Two new art exhibits are set to debut in McLean this week.

Original artwork by Meghan Walsh and Miriam Mörsel Nathan will be on display from Thursday, Sept. 19, until Saturday, Nov. 16, at the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Avenue).

The exhibits are presented by the McLean Project for the Arts.

Walsh’s “An Fharraige Fheargach: The Fiery Sea” will be located in the Emerson Gallery while Nathan’s “Some Pieces of the Nature of Things” will be displayed in the Atrium Gallery.

Nathan began her career as a poet and writer — hints of which can be found in her latest artwork which features calligraphy and fluid linear drawings.

Nathan said she did not know Walsh beforehand, but was excited to discover her work. “We have some similar sensibilities,” Nathan said.

Walsh is known for her mixed-media sculptures that incorporate rock and metal. “They speak of our quickly changing world, tapping into a deep historical perspective as they point out the dignity and beauty found in the communion of unexpected objects,” the event page said.

Though the exhibit doesn’t feature any pieces made specifically for the event, Nathan said all of her work was made within the last three years.

“I love the notion that people see art when they enter a building,” she said, adding that she is excited to have her work on display for the McLean community and was familiar with the center’s activities even before this opportunity.

There will be a free evening reception on Friday, Sept. 27, at MCC from 7-9 p.m. where the artists will speak about their work.

Image courtesy Miriam Mörsel Nathan

To celebrate its one-year-anniversary, Caboose Commons is hosting an Oktoberfest in Merrifield on Saturday (Sept. 21).

Two families founded Caboose Brewing in 2013 — operating Caboose Tavern in Vienna — and opened Caboose Commons in Merrifield last fall.

The beer garden and coffee house regularly hosts events like dog-friendly happy hours and fitness classes.

The free event will feature the new Oktoberfest Marzen brew, Lone Oak Coffee, German food and live music by Cory Campbell and Jon Cresswell. People will be able to purchase food and drink tickets.

Attendees can also enjoy games like cornhole, life-size chess and life-size beer pong.

The event will run from noon-7 p.m. at 2918 Eskridge Road.

Photos courtesy Caboose Commons

The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.

We’ve scoured the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!

Tuesday (Sept. 17)

• Brewery and Buzz Oktoberfest — 5 p.m. at Barrel & Bushel (7901 Tysons One Place) — Attendees have the opportunity to try Old Ox Brewery and Ardent Craft Ales and also win prizes.
• Garden Wisdom — 7:30 p.m. at Vienna Town Hall (127 S. Center Street) — Representatives from Plant NoVA Native and the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District will teach attendees how to rethink their gardens. This event is free.

Wednesday (Sept. 18)

• Entrepreneur Express — 9 a.m.-noon at City of Falls Church Economic Development Authority City Hall (300 Park Avenue) — This free event invites upcoming business owners on how to receive free advice on how to be successful in their ventures and stay ahead of challenges.

Friday (Sept. 20)

• Murder and Marinara — 7-10 p.m. at Maggiano’s Tysons Corner (2001 International Drive) — This event will offer attendees a full three-course meal with bar specials and a night of mystery twists. Tickets are $75.

Saturday (Sept. 21)

• Oktoberfest Kickoff at Tysons Biergarten — 3-7 p.m. at Tysons Biergarten (8346 Leesburg Pike) — This event celebrates the new season with a ceremonial Weihenstephaner keg sent from Germany. $10 entry includes several tastings.
• Zumba — Beyonce Get Me Bodied — 8-8:45 a.m. at Hilton McLean Tysons Corner Atrium (7920 Jones Branch Drive) — This event allows attendees to dance their heart out while exercising alongside Beyonce-loving friends.

Sunday (Sept. 22)

• Broadway Princess Party — 3 p.m. at the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Avenue) — This musical experience invites attendees to experience stories of Disney princesses acted out on stage. Tickets range from $35-$85.

The owner of a mixed-use development told the Vienna Town Council that selling the project to an assisted living facility could address neighbors’ lingering concerns.

Dennis Rice, the owner of J.D.A. Custom Homes, told the Vienna Town Council at a work session last Monday (Sept. 9) that assisted living facilities are interested in buying his mixed-use development at 380 Maple Avenue.

“I think the town needs an assisted living facility, and it’s a good location for it,” Rice said.

Rice said that he has talked with interested assisted living facilities about plans to address lingering concerns from neighbors about the project by:

• moving back the fourth floor by 15 feet so that it isn’t as close to nearby properties
• reducing the number of entrances on Wade Hampton Road
• adding a walking entrance to Maple Avenue
• removing the balconies
• keeping the width of Wade Hampton Road to 36 feet
• including a cafe for visitors, residents and the public in the retail space

“I don’t want to name any particular companies,” Rice said. “We tried to come up with an outline that would address as many of the issues as we could.”

Rice also said that if the development houses seniors instead of families, it would eliminate concerns about the number of new students going to local schools. He added that traffic turning left out of the project could be controlled more if the drivers are employees of the facility instead of residents.

“We could approach six of seven major concerns,” he said, adding that he thinks the assisted living option for the development would be the “least onerous one to the neighbors.”

Rice reassured the Town Council that the building height would stay at 54 feet.

“Is this something worth allowing an assisted living company to pursue?” Rice asked the Town Council.

Councilmember Nisha Patel advised Rice to reach out to neighbors to get input on whether or not they have a preference for the building to become an assisted living facility or not.

“Obviously the property owner can sell to whoever they want to,” Mayor Laurie DiRocco said at the work session.

The interest in turning the approved development into an assisted living facility comes on the heels of the Town Council killing a proposed Sunrise Senior Living Facility at the corner of Maple Avenue and Center Street. (Sunrise is currently suing the Town Council for allegedly discriminating against seniors and people with disabilities.)

The rejected Sunrise project came up several times during the councilmembers’ discussions about issues they would want to avoid — parking being the main one — if an assisted living facility buys 380 Maple Avenue.

DiRocco said that if Rice does sell the property to an assisted living facility, “I do think having a type of additional parking would be key.”

Rice said that the development has “more than ample parking” and that the companies he spoke to said that they have a no-driving policy. “I think by reducing the number of entrances, we pick up more parking on Wade Hampton,” Rice said.

If Rice sells the development to an assisted living facility, the new owner would need to bring changes to the Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals and Town Council for approval.

“I see the advantages of having an assisted living. I think that would be great,” Councilmember Linda Colbert said, adding that the Town Council would to “be smart about parking.”

“I think some of the changes to the building would be nice,” Colbert said.

Photo via Town of Vienna Planning and Zoning

(Updated at 11 a.m.) A moratorium on new development applications for Maple Avenue set to expire in November may get extended again.

The Vienna Town Council is set to request tonight (Sept. 16) that staff schedule a public hearing on Nov. 4 to discuss extending the suspension of the Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) Zone to June 2020. The matter would also go to the town’s Planning Commission.

The Town Council first put the moratorium in place last September to allow the town staff time to redesign the town’s guidelines. The moratorium was set to expire in June, but the Town Council voted to extend it to Nov. 15.

So far, the Vienna Town Council has approved four MAC projects:

• a combination Chick-fil-A and Flagship Carwash Center at 540 W. Maple Avenue that has received public backlash
• townhouse-style condominiums with retail at the northeast corner of W. Maple Avenue and Pleasant Street NW
• a much-debated redevelopment that would add ground-floor retail and more than three dozen multi-family residential condominium units to 380 Maple Avenue
• a controversial redevelopment of 430, 440 and 444 W. Maple Avenue into a four-story mixed-use development

The Town Council has also killed a MAC project — a proposed Sunrise Senior Living Facility at the corner of Maple Avenue and Center Street. Sunrise is suing the Town Council for allegedly discriminating against seniors and people with disabilities.

The Town Council meeting tonight will start at 8 p.m.

Mackage, a Canadian brand known for its jackets, coats and leather goods, is set to open a store in Tysons Galleria.

The mall lists the designer outerwear brand as “coming soon” and a building permit indicates that work is underway on the new store.

This will be the first Mackage store to open in the D.C. area. Currently, Mackage has three stores in the U.S. — one in New Jersey and two in New York City.

Mackage aims to “elevate outerwear with a unique balance between fashion and function,” according to the company’s website.

Photo via Mackage/Facebook

The Vienna Police Department is looking for the three women who reportedly stole merchandise from a cosmetics store along Maple Avenue.

An employee at Sally Beauty (329 E. Maple Avenue) reported to the police that three women concealed multiple items of merchandise before fleeing the store, according to a police report.

The incident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. last Tuesday (Sept. 10).

In a separate incident, a Vienna resident in the 900 block of Frederick Street SW reported to the police that “someone intentionally damaged a tree she recently planted” between Friday, Sept. 6, and Saturday, Sept. 7, police said.

The police department also received nine recent reports from people who said their cars had been rummaged through.

Photo via Facebook

Police Identify Tysons East Crash Victim — “Police said Megan E. Bell, 28, of Herndon, was the driver and only occupant of a Honda Civic involved in the single-vehicle crash that occurred at 2:34 a.m. along the Dulles Access Road (Route 267), a quarter-mile west of Route 123 in Tysons, according to Virginia State Police.” [The Washington Post]

Pizza Place Coming to Falls Church — Joel Salamone “is bringing his hometown specialty, along with Buffalo-style pizza, to the Little City when Baddpizza (stylized ‘baddpizza’) opens in the Broadale Village Shopping Center this November.” [Falls Church News-Press]

New Economic Development Alliance — Ten jurisdictions including Fairfax County and the City of Falls Church have teamed up to create the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance. [NOVA EDA]

County Pushing Car-Free Week — Fairfax County, Fairfax Connector “and other regional transportation partners are offering commuters the chance to win great prizes during Try Transit Week (Sept. 16-20, 2019) and Car Free Days (Sept. 21-23, 2019).” [Fairfax County]

Crash in Merrifield This Morning — Firefighters and rescue personnel were on the scene of a two-car crash at Williams Drive and Arlington Boulevard in the Merrifield area around 7:50 a.m. “Minor entrapment of occupants. Crews worked quickly to free. Two minor injuries.” [Twitter]

Site of Closed Falls Church Bookstore Bought — “The former site of Hole in the Wall Books, which shuttered at the end of last month after 40 years of business, was purchased by David Yeakel, Jr., an attorney who owns a practice next door to the former used bookstore on W. Broad St.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Town of Vienna Wants Website Feedback — “Last call for letting our website design team know what you think about the Town’s current site. This survey closes Monday evening.” [Twitter]

Columbia Baptist Church wants to expand in the City of Falls Church — but residents and Planning Commissioners have concerns about parking in the area.

At a Falls Church Planning Commission meeting on last Tuesday, Sept. 3, residents and commissioners discussed how parking expansion might affect not only the already-strained street parking situation but also how it might encroach on neighboring historic buildings.

In a zoning proposal application, the church requested two waivers concerning parking. They proposed to expand into a required 10-foot easement of a historic property near the back of the church, which would circumvent the city ordinances for shared parking. The church claims they have agreements with local property owners and that their services often take place during off-hours.

Along with growing membership, Brett Flanders, the executive director of the church, said the plan for extra parking would benefit its child development center. The on-site parking expansion would make it safer for parents to pick up their children and allow staff members to avoid street parking, he added.

Reducing the easement by 25% would provide the church with room for 15-25 more on-site parking spots, Planning Commission Chair Russell Wodiska said.

During the discussion, several commissioners including Melissa Teates were not convinced by the statements.

“I think the integrity of the historic houses are more important than the parking,” she said.

Teates said that she is familiar with the church and took the time to observe daycare pick up one day, finding that many parents like to park on the street anyway — saving them time in the long run.

“I just think regardless of the use, putting the parking lot so close to the historic house seems to go against the spirit and the letter of the ordinance put in place to protect historic properties,” Planning Commission Vice-Chair Andrew Rankin said, adding that he doesn’t see parking as a high priority.

Community member Keith Thurston also spoke up at during public comment and addressed the Planning Commission about his concerns, agreeing that the integrity of the historical protection ordinance is more important than expansion of church parking.

Besides parking, commissioners also discussed issues with the height ordinance, including whether or not the cross on top of the chapel would violate city code.

Though the commissioners did not settle on a decision, they prepared a list of suggestions for Columbia Baptist to consider and allowed them to revise the proposed plans.

If the church stays on schedule with their adjustments, the Planning Commission will vote on the proposition in October.

Map via the City of Falls Church Planning Commission 

Shoppers at Tysons Corner Center will soon be able to get Invisalign at the mall next week.

Northern Virginia Orthodontics offers Invisalign and braces at two locations in Ashburn and one in Reston.

Now an NVO Invisalign Studio is coming to the second level by Nordstrom in Tysons Corner Center.

People interested can make appointments now and ask about the “First 100 Special” by calling 703-574-2174.

The studio is set to open on Monday, Sept. 16, according to an Instagram post.

Photo via Northern Virginia Orthodontics/Facebook