McLean Woman Accused of Stalking Apple CEO — “Apple has filed for a restraining order against a woman who allegedly stalked the tech giant’s CEO Tim Cook, showed up at his house at least twice and sent him threatening photos of guns and bullets, according court filings in Santa Clara… Choi allegedly drove cross-country from McLean, Virginia, to Cook’s house in Palo Alto – which she visited at least twice on Oct. 22, 2021, according to the documents.” [Fox Business, Daily Mail]
Capital One Center Part of Corporate Urbanization Trend — Major companies across the U.S. are turning their suburban headquarters into mini cities, with Capital One’s growing 24-acre campus in Tysons as one example. Executives say the trend reflects competition for workers as well as public and private investment aimed at making suburbs denser and less car-dependent. [The New York Times]
Former McLean High Students Climb Africa’s Tallest Mountain — “After a grueling six-hour hike from their camp in the middle of the night in early January, McLean High School graduates Rebecca Berkson and Katie Herold were treated to a magnificent vista: the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at sunrise.” [Sun Gazette]
County Completes “Winter Warming” Project — Fairfax County’s senior center staff finished a project this month to collect hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, and socks for adults and children in need. The donation drive kicked off in October and ultimately distributed 1,404 items to local nonprofits Cornerstones, Homestretch, and Shelter House. [Neighborhood and Community Services]
Funds Sought for Great Falls Traffic Control — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution yesterday (Tuesday) asking that the U.S. Park Police include $100,000 in its next budget request to address traffic from Great Falls National Park. The funds would cover overtime costs for officers working the Georgetown Pike and Old Dominion Drive intersection. [Patch]
Vienna will help pay for the project to build a modernized Patrick Henry Library and accompanying parking garage.
The Vienna Town Council passed a motion yesterday (Monday) to pay $663,000 to Fairfax County for RRMM Architects to design a new library and parking structure.
The town and county agreed in 2020 to partner on the demolition and construction project, divvying up costs. A development agreement caps the town’s design costs at $850,000 (or 30% of the design costs) and 19% of construction costs, not to exceed $4,200,000.
“In the end, we get a new library, which Fairfax County pays for, and we get parking, which we pay for,” Councilmember Chuck Anderson said at the town meeting yesterday (Monday). “That’s actually not a bad deal.”
While parking will be reserved for library purposes during the day, the garage will have 209 total spots available to the general public for non-library uses when the library is closed, according to Anderson.
The project calls for replacing the 13,800 square-foot building, which was last renovated in 1995, with a 21,000 square-foot library, creating a modern branch with a larger children’s section that could be ready by 2024.
Andrew Jinks, a transportation engineer with the town, helped the town partner with the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to provide $2.3 million.
Town spokesperson Karen Thayer says that amount is considered part of the town’s share in the project, and it’s still working with NVTA to develop a commuting option from the library to D.C.
The project’s fixed construction cost is $17.2 million. Voters approved a $90 million bond referendum in 2020 for four library projects, including $23 million for Patrick Henry.
The push to redevelop McLean’s 230-acre downtown area is getting into the nitty-gritty details, giving residents another chance to provide input.
Fairfax County is developing design guidelines that will shape the look of sidewalks, tree plantings, lights, buildings, and more in the McLean Community Business Center, an area centered around the intersection of Chain Bridge Road and Old Dominion Drive.
“The guidelines will focus on the design of streetscape areas (space between the curb and the building), how buildings front the street, trees and landscaping, parking design, and the features desired in future parks and plazas,” JoAnne Fiebe, senior revitalization program manager for the county’s Department of Planning and Development, said in an email.
The process will begin with an advisory group comprised of directors from the McLean Planning Committee. A virtual community-wide kick-off workshop is tentatively slated for March 23.
After convening for the first time from 7:30 to 9 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday), the advisory group will meet on the fourth Wednesday of each month. All meetings will be held virtually and be open to the public.
The project will result in McLean-specific rules, building off of a first volume of urban design guidelines that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved in 2018 for all of the county’s core commercial centers.
Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust says the countywide document has broad recommendations and best practices for creating streets, enhancing walkability, and promoting a sense of place.
“The McLean District Design Guidelines…include recommendations specific to McLean regarding open space features, building frontage, parking design, trees and landscaping, lighting, street furnishings, and other streetscape details,” he said in an email.
Developers will be encouraged to abide by the guidelines to help implement the community vision for McLean. Fiebe says the county hopes the second volume of design guidelines will:
- Ensure that future development and streetscape improvements meet community expectations regarding design, community character and bicycle/pedestrian accessibility
- Help create a unified appearance for the area
- Offer more environmentally sustainable approaches to redevelopment
The design guidelines project comes after the Board of Supervisors approved a plan to revitalize the McLean CBC in June.
Concluding a multi-year process, the Comprehensive Plan amendment increased the number of potential residential units in the downtown area from 2,175 to 3,850, among other changes. It was the first update to the McLean CBC plan in 20 years.
The comprehensive plan is a “big picture vision” to guide county officials’ decision-making when voting on projects proposed by developers, while the design guidelines will establish the details of that vision and strategies for implementing it, Fiebe explains.
“It is critical to get the details right in order to achieve high-quality walkable places,” Fiebe wrote. “This includes everything from the right paving materials for sidewalks, the right trees, good lighting, etc…And all of this needs to be discussed with the community to ensure that it meets their vision and expectations.”
The Board of Supervisors could sign off on the visual specifications in December.
Updated at 11:50 a.m. — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 8-1 this morning to support the continued mask requirement in schools and approved a letter directing Virginia to work with local health and school officials on metrics for making masks optional.
Earlier: When students across Fairfax County returned to classrooms today (Tuesday), they came wearing the most contentious, must-have accessory of the school year: face masks.
While the devices have become the subject of fierce political debate, Fairfax County Public Schools officials say that tension has not carried over into school buildings, where they have encountered few issues with getting students and staff to wear masks.
Just 40 out of the division’s nearly 180,000 students have been cited for not wearing a mask since the requirement took effect on Aug. 20, FCPS Assistant Superintendent of Special Services Michelle Boyd said at a virtual town hall meeting last night (Monday).
“Certainly, students have had to be reminded to pull your face mask up and potentially to wear it appropriately, as we all have to have reminders,” Boyd said. “But by and large, we want to celebrate that FCPS students have stepped up and answered the call to keep themselves safe, to keep their friends safe, and to keep their community safe.”
Officials say the mask-wearing requirement, combined with vaccinations, testing, and other mitigation protocols, has proven effective so far at limiting the spread of COVID-19 in schools.
As of today, FCPS students, staff, and visitors have reported 6,362 Covid cases since August, including 2,681 cases this month — double the 1,317 cases seen in December.
Boyd noted that the number of cases still represents just a fraction of the district’s 206,111 students and staff, and while there have been 36 outbreaks reported, consisting of 155 cases, there have not been any since students returned from winter break on Jan. 10.
Unlike some other school systems in the area, FCPS has not reverted any schools to virtual learning due to Covid.
Still, with the school system seeing more cases than ever and community transmission levels high, albeit declining, Superintendent Scott Brabrand says FCPS needs to “stay the course” and maintain its current health and safety practices.
“We all seek a moment when we can go to creating mask-optional conditions, but now is not the time at the greatest surge we’ve ever had in the pandemic,” Brabrand said, stating later that FCPS is working with health officials to establish metrics for when to roll back masking and other requirements.
Whether FCPS will be allowed to continue with universal masking, however, is up to the courts after the county school board joined six other localities in filing a lawsuit yesterday to prevent Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order directing schools to make masks optional from taking effect.
The complaint argues that the governor lacks the authority to issue and enforce the executive order, which it says violates the state Constitution and the state law adopted last year that requires schools to provide in-person instruction in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mitigation strategies.
“We’re not here out of a desire, but rather, out of a need to ensure that we’ve got that separation of powers and we maintain our constitutional authority as locally elected school board members who answer and are ultimately accountable to our constituents,” Fairfax County School Board Chair Stella Pekarsky told FFXnow in an interview.
She declined to speculate on what would happen if the Arlington Circuit Court, where the lawsuit was filed, rules in favor of Youngkin but said the school board is confident it will prevail in the case.
Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter said the governor’s office is “disappointed that these school boards are ignoring parents’ rights.”
“The governor and attorney general are in coordination and are committed to aggressively defending parents’ fundamental right to make decisions with regard to their child’s upbringing, education, and care, as the legal process plays out,” she said in a statement.
Virginia’s health and education departments released new guidelines on Friday (Jan. 21) to support Youngkin’s executive order, urging testing and vaccinations while suggesting mask-wearing should be a personal choice.
“There is presently a lack of consensus among health experts regarding the costs and benefits of mask-wearing for children in school,” the guidance says, stating that the N95 and KN95 masks recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are “very tight and uncomfortable.”
However, local health officials disputed the assertion that there’s a lack of consensus on the benefits of masks in preventing COVID-19 transmission at last night’s town hall, noting that universal masking is still recommended by the CDC and the Fairfax County Health Department.
“The FCHD continues to highlight the benefits of masking and encourages masks as an important part of an overall layered prevention strategy,” the county health department said by email. “We are aware of the updated VDH guidance issued this weekend and are in the process of ensuring that our COVID 19 investigations and containment practices are aligned.”
Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, the county’s director of epidemiology and population health, and Dr. Russell Libby, a local pediatrician who founded the Virginia Pediatric Group, agreed that “the vast majority of evidence” suggests masks work and are most effective when worn by everyone.
“There are many variabilities relative to the materials, the fashion with which they are fitted, and the cooperation on a continuing basis in those settings,” Libby said. “…There’s a lot that’s evolving, but the best advice that can be given is that still masks are the way to go, that they help significantly reduce the likelihood of transmission.”
Community members shared a variety of perspectives on FCPS’ mask requirement, with some parents expressing frustration with the lack of choice and others thanking school officials for following federal and local health guidelines.
Brabrand described the mask mandate as part of a balancing act between individual rights and collective responsibility and sacrifice.
“I have the right to do things up until that right infringes on the rights of others,” he said. “The pandemic is really just a primary example of how my decision not to wear a mask or not to get vaccinated has a huge effect on others. I think that’s why it remains an issue that creates so much comment and commentary.”
Photo via FCPS
The end has arrived for J.R.’s Stockyards Inn, where Tysons’ penchant for steakhouses began more than four decades ago.
According to Fairfax County land records, J.R.’s Custom Catering sold the two-story restaurant-turned-banquet hall at 8130 Watson Street for $15.5 million on Dec. 28. The 1.18-acre property hit the market last March.
Buyer AM Tysons LLC is registered at the same address as the corporate headquarters of Macerich, the real estate firm that owns Tysons Corner Center.
The Washington Business Journal reported on Friday (Jan. 21) that Stockyards Inn closed earlier this year, and J.R.’s anticipates that the building will be torn down to make way for new development.
The county’s property record says the sale price “reflects anticipated redevelopment.”
A Macerich spokesperson told Tysons Reporter that they “are unable to comment” at this time, and efforts to contact J.R.’s Custom Catering were not returned by press time.
One of the area’s first restaurants outside of the mall, J.R.’s Stockyards Inn opened in 1978 as Tysons’ original steakhouse, according to its website, which says the venue became famous for its beef and hosted many political, sports, and entertainment figures over the years.
The restaurant closed in 2011, as the venue turned into a banquet hall for private events and catering operations.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning in October 2020 that would enable the property to be replaced with a 26-story mixed-use residential tower, but it’s unclear whether Macerich intends to revise that proposal at all.
The real estate company is currently seeking county approval for additional development at Tysons Corner Center, which is located just across the street from J.R.’s Stockyards Inn on the other side of International Drive.
J.R.’s Custom Catering also shut down its Pavilions at Turkey Run in July 2020, as the National Park Service plans to take the former Claude Moore Colonial Farm in a new, still-undetermined direction.
However, the catering business continues to operate out of its facility in Herndon and the Fairfax Hunt Club in Reston. Its recent events have included participating in a Taste of Virginia reception for Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s inauguration on Jan. 15.
Local Elected Officials React to Mask Lawsuit — Rep. Gerry Connolly (D) and Delegates Eileen Filler-Corn (D-31st) and Marcus Simon (D-53rd) were among the Congressional and General Assembly representatives who expressed support for the Fairfax County School Board’s lawsuit seeking to stop Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order prohibiting mask requirements in schools. [Twitter]
Metro Seeks Public Comment on New Budget — “The public comment period for Metro’s Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) budget is officially open, and Metro’s Board of Directors wants the public’s input. Metro is encouraging the public to share feedback before the comment period ends at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 15.” [WMATA]
Redistricting Committee Meets to Talk Name Changes — “Lee, Mason, Mount Vernon, Springfield and Sully Board of Supervisors’ Districts could be getting new names. The Redistricting Advisory Committee is meeting virtually on Tuesday, Jan. 25, to begin discussing these possible name changes.” [Fairfax County Government/Twitter]
Students Sought for MCC Governing Board — “If you are a high school student who lives or attends school in the Langley or McLean high school boundary areas and you’d like to gain leadership skills and serve your community, consider running for a seat on the McLean Community Center’s Governing Board.” [Fairfax County Government/YouTube]
Though construction has yet to begin, Vienna’s 444 Maple Ave. mixed-use development appears to be in negotiations to secure its first tenants.
According to a property brochure on its project webpage, New Jersey-headquartered Hekemian & Co. plans to add the pizza chain Mellow Mushroom, restaurant Tom Yum Thai, and Gloss Nails to the development, which will take the place of the now-shuttered Vienna Wolf Trap Hotel and Tequila Grande.
The marketing sheet indicates that the businesses are “at lease,” but none appear to have officially signed yet.
Mellow Mushroom, which serves custom-made pies, gluten-free crusts, burgers, vegan options, and more, is expected to occupy the site’s largest space at 5,129 square feet.
A Mellow Mushroom marketing executive didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. It’s unclear if the business will be corporate-owned, like its Herndon location, or a franchise, like the one in Chantilly.
Gloss Nails has been inked in for a 2,000 square-foot space, and Tom Yum Thai’s space is 1,424 square feet in size.
Tom Yum Thai had occupied ground-floor space in the office building at 226 Maple Avenue West for seven years, but it abruptly closed on Dec. 26. Tysons Reporter was unable to get in contact with the management team for comment by publication time.
Three commercial spaces are still listed as available. There’s also a 2,000-square-foot space listed as having a letter of intent. A leasing representative didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
A chain-link fence still stands around the Vienna Wolf Trap Hotel and Tequila Grande. The business said last summer that demolition work could begin in the fall of 2021. A demolition permit was issued Wednesday (Jan. 19) by Fairfax County.
Approved despite some resident opposition in October 2018, the development project will replace the vacated hotel and restaurant at the Nutley Street corner with a multistory building featuring courtyards, a pool, dog wash, ground-floor retail, and 151 multifamily rental units.
With a second week of consistently declining cases, Fairfax County’s current, omicron variant-fueled Covid wave has receded closer to the levels seen last winter.
The Fairfax Health District, including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, reported 607 new cases today (Monday). With 845 cases added yesterday (Sunday), it’s the first time since Dec. 20 and 21 that there have been fewer than 1,000 new cases on consecutive days.
The county is now averaging 1,150 cases per day for the past week — less than half the weekly average of 2,520 cases recorded on Jan. 13, when the pandemic’s latest surge appears to have peaked.
Last winter, the seven-day average peaked at 697 cases on Jan. 17, 2021.
The omicron surge’s decline can also be seen in the district’s testing positivity rate, which has dropped from 34.1% on Jan. 10 to 23.1%, as of last Thursday (Jan. 20). The seven-day average for hospitalizations has gone from 5.7 on Jan. 15 to 3.1 today, when four new hospitalizations were reported.
In total, the Fairfax Health District has recorded 164,209 COVID-19 cases, 4,400 hospitalizations, and 1,272 deaths, five of them in the past week.
According to Fairfax County Health Department data, 840,040 residents overall — or 71% of the population — are fully vaccinated against Covid, including 80% of residents 18 and older.
The 949,105 residents, or 82% of the population, who have gotten at least one vaccine dose include:
- 89.7% of adults
- 94.9% of 16 to 17 year olds
- 90.4% of 12-15 year olds
- 47.6% of 5-11 year olds
In addition, 34.9% of Fairfax County residents, including 43.5% of adults, have gotten a booster shot or third dose, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.
We’ve searched the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean, and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!
Monday, Jan. 24
- Fiber Art Exhibits — 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the McLean Textile Gallery (6819 Elm St.) — Artists Cindy Grisdela and Eileen Doughty show off their stitching skills in this joint exhibition.
Tuesday, Jan. 25
- Jessica Stone — 7-8:30 p.m. at Patrick Henry Library (101 Maple Ave. East) — The author of “Crossing the Divide: 20 Lessons to Help You Thrive in Cross-Cultural Environments” talks about mistakes and triumphs in a talk geared toward high schoolers, college students, and their parents.
Wednesday, Jan. 26
- An Evening with Branford Marsalis — 8 p.m. at The Barns (1635 Trap Road) — The Branford Marsalis Quarter, led by a saxophonist from the Marsalis jazz family, performs at Wolf Trap. Tickets start at $68, and doors open at 6:30 p.m. The band will also perform on Thursday.
Thursday, Jan. 27
- Joint Operation — 8 p.m. at Jammin Java (227 Maple Ave East) — With reggae band Harbor Boys and special guest Toby Raps, this Baltimore-based funk-rock band shows a range of influences, from Beck to Sublime. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $15.
Friday, Jan. 28
- Russell Peters: The Act Your Age World Tour — 7 p.m. at Capital One Hall (7750 Capital One Tower Road) — The comedian who landed Netflix’s first comedy special visits Tysons for shows on Friday and Saturday. Tickets start at $59.75.
Saturday, Jan. 29
- Shop Local Saturday Market — 12-5 p.m. at The PARC at Tysons (8508 Leesburg Pike) — Browse baked goods, artwork, crafts, and goods from more than 25 local small businesses, artisans, and entrepreneurs. This is Celebrate Fairfax’s second market at The PARC this year, with more dates expected to be announced soon.
- “The Dinner Party” — 8-10:30 p.m. at the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry St. Southeast) — The Vienna Theatre Company continues staging Neil Simon’s one-act play, a comedy about marriage and divorce that centers around strangers gathering for an unorthodox dinner party. Tickets are $15. Additional performances go through Feb. 6.
Sunday, Jan. 30
- Virtual Piedmont Wine Dinner — 5-6:30 p.m. through Zoom — Thompson Italia in Falls Church (124 N. Washington St.) is offering a four-course meal for two people with wine pairings and an online experience with a Charlottesville wine importer representative. Customers will pick up food and wine beforehand. Cost is $220.
(Updated at 5:25 p.m.) Fairfax County Public Schools and six other school divisions, most of them in Northern Virginia, have sued to stop Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s order that makes face masks optional in schools.
As first reported by The Washington Post, the lawsuit was filed in Arlington Circuit Court this morning (Monday), asking the court for an injunction to stop Youngkin’s order from being enforced.
FCPS was joined by the school boards of Alexandria City, Arlington County, City of Richmond, Falls Church City, Hampton City, and Prince William County.
Collectively representing more than 350,000 students, the jurisdictions have all promised to continue requiring masks for students and staff, defying the executive order that Youngkin issued on Jan. 15, his first day in office, and was set to take effect today.
“The question for this Court is whether, by executive order, a governor can override both the Constitution of Virginia and a law enacted by the General Assembly,” the complaint says. “The School Boards respectfully submit that the answer to this question is no.”
In a joint statement, the suing school divisions say they’re seeking to defend “the right of school boards
to enact policy at the local level, including policies that protect the health and well-being of all students and staff”:
This legal action centers on fundamental questions about the framework of public education in Virginia, as set out in the Virginia Constitution and by the General Assembly. At issue is whether locally elected school boards have the exclusive authority and responsibility conferred upon them by Article VIII, § 7 of the Constitution of Virginia over supervision of the public schools in their respective communities, or whether an executive order can unilaterally override that constitutional authority.
Also at issue is whether a governor can, through executive order, without legislative action by the Virginia General Assembly, reverse a lawfully-adopted statute. In this case, Senate Bill 1303, adopted with the goal of returning students to safe in-person instruction five days a week in March 2021 and still legally in effect, provides that local school boards should follow The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) health and safety requirements.
Without today’s action, school boards are placed in a legally untenable position — faced with an executive order that is in conflict with the constitution and state law. Today’s action is not politically motivated. These seven school divisions would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the governor to ensure the safety and welfare of all students.
This lawsuit is not brought out of choice, but out of necessity.
With COVID-19 transmission rates high, our hospitals at crisis level, and the continued recommendation of health experts to retain universal mask-wearing for the time being, this is simply not the time to remove this critical component of layered health and safety mitigation strategies. School divisions need to continue to preserve their authority to protect and serve all our students, including our most vulnerable, who need these mitigation measures perhaps more than anyone to be able to continue to access in-person instruction.
FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand reaffirmed the division’s commitment to maintaining a mask requirement due to the spread of COVID-19 in a message to the community on Friday (Jan. 21), citing state law and a regulation that made masks part of the dress code, as of Aug. 20.
“We are working towards a day when we can begin to roll back these safety measures, including universal masking,” Brabrand said. “But for right now, we must continue to protect and serve all our students, including our most vulnerable. More than anything else, these mitigation measures allow them to safely remain in our schools.”
