Happy Friday! Here are the latest stories about the Tysons area that the Tysons Reporter team has been reading:

Answer to Affordable Housing? — “A unique zoning designation permitted a new duplex to spring up in the heart of the City of Falls Church, but the development may not be a one-off if proposed legislation to upzone all single-family lots to accommodate multifamily structures passes down in Richmond.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Art Center Proposed For McLean Park — “‘MPA envisions an all-inclusive art center which provides a creative respite for the community that is integrated into, yet distinct from, Clemyjontri Park,’ county officials said.” [Inside NoVa]

Falls Church Library Project Moves Forward — “By a split 4-3 vote, the Falls Church City Council gave a “first reading” preliminary approval to a $10.9 million project to renovate and expand the Mary Riley Styles Public Library… The vote on final approval for the plan is scheduled for Feb. 10.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Woman Struck in Falls Church — “A woman was struck by a vehicle while crossing the street at the corner of Little Falls Road and West Broad Street in the City of Falls Church Tuesday afternoon, the City reported.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Now that @TBiergarten closed. Where are the best spots to watch the #SuperBowl in and around Tysons?

— Tysons, VA (@TysonsVA) January 29, 2020

Fun Fact: The miniature fighter jet sculpture pictured above in Falls Church was made with 14,000 copper coins, according to Atlas Obscura.

A|X Armani Exchange — the more affordable option for Giorgio Armani products — no longer has a store in Tysons Corner Center.

A reader alerted Tysons Reporter earlier today (Thursday) about a sign at the mall saying that the store is closed and urging customers to head to A|X Armani Exchange’s store in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City (1100 South Hayes Street, Suite 501).

The store was located on the second level near Barnes and Noble.

An employee at the Pentagon City store said that the Tysons one closed two days ago. The employee wasn’t sure what prompted the closure.

“A|X appears to be repositioning its portfolio of stores within their organization,” a spokesperson for the mall told Tysons Corner Center.

Tysons Reporter has reached out to A|X Armani Exchange to find out more information about the closure.

While it’s unclear what will fill the A|X Armani Exchange space, several newcomers are expected in the mall later this year, including Australian brand Cotton On.

Photo courtesy (and hat tip to) Raymond Newby

Fairfax County police say a McLean home near the Marie Butler Leven Preserve was burglarized yesterday.

The incident happened in the 1600 block of Maddux Lane around 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday (Jan. 29).

Police say that someone stole property.

A Fairfax County police spokesperson declined to provide more information because it is an active case.

Map via Google Maps

Falls Church officials are set to review a proposed retail building directly across from the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Fairfax One LLC wants to redevelop the lot for a future commercial tenant under a land lease agreement with the church, according to city documents.

Called Southgate II, the development would add a 12,000-square-foot retail building on an existing surface parking lot at 130 E. Fairfax Street, the documents say.

More from the documents:

The proposed height for the new building is approximately 28.5 Feet, and appears to be one and half stories with the mezzanine level. The adjacent property at 116 East Jefferson known as Southgate I was renovated under a building permit application in 2016, also by Fairfax One LLC under a similar lease agreement.

The current development on this property contains a commercial building with several retail and service tenants and surface parking.

The developer is proposing to add a curb cut on Douglass Avenue near E. Fairfax Street and new access to the alley that connects to Fairfax Street.

“The proposed building will remove 47 parking spaces from the existing lot. The parking tabulation shows that 40 spaces are provided around the new building and that 52 spaces are provided on adjacent property,” according to the documents.

The Falls Church Planning Commission is scheduled to review the application during a work session on Monday (Feb. 3).

A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 2, according to the documents.

Image via City of Falls Church; map via Google Maps

(Updated 12:50 p.m.) Shoppers and diners can find free games at BrandBox in Tysons Corner Center starting this weekend.

The mall teamed up with local business Snap Entertainment to bring an arcade pop-up to the lower level of the mall near Barnes and Noble.

“Partnering with a company like Snap is just another way that we are changing the retail experience and enhancing our shopper’s time with us,” Becca Willcox, a BrandBox spokesperson, said in the press release.

The pop-up offers “large format games, old school and classic video games, interactive photo booth experiences and the latest in party entertainment, to enhance their shopping experience,” according to a press release from the mall.

Willcox said that the end date for the arcade games has not been determined yet.

A kids’ clothing store in Georgetown plans to open its new spot in Tysons in a few weeks.

Little Birdies Boutique’s second location will be in Tysons in a spot next to Saks Fifth Avenue on the third floor of Tysons Galleria. The store said on Facebook on Sunday (Jan. 26) that the Tysons store is aiming to open March 1.

The store, which sells kids’ clothing from newborns to size 10, first opened in Georgetown in 2014, according to the store’s website.

Tysons Reporter first spotted signs for the new Tysons spot a few weeks ago.

Photo via Little Birdies Boutique/Instagram

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently approved changes to improve road safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.

At the board’s Tuesday meeting, Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn and Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk jointly unveiled a proposal to initiate a review of the county’s Department of Transportation’s ActiveFairfax planning process.

ActiveFairfax is a transportation plan that includes a Bicycle Master Plan and Countywide Trails Plan Update for the county.

“Sixteen pedestrian fatalities in our county in 2019 is too many,” Alcorn said. “Most of our built environment is still designed for moving vehicles, which creates obvious conflicts and we need to evolve toward safer walking and cycling.”

More from the board matter:

The commitment of Fairfax County to address this is clear, including more than $300 million in funding approved for stand-alone bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects over the past decade.

Most of these projects have been implemented, while some are still in progress. It should be noted that the $300 million in funding doesn’t include bike and pedestrian projects that are being implemented as part of larger roadway projects, or in VDOT’s repaving schedule…

Due to the General Assembly reallocating funding for Metro’s State of Good Repair Initiative, the Board deferred a number of bike and pedestrian projects last year. And we all have examples of more bike and pedestrian projects to be done, if more funding were available.

Fortunately, the General Assembly is looking at options for increasing transportation funding, but currently they don’t go far enough.

Alcorn and Lusk want the county’s departments and the Virginia Department of Transportation to coordinate their efforts and also want FCDOT to review the following:

• working timeline for the ActiveFairfax Plan
• external communications strategy for the planning process
• evaluation of the current approach for funding pedestrian improvements
• examination of how tech can improve pedestrian and bicycle safety ahead of ActiveFairfax
• whether the county can achieve measurable safety goals like Vision Zero

Lusk called recent pedestrian-involved fatalities and injuries along county roads a “public safety crisis.”

The Board of Supervisors will continue the discussion about the ActiveFairfax Plan at the transportation and public safety committee meetings, according to a press release.

The head of the Fairfax County Police Department said police took “proportionate, legal and necessary levels of use of force” following the shooting an armed suspect in Falls Church.

Fairfax County police said earlier today that a Special Weapons and Tactics Team officer shot a suspect “brandishing an assault-style weapon” last night in a house in the 7600 block of Lee Landing Drive.

In an update this afternoon, Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. said that the SWAT officers were serving a narcotics search warrant and two arrest warrants for felony distribution of marijuana and failure to appear for a probation violation in another jurisdiction.

“To serve the high-risk warrants safely, the SWAT team made multiple verbal announcements of their presence upon tactical entry of the home,” Roessler said.

David Vo, a 24-year-old Falls Church resident, confronted SWAT officers in the kitchen, pointing an assault-style weapon at them, according to police.

Vo was struck with one round in the leg, which “neutralized his threat,” before the SWAT team continued the search of the house, Roessler said. Vo was taken to a hospital and treated for the injury before being transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Two of Vo’s kids, who are under the age of 4, and his girlfriend were in the house and unharmed during the incident, Roessler said.

“After the home was secured by the SWAT team, multiple unsecured firearms were in plain view and other narcotics were found in the home,” Roessler said.

Roessler said that the SWAT team was chosen to conduct the search after a risk assessment of the warrants determined the search to be “high risk” because of Vo’s “history of domestic assault and shooting at a vehicle.”

Capt. Jason Allegra with FCPD’s Narcotics Division said that two assault-style weapons, a pistol and narcotics were found at the house.

Allegra said that Vo will face the following additional charges:

• possession of a firearm by a felon
• distribution of marijauna while possessing a firearm
• possession of a firearm with schedule 1 or 2 drug
• ammunition possession by a felon
• felony distribution of marijuana
• drug possession schedule 1 or 2

The Major Crimes Bureau is conducting a criminal investigation into the use of force and the Internal Affairs Bureau is conducting an administrative investigation. The Police Auditor is also independently reviewing the incident, according to the police department.

“The name of the officer will be released by Chief Roessler within 10 days,” the press release from earlier today said.

The involved officer is a 16-year veteran of the police department, who, per department policy, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigations, according to the press release.

“In my professional opinion, this is proportionate, legal and necessary to defend the lives of the officers as an assault weapon was pointed at the officers,” Roessler said about the shooting.

Roessler praised the officer on the SWAT team for the quick response.

“I support the pulling of the trigger by my officer,” Roessler said.

Roessler would not comment on whether or not Vo’s weapon was loaded or how many rounds were fired by the SWAT officer.

“We knew we were going into a violent situation,” Roessler said. “No lives were lost.”

Fire investigators say construction workers, who did not have the proper permits, caused a fire at a house just north of Wolf Trap on Monday (Jan. 27).

The fire broke out in a wall space of a two-story, single family house in the 9400 block of Shouse Drive.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue said in an update today (Wednesday) that the fire started by accident when construction workers using a torch to repair an exterior faucet ignited combustible materials within wall space on the first floor.

“Three occupants were home at the time of the fire,” the fire department said. “A worker discovered the fire and the homeowner called 9-1-1. Smoke alarms were present and sounded after the fire was discovered.”

The contractor was issued a Notice of Violation for conducting hot works operations without the required permit, the fire department said.

The fire caused approximately $20,000 worth of damage.

The fire department said that no injuries were reported and no one was displaced.

Map via Google Maps

With the risk of solar installations delaying or stopping altogether, Fairfax County is pushing politicians in Richmond to enact legislation that would lift renewable energy restrictions.

Yesterday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of supporting Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw ‘s proposal to back several bills introduced during the 2020 General Assembly that would promote a transition to a low-carbon economy

The bills include:

• HB 572 introduced by Del. Mark Keam (D-35th)
• HB 912 introduced by Del. Marcus Simon (D-53rd)
• HB 1184 introduce by Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-49th)
• SB 710 (known as Solar Freedom Bill) introduced by State Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D-9th)

“These bills remove statutory barriers to distributed solar electricity generation thereby allowing local government along with Virginia residents and businesses to invest in and benefit from on-site solar generation,” Walkinshaw said.

Fairfax County is facing statutory barriers as it looks to expand its use of solar energy, Walkinshaw said.

“Fairfax County and other non-residential customers are essentially unable to use purchase power agreements due to statutory barriers including a power purchase agreement pilot program limit of 50 megawatts in the service area of Dominion Energy Virginia,” he said.

If the legislation does not pass, Fairfax County won’t be able to proceed with on-site solar installations that would total more than 40 megawatts of electricity, he said.

“I think the key message to the General Assembly is that our projects are ready to go,” Walkinshaw said. “If this legislation doesn’t succeed this year, they will stop.”

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik and other board members shared support for Walkinshaw’s proposal.

“Over the past several years, I’ve had conversations with people who do this energy work nationally or internationally, and to continually here from them that Virginia is one of — if not the most — challenging place to get any of this done, I think it’s time to turn that corner,” Palchik said.

Chairman Jeff McKay said it was “frustrating” for advocates when similar legislation failed in the General Assembly last year.

“This is an issue really critical to us here,” he said.

The board voted 9-0, with Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity absent, to send the letter to the General Assembly delegation and Gov. Ralph Northam.