An animal hospital and furniture store are coming to a building in Merrifield between the Dunn Loring Metro station and the Mosaic District.
A building permit says that 8300 Merrifield Avenue, Suite C is getting an interior alteration for the Dunn Loring Animal Hospital.
A sign on a door facing Merrifield Avenue says that the Mina Design Gallery will have a “grand re-opening coming soon” after trading in its Vienna location for the new Merrifield spot. A moving truck by the door said Mina’s former location at 8590 Leesburg Pike was “Closing our doors forever. Everything must go!!!”
The Merrifield furniture gallery is open by appointment open until May 5, according to Mina’s website.
Built in the 1970s, the building housed Columbia College, which offers English as a Second Language program, and Rice Bar Factory. The building recently had work done to remove asbestos, according to a different permit.
Church Street NE is closed until 3 p.m. today (May 1) between Glyndon and Park streets.
The temporary closure started at 9 a.m., according to a tweet from the Town of Vienna.
The road is closed “so that Dominion Energy can do emergency repairs to replace a faulty switch,” the tweet says.
Next week, a different portion of Church Street will be closed for four weeks. Starting Monday (May 6), the 300 block of Church Street will be closed from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekdays for installation of a new sidewalk, storm sewer, curb and gutter and driveway aprons.
Image via Google Maps
The Fairfax County Police Department Internal Affairs Bureau is reviewing an incident last week after members of the public complained officers “brutalized” and “threatened” two teenagers.
FCPD released a video yesterday (Tuesday) to dispute online claims that a teenage girl was “body slammed” during an arrest in Tysons Corner Center last Thursday (April 25.) Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. directed the Internal Affairs Bureau to review the incident, according to the press release, and said the Police Auditor will conduct an independent review.
The video shows a man pulling a woman into a store while holding her hands behind her back. After what appears to be a struggle, she then falls to the ground.
Police say during the incident a 19-year-old woman “threw down her water bottle and dumped her drink all over the store’s floor and walked away” after her 22-year-old friend was caught shoplifting and issued a summons.
Police say the 19-year-old “began screaming and acting disorderly” when police approached her, and that she attempted to break free from police after being brought back into the store.
“To gain control and prevent her from harming herself or others, she was taken to the ground by the arresting officer and finally handcuffed,” noted the police report last week.
People criticized the police’s response on Facebook, saying officers “brutalized” and “threatened” the teenagers and bullied bystanders.
Police issued the 19-year-old a summons for disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice, and mall management banned her from Tysons Corner Center for one year, according to the report.
A 27-year-old Fairfax man was also arrested for disorderly conduct after he “aggressively approached officers, cursing at them and attempting to interfere with their investigation,” the report says.
File photo
Vienna residents had mixed reactions to the proposed redevelopment of 380 Maple Avenue at last night’s public hearing.
While some people said the mixed-use, four-floor building, which would include ground floor retail and 39 multi-family residential condominium units, could revitalize the downtown area, others argued that traffic, safety and scale issues warrant the Vienna Town Council delaying or rejecting the proposal.
Dennis Rice, the owner of J.D.A. Custom Homes, told the Town Council that the proposed project has gone from being called “the gold standard for what the MAC should look like” last fall to receiving a mix of feedback that has elicited many changes.
“We’ve had seven more work sessions and public hearings,” Rice said. “It’s been a very long and arduous process. We made more than 75 changes.”
Some of those changes included removing the fifth floor and green wall in the back, adding more trees to provide extra screening for the nearby neighbors, reducing the number of residential units and changing the color scheme from brighter to softer colors. “We were referred to as the Lego building,” he said.
Testimony during the more than three-hour-long public hearing on the proposed rezoning ranged from residents who said the redevelopment will help Vienna’s ghost town appearance to arguments that the plan’s flaws outweigh the need to replace the site’s unattractive three-story office building that was built in 1970.
“I think this is a good change,” Tammy Moore, a resident, said. “It’s something different.” Moore said, adding that the units may attract both younger people and also older residents looking to downsize.
The proposal’s retail space received some support from residents who said the spots are an opportunity to attract local businesses instead of big box chains dotting Maple Avenue’s strip malls.
“To pass up a chance like this would seem to me to be a serious mistake by the town,” Nat White, a resident, told the council.
Some residents, like Anna Benson, took issue with the project’s scale.
“This project is a great idea, but it’s too big,” Benson said, adding that she asked a fifth grader to build the Town of Vienna as the developer envisions it with Legos.
“He said to me, ‘It’s going to be too big. We can’t fit everybody,'” she said. “My question to you is, ‘Are we smarter than a fifth grader?'”
Resident John Pott said the closeness of the development to people’s homes and nearly three dozen windows lead will invade current residents’ privacy. “It’s right in our face — a massive, balconied structure,” he said.
While a Transportation Impact Analysis found that the development will cause minimal traffic in the area and that the intersection does not need a traffic signal, several residents said the development will add to already bad traffic congestion in the area. Opponents also said that the placement of the loading dock access from Wade Hampton Drive could lead to safety issues for pedestrians and drivers.
“This is not only a public safety issue, it makes no logical sense,” Steve Potter, a resident, said, urging for relocation of the loading dock. “Loading docks do not belong on public streets or next to public sidewalks or access ways for handicap people. It’s an accident waiting to happen.”
Residents in support of the project said minor tweaks could address the issues raised and shouldn’t stop the Town Council from approving the rezoning proposal.
“[The developers] are really trying and I think this is one of projects where we have to support the developers and the good-heartedness of it and their wanting to make the town a better town,” Friderike Butler, a resident, said. “380 looks really beautiful and I know there are still kinks that need to get worked out – security hazards, safety hazards are uncertainly of concern and need to be addressed, but they don’t sound like would they be reason enough to vote this project down.”
The Vienna Town Council decided to leave the public hearing open until May 13 and directed the staff and applicant to provide responses to questions brought up and also possible solutions to the council.
“I just think in the interest of open government and to try to be as fair as possible by leaving the public hearing open, it shows we’ve gone the extra half mile,” Councilmember Howard Springsteen said.
Photo via Town of Vienna Planning and Zoning
Moge Tee expects to open in about two months in Tysons Corner Center as part of the bubble tea shop’s massive expansion plans for this year.
The upcoming Tysons location is one of several new shops in Virginia, Lin Luo, who handles franchise development, told Tysons Reporter. Moge Tee held a grand opening for its new store at 6122 Arlington Blvd in Falls Church last Sunday (April 21). The bubble tea shop also recently opened in D.C.’s Glover Park neighborhood.
This year alone, Moge Tee aims to open 40-50 stores across the U.S., including Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles, according to a Moge Tee presentation sent to Tysons Reporter. So far, more than 20 stores have been leased or are under construction, the presentation said.
Moge Tee will occupy a 1,000 square-foot-space between the Pandora and Steinway stores on the first level near Nordstrom. The menu for its current New York City locations includes parfaits, coffee, cheese tea, milk tea, fruit tea and Uji matcha — a type of green tea.
Emily’s Kitchen, a regional restaurant chain, has plans to open a new spot in Pimmit Hills.
The fast-casual restaurant is coming to 7600B Leesburg Pike, Suite 130, according to a building permit.
Founded in 2000, Emily’s Kitchen serves up sandwiches, deli meats, egg dishes, salads and soups.
Currently, the chain has two spots in Rockville, Md. and one in Herndon, Va.
Photo via Instagram
Wishing Tree, which offers short-term childcare, is on a brief hiatus from its Tysons Corner Center spot.
Unlike traditional childcare centers, Wishing Tree offers short-term services for parents who need a few kid-free hours, with options ranging from after-school programs to a “Grocery Drop” for kid-free shopping.
Its website says that the location on the second floor of the mall near Lord and Taylor is “reopening in August 2019.” Writing in the windows indicate that the Tysons location has Legos, spinning top toys by Beyblades, crafts and board games for kids’ entertainment, along with a summer camp for ages 8-12.
The childcare center has another location in Ashburn, which offers care for ages 3-12.
A portion of Church Street in Vienna will be closed for four weeks starting next Monday (May 6) for construction work.
The Town of Vienna hired Ashburn Construction to install a new sidewalk, storm sewer, curb and gutter and driveway aprons on Church Street NE from the intersection of Glyndon Street to 344 Church Street NE. The contractor will also replace the speed hump in front of 342 Church Street NE.
The 300 block of Church Street will be closed from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekdays and only residents who live in that block will be able to access the area, according to the town. Vienna does not have any utility disruptions planned.
During construction, traffic on Church Street will get diverted onto Maple Avenue briefly before returning to Church Street.
Some people commented under Vienna’s Facebook post about the closure that the street needs the improvements, but the work is ill-timed.
“Much needed agreed but wish it was to be done over summer when traffic is a bit less,” one commentator wrote under the post. Another person wrote, “Much needed improvements …. very inconvenient. Sigh.”
Vienna is using the announcement about the road closure to encourage locals to sign up for the town’s new notification system.
Hey folks: The 300 block of Church Street between Glyndon and Beulah will be closed for approximately 4 weeks starting May 6 for sidewalk, curb, and gutter installation. ICYMI you can sign up for our alert system for up-to-date info: https://t.co/BgKCH3E38U pic.twitter.com/bO9mVZgQnC
— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) April 26, 2019
First image via Town of Vienna and second via Google Maps
Tysons just lost its Irish pub.
Paddy Barry’s Irish Pub and Restaurant closed last Tuesday (April 23) at 8150 Leesburg Pike, according to a sign in the storefront window.
“Unfortunately with costs outstripping our sales we have no option but to close,” the sign said.
The restaurant was one of the few places serving Irish fare in the area.
Diners looking for a bangers skillet and Irish potatoes can check out the Old Brogue Irish Pub (760-C Walker Road, Great Falls) and Ireland’s Four Provinces (105 W Broad Street, Falls Church).
A new mall kiosk at Tysons Corner Center now lets shoppers buy products with cannabidiol, a natural remedy commonly known as CBD.
CBD is one of the chemical compounds found in marijuana plants and has quickly gained prominence in the health and wellness world for reportedly helping with pain and anxiety.
While possessing and selling marijuana is illegal in Virginia, except for approved medical marijuana use, state laws remain hazy concerning over-the-counter sales of CBD oil.
Located on the first floor between Zumiez and Forever 21, Create Bright Days offers a variety of CBD-infused products, including $27.99 pet treats, $24.99 massage oil, $124.99 vape e-liquid and $39.99 body butter moisturizer.
The self-described boutique store for CBD products claims on its website that the oil helps with pain relief, seizures, anxiety, cancer and reducing the risk of diabetes.
“Products on this site are not meant to cure or treat any ailment,” the site says. “The FDA has not approved these products.”
