Vienna Police arrested a man in Maryland for a sexual assault in Vienna last month.
According to a press release, Vienna Police officers and members of the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Saul Alberto Garay-Amaya in Mount Rainier, Maryland, at 5:30 a.m. yesterday (Thursday) morning.
This arrest resulted from a lengthy and thorough investigation by Vienna Police detectives after receiving information that Garay-Amaya had “sexually assaulted a female victim last month,” police said. “Garay-Amaya has been charged with several felonies, including Sexual Assault and Abduction.”
MPO Juan Vazquez said the investigation was still ongoing and couldn’t reveal more information about the case. Vazquez credited Detective Tina Elias, a 20-year-veteran of the Vienna Police Department, for her work on the investigation.
Photo via Vienna Police Department
Police say Christopher Bellini, 59, was stabbed to death in his Falls Church home by his son, Alexander Bellini.
Police were dispatched to the 2300 block of Watters Glen Court around 1 a.m. yesterday for a domestic abuse. According to a police report, Christopher was found suffering from apparent stab wounds. Officers rendered aid until rescue personnel arrived, but Christopher was pronounced dead at the scene.
The report said Alexander Bellini, 28, of Chantilly, was found inside the home and taken into custody.
“Detectives from our Major Crimes Bureau determined Alexander is the decedent’s son and was prohibited from contacting his father due to a recent protective order,” police said.
Police said Alexander was taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and charged with second degree murder and violation of a protective order while armed with a deadly weapon. No one else was harmed and a knife allegedly used by Alexander was recovered at the scene.
Photo via Fairfax County Police Department
Maryland Rejects Beltway Widening — The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission unanimously voted against widening the Capital Beltway, which Northern Virginia leaders have been hoping will help ease congestion around McLean [Maryland Matters]
Vienna-based Parcel Carrier LaserShip Launches Hunger Relief Program — “LaserShip launched the [Time of Need] program with a $10,000 charitable donation to Food for Others, a hunger relief organization in northern Virginia. As part of the commitment, LaserShip is providing delivery services to help Food for Others transport food from its warehouse to a distribution center in Annandale, Virginia. Food for Others feeds over 2,600 local families each week.” [LaserShip]
Vienna Students Participate in Virtual Army 10-Miler — “Teachers, staff members, parents and a student from the Madison High Pyramid completed the virtual Army 10 Miler this weekend, and put an FCPS twist on their walk.” [Patch]
Photo courtesy Craig Fingar
If quarantine has hurt your Instagram game, a new mural coming to a Vienna dance studio might help spice that up.
Velocity Dance (319 Mill Street NE) went to the Board of Architectural Review last week for permission to add a new “angel wings” mural in front of the building. A memo said the new mural was part of a campaign to paint more of them across town to encourage people to explore the town.
“The applicant is proposing a mural on the existing painted cement block wall at the Velocity Dance location on Mill Street,” staff said in a memo. “The applicant is working with the Vienna Public Arts Commission to participate in a campaign to paint angel wings on buildings throughout town.”
The painted boom boxes will have what members of the Board of Architectural Review referred to as “historic artifacts” like an LP, a 45, and a cassette tape.
The mural was unanimously approved, with a note that the mural will be available to the public for photos after hours.
Image via Town of Vienna
One of the many problems highlighted by the pandemic is the lack of affordable housing, with even short-term job loss leaving many residents unable to pay their rent. As local governments grapple with how to support more housing, one of the options proposed in Falls Church has been a meals tax increase.
The obvious response, presented even by the consultants in Falls Church proposing the increase, is that local restaurants are already in dire straits and many are struggling to make ends meet. The Falls Church City Council quickly dismissed the idea of implementing a meals tax during the pandemic and favored other options presented, like trying to tap into an Amazon-related affordable housing fund.
While the restaurant industry is slowly recovering, stability could be a year away. But the affordable housing crisis is unlikely to be solved before then, and the question of the meals tax could resurface.
Meals taxes can be controversial even under non-pandemic circumstances. In 2016, Fairfax County voters rejected a referendum to implement a meals tax which would have predominately gone to support schools. In 2018, the City of Alexandria increased the meals tax by 1% to support affordable housing.
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
An upcoming blood drive at The Boro will also double as a chance for folks to find out if that bad sickness they had might have been COVID-19.
Following up on a blood drive in July, which raised enough blood to save 38 lives according to a press release, Tysons development The Boro will host another blood drive tomorrow (Thursday) from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Boro Station (1775 Greensboro Station Place).
“The American Red Cross is also currently testing all blood, platelet, and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies for a limited time and donors will receive the free results of their antibody test within 7-10 days through the Red Cross Blood Donor App or by logging in to the donor portal at RedCrossBlood.org,” the press release said.
According to the CDC, antibody tests can show if someone may have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, though the virus can’t be use to diagnose current cases.
Appointments can be scheduled to donate online.
As hospitals begin to reopen, the need for blood in previously-delayed surgeries is resurfacing.
“There is an urgent need for blood donations right now, to meet the needs of patients in hospitals, as surgical procedures and treatments that were temporarily paused due to the pandemic resume again,” the press release said.
Photo courtesy Hilde Kahn
In a meeting about how to help build affordable housing in Falls Church, one potential solution proposed was increasing the meals tax by 1%.
Meals tax increases have been a go-to solution for finding more funding for affordable housing in neighboring jurisdictions like Arlington County. Meals tax increases are frequently contentious even in the best of times, but the Falls Church City Council noted that these are far from the best of times.
Representatives from the hired consultants National Housing Trust and Federal City Council offered 11 recommendations in what they described as a tool box in a City Council work session on Monday. A meals tax was only one of those suggestions, but one most likely to turn heads, as restaurants in the area face devastating losses in revenue.
The consultants argued that increasing the meals tax by 1%, from 4% to 5%, would bring Falls Church in line with the meals tax in other parts of the region and would generate $800,000 for the affordable housing fund annually.
According to the report:
A meals tax is levied on prepared food purchased for consumption at a restaurant or taken to-go. Falls Church already has a meals tax of 4%, which generated over $3 million in revenue annually from 2017-2019 . Currently, all the funds generated by the meals tax are directed into the City’s General Fund. To provide a dedicated and consistent revenue source for the Affordable Housing Fund, Falls Church should consider increasing the Meals Tax to 5%, dedicating the additional 1% in tax revenue to the Affordable Housing Fund. This would represent a much-needed consistent revenue source for the AHF and would generate approximately $800,000 annually for the Fund.
A 5% meals tax is in line with what is levied by other jurisdictions in the area. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, the median meals tax rate is 6%. While neighboring jurisdictions Arlington and Fairfax County currently levy a 4% meals tax, as of 2016, 108 localities in the Commonwealth have instituted a meals tax that is higher than 4%.
The report notes that Alexandria’s meals tax increase was aimed squarely at raising funding for affordable housing, though the report also acknowledged that recent factors could make the proposal untenable in the near term.
The consultants recognize that restaurants nationwide are struggling to survive on reduced revenue caused by COVID-19, and the subsequent limits and restrictions on service that have been imposed to stop the spread of the virus. An increase in the tax at this time could potentially discourage the purchase of food from restaurants at a time when restaurants are operating on extremely thin margins. The implementation of this recommendation should be considered in the long-term, once the restaurant and hospitality industry is under less financial pressure.
City Council member Letty Hardi struck down the idea as soon as the discussion was turned back over to the City Council.
“In regular times I’d be a fan of looking at things like the meals tax or carving funding out of the general fund,” Hardi said, “but I think neither of those would fly currently given how much suffering there is in the community.”
One proposed source of funding that sat better with the City Council was dipping into Amazon REACH Funds — a $75 million funding commitment to support affordable housing in the area and avoid the affordable housing loss associated with the tech giant elsewhere.
“The City of Falls Church should take the opportunity to engage with local housing development owners whose projects are eligible and are able to access the funds to increase housing affordability in the City,” the report said. “The final deadline for a project application is June 15, 2021.”
Maura Brophy, director of transportation and infrastructure for Federal City Council, also said that promoting accessory dwelling units can have a meaningful impact on housing affordability by increasing the supply, but without other interventions and requirements, there’s no guarantee that the accessory dwelling units would be affordable.
“If we can access all $3 million, that will allow us to buy down 60 units for about ten years, and that’s way more than we can produce in a year as-is,” Hardi said. “That feels like we should put pedal to the meddle and go after that free money.”
An active investigation is ongoing into the death of an 11-year-old boy, but Fairfax Police say death appears to have been accidental.
The incident occurred in the 1700 block of Maxwell Court in McLean yesterday afternoon. The child was found critically injured and was taken to the hospital where the child died.
Detectives are in the 1700 block of Maxwell Court in McLean after an 11-year-old child was critically injured and taken to the hospital where the child died. Preliminarily, the death appears to be accidental and there is no apparent threat to public safety. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/u9TZNPSKDi
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) October 21, 2020
The Washington Post reported the incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. as the boy was playing with his friends.
Gov. Ralph Northam Shows Up to Fairfax County Early Voting — “I was glad to see voters and election workers in Fairfax today staying safe, wearing masks, and practicing social distancing” [Twitter]
Reminder: Barbie Truck Coming to Tysons Corner Center This Week — “A Barbie truck is crossing the country on a tour that will stop at Tysons Corner Center late next month to sell limited edition retro Barbie material. The truck is scheduled to stop at Tysons Corner Center (1961 Chain Bridge Road) on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.” [Tysons Reporter]
Vienna Launches ‘Stop and Stroll’ Initiative — “Starting on Oct. 24, a different shopping center will be featured on select Saturdays. The shopping centers will host socially-distant seasonal activities and in-store promotions.” [Patch]
Cut Cable in Vienna Cancels Arlington Classes — “Our ISP notified us of a major fiber cut in Vienna causing a service disruption for APS. The vendor is working to restore service, but there is no estimate for restoration.” [Twitter]
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
After an earlier deferral and walking tour, a planned mixed use development dubbed the Broad & Washington Project is headed back to the Planning Commission tomorrow for a work session.
“Planning Commission is requested to hold a work session to discuss the Broad and Washington mixed-use development proposed at the intersection of East Broad and North Washington Streets on approximately 3.16 acres of land including the City Lot on Park Place,” staff said in a report.
The Planning Commission work session is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday).
The proposed seven-story development would include 339 multifamily apartment units above a Whole Foods, theater, and other retail options.
The meeting is not planned to include a recommendation to the City Council, but will instead focus on discussion. The project has already stirred considerable controversy in the community, with a public comment page times longer than the staff report.
The public comment submitted in advance of the work session was almost unanimous opposition to the project. Much of the opposition was concern about the loss of parking for nearby local businesses, like the State Theater, during construction and concerns that the replacement spots in the new underground parking garage won’t be equivalent to what is lost.
According to Fred Bonner, a local resident:
I would like to urge you to not agree to sell the municipal parking lot as part of the Broad and Washington Streets project. I have been following the development of the project over the past few years and my impression is that most of the changes have been detrimental from the city’s perspective, primarily making it mostly residential. While there are still reasons to accept the overall project, I do not believe losing the municipal lot is necessary or good for the city. The developers offer to ‘replace’ the spots in their underground garage cannot be considered equivalent, and the loss of those spots during the construction and after will be devastating to Thompson’s, Clare and Dons and the State Theater.
Several other local residents argued that eliminating the lot would harm local establishments like Clare and Don’s.
The plan has already been through several updates that increased the shared public parking and dedicated residential parking at the site. A staff report noted that while there have been changes, concerns from local businesses remain for how changes to interim parking could affect customers during construction.
“65 offsite parking spaces are provided at 107 and 111 Park Place, within 800 Feet of City Lot, while public parking is unavailable onsite during construction,” the staff report said. “The previously proposed 6 to 8 months period of offsite parking was reduced to 3 to 6 months; in terms of adjacent business support, the latest comments received from Thompson Italian and Clare & Don’s detail concerns they have about how the project, particularly the construction period, will adversely impact their business.”
Image via City of Falls Church
