There’s been no shortage of places to donate blood, but Caboose Commons in Mosaic is offering a unique spin on the usual blood drive.

From Jan. 20-26, if you donate blood at one of the Inova Donor Centers, you can receive a voucher for a free beverage at Caboose Commons. This beverage can be in the form of coffee, tea or beer.

Donors must complete a screening process at one of the centers to be eligible for the giveaway.

This weekend also marks the debut of Peter Pan, a play presented by the Vienna Theatre Company. The production will run through Feb. 3, with 8 p.m. showings this weekend tonight and tomorrow. Tickets are $14.

Tomorrow (Jan. 19)

• Mosaic District Polar Plunge Festival (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) — A plunge into a frigid pool set up in Merrifield will help raise money for the Special Olympics. For $100, participants will take a dive into the cold water. Divers are requested to get decked out in their wildest costumes to claim the title of “best-dressed plunger.”
• Foster-Adoption Event at Pet Valu Rescue (12-3 p.m.) — For anyone in the market for a German Shepherd, the Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue will be hosting an adoption event at 3069 Nutley St. The Rescue organization takes in dogs from high-kill shelters in Texas and other states and finds them homes elsewhere. Volunteers will also be collecting shoes for the fundraiser, so bringing slightly worn shores to donate is encouraged.
• Antonelli San Marco Tasting (1-4 p.m.) — The McLean Wine Outlet at 6727 Curran St will briefly be transformed Central Italy tomorrow for a wine tasting. The drink of choice is Sagrantino from the village of Montefalco, which is said to have rich flavors of cherry and blackberry. The second event will be on Monday, from 1-2 p.m.

Sunday (Jan. 20)

• Parkinson’s Moving Day Event (12-1 p.m.) — Cycle Chi in Vienna (221 Mill St) is hosting two fundraisers for The Parkinson’s Foundation. A minimum donation of $25 per bicycle, per hour is requested with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the charity. The event will also include free chair massages, raffles, cocktails and more.
• Liner Notes (2 p.m.) — The recently renovated Alden Theatre at 1234 Ingleside Ave in McLean will host a musical mix of jazz and hip hop in a celebration of the civil rights movement. Tickets are $15 for McLean residents, $25 for adults and children, and $20 for seniors.

Photo via Facebook

Three lanes of northbound traffic are closed on I-495 are closed near the American Legion Bridge due to a jackknifed tractor trailer.

The crash was reported around 2:30 p.m. on the northbound lanes of the Beltway near Georgetown Pike, just before the bridge. As of 3 p.m., VDOT cameras showed traffic backing up past Tysons to around the Route 7 interchange.

Three lefthand lanes of the Beltway are currently closed. Virginia State Police, firefighters, an ambulance and a heavy duty tow truck are currently on the scene.

Firefighters contained a small fuel spill from the crashed truck, according to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.

In addition to the northbound delays, traffic heading southbound is also backed up prior to the crash scene, with delays extending to the top side of the Beltway in Maryland.

Units on scene of jack-knifed tractor trailer I-495 NB at Georgetown Pike in McLean. No injuries. Small fuel leak quickly contained by firefighters. Left three lanes of I-495 NB are blocked due to crash. @VSPPIO also are on scene. #FCFRD #traffic #vatraffic pic.twitter.com/3dV60xVXCF

— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) January 18, 2019

Photo via VDOT

If you’ve been one of the local policy wonks closely following the new legislation put forward by your state representatives, next Saturday is your chance to have your voice heard.

A town hall meeting is scheduled for Jan. 26 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. to discuss the latest news out of Richmond. State Sen. Chap Petersen (D-34th District) and Del. Mark Keam (D-35th District) are scheduled to host the meeting and share their insight into what to expect from this year’s General Assembly session.

The candidates will also be available to address questions and concerns from residents.

Keam recently made waves for taking an active role in the fight against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Virginia’s Legislative Information System says Petersen’s bill requiring governing boards of public institutions of higher learning to permit public comment on tuition increases was assigned to the higher education subcommittee earlier this week. Another major bill, imposing a new 5-cent per bag tax to support the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan, died earlier this week.

If you want to make things awkward at the meeting, bring up that Petersen opposed a two-term governorship that Keam had championed in the House of Delegates.

Photo via Facebook

A small fumble involving a seemingly dead committee is pushing the Tysons Galleria Macy’s redevelopment plan back a few months.

According to Russell Forno, a land use planner with a law firm representing Tysons Galleria, gaining permission from Fairfax County for new signage would be a significant step for the mall in its efforts to negotiate with new tenants.

Going into the Jan. 16 Planning Commission meeting, everything seemed set for approval. Staff had recommended approval of new signs and there was no vocal opposition. But Forno requested that the approval be pushed back to March.

The mall, we’re told, had failed to get the approval of the Tysons II Design Review Committee, a group so obscure the only other Google search result is a 2015 staff report requesting a sign change. The staff report includes an attached document called the Tysons II Sign Manual, which says:

All signs shall be approved by the Tysons II Design Review Committee before any required submission to Fairfax County for permits… This review will continue to help maintain oversight to ensure signage coordination within Tysons II and prevent impair the planned unit nature of the development.

The document includes some very specific requirements. All illuminated signs must be black in daytime and white at night and all ground floor signs must have individually fabricated letters and symbols only, not enclosed signs.

The application from Tysons Galleria indicated that the committee no longer exists, but a letter from the apparently deceased committee seemed to confuse the subject.

“I’ll be honest, there was a little mix-up,” said Forno. “Reviews with this committee are forthcoming. The applicant and committee have agreed to meet within the next 30 days. [We ask you] to defer action until March.”

Planning Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner agreed and led the Planning Commission in a vote to push the decision back to March 13 to allow the Tysons Galleria time to consult with the Tysons II Design Review Committee.

Meanwhile, the Planning Commission also approved new signage for the Tysons-based Mitre Corporation and approved Reformed Theological Seminary’s move into an office building on the southern edge of Tysons.

After two previous events to help furloughed federal employees find temporary work hit full capacity, Fairfax County Public Schools will be holding its third hiring event next week.

The event will be held next Wednesday, Jan. 23, from 5-7:30 p.m. at the FCPS Administration Center in Merrifield (8115 Gatehouse Road).

The daily pay rate for substitute teachers is $100, or $95 for substitute instructional assistants. Substitute teachers are responsible for classroom instruction, safety and management.

“Approximately 350 furloughed employees attended our first two hiring events, and we recognized the need to add a third event to show our support for our neighbors who — in many cases — are parents of FCPS students,” School Board chair Karen Corbett Sanders said in a press release. “We always have a need for substitute teachers; on average, we hire 900 to 1,100 subs every day. We will continue to work with applicants to expedite the hiring process and get them into the classroom as soon as possible.”

Those interested in attending the event should register online and fill out a teaching application and I-9 employment eligibility form. According to FCPS, the hiring event will involve an expedited process to get workers into classrooms as quickly as possible.

Photo via FCPS

Dense Fog Advisory for Fairfax Co. — “A Dense Fog Advisory has been issued until Noon today for portions of the region. If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.” [Twitter, Twitter]

State Offices, Courts Closed Today — Courts and DMV offices are closed today across Virginia for the state holiday known as Lee-Jackson Day. More closures are planned Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Vienna Ash Trees Devastated by Insect — A “Vienna Town Council agenda item on Jan. 7 revealed a harsh truth: An invasive insect called the emerald ash borer utterly has laid waste to the town’s ash trees. The insects have killed every ash tree in town, Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman told the Council.” [InsideNova, Tysons Reporter]

After the holiday rush of donations and food drives, supplies at food pantries can start to run dry. In an effort to combat the post-holiday slump, Fairfax County is hosting a Stuff the Bus event in McLean this weekend to support local nonprofit food pantries.

From 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., a bus will be located outside the Giant at 1454 Chain Bridge Road. The food and money collected will go to benefit Share, Inc.

On Feb. 2, another Stuff the Bus event will be held at the Walmart in Tysons at 1500 Cornerside Blvd.

The Stuff the Bus event has been an annual tradition in Fairfax for nine years. According to the website, last year’s event:

• Collected more than 250,000 lbs. of food

• Provided 170,000 meals to those in need

• Received nearly $50,000 in monetary contributions

• More than 5,000 community volunteers have contributed approximately 15,000 hours of service

• Aided more than 32 local food pantries in their winter food collections

Photo via Fairfax County

The three-story office building at 380 Maple Street in Vienna, a squat brick structure from the 1970s, could soon be replaced with a new mixed-use development.

At tonight’s Board of Architectural Review meeting, the Board will review a proposal to replace the building with 7,500 square feet of retail and 40 residential condominium units. The new development will include a dog park for residents of the building.

The development is proposed to have one floor of below-ground parking and two floors of structured above-ground parking.

The developer is also proposing to plant a series of trees along the surrounding streets as part of the development’s streetscape improvements.

The building is proposed as part of the Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zoning, which last year was at the center of a controversy surrounding a new development a block away.

A previous work session on the new development was held on Dec. 14.

Photo via Google Maps

In the middle of an interview with Tysons Reporter, a woman walks up to Stomping Ground owner Nicole Jones and introduces herself as “Steve’s mom.”

Jones immediately recognizes Steve by name and “Steve’s mom” said she was just running errands in nearby McLean and wanted to stop by and say hello. It’s a small moment that’s a testament to the kind of community building that the new Stomping Ground in Tysons Galleria will live or die by.

Stomping Ground isn’t just one of the restaurants in the new Taste of Urbanspace that opened in December as part of a quick turnaround to replace Isabella Eatery — as the shop closest to the entrance, it serves as a gateway into the new dining hall.

Stomping Ground is perhaps best known for their buttermilk biscuits and fried chicken, both of which are available at the Tysons Galleria location. The eatery’s wide variety of hot and iced coffees, averaging around $3 per cup, seems like their most popular item on the Tysons Galleria third floor.

Jones knows coffee. On sight, she can tell what type of milk was used in a beverage based on the consistency of the separation. For her, coffee is more than a beverage.

“Coffee culture is a comfort place,” said Jones. “We take that old school southern hospitality and bring it to the mall. We’re genuinely interested in your name, your dietary restrictions and where you work. We want regulars. We want to be the ‘Cheers‘ of breakfast.”

It’s been four years since Jones opened the first Stomping Ground in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood. The destination proved so popular it was name-dropped in a Wall Street Journal article explaining why Amazon came to Northern Virginia.

“In Tysons, there is less of a town square, but we’re learning that [Taste of Urbanspace] can serve as that,” said Jones. “People can come and hang out.”

That’s certainly the case among the restaurant owners on the mall’s third floor. In their downtime, managers from Stomping Ground, Andy’s Pizza and others regularly converse and hang out in the lavish seating area. Jones said all of the restaurant staffers had to work together through a hectic, quick turnaround during the holiday season and emerged as friends.

While several of the customers around Taste of Urbanspace are familiar faces day after day, much of the expansive food hall remains underpopulated.

It’s too early to say if the “town square” idea will catch on. Beyond just owner Mike Isabella’s public fall from grace, the Isabella Eatery (whose shell Taste of Urbanspace inhabits) collapsed in part due to low sales.

Jones and other restaurant owners expressed hopes that expanding the dining hall’s nightlife options will help draw in the after-work crowd, which currently has few options outside of the Tysons Biergarten.

Like their neighboring Andy’s Pizza, Donburi and Sen Khao, Stomping Ground is currently working through the Virginia ABC permit process. While Andy’s Pizza and Donburi plan on bringing in new beer options to the Galleria, Jones said her focus is going to be on wine and a variety of custom cocktails.

The cocktails, currently not available in Del Ray, are one example Jones points to of how the new location allows Stomping Ground to try new things that, if they work, might make their way back into the Alexandria location. Jones said she is also currently working on the restaurant’s new proper dinner menu, saying it will have Stomping Ground’s signature fried chicken with a mix of vegetables in keeping with southern tradition.

“The nighttime is where we will grow and spread our wings,” said Jones.

Fairfax County’s aerial photography can offer a view of the startling growth of some some parts of the area, charting Merrifield‘s growth from a lonely drive-in theater to today’s Mosaic District, changes to Tysons Galleria and the commercial properties around Route 7, and Tysons East’s transformation from suburbs to an urban center.

But McLean’s story is more like Maple Avenue’s, where rapid growth has been followed by decades of stagnation.

An ongoing effort to update zoning for downtown McLean, called the McLean Community Business Center (CBC), has faced pushback from some local residents who say the plans will transform McLean into a new Tysons-style development.

While the town of McLean was founded in 1902, aerial photography shows that even as late as the 1960s there wasn’t a developed center of town. The first developments in the CBC, like McLean House Condominiums in the northeast corner and Langley Shopping Center a little south of that, show up in photography from the 1970s.

Between then and 1990, much of the area along Old Dominion Drive was developed and new shopping centers bloomed at the southern edge of downtown McLean.

But in all of the photography between 1990 and 2017, that development grinds to a halt. At several of the McLean CBC meetings, locals lamented that McLean didn’t really have a “sense of place” and that much of the downtown was defined by gas stations on every corner and vacant buildings.

The plans for the CBC call for changing some of the transportation routes through the downtown McLean to make the area more pedestrian friendly and allowing new, mostly residential and commercial developments downtown.