A portion of Dorr Avenue, a street that runs parallel to Gallows Road through a stretch of offices and businesses in Merrifield, will be closed for the next four weeks as crews relocate underground utilities.

The street will be closed off at the intersection with Prosperity Avenue. Traffic to locations along Dorr Avenue, like ArtsFairfax and Prosperity Flats will be redirected to Merrilee Drive one block east.

The closure is expected to start this Thursday, Sept. 24, and last until Thursday, Oct. 22.

“Vehicular traffic from Prosperity Avenue will not be allowed to turn south on to Dorr Avenue,” VDOT said in a press release. “A detour will use Prosperity Avenue, Merrilee Drive, and Merrifield Avenue. Vehicles can access properties along Dorr Avenue from the south during this work, but will not be able to continue through to Prosperity Avenue.”

VDOT said the closure will not impact pedestrian and bicyclist traffic on the sidewalks.

Image via Google Maps, map via VDOT

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!

Tuesday (Sept. 22)

• Preschool Story Time (Online) — 10:30-11 a.m. — Mary Riley Styles Public Library will go live with virtual songs, stories, and rhythms on its Facebook page.
• Tuesday Morning Book Club (Online) — 10:30-11:30 a.m. — The Tuesday Morning Book Club meets every six weeks starting this September through next June. Discussing Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams, the book club will meet via Zoom. Email Catherine Wilson, [email protected], to request the Zoom link.
• Great Books Discussion (Online) — 7-8:30 p.m. — “Great Books” Book Club meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of most months. Having a poetry comparison: Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking by Walt Whitman, and I Started Early and Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson, the group will meet via Zoom. Email Marshall Webster, [email protected], to request the Zoom link.

Wednesday (Sept. 23)

• Mystery Book Discussion (Online) — 7-8 p.m. — The Mystery Book Club meets every other month. Discussing Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayer, the group will meet via Zoom. Email [email protected] to request the Zoom link.

Thursday (Sept. 24)

• Preschool Story Time (Online) — 10:30-11 a.m. — Mary Riley Styles Public Library will go live with virtual songs, stories, and rhythms on its Facebook page.

Friday (Sept. 25)

• Virtual Story Time — 11 a.m. — FIT4MOM reads children’s books that celebrate diversity every Friday morning at 11 on its Facebook page.
• Sunset Cinema: Onward (Reservation Required) — 7:45 p.m. at Cherry Hill Park (312 Park Ave.) — Sunset Cinema returns with the showing of “Onward.” This event is limited to 20 families in a reservation system, the website said. To register, use this website.

Saturday (Sept. 26)

• Falls Church Farmers Market — 8 a.m.-12 p.m. at City Hall Parking Lot (300 Park Ave.) — Enjoy fresh, local produce, meat, dairy, flowers & plants, honey, music, and so much more at the Falls Church Farmers Market, the website said.
• Vienna Farmers Market -8 a.m.-12 p.m. at Vienna Community Center Parking Lot (120 Cherry Street SE ) — Sponsored by the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna, the Vienna Farmers Market features approximately 30 vendors from across the region offering locally sourced fruits, vegetables, and homemade eats, the website said.

Photo via Mary Riley Styles Public Library 

The Angelika Film Center (2911 District Avenue) in the Mosaic District is planning a series of films by Alfred Hitchcock to celebrate October and Halloween.

Most of the shows are $10 with advanced tickets required.

The theater has reopened with new precautions as a result of COVID-19, like decreased seating capacity.

The lineup, according to the Angelika Film Center website:

• Rear Window — 7 p.m. on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, 2 p.m. on Oct. 7
• The Birds — 7 p.m. on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14, 2 p.m. on Oct. 14
• Vertigo — 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Oct. 21
• Shadow of a Doubt — 7 p.m. on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28, 2 p.m. on Oct. 28

Image via Angelika Film Center

Fairfax County Police are searching for Navya Patury, a 16-year-old missing endangered juvenile.

Police said members of the Major Crimes Bureau and the Search and Rescue Team will be looking around the area of Leonard Drive in Pimmit Hills.

Patury is 5’5″ and around 100 lbs with brown eyes and black hair. Patury was last seen wearing a black jacket with a pink zipper and grey/pink sneakers. Patury is considered endangered due to a mental/physical health concern.

Anyone with information is asked to call 703-691-2131.

Detectives from our Major Crimes Bureau & members of our Search and Rescue Team will be in the area of Leonard Dr in Pimmit Hills looking for #Missing Endangered Juvenile 16-year-old Navya Patury- last seen wearing black jacket w/ pink zipper. Call 703-691-2131 with info. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/7TnBGueZZ0

— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) September 20, 2020

Photo via Fairfax County Police/Twitter

The City of Falls Church announced today (Monday) that they will allocate $44,000 in Arts and Humanities grants.

Five proposals were reviewed by the program and will receive a total of $21,200, with each project being fully funded. Five proposals received operational grants with $27,300 awarded.

Recipients include:

• Creative Cauldron: two grants include $5,000 in funding for “Live at the Cauldron” and an operational grant for administration, utilities, and facility overhead
• Falls Church Arts: the $4,200 grant will increase web capabilities with a new easy to navigate website and an operational grant will help with gallery rental
• Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation: two grants will help create promotional, publicity and marketing materials for the 2021 Tinner Hill Blues Festival along with an operational grant for administrative and general expenses
• The Little City CATCH Foundation: grants include funding for Watch Night and an operational grant for professional services, storage space, office supplies and website costs
• Washington Sinfonietta: two grants include a free holiday concert at Falls Church Episcopal Church and an operational grant to cover their annual insurance premium

Photo via Creative Cauldron/Facebook

Ten years into the plan to transform Tysons from a suburban “edge city” mostly known for its malls into a downtown hub to over 100,000 people and 200,000 jobs, the man tasked with seeing it through said he is optimistic about the future.

“I’m very bullish about Tysons over the long term,” said Sol Glasner, president and CEO of Tysons Partnership. “I’m not going to be Pollyanna and say that we don’t have challenging times that we have to get through. We will get through them.”

Glasner spoke to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority; taking a measure of the ten-year benchmark of a plan that calls for transforming Tysons into an urban and economic hub by 2050. Even with the pandemic and economic downturn it caused, Glasner said he is optimistic about the future of Tysons.

In 2010, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors passed a “comprehensive plan” to bring more development to Tysons to transform it from a suburban “edge city” into a downtown hub.

But for Glasner, who’s group is charged with assisting to help develop and market Tysons, said branding a city, known mostly for its malls, is a challenge.

“So literally as we speak, we are in the process of identifying a visual image for Tysons that will become our brand,” Glasner said. “You’ll see a lot a lot of manifestations of that.”

A key part of changing Tysons is the four Silver Line Metro stations opened in 2014, which the county plans to serve as hubs as development. Glasner said he envisions that two neighborhoods will crop up around each of the four Metro stations each with “their own vibe and their own texture.”

But transforming the “edge city’ that is full of office parks, parking lots and large malls into a livable and walkable downtown for Fairfax County is still a work in progress. Ten years into the county’s plan, Tysons still faces numerous challenges, namely the cost of housing and finding a way to make the city more walkable, Glasner said.

The cost of housing is a county-wide problem with Fairfax County having the highest housing cost in Virginia, according to 24/7 Wall Street.

But even with the challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic and the recession it has caused, Glasner said he has high hopes for the future of Tysons.

“Our ticket to overcoming the transitory challenges we are facing is what I’ve seen among our Tysons stakeholders,” Glasner said. “People have stepped up to the plate in terms of pivoting to make as much lemonade as you can out of the lemons.”

Photo courtesy Ed Schudel

A representative from consulting firm Kimley-Horn presented the next steps to improve transportation through the Maple Avenue area to the Vienna Town Council for its consideration on Monday.

Following surveys of Vienna residents conducted by the town and Kimley-Horn, several portions of the Maple Avenue Multimodal Study were highlighted as top priorities and presented to the council. According to the town’s survey, residents identified eight items as top priorities.

Among those items are the redesign of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail crossings, integration of leading pedestrian intervals (LPI), filling vital sidewalk gaps and providing traffic impact analysis guidelines. A streetscape master plan and design, a long-range transportation master plan, parking and demand study, and the redesign of Church Street and Lawyers Road intersection rounded out the top concerns.

Jinks shared the priorities with the council while echoing the redesign of the W&OD Trail Crossing as one of the public works department staff’s top projects to “start to find funding and implement as soon as we can.”

While Kimley-Horn conducted independent engagement meetings with community members to address challenges or concerns, many of the top priorities were the same as reflected in the town’s survey.

Based on the meetings and a survey of the baseline condition of Maple Avenue, consultant David Samba from Kimley-Horn presented solutions to the council that could be implemented in the next five to 10 years. The projects presented would address some travel conditions or challenges – not just traffic with vehicles, but with biking, walking and transit experiences.

Kimley-Horn’s study looked at a single future development scenario including 13 mixed-use developments across the corridor that would add about 700 vehicle trips in the morning and 500 vehicle trips in the afternoon. According to Samba, analysis showed that even with the addition of the traffic, Maple Avenue would continue to function similar to how it does now.

“It gave us confidence that if we address today’s challenges, we’d be addressing tomorrow’s challenges at the same time,” Samba said.

The survey identified a number of challenges, but primarily established public concern that multiple means of travel in the area need to be addressed, not just the automobile experience.

Kimley-Horn presented 18 projects to the council with considerations for near-, mid- and long-term recommendations.

Short-term recommendations include the redesign of the intersection of Church Street and Mill Street, W&OD Trail Crossing redesign, implementing leading pedestrian intervals, and all way stops. They also include trail management or extension on Locust Street, redesign of the Pleasant Street and Courthouse Road intersection, roadway operation and safety improvement, filling sidewalk gaps and redesign of the Nutley Street and Courthouse Road intersection.

Mid-term recommendations include a local circulator, a bicycle network, Capital Bikeshare, curb reconstruction and bus stop enhancements on Maple Avenue.

The firm lists redesign of Branch Broad and Beulah Road intersection, raised medians and a Maple Avenue off-peak parking plan as long-term recommendations.

Of the 18 recommendations, Samba listed six as the top priorities:

• The redesign of the intersection of Church Street and Mill Street
• W&OD Trail Crossing Redesign
• Leading pedestrian intervals
• A local circulator
• A bicycle network
• Filling sidewalk gaps.

Following the presentations by Jinks and Samba, Council member Howard Springsteen expressed gratitude for the project documents, but also emphasized the effect the COVID-19 pandemic is having on traffic and commuting.

“I think your study is a very good reference document out there that we can look at,” Springsteen said of the Kimley-Horn report. “But I think right now, we’re just trying to keep our heads above water with the pandemic.”

Local children’s book author, Joe Jamaldinian, is partnering with the Kendra Scott location in the Mosaic District (2920 District Ave) tomorrow (Sept. 19) for a charity event benefiting the Grace DC Homeless Project.

At the event, which runs from 12-2 p.m., Jamaldinian will be signing his Penguin Bob books purchased on-site and conducting meet and greets.

Grace DC Homeless Project is a non-profit that feeds and provides care packages for people experiencing homelessness, according to Jamaldinian.

For all the books sold, Jamaldinian will be donating 100% of the profits to the charity while Kendra Scott will be donating 20% of all sales.

The partnership came about after Jamaldinian said he was contacted by a Kendra Scott representative who loved his book.

Those who want to contribute to the cause but cannot make the in-person event are invited to donate to the cause directly.

Additionally, “20% of Kendra Scott purchases [go] to Grace DC Homeless Project during the event and online through September 20th,” a Facebook post said. “Just enter GIVEBACK8936 at checkout.”

Editor’s Note — Tysons Reporter is running Q&As with the candidates running for the open Falls Church City Council seat. The stories have been condensed and edited for clarity. 

Joshua Shokoor is one of three candidates — along with Debora Shantz-Hiscott and Simone Victoria Pass-Tucker — running for the open Falls Church City Council seat in the upcoming election on Nov. 3.

Tysons Reporter: Why did you decide to run? 

Shokoor: I decided to run because I believe the greatest policy issue facing our community is a lack of affordable housing and the pending loss of hundreds of affordable units, which will leave people of color, city staff, teachers and employees of small businesses with nowhere else to go in the Falls Church. I have worked in affordable housing for years, both professionally and as a veteran of the city’s housing commission and an author of the “Affordable Living Policy.” I have the public policy and private knowledge to mitigate these losses. But my fear is, without my voice on the City Council, not much attention will be paid to this issue.

TR: What’s your connection to the Falls Church community? 

Shokoor: I am a lifelong resident of the city and of course went through the K-12 school system. I am also a veteran on the housing commission and an author of the Affordable Living Policy. I was fortunate enough to intern with the city’s Department of Housing and Human Services while obtaining my master’s in public policy.

TR: What are your top three agenda items? 

a) Preserve the affordable housing in the City

b)  Increase access to the City through the creation of more affordable housing

c) Create a Racial Equity Commission to develop policies through the lens of making Falls Church more inclusive and welcoming for all families

TR: How do you plan to work cohesively with the other council members? 

Shokoor: I already know many on the City Council and we get along fairly well. Everyone on the council is volunteering many hours of their time a week because they are dedicated to making Falls Church a better place to live. Like any team, some people disagree with each other, but at the end of the day, you have to realize that the City Council shares a united goal and vision for this community, and it is no different than the one I have for Falls Church.

TR: Do you approve of how the city has handled COVID-19 so far? What would you change?

Shokoor: The City has done a lot to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, whether that is through strict social distancing, mask wearing, and initiatives to focus resident’s consumer purchase to businesses in the city which are still not back to pre-pandemic levels in terms of patrons and revenue. But I think Falls Church’s best response has come from the Department of Housing Human Services. Through their efforts they have provided rental assistance to 45 families since the pandemic began, many of which have been helped numerous. They have paid for utility expenses for over 50 families, provided masks to communities most at-risk, and supplied food to residents through donations to their programs. In a wealthy community like Falls Church, it is easy for some to overlook the struggles of many residents and families.

Photo courtesy Joshua Shokoor