Fairfax County’s new, permanent ‘LOVE’ sign kicked off its 11-stop tour today (May 9) with a ribbon-cutting in the Plaza at Tysons Corner Center.
The new sign celebrates the 50th anniversary of the “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan and National Travel and Tourism Week.
The sign will be on display until May 19 at the Plaza at Tysons Corner Center. It is also scheduled to be displayed at Caboose Commons in Merrifield from June 26 to July 1 during the “Summer of LOVE” tour.
In August, the sign will head to its permanent home at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton where artists will bedazzle the letters.
Fairfax County received a $10,000 grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation for the tour.
LoKL Gourmet, a gourmet food market and eatery, appears to have some planned changes in the works in McLean.
A recent building permit indicates that LoKL Gourmet is looking to expand at 8100 Old Dominion Drive, Suite E.
Located near the intersection of Spring Hill Road and Old Dominion Drive, LoKL Gourmet offers a juice bar, deli and gourmet market. Its menu includes breakfast sandwiches and burritos, lunch sandwiches, salads, juice and smoothies.
LoKL Gourmet also does school lunches for private schools in Northern Virginia, according to its website.
Image via Google Maps
“The Member of the Wedding” will open tonight (May 9) at Tysons’ 1st Stage Theatre, closing out the theater’s 11th season.
Based on the 1946 novel of the same name by Carson McCullers, the drama focuses on a young girl’s dreams of leaving her small Southern town with her brother and his fiancee.
Here is 1st Stage Theatre’s description of the show:
In 1945 rural Georgia, the long, hot days of summer bring struggle, longing, and opportunity for 12-year-old Frankie Addams and her family’s housekeeper Berenice Sadie Brown. Frankie longs to escape with her newlywed brother on adventures in the Alaskan wilderness. Berenice struggles to balance enduring the deeply entrenched racism of the rural South with her role as surrogate mother to Frankie and her 6-year-old cousin. Adapted from the beloved novel of the same name, this evocative, poetic coming of age drama explores the pains of youth and the meaning of family.
The play will run until June 2. Performances for “The Member of the Wedding” are:
- Thursdays — 7:30 p.m.
- Fridays — 8 p.m.
- Saturdays — 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
- Sundays — 2 p.m.
General admission tickets are $39 or $36 for seniors over 65. Students and military tickets are $15.
Photo via Facebook
Vienna Planning Commissioners may have found a solution last night (May 8) to parking and retail space concerns plaguing the proposed Sunrise Senior Living Facility.
Concerns raised about the proposed 83-unit facility at yesterday’s public hearing were similar to ones brought up at the last public hearing: parking, ground floor retail space and location.
Several residents and planning commissioners said they are worried that the 60 parking spaces might not accommodate all of the visitors, employees, shoppers and roughly 100 residents, adding to already problematic traffic congestion around Church Street.
Jerry Liang, the senior vice president of development for Sunrise, said that the removal of a compact parking space resolved an issue brought up at the last public hearing about easy access for ambulances. He also said that some of the facility’s employees will probably use public transit and carpools, freeing up more parking spaces.
In addition to the parking, residents said the ground floor retail at the senior living facility won’t appeal to shoppers. “Would you do your Christmas shopping at the hospital gift shop?” resident Christopher Hogan asked.
Toward the end of the meeting, Planning Commissioner Mary McCullough questioned whether the development was required to have the retail space, which then led to a possible solution: eliminate some or all of the retail space, which would free up the retailers’ 29 parking spaces.
The possible solution to the parking and retail space woes, however, does not address one other concern.
While residents said they support the idea of having a senior living facility come to the town, some took issue with the location at E. Maple Avenue and Center Street — the heart of downtown Vienna.
“I don’t want our centerpiece of town to be assisted living,” a man who said he runs a local business next to the proposed site told the Planning Commission.
Resident Nancy Logan urged the planning commissioners to consider other options for the space. “The location is something very important,” she said. “I’d love to see a hotel or something that could help Vienna.”
Vienna resident Chuck Anderson said during public comment that he doesn’t think a senior living facility will add synergy to the local bars and businesses.
Some residents said they wished the project could get moved to a different location, but the Planning Commission doesn’t have that authority.
“I really like Sunrise,” resident Shelley Ebert said during public comment. “I wish they would move to the west and come to my neighborhood.”
Ultimately, the Planning Commission decided to return to the development at their next meeting.
Rendering via Town of Vienna
Updated at 10:05 a.m. — Police tweeted before 10 a.m., “The traffic signal was repaired and officers have cleared the intersection.”
Fairfax County police want people to avoid Shreve Road and W. Broad Street in Falls Church.
The intersection is just south of the West Falls Church Metro station and right by Giant and George Mason High School.
The police department tweeted shortly after 8 a.m. today (May 9) that the area is experiencing a traffic signal problem.
“Please use caution while officers control the intersection,” the tweet said.
UPDATE: The traffic signal was repaired and officers have cleared the intersection. Thanks for your patience. #FCPD #FairfaxCountyhttps://t.co/Dacmzj5C2Z
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) May 9, 2019
Map via Google Maps
Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors wants more analysis of data that points to the disproportionate use-of-force against black individuals by county police.
Two years ago, the Fairfax County Police Department released a study that found that 40 percent of use-of-force cases in 2015 involved black individuals.
In response to the study’s release, the board directed Police Auditor Richard Schott “to review the statistical disparity between the level of African-American use-of-force incidents and the African American population in Fairfax County,” according to the county.
Completed last year, Schott’s study on the police department data didn’t satisfy the supervisors’ questions.
“The report did not yield any clear causes based upon race, but noted additional evaluation of use-of force data would be needed for the following years,” Chairman Sharon Bulova said yesterday reading from the motion. She added FCPD has new procedures and trainings that might provide more useful data on use-of-force interactions.
Following the 2017 study, Police Chief Edwin Roessler has been trying to find an academic partner to help with data analysis for further use-of-force studies, but hasn’t found a “suitable” partner yet, Bulova said.
In a joint effort, Bulova and Braddock District Supervisor John Cook presented a motion yesterday (May 7) to direct the police auditor to coordinate the search for an academic or researcher to review the disparity and then report findings and any recommendations to the board.
“As the Police Auditor has experience with compiling similar types of reports, I am in favor of the Police Auditor’s office overseeing the search for an academic partner and completion of the use-of-force study,” Bulova said.
Bear Branch Tavern is eyeing a space that once belonged to a bank along Maple Avenue in the heart of downtown Vienna.
The restaurant wants to move into a roughly 6,700-square-foot ground floor space in an office building known as the Vienna Professional Center (133 Maple Avenue E.). The building was built in 1983 and has eight units, including the basement, according to a Town of Vienna staff report.
Bear Branch Tavern plans to occupy units 100 and 100A, which have been vacant since Cardinal Bank left about two years ago.
The restaurant would have 249 seats for indoor and outdoor areas in both the front and rear areas of the building, transforming the former bank teller drive-thru canopy into a rear patio, according to the staff report.
“Staff believes that a restaurant of this size with outdoor seating will help encourage a more vibrant Central Business District,” the staff report says.
In addition to offering food and drinks, the tavern also hopes to entertain patrons with live music. The plans show a location for acoustic performers on the back deck near the proposed fire pit.
The Planning Commission is scheduled to provide a recommendation on conditional use permits for outdoor dining and live entertainment at tonight’s meeting.
The meeting will also continue the public hearing on the Sunrise Senior Living Facility proposal — residents’ concerns about parking, safety and retail space dominated the last public hearing on April 24.
The meeting starts at 8 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers (127 Center Street S.).
First image via Google Maps, second via Vienna Planning Commission
Updated at 11:30 a.m. on May 9 — The Planning Commission decided to defer the decision to May 16. A description of The Monarch was corrected.
A proposed senior living facility in Tysons is headed to the Fairfax County Planning Commission for a vote tonight (May 8) that may result in a recommended denial.
Fairfax County planners took issue with the height, design and open space planned for the two-tower senior living complex called The Mather and have recommended denial of the application, the Washington Business Journal reported in late April.
According to the staff report in WBJ’s story:
Staff does not object to the concept of a continuing care facility as a use, and in fact, recognizes the services provided by such a facility are both necessary and desirable within Tysons. However, the continuing care facility has been designed in a way that reflects the unique needs of the applicant’s specific business model, and does not reflect the urban design recommendations of both the Comprehensive Plan and the Tysons Urban Design Guidelines.
The project includes 18- and 27-story tall towers with a podium connecting the towers on the lower levels and 300 independent living units, 78 assisted living units and 18,000 square feet of retail and restaurants on the lower floors.
The project is a part of Cityline Partners LLC’s Arbor Row project near Tysons Galleria, which includes the completed Nouvelle residential building and The Monarch, which is under construction. The development aims to transform the back end of Tysons Galleria along Westpark Drive into a suite of mixed-use buildings.
The proposal is scheduled for a decision at the Planning Commission’s meeting tonight.
Image via Fairfax County Planning Commission
Vienna residents elected three candidates concerned about the scale of new developments planned for Maple Avenue to the Town Council.
Yesterday’s election saw six candidates — two incumbents face off against four challengers — vie for three council seats.
According to a press release, the unofficial results of the election are:
- Nisha Patel: 1,523
- Howard Springsteen: 1,475
- Steve Potter: 1,470
- Julie Hays: 985
- Tara Bloch: 775
- Time Strike: 415
Incumbent Howard Springsteen has been a leading voice in opposition to new larger Maple Avenue developments, saying that the town’s commercial zones need managed growth with low-density residential zoning and modest, appropriate developments.
Local small business owner Nisha Patel has expressed concerns about the impact of high-density mixed-use developments on traffic and schools. Steve Potter is a founding member of the Vienna Citizens for Responsible Development, a group that has pushed for developments that preserve the “small-town character” on Maple Avenue.
Patel, Potter and Springsteen were all endorsed by the Vienna Citizens for Responsible Development.
Incumbent Tara Bloch, who had the second to the lowest number of votes, did not win reelection. Bloch touted the increased number of sidewalks and bike routes, as well as new commercial redevelopments, and she ran a campaign focused on pushing for a pedestrian-friendly business corridor.
Julie Hays, who ran a campaign focused on pedestrian and bicycle safety and protecting residential neighborhoods, and Tim Strike, who expressed opposition to the medium-high density developments and supported more public parking, also lost.
Vienna residents cast a total of 2,411 ballots, according to the press release.
McEnearney Associates, a family-owned real estate firm, recently arrived in Vienna.
Vienna Mayor Laurie DiRocco celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week. While new to the brick-and-mortar spot, McEnearney Associates is no stranger to Vienna — the real estate firm has conducted business in the town for 35 years, according to a press release.
“We felt that we wanted a stronger presence in the Town of Vienna to increase our client support and community outreach,” Jon Wolford, the managing broker of McLean/Vienna McEnearney Associates, said. “Many of our Associates are involved in the Vienna community whether through events, schools or nonprofit organizations.”
Located at 374 Maple Avenue E., the spot is right by the Peet’s Coffee and newly opened Starbucks. It is the 11th location for McEnearney Associates in the D.C.-area, according to the press release.
“There is something incredibly unique and special about the Town of Vienna, and we felt it was a perfect fit for our firm,” Wolford said.
Earlier this week the Town Business Liaison Committee welcomed McEnearney Associates to Town. They are a local and family-owned real estate firm with over 350 associates. Cheers! #local #business pic.twitter.com/7KCqy0Vhoa
— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) May 3, 2019
