on both the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and School Board.
While many of the Board of Supervisors candidates are incumbents — like John Foust, Penny Gross and Pat Herrity — some new faces are also vying for seats due to officials retiring, like Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins and Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth.
Voters will also decide the fate of a $360 million bond referendum for Fairfax County Public Schools.
The McLean Citizens Association is looking to steer Fairfax County away from reducing parking requirements at Tysons Galleria and Tysons Corner Center.
The proposal would affect the four largest malls in Fairfax County — the two in Tysons, Fair Oaks and Springfield Town Center — and was based on a review of the parking rates and demand at large regional malls by consulting firm Nelson/Nygaard.
The firm found that less than 65% of the available spaces were occupied during peak times from a parking count for the Springfield mall and analyzing data from the Fair Oaks mall. The study did not evaluate the two malls in Tysons — alarming the McLean Citizens Association.
“Without a study specifically addressing parking at those two malls, the MCA believes it is inappropriate to reduce the parking requirements at those locations,” the MCA wrote in a letter dated Oct. 30 to the Planning Commission.
The letter goes on to state that “it seems that it is frequently difficult to find a vacant space at the two Tysons malls even during normal weekends throughout the year” and advises the county against approving the change without data about the two Tysons malls.
MCA urges the county to drop the two Tysons malls from the proposal and — going forward — only consider changes to the parking when there is a study done specifically for the affected mall(s).
Fairfax County planners support altering the requirement from four to 2.5 or three parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area for the four malls — the recommended change from Nelson/Nygaard.
County staff suggested a rate of 2.8, saying it “is reasonable and will address the oversupply of parking currently experienced at our regional malls.”
The Fairfax County Planning Commission is set to hold a public hearing on the proposal next Wednesday (Nov. 13). Unless indefinitely deferred, the proposal would then head to the Board of Supervisors for a hearing on Dec. 3.
Image via Google Maps
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue wants to educate locals on how to prevent fires with sprinklers following a fire in Tysons.
Fire investigators say that combustible material left on top of a stove caused the fire on Sunday (Nov. 3).
The fire occurred in the 1500 block Boyd Pointe Way — the same block that houses the Adaire Apartments.
“Crews found [the] small fire extinguished by [a] fire sprinkler in kitchen on [the] 22nd floor,” the fire department tweeted.
No one was injured, according to the fire department. The fire caused $250 worth of damages.
“Without sprinklers, fire growth is unrestricted,” according to a video the fire department tweeted out, adding that fire sprinklers can control deadly heat and flames and give people time to escape.
Map via Google Maps
(Updated at 8:30 p.m.) As plans move forward on the Vienna Police Department’s new police station, Vienna officials are now figuring out where the police station will relocate.
The town has been reviewing designs for the new police station at 215 S. Center Street for the last few months.
Town Attorney Steven Briglia told the town’s Planning Commission at the end of October that the police department has a spot in mind for the temporary relocation.
Briglia said that the town fortuitously acquired a piece of property at 440 Beulah Road that has a house in spring 2018.
“We acquired that piece of property because it makes sense. It’s right next to the entrance there. It squares up the lot and it makes a prime piece of public property even better,” Briglia said.
While the police detectives are working in the basement of Town Hall and plan to stay there until the new station is finished, Briglia said that the Beulah Street house is a good spot to relocate the police department.
“It turns out it might be — the chief thinks it’s a good spot for a temporary relocation of the police department — at least some of the operations there,” Briglia said.
Construction on the new station is expected to last two years, Briglia said.
While there’s a “zoning snag” that would complicate the Planning Commission approving the relocation to the site, Briglia said that the town “doesn’t really have any other facility” for the police department to use.
The Planning Commission gets to decide if it wants to recommend approval of the temporary site use to the Board of Zoning Appeals, Briglia told Tysons Reporter.
“We have to have a police department headquarters somewhere,” Briglia said.
Map via Google Maps, images via Town of Vienna
The Vienna Police Department received a call last week about a man who allegedly threw a martini glass that cracked one of Ristorante Bonaroti’s windows.
“An employee reported that a customer was sitting outside of the restaurant when he became irate and threw a martini glass,” according to the police report. “The glass cracked an exterior window of the restaurant.”
The incident occurred around noon on Sunday (Oct. 27) at 428 E. Maple Avenue.
“When employees began to call the police, the customer became more upset, making vague threats regarding the police,” the report said.
The man was gone before officers arrived.
Image via Google Maps
Absentee Ballots Rushed to Voters — “Roughly 1,300 new ballots were sent out Oct. 16 and 17 to accommodate the new Republican candidate, Eric Anthony Jones, on the ballot, Fairfax County’s general registrar Gary Scott told the News-Press.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Advisory Firm Moves to Tysons — Capstone Strategic, Inc. announced Friday that it has moved to 8521 Leesburg Pike, Suite 230. [Benzinga]
Facebook Considered Tysons For New Spot — “Social media giant Facebook Inc. has reached a deal to take a large block of office space in Reston Town Center after weighing other potential locations, including Tysons.” [Washington Business Journal]
Calling All Volunteers — “The City Council is looking for seven volunteers to join the newly-created Stormwater Task Force, which will update the list of stormwater improvement projects in the City’s Watershed Management Plan.” [City of Falls Church]
New Glass Recycling Container in Vienna — “We worked with Fairfax County to get our very own exclusively glass purple recycling container that is hungry and waiting at its location on Mill Street NE in the gravel shoulder next to Capitol Building Supply.” [Town of Vienna]
Car Crash Closed McLean Road — The 1800 block of Great Falls Street in McLean was closed due to a car crash on Sunday. The road has now reopened. [Fairfax County Police Department]
