The Fairfax County Planning Commission voted last night to support two projects that would continue urbanizing Tysons.

Now proposed changes to open the Valo Park office complex up to the public and two developments near the Spring Hill Metro station in Tyson West will head to the Board of Supervisors with favorable recommendations.

Both proposed projects aim to enliven Tysons, Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner, the commissioner for the Providence District, noted.

The Planning Commission kicked off its meeting by making a decision on Georgelas LLC’s two proposed mixed-use developments that would redevelop car dealerships along the north side of Tyco Road into West Spring Hill Station and North Spring Hill Station.

The Planning Commission held a public hearing on the developments back in September. Niedzielski-Eichner requested delays on the decision to allow time for the developer and staff to address concerns with West Spring Hill Station.

Staffer Tracy Strunk outlined the “high points” of the changes the developer made in the resubmission in January:

• reduced residential, meaning the parks and open space is no longer deficient
• “brought mix of uses into closer alignment”
• did new traffic study
• provided new information on connection to Dulles Toll Road
• gave more ideas for how surrounding properties could be developed

While the original staff report recommended denial of the project, Strunk said that the staff now support approving both developments even as the proposal is “still a little light on office.”

In response to the comment about the amount of office, Elizabeth Baker, a senior land use planner for Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh who is representing the developer, said that approved projects in Tysons West include millions of square feet of office space.

“So we have just been very cognizant of the amount of office in the area,” Baker said. “We want to be realistic about what can be built on this site.”

Strunk also noted that the proposed ramp will function more as a local street with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour.

“I fully support these applications,” Niedzielski-Eichner said, adding that they, along with The View and Adaire, will further transit-oriented development in Tysons West and make it an “exciting and vibrant place.”

During its second public hearing last night, the Planning Commission took up the proposal that would allow Valo Park in the North Central neighborhood to attract diners, shoppers and people looking to exercise.

The newspaper giant Gannett and cloud computing company Appian are headquartered at the roughly 785,000 square-foot office park (7950 Jones Branch Drive), which was bought by London-based Tamares a few years ago.

Tamares is looking to add shops, at least two restaurants and either a 5,000-square-foot craft beverage production establishment or restaurant on the roof on an existing parking garage. The owner also wants to open the office complex’s current conference center, auditorium and fitness center to the public.

The proposal did not receive any public comment during the hearing. Planning and zoning staff supported the proposed changes, and the Planning Commission voted to also back the plan.

Niedzielski-Eichner called it “a straightforward attempt to bring more people onto the property.”

Now, the Valo Park proposal is slated to head to the Board of Supervisors for a public hearing on June 9. The West and North Spring Hill Station developments will get a public hearing before the county board next Tuesday (May 12).

Images 1 and 2 via Fairfax County

Tysons Company Gets Millions to Scale Up — “Qrvey, the next-generation analytics platform built to change the way companies interact with their data, today announced the close of a $7.5 million Series A investment round to scale up its revenue operations.” [PR Newswire]

Fundraising for Firefighters — “The Woman’s Club of McLean on May 4 donated $5,000 to the McLean Volunteer Fire Department, representing some of the proceeds from the club’s 2019 Holiday Homes Tour.” [Inside NoVa]

Uncertain Reopening Date for Nine Metro Stations — “Metro will only say that it will end in the fall, but is no longer promising it will end the day after Labor Day as originally expected… Metro says the closed Silver Line stations will not reopen until the Orange Line stations are able to reopen also.” [WJLA]

Local News Outlet Honors High School Seniors — Virginia Patch is celebrating graduates by publishing mini-profiles of them from forms that families can fill out. [Patch]

The McLean District Station recently received a kind surprise from a neighborhood in their district – Residents lined up in their yards & driveways, with posters & signs, to thank the first responders for their service. We are grateful to serve in such a great community! #FCPD pic.twitter.com/woyS6rgjkJ

— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) May 6, 2020

(Updated at 6:25 p.m.) Locals way have to wait a little longer than expected for safety solutions along Shreve Road in the Falls Church area due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The road, which runs through the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County, has lately been the focus of safety concerns from local residents and the Shreve Road Community Working Group.

A study is underway by the Virginia Department of Transportation to address the road’s issues. Allison Richter, the liaison to Fairfax and Arlington counties for VDOT, gave an update on the study during a virtual town hall on Monday (May 4).

“We expect there are going to be some solutions that will have to take a little longer,” she said.

Richter said that the COVID-19 pandemic and Virginia’s stay-at-home order have hampered data collection.

“[VDOT is] not doing traffic counts because it’s not as it normally is,” she said. “We’re a little bit held back in some of our studies.”

Status of Projects Along Shreve Road 

So far, the traffic engineering group has reviewed and replaced “obsolete signs,” Richter said.

Dalia Palchik, the Providence District representative on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said during the meeting that the county is waiting for contractors to finish work near the intersection of Shreve Road and Virginia Lane.

Additionally, she said NoVa Parks is working with an engineer to address work at the W&OD Trail crossing and Shreve Road.

Palchik said that drivers should keep an eye out for lane closures near Gordon Road and Route 7 due to pipe installation.

Providence District School Board Member Karl Frisch said in his email newsletter today that 10 new parking spots have been added to Shrevewood Elementary School.

“Weather permitting, phase two will begin on May 15. When completed, about 17 new spots will have been added,” Frisch said.

Palchik said that the meeting that the new spaces will “help get the cars off of Shreve and into the school.”

Next Steps for Safety Solutions

The study is aiming to identify short- and long-term solutions, along with areas where upgrades are needed and people have continually reported issues, Richter said.

VDOT has lowered the speed from 35 to 30 miles per hour from Leesburg Pike (Route 7) to Wieland Place. Richter said that calls from residents to reduce the speed further to 25 miles per hour is still a possibility.

“I’m not going to rule that out, but we’ll also be looking at other measures like increasing enforcement or traffic calming tools,” she said, adding that a speed study was done in 2019.

People can expect the final report sometime in November, according to Richter’s presentation.

Public Support Sought for Grant Application

The Shreve Road Community Working Group’s website notes that people can submit comments on a grant application to Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA).

According to the group’s website, the $6.9 million transportation grant would be used to:

• install a 10-foot multi-use path and 6-foot planting strip along Shreve Road
• add a crosswalk near the intersection of Shreve and Gordon roads
• add a landscape buffer and lighting changes

People have until May 24 to submit comments online or via email at [email protected].

Image via Google Maps

Locals will soon have the chance to join a virtual town hall and ask questions to Fairfax County representatives for the Providence District.

Dalia Palchik with the Board of Supervisors and Karl Frisch with the Fairfax County School Board announced that they will host the meeting at 2:30 p.m. this Saturday (May 9).

The meeting will be held on Facebook Live, according to the event page.

Palchik and Frisch are expected to lead a discussion surrounding topics brought up by community members in attendance.

Though there doesn’t seem to be a pre-set agenda, people can email to inquire about the meeting.

Tune in this Saturday May, 9th for a discussion with @KarlFrischFCPS and @SupvPalchik!

Email any questions with the subject line TownHall to: [email protected] pic.twitter.com/hY5uwigLDF

— Dalia Palchik (@SupvPalchik) May 5, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic put a halt on glass recycling in Fairfax County. Now, officials are resuming the glass recycling service, also known as the Purple Can Club.

The collection of glass dropped off at purple, glass-only containers resumes on Monday, May 11, according to the county’s website.

The county suspended glass recycling at the purple bins in mid-March, and containers are currently being reset at locations throughout the county.

The Tysons area has several bins.

The Vienna bin is located at 431 Mill Street NE. Another bin is located at the Dolley Madison Library (1244 Oak Ridge Ave) in McLean. A third is at the Falls Church Recycling Center (217 Gordon Road).

Residents can also bring glass containers at the I-66 transfer station and the I-95 landfill complex.

Free mulch service also resumed on Saturday, May 2.

Photo via City of Falls Church

Foot traffic in McLean will soon have a clearer path thanks to a new project updating several sidewalks.

Around 13,000 square feet of sidewalk at 250 locations around McLean will be updated, according to a press release. The updates are a part of a McLean Community Revitalization District project.

Backing the project, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said walkability is one of his priorities.

“These repairs will extend the useful life of our infrastructure and make it safer for our community to conduct business, run errands, recreate, and enjoy exploring downtown McLean,” Foust said in a press release.

The area around the intersection of Old Chain Bridge Road and Old McLean Village Drive is one of the places slated to receive a sidewalk facelift, according to the press release.

Sidewalks were chosen for the project based on criteria including excessive cracks, severe cross slopes and missing sections.

“Over the last few years, several other infrastructure improvements have been made in the area to make McLean a more walkable and bikeable community,” the press release said.

Construction was expected to begin in April and will likely be finished by the end of June, depending on the weather, according to the press release.

Photo courtesy Fairfax County

Seva Beauty, a company that offers fast-casual spa treatments, is looking to come to Tysons Corner Center.

Its spot will be on the second level of the mall near Nordstrom, according to the mall’s directory. Seva Beauty offers brow shaping, facial hair removal, facial and lash “boosts,” makeup application and more, according to its website.

Currently, Seva Beauty is hiring full-time and part-time employees, a hiring manager told Tysons Reporter.

While the mall says Seva Beauty is “coming soon,” the studio probably won’t be open until Labor Day, the hiring manager said.

Fairfax County’s public library system wants to capture people’s COVID-19 experiences for its historical records collection.

The library system is looking for diary entries, photographs, artworks, videos — anything that documents what people’s lives are like during the pandemic.

People can submit material on their pandemic experiences anonymously or with their name attached as a “digital donation” via a Google Form. Submissions will be accepted through June 10.

The information will be used for a project for the Virginia Room, which contains historical records at the City of Fairfax Regional Library.

Image via Fairfax Library/Twitter 

Fairfax County is “urgently” looking for people to help out at the polls for the primary on June 23.

While the county is strongly encouraging voters to absentee vote by mail for this election, election officers are still needed — especially bilingual people in Falls Church who speak Korean or Vietnamese, the county says. Bilingual speakers are also needed in Annandale and Centreville.

The county has taken to social media to find at least 200 election officers for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives primary.

More from the county on measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the polls:

To protect election officers and voters, the Office of Elections will take precautions that include:

• Providing face coverings, gloves and hand sanitizer for every election officer.
• Limiting the number of voters in the room at the same time.
• Requiring voters to maintain a social distance of six feet from each other and election officers.

Election officers help to set up voting equipment, check photo IDs, provide assistance to voters and tabulate results.

People who are registered to vote in Virginia can sign up online by next Friday, May 15, and can choose to volunteer their time or earn at least $175.

We need you on June 23! We're urgently seeking at least 200 election officers for this primary election. Apply online by May 15: https://t.co/nA2EWK3Jlh Officers will be given face coverings and gloves. Learn more: https://t.co/07m5Apycio pic.twitter.com/ibCGlykbb3

— Fairfax County Votes (@fairfaxvotes) May 6, 2020

More Time to Apply for City Grant — “The deadline has been extended to Friday, May 15 for the City of Falls Church Economic Development Authority (EDA)’s Small Business COVID-19 Emergency Grant program.” [City of Falls Church]

Capital One Employees May Stay Home Awhile — “The lender’s offices in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. will remain shut to all non-essential staff at least through the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 7, Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank wrote in an internal memo.” [Bloomberg]

Time for Take Off — “Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. is on schedule for testing of its next-generation rocket, the OmegA, despite the challenges of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, a company executive said.” [UPI]

Celebration Outside Inova Fairfax Hospital — “People lined up to show their love for Fairfax County health care workers who are putting-in long, grueling hours.” [NBC 4]

I-66 Toll Revenue Creates Roadblock for Project Funding — “The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, which receives and disseminates funding for the projects, anticipates a significant drop in revenue, and will have to put off selection of projects in the latest round of its  ‘Commuter Choice’ initiative.” [Inside NoVa]

Another successful community effort to give to Providence’s @foodforothers! Thank you to the Falls Hill Civic Association & the neighboring communities that donated 800 lbs more food! It is warming to see gestures of community togetherness during these times. pic.twitter.com/ZzdJ8A58Y1

— Dalia Palchik (@SupvPalchik) May 5, 2020

Happy #NationalNursesDay at the start of National Nurses Week! #FCFRD appreciates you every day of the year! THANK YOU for all you do! Nurses are amazing! #ThankYouNurses pic.twitter.com/xZjHgTcES7

— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) May 6, 2020