If you’ve been one of the local policy wonks closely following the new legislation put forward by your state representatives, next Saturday is your chance to have your voice heard.

A town hall meeting is scheduled for Jan. 26 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. to discuss the latest news out of Richmond. State Sen. Chap Petersen (D-34th District) and Del. Mark Keam (D-35th District) are scheduled to host the meeting and share their insight into what to expect from this year’s General Assembly session.

The candidates will also be available to address questions and concerns from residents.

Keam recently made waves for taking an active role in the fight against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Virginia’s Legislative Information System says Petersen’s bill requiring governing boards of public institutions of higher learning to permit public comment on tuition increases was assigned to the higher education subcommittee earlier this week. Another major bill, imposing a new 5-cent per bag tax to support the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan, died earlier this week.

If you want to make things awkward at the meeting, bring up that Petersen opposed a two-term governorship that Keam had championed in the House of Delegates.

Photo via Facebook

A small fumble involving a seemingly dead committee is pushing the Tysons Galleria Macy’s redevelopment plan back a few months.

According to Russell Forno, a land use planner with a law firm representing Tysons Galleria, gaining permission from Fairfax County for new signage would be a significant step for the mall in its efforts to negotiate with new tenants.

Going into the Jan. 16 Planning Commission meeting, everything seemed set for approval. Staff had recommended approval of new signs and there was no vocal opposition. But Forno requested that the approval be pushed back to March.

The mall, we’re told, had failed to get the approval of the Tysons II Design Review Committee, a group so obscure the only other Google search result is a 2015 staff report requesting a sign change. The staff report includes an attached document called the Tysons II Sign Manual, which says:

All signs shall be approved by the Tysons II Design Review Committee before any required submission to Fairfax County for permits… This review will continue to help maintain oversight to ensure signage coordination within Tysons II and prevent impair the planned unit nature of the development.

The document includes some very specific requirements. All illuminated signs must be black in daytime and white at night and all ground floor signs must have individually fabricated letters and symbols only, not enclosed signs.

The application from Tysons Galleria indicated that the committee no longer exists, but a letter from the apparently deceased committee seemed to confuse the subject.

“I’ll be honest, there was a little mix-up,” said Forno. “Reviews with this committee are forthcoming. The applicant and committee have agreed to meet within the next 30 days. [We ask you] to defer action until March.”

Planning Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner agreed and led the Planning Commission in a vote to push the decision back to March 13 to allow the Tysons Galleria time to consult with the Tysons II Design Review Committee.

Meanwhile, the Planning Commission also approved new signage for the Tysons-based Mitre Corporation and approved Reformed Theological Seminary’s move into an office building on the southern edge of Tysons.

Someone found a box full of money in Vienna’s Northside Park this week, according to police.

The find was reported to the Vienna Police Department around 5 p.m. Tuesday. There’s no word on how much money was found or what it was doing in the park, which sits along the W&OD Trail.

Also in the latest Vienna police highlights, a pedestrian was reportedly struck by a snow plow Sunday morning.

359 Block Maple Avenue, East 19-000516 January 13 6:50 a.m. Vehicle-1 (a pickup truck with a snow plow) was plowing the parking lot. Pedestrian-1 was walking across the parking lot and was struck by Vehicle-1 as he was backing up. Pedestrian-1 suffered minor injuries

Last Friday, a Vienna woman reported being harassed by a man she met online.

A resident began corresponding with a man over social media. After the two met in person, the man expressed interest in the resident and began continuously harassing her when she declined his advances. On January 11 the woman found an envelope in her mailbox that contained innocent photos of her taken from social media along with sexually explicit photos of an unknown person.

Map via Google Maps

After two previous events to help furloughed federal employees find temporary work hit full capacity, Fairfax County Public Schools will be holding its third hiring event next week.

The event will be held next Wednesday, Jan. 23, from 5-7:30 p.m. at the FCPS Administration Center in Merrifield (8115 Gatehouse Road).

The daily pay rate for substitute teachers is $100, or $95 for substitute instructional assistants. Substitute teachers are responsible for classroom instruction, safety and management.

“Approximately 350 furloughed employees attended our first two hiring events, and we recognized the need to add a third event to show our support for our neighbors who — in many cases — are parents of FCPS students,” School Board chair Karen Corbett Sanders said in a press release. “We always have a need for substitute teachers; on average, we hire 900 to 1,100 subs every day. We will continue to work with applicants to expedite the hiring process and get them into the classroom as soon as possible.”

Those interested in attending the event should register online and fill out a teaching application and I-9 employment eligibility form. According to FCPS, the hiring event will involve an expedited process to get workers into classrooms as quickly as possible.

Photo via FCPS

Dense Fog Advisory for Fairfax Co. — “A Dense Fog Advisory has been issued until Noon today for portions of the region. If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.” [Twitter, Twitter]

State Offices, Courts Closed Today — Courts and DMV offices are closed today across Virginia for the state holiday known as Lee-Jackson Day. More closures are planned Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Vienna Ash Trees Devastated by Insect — A “Vienna Town Council agenda item on Jan. 7 revealed a harsh truth: An invasive insect called the emerald ash borer utterly has laid waste to the town’s ash trees. The insects have killed every ash tree in town, Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman told the Council.” [InsideNova, Tysons Reporter]

After the holiday rush of donations and food drives, supplies at food pantries can start to run dry. In an effort to combat the post-holiday slump, Fairfax County is hosting a Stuff the Bus event in McLean this weekend to support local nonprofit food pantries.

From 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., a bus will be located outside the Giant at 1454 Chain Bridge Road. The food and money collected will go to benefit Share, Inc.

On Feb. 2, another Stuff the Bus event will be held at the Walmart in Tysons at 1500 Cornerside Blvd.

The Stuff the Bus event has been an annual tradition in Fairfax for nine years. According to the website, last year’s event:

• Collected more than 250,000 lbs. of food

• Provided 170,000 meals to those in need

• Received nearly $50,000 in monetary contributions

• More than 5,000 community volunteers have contributed approximately 15,000 hours of service

• Aided more than 32 local food pantries in their winter food collections

Photo via Fairfax County

The three-story office building at 380 Maple Street in Vienna, a squat brick structure from the 1970s, could soon be replaced with a new mixed-use development.

At tonight’s Board of Architectural Review meeting, the Board will review a proposal to replace the building with 7,500 square feet of retail and 40 residential condominium units. The new development will include a dog park for residents of the building.

The development is proposed to have one floor of below-ground parking and two floors of structured above-ground parking.

The developer is also proposing to plant a series of trees along the surrounding streets as part of the development’s streetscape improvements.

The building is proposed as part of the Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zoning, which last year was at the center of a controversy surrounding a new development a block away.

A previous work session on the new development was held on Dec. 14.

Photo via Google Maps

In the middle of an interview with Tysons Reporter, a woman walks up to Stomping Ground owner Nicole Jones and introduces herself as “Steve’s mom.”

Jones immediately recognizes Steve by name and “Steve’s mom” said she was just running errands in nearby McLean and wanted to stop by and say hello. It’s a small moment that’s a testament to the kind of community building that the new Stomping Ground in Tysons Galleria will live or die by.

Stomping Ground isn’t just one of the restaurants in the new Taste of Urbanspace that opened in December as part of a quick turnaround to replace Isabella Eatery — as the shop closest to the entrance, it serves as a gateway into the new dining hall.

Stomping Ground is perhaps best known for their buttermilk biscuits and fried chicken, both of which are available at the Tysons Galleria location. The eatery’s wide variety of hot and iced coffees, averaging around $3 per cup, seems like their most popular item on the Tysons Galleria third floor.

Jones knows coffee. On sight, she can tell what type of milk was used in a beverage based on the consistency of the separation. For her, coffee is more than a beverage.

“Coffee culture is a comfort place,” said Jones. “We take that old school southern hospitality and bring it to the mall. We’re genuinely interested in your name, your dietary restrictions and where you work. We want regulars. We want to be the ‘Cheers‘ of breakfast.”

It’s been four years since Jones opened the first Stomping Ground in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood. The destination proved so popular it was name-dropped in a Wall Street Journal article explaining why Amazon came to Northern Virginia.

“In Tysons, there is less of a town square, but we’re learning that [Taste of Urbanspace] can serve as that,” said Jones. “People can come and hang out.”

That’s certainly the case among the restaurant owners on the mall’s third floor. In their downtime, managers from Stomping Ground, Andy’s Pizza and others regularly converse and hang out in the lavish seating area. Jones said all of the restaurant staffers had to work together through a hectic, quick turnaround during the holiday season and emerged as friends.

While several of the customers around Taste of Urbanspace are familiar faces day after day, much of the expansive food hall remains underpopulated.

It’s too early to say if the “town square” idea will catch on. Beyond just owner Mike Isabella’s public fall from grace, the Isabella Eatery (whose shell Taste of Urbanspace inhabits) collapsed in part due to low sales.

Jones and other restaurant owners expressed hopes that expanding the dining hall’s nightlife options will help draw in the after-work crowd, which currently has few options outside of the Tysons Biergarten.

Like their neighboring Andy’s Pizza, Donburi and Sen Khao, Stomping Ground is currently working through the Virginia ABC permit process. While Andy’s Pizza and Donburi plan on bringing in new beer options to the Galleria, Jones said her focus is going to be on wine and a variety of custom cocktails.

The cocktails, currently not available in Del Ray, are one example Jones points to of how the new location allows Stomping Ground to try new things that, if they work, might make their way back into the Alexandria location. Jones said she is also currently working on the restaurant’s new proper dinner menu, saying it will have Stomping Ground’s signature fried chicken with a mix of vegetables in keeping with southern tradition.

“The nighttime is where we will grow and spread our wings,” said Jones.

There’s no shortage of food options in Tysons Corner Center mall, but if you’re looking for some stir-fry, the new Go-Stir Fry Express offers a variety of Japanese dishes.

The restaurant is located in the third-floor food court next to the AMC Theater. The restaurant offers chicken, rice and beef stir-fry bowls with either rice or noodles for around $8. Side dishes include spring rolls and fried dumplings.

Go-Stir Express also has a wide assortment of teas, from classic milk teas to bubble tea with fruit.

EJ Hong, manager of the Tysons location, said the stir fry location opened less than a month ago and is the third location for the New Jersey-based Go-Stir Fry.

Hong said the Tysons location is off to a good start and suggests first-time visitors try out the chicken stir fry.

Go-Stir Express isn’t the only new location in the third-floor food court. On the opposite side on the floor, the recently opened Dabke offers Lebanese cuisine like falafel wraps and chicken shawarma at around $9.

Staff at Dabke said the restaurant opened less than two months ago.

Tysons is far from the cultural wasteland it once was, but there are still challenges ahead as the area develops a creative arts scene.

If Tysons truly hopes to become “America’s Next Great City,” it must become a cultural hub as well as a technological and financial one.

Urban planners across the country use arts districts to bring reinvestment to neighborhoods, and cultural amenities can be a powerful draw to the creative class. However, there are still many obstacles in the way of local artists.

Arts in the area are served by public programs like the $500,000-a-year ARTSFAIRFAX grants, but ARTSFAIRFAX is a county-wide program and its budget is relatively modest for such a large jurisdiction.

High property values can be a major obstacle to those who would rent studio or gallery space. The Katibeh Art Center, which featured works by the Iranian artist Ebrahim Emad, recently closed.

Emad told Tysons Reporter that he’d had to close the gallery in part because of difficulty physically advertising its presence, as he was unable to hang promotional signs — and because his location in a mid-rise office building offered very little pedestrian traffic.

While the Katibeh Art Center has closed, here are some other art galleries open around the area:

• McLean Project for the Arts (1446 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean) — The McLean Project for the Arts hosts exhibitions, classes for all ages, and special events. The upcoming exhibition, Intention/Invention, will run from January 10 until March 2, with an opening reception on January 12 and an artist talk on January 26, featuring abstract works by two contemporary artists. The Project’s classes cover a wide range of media, and include many classes meant for adults with some artistic background as well as both classes and summer camps for children.
• MK Gallery (1952 Gallows Rd, Tysons) — This gallery, a Tysons establishment for over 15 years, primarily features artists of Korean nationality or heritage. The current exhibition, on show until January 11, is a double, featuring two exciting artists. The first, B. G. Muhn, a professor of art at Georgetown, organized the first-ever exhibition of North Korean art in the United States. The other, Suh Yongsun, is based in Seoul and uses strong color to depict themes of modern social and political life.
• Dara Global Arts (7501 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church) — Dara is a small pop-up gallery focused on painters from Syria and other Levantine countries. Featuring “a highly curated collection of original art that reflects the empowerment of artists and their freedom of expression,” it particularly features the work of women.
• LIK Fine Art (Tysons Galleria, 2001 International Drive) — Peter Lik’s latest of seventeen luxury galleries offers large-format landscape photography.
• Wentworth Gallery (Tysons Galleria,‎ 1807 International Drive) — This gallery brings the work of internationally-recognized artists to Tysons. A wide variety of painters are represented, from neo-impressionists to pop artists. Wentworth rotates their gallery frequently, bringing a new artist every month for a show and a reception so that patrons have a chance to meet the artist. Every month brings something “new and different.”
• The Hermitage Gallery (6831 Tennyson Drive, McLean) — Offering both fine art framing and an exhibition gallery, the Hermitage represents a variety of local and international artists.
• YMM Art Space (8216 Old Courthouse Rd C, Vienna) — YMM is not a gallery, but rather a space of creation and education “dedicated to stimulating the imagination and enhancing the creativity of each and every student.” They “offer classes like fashion design, comics design and origami to students as young as 8, so kids have the opportunity to develop their interests in pretty specific areas,” and there are also classes for younger children and for adults.
• Tysons Art and Learning (8343 Greensboro Dr, Tysons) — This space offers a wide range of art courses for a variety of ages. Their courses extend to digital arts and to writing, and registration and schedules are flexible.

D. Taylor Reich is a freelance journalist who writes about urbanism and development. They are a Fulbright scholar, a 2017 graduate of Brown University and a proud alum of Arlington Public Schools.