Town of Vienna officials are denying the allegation that the Town Council discriminated against seniors and people with disabilities when rejecting an assisted living facility.
On July 17, Sunrise filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court against the Town Council after it denied Sunrise’s rezoning application for a proposed 82-unit facility downtown.
Sunrise is arguing that the Town Council’s rejection violated the Virginia Fair Housing Law and Sunrise was treated differently from other developers seeking rezoning under the Maple Avenue Commercial Zone.
In the lawsuit, Sunrise also claims that the rezoning application was consistent with the town’s Comprehensive Plan and that some council members’ concerns about parking “were not grounded in empirical evidence, and thus were necessarily arbitrary and capricious.”
Last Wednesday (Aug. 14), the Town Council responded to Sunrise’s allegations, saying “the Virginia Fair Housing Law is inapplicable given the facts asserted in the complaint.”
The Town Council wants Sunrise to file the complete legislative record, which includes the rezoning affidavit, staff reports and audio and minutes from Vienna meetings, hearings and work sessions.
“In order to evaluate Sunrise’s claims, the court necessarily must review and evaluate the legislative record which Council considered, said record being central to the claims brought by Sunrise,” according to the response.
While Sunrise is seeking a jury trial and wants the Town Council to reconsider the rezoning denial and pay Sunrise $30 million in damages, the Town Council asked the court to permanently dismiss the case.
Steven Briglia, the town’s attorney, told Tysons Reporter that the town does not comment on pending on litigation. Briglia said that no date has been set yet for the court to rule on the demurrer from the Town Council and motion.
Image via Town of Vienna
As the Town of Vienna awaits Fairfax County’s renovation of the Patrick Henry Library, the Town Council continues to drive forward a proposed public parking garage.
The Town Council is set to hear a presentation tonight (Monday) from Grimm and Parker about several ideas that could incorporate public parking in the project.
Opened in 1971, Patrick Henry Library (101 E. Maple Avenue) is set to be rebuilt as part of a $91 million bond referendum to upgrade the county’s aging libraries. Mayor Laurie DiRocco previously said that the library got moved up in the county’s renovation schedule from 2026 to 2022.
Ultimately, the town wants cost-effective public parking that will create a synergy between the library and the surrounding commercial area, according to a report from Grimm and Parker.
“Parking is critical to the success of the Patrick Henry Library. The current parking supply often does not meet the demand,” the report said. “Additionally, the Town of Vienna is experiencing a parking shortfall for the Maple Avenue Corridor.”
According to the report, the three designs concepts for the library and parking are:
- a stand-alone, two-story building with surface parking for 90 cars;
- a single-level library with an integrated parking garage with 125 spots for the library and 84 for the town;
- or a single-level library with an integrated parking garage with 125 spaces for the library and 188 for the town
Prior to the meeting, the Town Council will hold a work session about the final phase of the scope of work for the multimodal transportation study of the Maple Avenue Corridor that is being done by Kimley-Horn.
“Based on the future land use scenario results, Kimley-Horn will present potential multimodal transportation improvements for discussion with Town citizens in a workshop format,” according to the town’s website.
The final community workshop for the study will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m.
Vienna Man Arrested After Chase — “State police arrested a Vienna man early Wednesday following a high-speed chase and crash in Shenandoah County.” [Inside NoVa]
Billions for Booze — “The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority has reported annual revenue of more than $1 billion, up $71.8 million over the previous year.” [Inside NoVa]
Tysons Company Growing Quicky — “Inc. Magazine compiled the 2019 list of companies based on the percent of revenue growth from 2015 to 2018. Qualifying companies must be based in the U.S. and be privately held. The 12th spot belonged to Urgently, a global mobility and roadside assistance app.” [Tysons Patch]
Falls Church Candidate Drops Out — “Thomas Cash, a candidate for one of three contested Falls Church City Council seats up for bid this November, announced [Friday] that he is dropping out of the race.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Rep. Wexton Joins “Play Date” in McLean Park — Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) joined families “Aug. 9 at Clemyjontri Park in McLean as part of a ‘play date’ organized by Little Lobbyists, an advocacy group dedicated to supporting and sharing the stories of families with children who have complex medical needs.” [Fairfax County Times]
Grocery Store Scales Back Hours — “Touting its 24-hour service when it opened three years ago in the middle of downtown Falls Church, the Little City’s Harris Teeter will no longer be open for all-hour grocery shopping starting next week.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Little Leaguers Interrogate Nats Player — “The Washington Nationals’ Trea Turner met with Falls Church Kiwanis Little Leaguers Thursday and fielded some questions from the young players that were surprisingly hot to handle in an event aimed at boosting Fall Ball participation.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Falls Classes Available in McLean — “Registration is now open for McLean Community Center’s (MCC) fall session classes and activities.” [McLean Patch]
The Vienna Police Department is investigating three indecent exposure incidents reported this week along the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.
A woman told the police that she saw a man masturbating in the woods between Park Street and Branch Road SE while she was running on the bike trail shortly before 8 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 12.
The next day (Tuesday), the police department received another report from a woman about a man masturbating in the woods — this time near Park Street and Dominion Road SE.
Police said they searched both areas but were unable to find the man.
Then yesterday (Thursday), a woman told police that “she was walking near the W&OD Trail when a man came out from a wooded area and approached her with his pants down, exposing himself to her,” according to the police report.
That incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. near Park Terrace Court SE.
“The woman stated the man began to follow her until a trash truck approached and he left the area,” police said.
The police department is also investigating a report of a man masturbating by Wildwood Park from earlier this month.
A woman told police that the incident took place shortly after 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 2, by Alma Street SE and Delano Drive SE.
Photo via Facebook
Tysons may not have the liveliest nightlife at the moment, but that could soon change as more late-night restaurants and places to hang out open. “Tysons After Dark” will highlight a different spot every week.
Locals looking for some evening entertainment can watch the latest Cirque du Soleil show in Tysons until the end of September.
The acrobatic troupe returned this year with a new sports-themed show called “VOLTA.”
Cirque du Soleil’s production highlights adventure and street sports, Steven Ross, the show’s senior publicist, told Tysons Reporter.
When the creators of the show started brainstorming about two years ago, Ross said they wanted to try something new. “Sports is the one thing we haven’t done,” he said.
Cirque du Soleil ended up sending talent scouts to sporting events to include sports athletes in the cast.
“We took sport athletes and taught them how to do sport moves in an artistic way,” he said.
In addition to the urban sports inspiration, “VOLTA” is also unlike traditional Cirque du Soleil shows with its “clear and very defined narrative,” Ross said.
“VOLTA” is Latin for “a sudden change,” and the contemporary plot focuses on self-empowerment and transformation while juxtaposing bicycles with ballerinas, he said.
The electronic music — common at sporting events — also adds a new twist to the show, he said.
More from Cirque du Soleil about the show:
Waz is a gameshow contestant that has lost touch with himself. He’s ashamed of who he is because of his difference. Follow him as he enters the show in search of fame, thinking that this will bring him love and acceptance from others. What he will find is something else: that fame is not the answer.
If fame doesn’t provide freedom and acceptance, then what does? Will Waz reconnect with his true self — and stand up for all that makes him truly unique? Will he realize that his difference is what makes him extraordinary?
The “big top” pavilion is located between Tysons Galleria and the Tysons Corner Metro station.
The show runs until Sept 29. Tickets start at $49 and go up to $495 for behind-the-scenes tickets.
Photos via VOLTA by Cirque du Soleil/Facebook
(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) Another painted bench commissioned by the Vienna Arts Society has gone missing in the Town of Vienna.
The Vienna Police Department said that a member of the Vienna Arts Society reported that one of their benches was stolen from in front of Ghaffari Orthodontics (100 Church Street NE) between Aug. 9-12 — nearly one month after another painted bench was reported stolen.
The benches are two of the 42 benches painted by local artist and placed around the Town of Vienna. The benches are slated to be sold at a charity auction in November.
The bench taken this month was called “Big Wave” by Artist Viktoriya Maslova.
Kenneth Britz, the artist of another bench, told Tysons Reporter that the Vienna Arts Society is currently working on a way to deter any attempted thefts in the future.
“We are still trusting of the town,” he said, adding that “anything can be stolen from anywhere.”
Britz said that the arts group hasn’t determined yet if Maslova will paint another bench for the town.
He added that the arts group is cooperating with the Vienna Police Department.
The bench that disappeared from outside Grass Roots Fitness (512 W. Maple Avenue) in July was painted by Mary Ellyn Perkowski and featured pink and purple flowers against a black background.
Deborah Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Vienna Arts Society, previously told Tysons Reporter Perkowski plans to paint another bench similar in design to the stolen one — it is unclear when the replacement will be finished or where it will be placed.
Earlier in August, Britz published an open letter in the Sun-Gazette on behalf of the organization condemning the July theft as “an affront to the town and a show of blatant disrespect to its residents and visitors.”
Juan Vazquez, a spokesperson for the Vienna Police Department, said that the department cannot comment on the cases since they are still being investigated.
Photo via Vienna Arts Society/Facebook
The owner behind the Kiln & Co. custard-meets-pottery shops said being a mom-owned, local business has many perks.
Sarah Selvaraj told Tysons Reporter that she gets to spend time with her 9-year-old daughter, who helps paint the pottery and taste the custard.
“It’s definitely given me the freedom of having my daughter with me,” she said.
Selvaraj said Kiln started as a pottery spot that opened in 2013 in Vienna when her daughter was 3.
Three years later, Nielsen’s Frozen Custard closed nearby, leaving Selvaraj and her customers without a sweet treat after making pottery.
“A lot of our neighbors would do the pottery and then get the custard,” she said. So Selvaraj decided to start her own custard shop within the pottery location — and Kiln & Custard was born.
“It was to more to satisfy our needs because we had an addiction [to Nielsen’s] by then,” she said.
While some places serve custard in a soft-serve machine, she said Kiln uses an old-fashioned machine that makes the custard creamy. “We do over 12 flavors every day and they are all organic with no artificial colors,” she said.
Selvaraj then opened the Reston location (1631 N. Washington Plaza) in 2017, followed by the Falls Church spot (455 S. Maple Avenue) last year after the city approached Kiln. People can find custard and pottery at all three locations.
“They had a unique location they were trying to fill in,” she said, “The city had been extremely helpful… It just organically happened.”
The Vienna spot (138 Church Street NW), though, is the home-base. All of the custard gets made in the kitchen there and then delivered daily to the two smaller, satellite spots. The location also has a 3,000-square-foot party room, wheel room, kiln room and a back patio.
While Selvaraj doesn’t have plans to expand the store at the moment, she does have plans to expand the product. “We are stretched to the max with the three locations,” she said.
Selvaraj said she wants to offer a ceramic line by Christmas so that people looking for holiday gifts can purchase items from Kiln.
“We do get a lot of custom orders. We might have a small, curated selection that people can buy off the shelf,” she said.
Whether or not that ceramic continues after the holiday season will depend on customer demand, she said, adding that Kiln appeals to parents to kids.
“Some of the most loyal followers for the custard are seniors who come religiously on a daily basis,” she said. “Moms and kids — if they are coming to paint pottery, they end up getting custard regardless.”
Being a mom herself, Selvaraj understands the appeal of having a space where parents can hang out with their kids during the summer.
“It definitely helps being mom-owned,” she said.
A used bookstore in the City of Falls Church plans to close at the end of the month, but comic book fans should plan on visiting the store before Monday.
“It’s a retirement closing” and “Thank you Falls Church for 40 years” signs currently hang on the store’s door.
After 40 years, Hole in the Wall Books plans to sell its comic books in a few days — less than two weeks before the store is packed up for good.
Owner Edie Nally told Tysons Reporter that her husband Michael ran the store for the first 20 years and she’s been in charge for the last 20 years.
After commuting a little more than 100 miles per day and getting stuck in I-66 traffic, Nally said she’s going to be “so glad to be out of that.”
But while Nally said that she feels “wonderful” about her upcoming retirement, several patrons who stopped by the store Thursday told Tysons Reporter that the closure will impact the Falls Church community.
Chris Messick said that the multi-generational store is part of the “citadel for nerd culture.”
“It’s a sanctuary for people to look for really cool, old books. They are not coming here just for a bargain,” Messick said.
Taylor Holland, a 48-year-old Arlingtonian who said he’s been coming to the store since he was 8, said that the closure is “costing Falls Church a piece of its soul.”
“Every community needs to have a place like this. It’s a repository of ideas,” Holland said. “It’s a forum where ideas can be exchanged. It’s the closest thing we have to a Roman forum or French salon circa the days of Versaille.”
Holland, who was unable to find a copy of “The Great Gatsby,” had a stack of at least two dozen paperbacks and comic books he had picked out for himself and his family.
“I buy a whole variety of things,” he said. “I have two kids ages 11 and 13.”
Shoppers can find a wide selection of books from mysteries to horror, from graphic novels to literature.
As for Nally’s favorite reads? “The very best books ever are Shakespeare and the Russians — Dostoevsky, Tolstoy,” Nally said. “What’s better than that?”
Signs outside the store say, “50% off. Going out of business sale discounts.” Nally said the half-off discount applies to “pretty much everything.”
Come Monday (Aug. 19), Nally said that a man will buy and haul away 191 long boxes containing “thousands and thousands of comics.” People looking for comic books should stop by the store this weekend, Nally suggested.
Hole in the Wall Books is open from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on the weekends. The store plans to close for good on Saturday, Aug. 31.
Whatever doesn’t get sold by the closing date, Nally said will end up on the Advanced Book Exchange, a Canadian e-commerce site better known as AbeBooks.com.
Nally said that people should come to store before it closes “because we’re giving a great deal.”
Sunrise Senior Living is suing Town of Vienna officials for $30 million after the Town Council rejected a rezoning application for an assisted living facility downtown.
The Vienna Town Council rejected the rezoning application for the proposed 82-unit facility in June after a long back-and-forth over a myriad of concerns involving parking, retail space and the location at the corner of Maple Avenue and Center Street.
While some councilmembers said that they felt Sunrise’s proposed parking for the facility would be sufficient for residents, guests, employees and shoppers, others said the facility would worsen the town’s parking woes.
On June 17, then-Councilmember Tara Bloch put forward a motion to approve the project, which failed with a 3-4 vote. Bloch, Linda Colbert and outgoing Councilmember Carey Sienicki voted in favor of the project. Mayor Laurie DiRocco, Pasha Majdi, Howard Springsteen and Douglas Noble voted no.
A month later on July 17, Sunrise filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court against Noble, DiRocco and Town Attorney Steve Briglia, according to a copy of the lawsuit, which was first reported by the Sun Gazette.
Sunrise is arguing that the Town Council’s rejection violated the Virginia Fair Housing Law by discriminating against seniors and people with disabilities.
“This case is about the Town Council’s intentional exclusion of the elderly and disable senior from residing in downtown Vienna based upon discriminatory, illegal, and irrational biases and assumptions,” the lawsuit says, adding that the town does not have any senior living facilities.
In the lawsuit, Sunrise claims that the rezoning application was consistent with the town’s Comprehensive Plan and that some council members’ concerns about parking “were not grounded in empirical evidence, and thus were necessarily arbitrary and capricious.”
“Simply put, the elderly and disabled were not types of people that the Council wanted to see front and center downtown,” the lawsuit says, “They did not fit into the downtown vision.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the Town Council treated Sunrise differently from other developers seeking rezoning under the Maple Avenue Commercial Zone.
Briglia, the town’s attorney, told Tysons Reporter that the town does not comment on pending on litigation, although he added that the town disputes the allegation that the council violated the Virginia Fair Housing Law. Briglia said that town filed its response to the lawsuit yesterday (Wednesday).
Sunrise is seeking a jury trial and wants the Town Council to reconsider its denial of the rezoning application and pay Sunrise $30 million in damages, plus legal fees.
Image via Town of Vienna
Updated at 4:25 p.m. — Fairfax County is now under a Flood Warning.
Earlier: Fairfax County and surrounding areas could see some major thunderstorms and damaging winds this afternoon (Thursday).
The National Weather Service recently issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning that will last until 4 p.m.
More from the National Weather Service:
Until 400 PM EDT.
* At 316 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Chantilly, or near Centreville, moving southeast at 15 mph.
HAZARD…60 mph wind gusts.
SOURCE…Radar indicated.
IMPACT…Damaging winds will cause some trees and large branches to fall. This could injure those outdoors, as well as damage homes and vehicles. Roadways may become blocked by downed trees. Localized power outages are possible. Unsecured light objects may become projectiles.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Ashburn VA, Sterling VA, South Riding VA until 3:30 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/0wkWMqlwh7
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) August 15, 2019
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect for #FairfaxCounty! Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors! Wait 30 minutes after storm before going back outside! #SafeFairfax #FCFRD pic.twitter.com/BtLpAUl5bQ
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) August 15, 2019
