Fairfax County Public Library is kicking off its summer reading program with a different approach this year.
The Fairfax Library Foundation will launch its inaugural Children’s Summer Reading Festival at two libraries this month to celebrate the beginning of FCPL’s annual summer reading program.
“We hope these festivals help get Fairfax County kids and adults excited for our Summer Reading Adventure,” FCPL Director Jessica Hudson said. “This year’s summer reading theme is All Together Now so we thought throwing a huge party would be a good fit! Thank you so much to the Fairfax Library Foundation for organizing these festivals.”
The first festival takes place on June 10 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lorton Library (9520 Richmond Highway). The second event takes place on June 24 from 4-7 p.m. at Chantilly Regional Library (4000 Stringfellow Road).
We are so excited to announce the launch of an exciting new event to kick-off @fairfaxlibrary’s summer reading program this year. Join us for the fun on June 10 at Lorton Library or June 24 at Chantilly Regional Library. Details here: https://t.co/Z4PODbulh5 pic.twitter.com/Z4vrGlrw0O
— Fairfax Library Foundation (@FLFoundation) May 19, 2023
The festival will include games, crafts, a bounce house, mini zoo, snacks, face-painting, food trucks and a photo booth.
Although both festivals are free, online registration is encouraged.
Registration for the summer reading program opens online on June 10. Paper logs will be available at all branches before the program kicks off on June 16. Individuals who register early will get priority for raffle entries to win Scrawl Books gift cards.
Adults who finish the program will get a coupon book and will be entered into other raffles for $25 gift cards for AMC, Barnes & Noble and VISA, along with other prizes — including four tickets to Escape Room Herndon.
In Chantilly, the festival will be followed by a free outdoor screening of Disney’s “Frozen: Sing-Along Edition,” Fairfax Library Foundation Development Director Cheryl Lee said.
The Montessori School of McLean is on track to celebrate its 50th anniversary on the same site where it has spent the past half-century.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a special exception permit for the private school and child care center on May 23, allowing it to remain at 1711 Kirby Road even after the church that owns the 3.87-acre property relocates.
The school is expected to buy the property from the Chesterbrook United Methodist Church (UMC), which is being consolidated and moved to another site, according to Holland & Knight land use attorney David Schneider, who represented the Montessori school at the board’s public hearing.
“To [move], they have to be able to sell this site first, and the school has more than 25 years left on its lease, so it’s the only logical purchaser,” Schneider said. “They’ve been a tenant for a long time, they have a great relationship with the church, and they were able to come to terms.”
Chesterbrook UMC hasn’t publicly announced where its new location will be and didn’t return FFXnow’s requests for comment. However, the building at 6817 Dean Drive has been vacant since the Charles Wesley UMC closed its ministry there on June 30, 2020.
The church at Kirby Road was built in 1920, and the Montessori school has been a tenant since a second educational building was constructed on the property in 1973.
Schneider called the application “simple,” with no new construction or changes to its 265-student enrollment cap planned. The school does intend to expand its operating hours from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.-7 p.m. to accommodate after-school activities.
However, a resident from the Franklin Area Citizens Association sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors warning that the plan “presents a clear and present danger due to traffic safety,” particularly for children, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said.
Schneider said the school understands the resident’s concern but doesn’t anticipate any traffic issues, since vehicle trips are expected to go down after the church departs.
“The Montessori school and him are in complete agreement that the safety of the children is priority number one, so there’s no disagreement there,” Schneider said. “…With the removal of the church use, there’s 24 additional surplus [parking] spaces on the property, so queuing and everything, which already works, is only going to get better on the site with that additional availability.”
According to Schneider, neighbors of the property — which is near single-family homes and the Chesterbrook Shopping Center — expressed support for the school, as did the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce and McLean Citizens Association planning and zoning committee.
Foust said the feedback he got from the community was generally supportive, and Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay congratulated the school for reaching the “big milestone” of 50 years.
“We’re lucky to have you, and we’re glad that you’ll be able to stay in that space,” Foust said. “I will say that although there was some negativity from one individual in particular, I got a lot of supportive correspondence suggesting what a wonderful member of the community you’ve been and how much you’ve done to help their children over the years and so forth.”
Photo via Google Maps
The last train out of the Vienna Metro station for the next month will depart at 12:20 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday)
After that, the Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church and East Falls Church stations will all shut down, as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority begins to replace a 40-year-old steel rail extending to Ballston.
All four stations will be closed through June 25. At that point, the Falls Church stations will reopen, but the Vienna and Dunn Loring stations will stay closed through July 16.
“Replacing some of the oldest tracks in our system is critical to safety and reliability, and crews will work 24/7 to complete this project as quickly as possible so we can get back to normal service,” Metro Chief of Infrastructure Andy Off said in a news release earlier this week. “We make every effort to minimize impacts to our customers, and we thank them for their patience while we continue to build a safe and modern Metro to serve the entire region.”
In addition to the rail replacement, the maintenance project will include upgrades of fiber-optic cables at the stations “to modernize communications and allow for more efficient maintenance in the future,” WMATA says.
Though the shutdown will primarily affect Orange Line travelers, the East Falls Church station in Arlington will also be closed to Silver Line trains, so anyone looking to transfer or travel between the McLean and Ballston stations will need to take one of the free shuttles provided by Metro.
The shuttle schedule during the shutdown’s current phase to June 25 is below:
Orange Line Shuttle: Local service between Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church, East Falls Church, and Ballston-MU stations during normal Metrorail operating hours.
- Every 5 minutes during rush hours. (6-9 a.m., 3-7 p.m.)
- Every 10 minutes all other times, including weekends.
Silver Line Shuttle: Local service between McLean, East Falls Church, and Ballston-MU stations during normal Metrorail operating hours.
- Every 5 minutes during rush hours. (6- 9 a.m., 3-7 p.m.)
- Every 10 minutes all other times, including weekends.
Orange Line Express: Express service between Vienna and Rosslyn stations.
- Service every 5 minutes during rush hours. (6-9 a.m., 3-7 p.m.)
- Service every 10 minutes during non-rush hours. (9 a.m.-3 p.m., 7-9 p.m.)
Silver Line Limited: Limited-stop service between Washington Dulles International Airport, McLean, and Rosslyn.
- Service every 5 minutes during rush hours. (6-9 a.m., 3-7 p.m.)
- Service every 10 minutes during non-rush hours. (9 a.m.-3 p.m., 7-9 p.m.)
The Silver Line Limited shuttle will be the fastest option for riders going to or from Dulles Airport, which accounts for about one-third of all trips on Metro’s Silver Line extension, according to WMATA.
Vienna Featured Live on TV Right Now — “Lights. Camera. Action! Tune into the @fox5dc Zip Trip LIVE from the Town Green [today] from 6-11 a.m. as the Town gets its 15 minutes of fame (really it’s five hours, but who’s counting?)! See familiar faces, businesses, favorite spots, and more!” [Town of Vienna/Twitter]
Air Quality Alert Issued — “The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued a Code ORANGE Air Quality Alert Friday for Northern Virginia. A Code Orange Air Quality Alert means that air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups.” [National Weather Service]
County Updates Covid Data Dashboard — “In alignment with the CDC, the Fairfax County Health Department has shifted COVID-19 surveillance and data sharing to focus on measures of disease severity including COVID-19 hospitalization rates, death rates, and emergency care visits.” With some data no longer available after the end of the federal public health emergency, the dashboard will now be updated every Friday. [FCHD]
Man Sought for Alleged Sexual Assault — “Police are searching for a man accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to rob a woman in Centreville. He was last seen fleeing from the scene on foot into a nearby wooded area. A sketch of the suspect has been released to the public in hopes of identifying him.” [WUSA9]
FCPS Concerned About Lack of Finalized State Budget — “Additional funding for the most vulnerable Fairfax County Public School students is at risk as Virginia lawmakers remain divided over how they will distribute a revenue surplus and pass an amended budget. In a letter to the Fairfax County General Assembly Delegation…school board members” said the standstill and a calculation error have “created uncertainty.” [WTOP]
Initial Results of Blake Lane Safety Review Shared — “VDOT’s presentation Tuesday night shared only a partial list of problems that the audit has identified corridor-wide. These included potentially limited accessibility at some curb ramps and segments of sidewalk, lack of visual cues of the presence of pedestrians for drivers approaching Blake Lane” and more. [Patch]
Departing NFL Owner to Sell Mount Vernon Mansion — “The Washington Commanders’ soon-to-be former owners Dan and Tanya Snyder have left the $48 million Fairfax County home they bought less than two years ago, moving their belongings across the pond to England…River View, the Potomac River-fronting estate near George Washington’s Mount Vernon, has not yet been relisted” [Washington Business Journal]
Document Shredding Event Coming to Burke — “The Springfield District and Marian Homes will host a shredding event at the Rolling Valley Park & Ride parking lot on Saturday, June 3rd, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Donations are graciously accepted and will benefit Marian Homes’ mission to purchase and maintain affordable homes for individuals with intellectual disabilities” [Pat Herrity/Twitter]
It’s Friday — Sunny, with a high near 92. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 8 mph in the morning. At night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm. [Weather.gov]
If you find trips on the Capital Beltway into Maryland nightmarish now, imagine what they would be like without any transit options.
That’s the scenario posed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) in a new study on the value of the region’s transit network, including Metro, local bus services like Fairfax Connector and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE).
Released today (Thursday), the study found that the American Legion Bridge — the only direct link between Fairfax County and Maryland — would need to carry 24,653 or 8.2% more vehicles per day in 2025 if there was no transit (325,619 vehicles) compared to the projected traffic volume with transit (300,965 vehicles).
The other bridges across the Potomac River would see even bigger differences, led by a 39.2% increase on the Arlington Memorial Bridge.
“These bridges are congested today, and congestion will increase in the future. Without transit, however, the capacity constraint on the bridges would be substantially greater,” the study report says.
The report notes that rush-hour traffic on all of the Potomac crossings is projected to exceed capacity in 2025 regardless of transit availability. The American Legion Bridge would exceed capacity by 3,651 vehicles under the “base” conditions and by 7,379 vehicles under the “no transit” scenario — a 102% difference.
Construction is underway to widen the Capital Beltway (I-495) by adding two toll lanes in each direction from the Dulles Toll Road to just south of the American Legion Bridge. The Virginia Department of Transportation has forecast that the 495 NEXT project will move approximately 2,500 more people per hour in both directions, starting in 2025.
However, Maryland’s plans to replace and expand the bridge remain in limbo following the exit of its private partner. Replacing the American Legion Bridge would allow the Beltway to move 5,400 more people an hour, VDOT has said, but the endeavor will cost an estimated $1 billion.
According to an NVTC spokesperson, the study’s calculations incorporated the 495 NEXT project, but it didn’t include the possibility of future bus service between Tysons and Bethesda, as proposed by both Fairfax Connector and Metro.
“Our study evaluated the difference between what’s currently planned for 2025 and a scenario in which all transit in Northern Virginia is removed,” NVTC said. “That means the proposed future route from Tysons to Bethesda, using the American Legion Bridge, was not included since it won’t be in service by then.”
Widening the Potomac crossings without also providing transit “is not a viable scenario,” NVTC says in its report, noting that the low-income households most dependent on transit “would likely not be able to live in Northern Virginia without” it.
“Even with planned capacity improvements, the region would not be able to accommodate the number of households and employment numbers currently forecasted for 2025,” the report said.
According to the report, NVTC projects that 193,558 transit trips will be made from Fairfax County, including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, in 2025. About 72% will be taken by households earning $100,000 or less.
Overall, the county would see 122,918 more vehicle trips without transit, a 4.7% increase. The impact would be widespread for outgoing trips, but trips coming into Northern Virginia would be concentrated around employment centers, including Tysons and the I-66 corridor as well as Reston and Herndon along the Dulles Toll Road.
Transit generates $1.5 billion in annual personal income and sales tax revenue for Virginia, about $1 billion of which can be attributed to Metro, according to NVTC, but ridership for all of Northern Virginia’s systems is still below pre-pandemic levels.
Fairfax Connector had just under 5.2 million riders in fiscal year 2022, which ended June 30, 2022. That’s 62% of the riders seen in FY 2019 and just 53% of the 9.7 million riders reported in FY 2015.
Metro usage in Virginia is even lower, with buses sitting at 56% of FY 2019 levels and rail at 33%.
The region saw a total of 52.3 million transit riders in FY 2022 — 40% of the nearly 130.9 million seen in FY 2019 and 33% of the 158.2 million riders in FY 2015.
NVTC says it used 2025 as the target date for its study to take into account “the impacts of a post-pandemic travel environment.”
The Value of Northern Virginia’s Transit Network to the Commonwealth Study will be presented at the NVTC’s commission meeting at 7 p.m. today.
The Town of Vienna Police Department will once again usher in summer with a hardline approach to stop sign violations.
The department launched a campaign today (Thursday) that will see officers step up their enforcement of traffic safety laws, especially those governing stop signs, after seeing “a noticeable increase in such violations.”
“For the entire month of June, we have taken the initiative to address the repeated violations that have been reported by both residents and Town of Vienna staff members,” VPD Public Information Officer Juan Vasquez said.
Like in a similar campaign organized last June, the crackdown will involve a particular focus on drivers who roll through or ignore stop signs:
Officers will be actively present to issue tickets and remind drivers about the importance of coming to a complete stop when approaching a stop sign. Whether facing a solid or flashing red light, drivers must stop before entering the crosswalk, intersection, or stop line. It’s worth noting that, under certain circumstances, a stop sign violation can be cited as reckless driving.
Motorists who receive a ticket for a stop sign or red light violation will face a fine and three demerit points on their driving record. The Vienna Police Department emphasizes the need for defensive driving, courteous behavior, and strict adherence to all traffic laws to ensure safe arrival at destinations.
Virginia law defines reckless driving as anyone who drives a vehicle “in a manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person,” which can include a failure to yield the right-of-way.
Reckless driving is classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor, which carries maximum punishments of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. It can be elevated to a Class 6 felony if the driver doesn’t have a valid license and the incident resulted in another person’s death.
Pride Month starts today (June 1), and opportunities to celebrate in Fairfax County extend through the month.
This Saturday (June 3) features events in the Mosaic District, Reston and the City of Fairfax. Closer to the end of the month, folk-rock musician Brandi Carlile will headline the Out & About Festival at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.
Pride Month marks the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan and has become an occasion to celebrate LGBTQ individuals and communities.
Below are more details about Pride Month celebrations across the county this June:
Mosaic Pride Festival
Saturday, June 3
2-8:30 p.m.
District AvenueA parade begins at 2 p.m. in front of One Medical (2987 District Ave.) and will proceed down District Avenue to the main stage. Performances will feature drag queens, dance, and live music by George Mason University’s Green Machine band and more.
Reston Pride
Saturday, June 3
12-6 p.m.
Lake Anne PlazaIndie pop trio BETTY will headline the Reston Pride Festival at Lake Anne Plaza (1609-A Washington Plaza). The event will also feature comedian Chelsea Shorte and local businesses including Elden Street Tea Shop and Scrawl Books.
Fairfax Pride
Saturday, June 3
5-10 p.m.
Old Town HallThe City of Fairfax and George Mason University are hosting the first Fairfax Pride at Old Town Hall (3999 University Drive). The evening will begin with face painting, crafts and other activities. Later, there will be drag queen performances and a dance party.
Drag Bingo
Tuesday, June 6
6 p.m.
Starr Hill Biergarten at Capital One CenterDrag queens Crimsyn and Logan Stone will host a drag bingo night at Starr Hill Biergarten at Capital One Center (1805 Capital One Drive South, Suite 1100). There will also be music and drinks. An encore is scheduled for Sept. 12.
Pride Flow and Celebration
Sunday, June 11
10-11:30 a.m.
Lakeside ParkCelebrate pride with a colorful outdoor yoga class at Lakeside Park (5216 Pommeroy Drive). Attendees should bring their own yoga mats and water and plan to wear bright colors.
The Out & About Festival
Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25
Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods performances at 10:30 a.m.; festival starts at 4 p.m.
Wolf Trap National ParkBrandi Carlile, Yola, Rufus Wainwright and other artists will gather at Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road) in the last weekend in June for a three-stage festival. The festival features LGBTQ+ artists and allies.
Pride Month Poetry Reading
Saturday, June 24
3-4 p.m.
Ellanor C. Lawrence ParkPoets Sunu Chandy, Kim Roberts, Holly Mason Badra, and Malik Thompson will convene at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly (5040 Walney Road) for a reading. “This reading lifts up a variety of voices and experiences to honor the rich legacy and contributions of poets and poetry in the queer community,” according to the event description from Arts Fairfax.
Fairfax County Public Library is also hosting events throughout the month, including a “crafternoon” on Sunday (June 4) and a screening of the 2018 film “Rafiki” on June 7.
Photo via Mosaic District/Twitter
The Pimmit Hills neighborhood has officially reached the “let’s put on a show” stage of its battle against a planned Washington Gas pipeline.
Faced with escalating legal fees, residents have banded together to stage a “Protect Pimmit Hills Hoedown” benefit concert from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday (June 3) as a fundraiser for four of their neighbors who were sued by the utility company.
The concert will be held at Pimmit Barn (1845 Cherri Drive) with “limited” food available for sale from the food truck, The Big Cheese. Providing the music will be the Pimmit Hillbillies, a band that neighborhood residents formed for this occasion.
“We hope this concert helps reinforce our community spirit by getting neighbors out and meeting each other to join fight this project that affects us all,” resident guitarist Tom Gillespie said. “We will bond over great tunes, grilled cheese sandwiches, and chocolate chip cookies while we talk about our ongoing pipeline battle.”
Filed by Washington Gas on March 3, 2022, the lawsuit challenges a Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals ruling that a special exception permit and 2232 review are required for the natural gas pipeline, the last phase of the Strip 1 Tysons project to upgrade about five miles of pipe from Tyco Road to Pimmit Drive.
A bench trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court had been scheduled for April 25 and 26, but the judge postponed it to the first week of September after the Virginia Supreme Court voided the zoning ordinance that guided the BZA’s decision, according to Christina Chen Zinner, one of the Pimmit Hills residents involved in the case.
Though the ordinance known as zMOD was readopted on May 9, it remains unclear how the Supreme Court’s ruling affected zoning decisions made during the two years when the code was initially in effect.
Because of the trial delay, Zinner and her fellow defendants shared earlier this month that they need to raise an additional $20,000 to cover their legal costs, which have climbed to $45,000. With the help of a recent neighborhood pizza party, they’ve made progress on that goal, raising $38,700 through Gofundme.
The Pimmit Hillbillies hope to finish the job. The band emerged from a virtual meeting, where residents brainstormed fundraising ideas.
“Knowing that I like to sing and play guitar, and compose my own songs, [my wife Stephanie] challenged me during the meeting to compose a protest song to help us promote our Gofundme drive,” Gillespie recalled. “I feel so passionate about fighting this pipeline that the lyrics and notes just flowed out of me.”
Gillespie presented a demo of the song — “That Pipe Don’t Belong Here!” — and soon, other residents volunteered their own musical abilities, from additional singers and another guitarist to Zinner on the violin.
The band also has an electric bassist, a drummer, a saxophonist, and a singer who plays the banjolele, a cross between a banjo and ukelele.
In addition to “That Pipe Don’t Belong Here!,” songs planned for Saturday’s hoedown include covers of protest tunes like Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is My Land” and retro classics, such as the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” and Tom Petty’s “Refugee.”
The concert is open to all community members, with Del. Marcus Simon (D-53) among the supporters expected to attend. Former Pimmit Hills resident Greg Garcia — creator of the TV shows “My Name Is Earl” and “Raising Hope” — has also backed the fight against the 24-inch-wide pipeline, which residents argue will be too big and high pressure for a residential neighborhood.
According to Gillespie, Garcia recently shared “encouraging words” with the current residents of Pimmit Hills, which inspired the fictional Pimmit Hills Trailer Park in “My Name Is Earl”:
Once a Pimmit Hillian, always a Pimmit Hillian, and as a proud alumni of your neighborhood I applaud your efforts to keep the neighborhood safe for you and your children. Stay strong and continue to fight the power. Or fight as long as you can, and then have a block party barbeque but use charcoal instead of natural gas. That’ll show ’em! Good luck!
Second Arrest Made in Idylwood Double Homicide — An 18-year-old from Falls Church was charged on Tuesday (May 30) with robbery resulting in death in connection with Monday’s fatal shooting and stabbing at the Tysons View Apartments. Police announced earlier that a 17-year-old had been charged in the incident, which left two people dead and two injured. [FCPD]
N. Va. Dems Criticize National Guard Deployment — “Local Democrats slammed Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to deploy Virginia National Guard service men and women to Texas to ‘secure’ the southern U.S. border with Mexico.” Democrats, including Fairfax County senator Scott Surovell, blasted Youngkin for “using service men and women for political gain” as speculation swirls that he plans to run for president. [Inside NoVA]
Man Hospitalized in Annandale Nightclub Shooting — “A man was shot at the Diamond Lounge, a nightclub in Annandale, at 2 a.m. [Wednesday], the Fairfax County Police Department reports…The Diamond Lounge, at 7203 Little River Turnpike, has been the scene of several violent incidents. In 2020, a man was fatally shot in the Diamond Lounge parking lot.” [Annandale Today]
FCPS Revises Messaging for College Help Program — Fairfax County Public Schools has taken out mentions of race and ethnicity from an email and website seeking applications to a College Partnership Program, which assists students who face barriers to higher education. The Virginia Attorney General’s office told FCPS on March 9 that the original message violated the Virginia Human Rights Act. [WTOP]
Amtrak Works to Address Traffic From Train Backups — Amtrak has added a message board and revised its queuing procedures at the Lorton Auto Train Station (8006 Lorton Road) after community members raised concerns about traffic spillover from vehicles being loading onto trains. For a permanent solution, the South County Federation has proposed that more land for an outbound vehicle queue is needed. [On the MoVe]
Snake Rescued After Wandering into Springfield Home — “Sneaky snake! [On Monday], Animal Protection Police Officer Paisley rescued a copperhead snake after it slithered into a home in Springfield and got stuck in a glue trap. Officers worked carefully to free the snake and send it on its way!” [FCPD/Facebook]
GMU to Compete for College World Series — “For the eighth time in school history, the George Mason Patriots will send a baseball team to the NCAA Division I Regionals. The school has not advanced to that level of play since 2014, but now GMU will be one of 64 teams vying for a chance to compete in the College World Series.” [WUSA9]
County Marks National Pollinator Month — “June is National Pollinator Month and the Fairfax County Park Authority is encouraging residents to celebrate and raise awareness about the significant impacts that bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and even bats have on our surroundings and what we can do to protect them.” [FCPA]
It’s Thursday — Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Northeast wind around 7 mph. At night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. [Weather.gov]
After a recent study showed an uptick in homelessness, Fairfax County staff say that data connects pretty cleanly to a matching rise in evictions over the last year.
The county saw a 10% increase — 119 people — in people experiencing homelessness for an estimated total of 1,310 people.
“In many ways the connection between housing and homelessness are logical, as homelessness is essentially defined as not having housing,” said Tom Barnett, deputy director of the county’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. “Much of the work of a homeless system is helping people in housing crisis find and secure new housing opportunities that match their means and unique needs.”
Barnett said the increase in evictions, in turn, came at the same time as the end of federal and state eviction moratoria.
“The latest trends in evictions coincide with the ending of federal and state eviction moratoria and declining federal resources for emergency rental assistance from pandemic-era funding,” Barnett said. “The federal eviction moratorium ended in August 2021 and the Virginia eviction moratorium ended on June 30, 2022.”
According to the county’s eviction dashboard, there were 2,674 formal writs of eviction issued between June 1, 2020 and the end of 2022. Before Virginia’s moratorium ended, there were only two months in that period with 100 or more writs, but those numbers soared to 280 in October, 317 in November and 248 in December.
Barnett noted that some households are “evicted informally” and can’t be tracked.
In 2021, the county established a Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program that assisted households who couldn’t pay rent or utilities during the pandemic, allowing thousands to stay in their homes when they might otherwise have been evicted.
A new program was set up to cover some of those expiring benefits, but Barnett says the $14 million funding that program only accounts for a fraction of the $95 million in federal assistance provided over the last three years.
According to Barnett:
In anticipation of expiring federal benefits, [Health and Human Services] created the ERA Bridge Program in May 2022 and began accepting applications on July 1, 2022. The goal of this program is to keep significant resources in the community while beginning to transition to a new post-COVID operating and funding level still to be determined. The ERA Bridge Program totals approximately $14.0 million and is funded through a combination of federal and County funding. This funding is supplemented by leveraging community-based organization funds (private and federal) in addition to their Consolidated Community Funding Pool (CCFP) funding. This support is facilitated through the County and nonprofit partnership model that existed pre-COVID-19.
It is important to note that pre-pandemic, all rental and transitional housing assistance funded through CCFP totaled approximately $4.0 million. It is understood that post-pandemic funding needs will significantly exceed that amount, and the ERA Bridge Program provides time and space to evaluate future funding level needs.
Barnett said the long-term answers are going to come from investing in housing stability and eviction prevention.
The county has partnered with the Legal Services of Northern Virginia to provide legal aid for residents in the court system and has participated in direct outreach to landlords. The legal services partnership is funded for one year, with staff set to determine whether or not those services are required beyond that.
Within the court system, the county has also worked to streamline the rental assistance process and to proactively identify and assist residents at risk of eviction, Barnett said.
Even so, Fairfax County is experiencing higher demand in shelters for those experiencing homelessness, particularly in shelters designed for families, according to Barnett.
Shelter demand for families with children has surged since late 2021, which has increased the number of families in emergency shelters. As of March 6, 2023, County-contracted family shelter providers were serving 140 households, which is 246 percent of the number of households that they were contracted to serve in shelters. Similar trends are seen in the County’s two domestic violence shelters.
To address increased demand, HHS is currently working with emergency shelter providers to evaluate existing program models to determine if additional investments are needed to support emergency financial and rental assistance to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. HHS is committed to working with its nonprofit partners to ensure that no families with children are unsheltered.
