Tysons Mass COVID-19 Vaccine Site Now Accepting Walk-Ins — “Walk-in appointments now available! The Tysons Community Vaccination Center now has first-come, first-served appointments 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Saturday.” [Fairfax County Health Department/Twitter]

Virginia Reviewing New Mask Guidelines — The CDC released new guidance yesterday (Tuesday) stating that people who have been fully vaccinated don’t need to wear masks outdoors except when in a big crowd of strangers. Gov. Ralph Northam’s press secretary said in a statement that the governor’s office is reviewing the guidelines “to determine if and where we need to make changes” to Virginia’s mask requirements. [Office of the Governor]

FY 2022 Budget Markup Approved — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a markup package for the county’s fiscal year 2022 budget yesterday (Tuesday) that includes a 1% pay raise for county government employees and an additional $15 million for Fairfax County Public Schools, partly to support compensation increases. [Fairfax County Government]

New Police Chief Use-of-Force Record Scrutinized — Incoming Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis lost two lawsuits over his use of force when he worked in the Prince George’s County Police Department in the 1990s. In the first case, the plaintiff said Davis pulled him over without giving a reason and violently arrested him, while the second victim alleged that “Davis and other officers essentially kidnapped him for a night.” [NBC4]

McLean Day Goes to the Drive-Thru — After getting canceled last year, McLean Day is returning on May 15 as an in-person, drive-thru event with live entertainment, including jugglers, an aerialist, a DJ, and animals. Admission to the annual festival is free, and it will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the McLean Community Center parking lot (1234 Ingleside Ave.). [MCC]

Selfie Studio Coming to Tysons Corner — “Selfie WRLD, a franchise with more than 20 locations across the country, is opening a “do-it-yourself photograph studio” in the Tysons Corner Center mall on June 5…The venue will feature at least 25 different eight-by-eight-foot selfie stations, including a retro pink-and-green diner, a private jet, an upside-down room, a patriotic ball pit with lifeguard stand, and lemon lime neon-colored jail cell with lit-up “smooth criminal” sign (yup).” [Washingtonian]

Photo by Bill Johnson

(Updated at 3:40 p.m.) If your reaction to Falls Church’s Berman Park is “what’s that?,” you’re probably not alone.

Even City of Falls Church Planning Commission members said they were only vaguely familiar with the linear park when presented with project details last week, but a new plan aims to make the park a more memorable part of the city’s green infrastructure.

The park is in the center of the city and connects several commercial properties and residential areas, but it is broken up by several street crossings that the city says lack adequate pedestrian facilities and signage.

In a presentation to the Planning Commission, staff said the goal of the project is to make those crossings more pedestrian-friendly by increasing visibility for all users and decreasing vehicle speeds.

“I agree with staff’s recommendations, they seem to be the most bang for the buck for those types of improvements,” Planning Commission Chair Brent Krasner said. “Berman Park is kind of like — I’ve ridden my bike through there…but the first time I even found it existed, I was like ‘okay, I didn’t even know this was here.'”

At the meeting, city staff went through each of the four intersections connecting the project and shared plans how the streetscape could be modified. Every proposal included some level of curb extension to make the sidewalks more walkable, and nearly every project also included new street signs.

“The goal of the project is to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists using the trail,” staff said in the project description. “The proposed trail crossings will greatly enhance the trail for users traveling through the City and could set a precedent for further improvements trail-wide.”

Preliminary engineering for the project is scheduled to be completed next January, with construction starting a year later in January 2023 and finishing that July.

The project is being funded by a $600,000 award from the Highway Safety Improvement Program/Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Program (HSIP/BPSP) and an additional 30% local funding.

(Updated at 8:40 a.m. on 4/28/2021) Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts will host live, in-person musical performances this summer for the first time since December 2019.

The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts released an initial summer 2021 lineup this morning (Tuesday) that will serve as both a celebration of the park’s 50th anniversary and a comeback for one of Fairfax County’s preeminent performing arts venues more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic brought live entertainment to a halt nationwide.

“Going to concerts at Wolf Trap has always been a hallmark of summer and a place for the DMV to gather with friends and family,” Wolf Trap Foundation President and CEO Arvind Manocha said. “Celebrating 50 years of that tradition is meaningful in and of itself; to be doing so as we start to emerge from a year of pandemic only underscores just how important that tradition is.”

With tickets going on sale at 10 a.m. on May 7, the season will begin later than usual on June 18 with Wolf Trap Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra collaborating on a rare staging of the opera “The Anonymous Lover.”

That will be followed by a series of “Thank You Community Concerts” by the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, led by conductor Marin Alsop in her Wolf Trap debut, and “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band. The four free concerts will be exclusively open to local frontline healthcare and education workers and volunteers.

The community concerts will lead up to a 50th anniversary gala and concert that will take place on July 1 — exactly 50 years after Wolf Trap’s Filene Center hosted its first performances on July 1, 1971.

“Fifty Years Together: A Celebration of Wolf Trap” will feature performances by stage and film star Cynthia Erivo, soprano opera singer Christine Goerke, pianist Joyce Yang, and JoAnn Falletta conducting the NSO. The concert’s all-female lineup is a tribute to Wolf Trap Foundation founder Catherine Filene Shouse, who championed the arts and women, the foundation says.

According to the press release, the 50th anniversary season will also be distinguished by an extended residency for the NSO in recognition of Wolf Trap’s longest artistic partnership and by bringing both Wolf Trap Opera and Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods performances to the Filene Center.

While the return of live performances signals a step toward normalcy for Wolf Trap, the experience will be quite different from what audiences are accustomed to.

In keeping with COVID-19 public health guidelines, the Filene Center will operate at reduced capacity with face masks required. Tickets will be sold to “socially distanced pods” — defined as groups of two to eight tickets — with no single tickets available and buyers required to purchase tickets for their full pod.

Tickets can be purchased either online or by phone at 1-877-965-3872, but they will all be delivered electronically.

A full guide to Wolf Trap’s health and safety protocols can be found on its website.

“We are taking the first step on the road back to the way life used to be, and with that…comes important guidelines as to how to gather, and in what quantities,” Manocha said. “The pod system and capacity constraints are designed to help everyone feel and be safe as we get back to concerts, and our audience numbers in this first phase of opening are reflective of current guidelines.”

Manocha added that Wolf Trap is “in the very nascent stages” of rebuilding its national touring model after the disruptions caused by the pandemic, so the foundation decided to focus primarily on performers based in the D.C. region.

“We are so lucky to be in a region rife with amazing artists and creators, and we’re happy to be able to connect so many with their audiences for the first time in a long time!” he said.

Wolf Trap’s full schedule of June and July performances is below: Read More

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams — a Ohio-based ice cream franchise — has opened a new scoop shop in The Boro in Tysons.

According to a press release, the 1,400-square-foot shop is located at 1669 C Silver Hill Drive. The shop has the classics, like salty caramel, as well as new flavors like buttercream birthday cake and dairy-free options, like cold brew with coconut cream

“Jeni’s has been available at area Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Giant Food, Safeway, Fresh Market, Wegmans, Butcher’s Alley, Pescadeli and UPtown Market, but McLean residents will now enjoy Jeni’s beloved flavors in scoop form,” the press release said. “Pro tip: we highly recommend the freshly made waffle cones.”

Doors are open for customers, but ice cream can also be ordered via app.

“The Boro is excited to welcome Jeni’s to Tysons!” The Boro said in a statement to Tysons Reporter. “Especially in the heat of the summer, Jeni’s will be the perfect addition to our growing community of popular restaurants and retailers for people to walk around and enjoy.”

Photo courtesy Jeni‘s Splendid Ice Creams

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors won’t approve a budget for the next fiscal year until May 4, but the bulk of the work to get to that final document will be done today (Tuesday) when the board meets at 10 a.m. to mark up the proposed budget.

Unveiled during a budget committee meeting on Friday (April 23), Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay’s proposed adjustments to the advertised fiscal year 2022 budget include a small raise for county employees and support for County Executive Bryan Hill’s recommendation of a one-cent decrease in the real estate tax rate.

The proposed cut would put the tax rate at $1.14 per $100 of assessed value, but rising residential property values mean that county homeowners will still see their tax bills go up by $224 on average.

“We all know that many families are struggling because of the impacts of COVID-19,” McKay said. “While the one-cent decrease isn’t a tax reduction for most families, I chose to support it because it provides some relief to families while still allowing the County sufficient funds, particularly with the stimulus dollars, to continue to stand up the programs that I know are needed in the community.”

The county is also considering lowering its refuse disposal fee from $68 to $66 per ton, but the board has proposed increases in sewer charges and for the refuse collection fee, which would go from $370 to $400 per household.

“It should be noted that this rate was reduced last year from $385 per household based on the inability to provide yard waste collection during the pandemic,” the proposed mark-up summary says.

With Fairfax County expecting a total of $222 million in federal relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, McKay has suggested redirecting $20 million that Hill had recommended setting aside as an economic recovery reserve fund to instead give county government employees a 1% pay raise.

The proposed mark-up doubles the increase in transfer funds to Fairfax County Public Schools from $14.1 million to $29.3 million — mainly to cover a 2% pay raise for school employees — and includes salary supplements for state probation and parole officers and support staff in the Public Defender’s Office.

“The Board remains committed to both acknowledging the hard work of our employees and maintaining competitive salaries relative to the market,” McKay said when outlining his mark-up proposal.

The board also plans to amend in its FY 2021 third-quarter review package to include $12.6 million for one-time bonuses for employees, along with funding for Celebrate Fairfax Inc., planning studies, athletic scholarships for at-risk kids, and environmental initiatives, including a green bank and zero-waste policies.

The county government employees’ union SEIU Virginia 512 said in a statement that it was “heartened” to see the board respond to the concerns that workers raised at public hearings on the FY 2022 budget last week about the possibility of having their pay frozen for a second consecutive year.

“However, the basic fact remains: the cost of living continues to rise, while Fairfax County workers continue to fall behind,” SEIU Virginia 512 Fairfax Chapter President Tammie Wondong said. “We urge the Board of Supervisors to continue to work to fund the county’s agreed-to pay plans.”

The union has also been advocating for the Board of Supervisors to adopt an ordinance allowing county employees to engage in collective bargaining.

“A union contract would bring consistency, improve recruitment and retention, and improve services for the community,” Wondong said.

According to McKay’s office, county staff are currently drafting a proposed ordinance, and the board will discuss the issue during its personnel committee meeting on May 25.

While the mark-up package mostly focuses on employee compensation, the Board of Supervisors also hopes to address affordable housing needs by allocating at least an additional half-penny from real estate tax revenues to the county’s affordable housing fund, which currently receives one half-cent, in FY 2022 and FY 2023.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said he was glad to see that guidance in McKay’s mark-up proposal, even if it would still fall short of the two-cent allocation he campaigned on when running for office in 2019.

“Getting us back to a penny, at least historically, has been on the agenda for a long time,” he said. “I see the federal money as the opportunity, if you will, to pay back a lot of what we weren’t able to do in some previous years, so I do want to see us get to one penny as soon as possible.”

Police Face Pressure from Understaffing, Reform Advocates — The McLean Citizens Association’s recent public safety forum highlighted a number of issues facing the Fairfax County Police Department, from struggles to recruit and retain officers to calls for additional reforms to address civil rights concerns and improve transparency. [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]

All Terrain Vehicle Caused Building Fire in Tysons — “Building fire on 4/24 at 1:49 PM in 1500 block Spring Hill Rd, Tysons. Crews located ATV on fire in repair shop. Fire extinguished by fire sprinkler system. No injuries reported. Cause: an electrical malfunction involving the wiring circuit of ATV. Damages: $6K.” [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department/Twitter]

Citizens Group Unimpressed by Proposed Falls Church School Names — A group of citizens led by a former Falls Church City mayor and two former vice mayors says that none of the names proposed as replacements for George Mason High School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary School “resonated” with them. The school board is scheduled to choose new names tonight (Tuesday). [Falls Church News-Press]

Vienna to Put Cottage Housing on Display — “Cottage housing…increasingly is in demand as home prices skyrocket and people’s desires for simpler living increase. To give the public a sense of how such a collection of diminutive dwellings might be arranged, the Vienna Planning and Zoning Department from May 8 through 23 will display a scale-model development using dog houses at the Vienna Town Green.” [Sun Gazette]

Meat-Centered Restaurant Reopens in Mosaic District — The B Side, a restaurant supported by Red Apron Butcher, started offering indoor dining again for the first time in more than a year earlier this month. Chef and butcher Nathan Anda marked the occasion with a brand-new menu that features everything from schnitzel to a wagyu pastrami bowl. [Northern Virginia Magazine]

The third phase of The Mile — a mixed-use complex replacing the former Westpark Business Park in Tysons — will combine apartments and a mini-warehouse.

Developer KETTLER and PS Business Parks recently filed an application with Fairfax County for this next phase of development, the Washington Business Journal first reported.

“Building B,” dubbed The Charlton in a rendering, will be up to 90 feet tall with up to 400 units, 150,000 square feet of storage use, and 10,000 square feet of retail use. It will sit on a 3.81-acre property on the east side of Westbranch Drive, according to the filings.

This phase is just part of KETTLER and PS Business Parks’ plans to develop an underutilized 45-acre area with office buildings and parking into a complex with 13 buildings mixing high-rise and mid-rise residential and commercial buildings with ground-floor retail uses, parking, and public park space.

“Building B is designed with a parking and storage structure as the core and the residential units wrapped around the structure parking,” the developer’s legal representative Elizabeth D. Baker said in a letter to the county. “Building B includes two courtyards which open onto the adjacent Signature Park providing extensive views of this future amenity.”

The Charlton sits west of the future Signature Park, which is part of the public open space amenity package that KETTLER and PS Business Parks are proposing for The Mile.

About five acres in size, Signature Park will have a “large flexible lawn with a stage for community events, a children’s playground, a terraced lawn, a recreational loop, lawn games, and a variety of outdoor seating options,” Baker said.

In the interim, before the park is built, the lot will be turned into a small plaza with seating and bike racks on the east side of Blyton Street, as well as a trail connection to the parcel to the east, she said. The graphic above illustrates where those amenities will be placed.

Blyton Street is one of the new streets being created as part of the development, along with Rowling Street, from which users will be able to access the retail space and the mini-warehouse self-storage facility. Residents will access parking from Westbranch Drive.

Construction work on the development’s second phase started in November. The Brentford apartment buildings, and the first units are expected to be complete in spring 2022. The first phase, Highgate at The Mile, was completed in 2017.

Images via Fairfax County

Fairfax County is now reporting its lowest seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases since late October.

According to the Virginia Department of Health, the county currently has a weekly average of 115.3 new cases after the Fairfax Health District reported 74 COVID-19 cases today (Monday), including one case in the City of Falls Church.

The last time the county had a weekly average of 115.3 cases was Oct. 30, when the pandemic’s winter surge was just starting to set in.

After ticking up in early April, Fairfax County’s COVID-19 case rate has been on a steady decline since hitting 194.4 cases on average over seven days on April 13.

The Fairfax Health District’s testing positivity rate has also been falling in recent days, dipping below 5% on April 20 for the first time since it was at 4.9% on Oct. 26. The district’s seven-day moving average for positive PCR tests was 4.5% as of April 22, the latest date with data reported from the state.

The Fairfax County Health Department acknowledged that there is a discrepancy between the VDH data and the county’s reported case numbers for the Fairfax Health District. The county dashboard says that there were just 59 new cases today.

“Our data team is investigating,” FCHD spokesperson Tina Dale told Tysons Reporter.

The Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax as well as the county, has recorded 76,376 total COVID-19 cases, 3,940 hospitalizations, and 1,095 deaths over the course of the pandemic, according to VDH data.

In addition to seeing signs that community transmission of the novel coronavirus has been diminishing, Fairfax County learned late last week that providers will once again be allowed to administer Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, whose use was halted nationwide on April 13 in response to reports of a few recipients developing rare blood clots.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday (April 23) that the pause should be lifted, saying that the J&J vaccine’s benefits as an effective and generally safe tool for preventing COVID-19 outweigh its known and potential risks.

Virginia State Vaccination Coordinator Dr. Danny Avula said that providers in the state are now free to resume administering the J&J vaccine, effective immediately.

“This extra scrutiny should instill confidence in the system that is in place to guarantee COVID-19 vaccine safety,” Avula said in a statement. “As with any vaccine, we encourage individuals to educate themselves on any potential side effects and to weigh that against the possibility of hospitalization or death from COVID-19.”

The Fairfax County Health Department says it will follow the federal and state guidance and resume offering the J&J vaccine at its vaccination sites, but it’s unclear when doses become available again.

“We will not receive the J&J vaccine this week since orders for vaccine are made the week prior,” Dale said. “I will not know the status on subsequent weeks until our vaccination team has a chance to meet.”

According to its vaccine dashboard, the county received 67,590 first and second vaccine doses from VDH for the week of April 19-25, an increase of more than 10,000 doses from the previous week. Because the county and its partners have primarily been utilizing the Pfizer vaccine, the J&J vaccine pause had a limited impact on vaccine availability and appointments.

Fairfax County providers have now administered more than 811,000 vaccine doses. 512,645 residents have received at least one dose, and 318,705 residents have been fully vaccinated — roughly 27.7% of the county’s total population.

That puts the county’s vaccination rate slightly behind Virginia as a whole, which has fully vaccinated 2.4 million residents, or 28.7% of its population. 3.6 million people — 42.9% of the population – have gotten at least one dose, and the Commonwealth has administered 5.9 million vaccine doses overall.

Images via CDC on Unsplash, 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 (April 26)

• Vienna Police Station Construction Update — 7 p.m. at former Faith Baptist Church (301 Center Street S) — This monthly status update on the construction of the Vienna police station is open to the public to hear the recent construction news and ask questions. The event will be held in person at the temporary police station.
• Overcome Your Fear of Cicadapocalypse — 1-2 p.m. & 2:45-3:45 p.m. at Hidden Oaks Nature Center (7701 Royce Street) — Considering locking yourself in your house while the cicadas are out? Naturalists at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center are hoping to calm your fears with an outdoor fact versus fiction information session. Register online for $7 per person.

Tuesday (April 27)

• Great Books Discussion (Online) — 7-8:30 p.m. — This week, Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s “Great Books” discussion group will talk about The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad. No registration is required, and it’s open to all. See the schedule for the list of future books. Email Marshall Webster at [email protected] for the Zoom link and more information.
• Introduction to Foundation Directory Online Workshop (Online) — 2-3:30 p.m. — The Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library staff is hosting a free workshop on how to use the Foundation Directory Online, a database that helps nonprofits identify grantmakers to obtain funding. The class will be taught by a trainer from Candid. Registration is required to receive the Zoom link.

Wednesday (April 28)

• (the) Unruly Theatre Project’s Virtual Improv Show (Online) — 7 p.m. — The McLean Community Center’s teen improv group is putting on its latest virtual performance. Registration is open up to two hours before the show. The Zoom link and password will be emailed to those who register. For more information, contact [email protected].
• Jane Austen Discussion Group (Online) — 7-8 p.m. — The Jane Austen Discussion Group will be discussing “Evelina” by Fanny Burney, who was one of Austen’s greatest influences. For more information or to request the Zoom link, email Marshall Webster at [email protected].
• Spring2ACTion Fundraiser (Online) — The Virginia Wildlife Rescue League has its 11th annual Spring2ACTion fundraiser to support Northern Virginia wildlife. Last year’s event raised $8,831, the nonprofit’s best year yet, so this year’s goal is $9,850. Early giving started April 14, but the last 24-hour push ends at 11:59 p.m. on April 28. Donations will go to help take care of rescued animals until they can be released back into the wild.

Friday (April 30)

• Father-Daughter Silent Disco Dance — 7-8:30 p.m. at the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Ave.) — Join the McLean Community Center for the Father-Daughter Dance! This year’s event will be a little different due to COVID-19. The dance will be in the MCC parking lot, and it will be a silent disco with DJ BigCourt. The $25-per-person tickets include headphones with one of three family-friendly music genres, snack bags, and glow products.

Saturday (May 1)

• Mother’s Little Helpers — 3 p.m. at Jammin Java (227 Maple Ave. E) — Jammin Java’s 20th Anniversary Outdoor Concert Series continues with a free show by the Rolling Stones tribute band Mother’s Little Helpers. With doors opening at 2 p.m., indoor seating capacity is limited, and there is a two-item minimum purchase for customers seated at tables. Masks are required. There will also be a Grateful Dead tribute concert by Born Cross Eyed at 7 p.m.

Photo courtesy Fairfax County Park Authority

When early voting began at the North County Government Center in Reston on Saturday (April 24), the crowd of electioneers assembled outside the building dwarfed the number of people casting their ballots inside the building.

The absence of lines contrasted sharply with the 2020 general election, when Fairfax County sometimes saw hour-long waits at early voting sites. This time, the biggest hold-up was the few extra seconds election volunteers needed to sort through 16 different ballots and match them with the right voters.

While not surprised by the relatively muted turnout for the first days of early voting for the June 8 Democratic primary, which started on April 23 at the Fairfax County Government Center before expanding to two satellite locations a day later, Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn says it’s too soon to make any confident projections about what early voting will look like in the future.

“Going through a couple of election cycles, I think we need to do that before we can come to any long-term conclusions about how early voting is best done, how to staff it, what resources are necessary,” he said.

Even with a crowded gubernatorial contest on the ballot, the 2021 election cycle likely won’t match the high turnout for last year’s general election, which was buoyed by an especially heated presidential race, but there is already evidence that the Virginia’s new laws permanently expanding the accessibility of absentee voting are paying off.

According to the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project, 63,508 voters have requested mail ballots, and 709 people have voted in person, as of April 24. In comparison, there were just 35,390 early voters in the 2017 primaries, the last time that Virginia had a governor’s race, and that includes 8,815 people who requested mail ballots but never returned them.

Fairfax County has gotten 11,222 mail ballot requests and 68 in-person voters. In 2017, 3,109 people voted early in person, and 1,919 people voted by mail.

Fairfax County Office of Elections spokesperson Brian Worthy attributes this uptick to recent legislative changes made by the Virginia General Assembly, particularly the introduction of no-excuse absentee voting that took effect last year.

“Since the last gubernatorial election, voting by mail has become easier in Virginia,” Worthy said. “Not only can any registered voter do so without needing a reason as was required in the past, but also the law now makes it easy to vote by mail permanently. As a result, the Office of Elections expects to see an increase in voting by mail over time as has happened in other states that have implemented similar laws.”

Legislators took further action to make early voting more accessible during a special session in March, including requiring localities to offer ballot drop-off boxes, permitting absentee voting on Sundays, and suspending witness signature requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic, though those laws don’t take effect until July 1.

Early voting is also “way up” in Falls Church City compared to the last gubernatorial primary, according to Director of Elections and General Registrar David Bjerke.

Bjerke told Tysons Reporter on Friday (April 23) that the city had sent out 315 ballots so far, including 176 mail ballots and 139 email ballots to overseas voters, and three people showed up to vote in person that day. The 2017 primary saw just 240 early voters total, even though the Democratic and Republican parties both held elections that summer.

“It’s a huge increase,” Bjerke said. Read More