It’s true that McLean High School is overcrowded, but following last night’s School Board public hearing on the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), Dranesville District Representative Jane Strauss says plans are in the works to relieve some of the pressure.

The CIP shows McLean High School currently at 114 percent capacity, with projections sending that up to 127 percent by 2022.

Strauss said that she has been in discussion with members of the community about adjusting the school boundaries to relocate some of the older, multi-family units to other schools. With an extensive renovation project just wrapping up in October and a school capacity utilization at 82 percent, Strauss said Langley High School is the best option for relocation.

The school’s renovations began in 2014 and added a new two-story science addition, new gyms, a new library, a fine arts facility, classrooms and more.

“We’ve been talking with the community about this for years,” said Strauss. “We had to wait for the Langley High renovations to finish, but now is the time to begin talking about boundary changes.”

Strauss said shifting boundaries to send students to Langley High School and Cooper Middle School is essential, not only to relieve the current overcrowding, but to prepare for the incoming developments along the Silver Line.

In addition to the changes at the high and middle school levels, Strauss said she plans to propose adding classrooms to Franklin Sherman Elementary School. Franklin Sherman, Strauss said, is the last property in the area that has space to expand without needing zoning changes.

In the long-term, though, Strauss said McLean will need the new elementary schools at Pimmit Hills and Tysons to help deal with long-term population growth fueled by new development. Plans for the schools are in the CIP, but are still years away.

At the hearing, parents from McLean and other schools throughout Fairfax urged border adjustments to offset overcrowding.

“The current enrollment at McLean is 2,255, with a program capacity of 1,983,” said Susan Garrahan, a Langley High School alum with a daughter at McLean High School. “This equates to 14 percent over capacity. The forecast in the draft CIP shows that in the last two years of this five-year plan, McLean will be the most overcrowded high school in the county at 26 to 27 percent over capacity.”

Garrahan said development along the Silver Line will likely continue to bring families with school children into the McLean-area schools.

“Given current conditions and your forecast of serious overcrowding, I was startled to see no concrete proposals to address this situation in this year’s CIP,” said Garrahan. “I have read about your efforts to revise the policies and procedures for boundary adjustments.  This makes me concerned that McLean will get stuck in a holding pattern, overcrowded while procedural matters get ironed out.”

The school newspaper’s October edition described the school overcrowding as leaving students stuffed three to a seat on school buses and teachers traveling with a cart full of supplies because of limited classroom space.

“I ask the board to have the courage to look at school boundaries,” said Keith Foxx, an FCPS parent. “Several reports developed by the School Board mention this as an option, usually at the bottom because it’s not popular. Let’s stop kicking the can down the road, we’re going to have to deal with this.”

On Jan. 17, the McLean High School PTSA will host a meeting in the Lecture Hall with Strauss and Kevin Sneed, a school planner, to discuss the plans to address school overcrowding.

Metro Eying Redevelopment of WFC Site — “Metro may soon seek developers to remake a 24-acre site by its West Falls Church rail station that could potentially be combined, or at least coordinated, with two adjacent projects in the works by the city of Falls Church and Virginia Tech.” [Washington Business Journal]

Progress on Vienna Police Station Project — “The Vienna Town Council on Jan. 7 approved an up-to-$318,950 contract with Downey & Scott LLC of Warrenton to provide project-management services for the upcoming renovation and expansion of Vienna Police Headquarters. Too small when it opened in 1994, the police station, located at 215 Center St., S. has remained open 24 hours per day ever since and badly needs upgrades and more room, police leaders have been saying for years.” [InsideNova]

Innovative Tysons Co. Keeps Low Profile — “From the exterior, Evans Federal Solutions’ first-floor office on Spring Hill Road in Tysons Corner is completely unassuming. A visitor needs to venture inside to appreciate Evans’ futuristic world of command-and-control centers, with high-resolution monitors, LED images and maps that jump off the screen in a semi-darkened showplace.” [FCEDA]

An early morning fire in McLean caused significant damage to a two story home near Langley High School.

Firefighters were dispatched to the 900 block of Turkey Run Road around 4 a.m. and encountered flames coming from the roof of a home upon arrival. The blaze was extinguished and by 6 a.m. crews were working to douse remaining hotspots. No injuries were reported.

The fire occurred about a mile from Friday’s two-alarm blaze on Malta Lane, which like Turkey Run Road is a narrow back road that’s somewhat difficult for large fire apparatus to navigate.

Update on 1/10/19 — The fire caused more than $300,000 in damage, according to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue. No one was at home at the time of the blaze.

UPDATE: House Fire Thursday, January 9 in 900 block of Turkey Run Road, McLean. Damages were approximately $314,640. Home was vacant at time of fire. No reported civilian or firefighter injuries. Red Cross assistance not needed. Cause of fire is still under investigation. #fcfrd pic.twitter.com/jRXzPWurcr

— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) January 10, 2019

The election to replace Linda Smyth as Providence district supervisor just turned into a four-way race — two veterans of Fairfax government have thrown their hats into the ring for the Democratic primary in June.

This week, Planning Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner and former Vienna Town Councilmember Edythe Kelleher both announced that they will be running for the Smyth’s seat. The two join Tysons resident Erika Milena Yalowitz and School Board member Dalia Palchik, who announced last month that they would be running for the seat.

“I love the idea of participating in the defining of a new future for Fairfax,” said Niedzielski-Eichner . “It’s a great time for us to look for the future and make sure we’re on the right track. The second piece is we’ll have five new members and one new chairman. It’s critical we have strong leadership — leadership that I bring to the table based on breadth and depth of experience.”

Niedzielski-Eichner is a former Fairfax County School Board member and current planning commissioner. Niedzielski-Eichner was appointed to represent the Providence District in 2017.

“The Planning Commission provides the experience in land use and meeting those challenges, that’s the place where you really get an understanding of how land use impacts the county,” said Niedzielski-Eichner. “But the Planning Commission advises, they don’t decide. I want to be in a position to be part of that decision process.”

Kelleher now lives 1.5 miles from where she did in the early 2000s, which shifts her from Vienna to the Providence District.

“A lot of the issues are the same,” said Kelleher. “I worked with a lot of Providence issues. Vienna is surrounded on three sides by the Providence District.”

Kelleher said her experience on the Town Council has given her unique executive decision-making experience. In particular, Kelleher said during her seven terms on the Town Council she was part of the budgetary decision making during the recession.

Tysons’ comprehensive plan is coming up on its 10-year anniversary, and both candidates said it’s time to take another look at the plan.

“We’ve had 10 years of comprehensive plans,” said Niedzielski-Eichner. “I’d like us to get an assessment of where we are in relation [to what was planned].”

Niedzielski-Eichner said looking at the transportation aspect of the plan is going to be particularly critical, particularly in terms of implementing the planned grid of streets.

“[Tysons] has got to be a walking urban center,” said Niedzielski-Eichner. “We need to strengthen our ability to be pedestrian friendly. That means putting public facilities in place for the center to grow around it. “

“My concern [with the plan] was at the time, and still, has to do with things like recreational space,” said Kelleher. “The original plan did not call for anything other than pocket parks and public plazas. I thought with an area that large, there would be a need for real playing fields. I expressed that and advocated for that, and that was included in the final plan.”

Kelleher noted that traffic issues also tie in with the availability of housing around Tysons. If more mixed-use buildings can be developed at a wider range of prices, Kelleher said more people working in Tysons will be able to live and shop there too, hopefully getting more cars off congested local streets.

Both candidates have said they are hoping to host kick-off events soon, but neither has concrete plans at the moment.

Photos via Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner (left) and Edythe Kelleher (right)

A killer is stalking Vienna’s streets, leaving at least 30 of the town’s Norway maples dead at an alarming rate.

“We’ve noticed a lot of dead and dying Norway maples,” said Town Arborist Gary Lawrence. “These deaths are not slow. They’re sudden and in groups.”

Leslie Herman, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, said the mysterious deaths of Norway maples comes on the heels of the emerald ash borer completely wiping out the town’s supply of ash trees.

Lawrence said the Norway maple deaths aren’t anywhere near the magnitude of the ash tree deaths — that became a nationwide epidemic that started in Detroit and has since spread nationwide, killing millions of ash trees. But Lawrence said the spate of ash tree deaths did initially obscure the impact on the local maples.

At first, Lawrence said he made the assumption that the clumps of dead foliage were ash trees. The two share some visual similarities. While most trees have alternating branches, like steps up the tree, ash trees and maple trees are among the few trees with opposite branches. But on closer look, Lawrence realized the trees were maples and didn’t have the telltale signs of ash borer infestation — holes where the bugs emerged from the trees and stripped bark from woodpeckers in a feeding frenzy.

After realizing the dead trees were maples, Lawrence said he began to see more of them around the town. So far, whatever is killing the trees has targeted only the Norway maples, leaving others — like the town’s red maples — untouched. There was a group of six Norway maples that were healthy and strong last year, but Lawrence said when he returned to them this year they were all dead.

“There’s still plenty of healthy Norway maples, but I’m concerned by how quickly [this is happening],” said Lawrence. “There’s a pattern here. It’s not random.”

One of the most confusing aspects is that the phenomena seems isolated to Vienna so far. Lawrence said he’s been keeping his ear to the ground for buzz about Norway maples being killed in other parts of the country, but hasn’t heard anything.

So far, Lawrence said his suspicions about what’s causing the deaths are still a hypothesis.

“I have no answer for the maples,” said Lawrence. “A wild guess is that it’s some kind of soil-borne disease. I’m guessing it’s soil-borne because it seems to affect the root system, because of the quickness of death. Usually insects, other than the ash borer, are a secondary problem.”

The topic came up during last night’s Vienna Town Council meeting during a request to increase funding for tree removal as a result of the ash tree epidemic. Lawrence said the ash trees were scattered in small batches throughout the town and native, rather than town-planted.

“It’s a substantial amount of trees,” said Lawrence. “It is a major impact to the budget. The trees die quickly, and because of the quickness of their death they become brittle and fall apart quickly.”

In addition to the beetles and mysterious maple killer, Lawrence said the record-high rainfall has also made it a difficult year for local trees.

Photo via Flickr/F.D. Richards

A car chase ended with the suspect crashing into a utility pole early Monday morning.

The chase happened around 2 a.m. in the West Falls Church area. Fairfax County Police say an officer noticed a car driving erratically and tried to make a traffic stop, but the driver took off. The chase came to a quick end when the driver ran into utility wires.

Police arrested 52-year-old Romulo Aparcio, who now faces multiple charges including DWI and “driving while a habitual offender.”

More from an FCPD crime report:

PURSUIT/DWI: Graham Road/Rice Street, 1/7/19, 2:08 a.m. While on patrol, an officer observed a car that was driving erratically. The officer activated his emergency equipment and the car failed to stop. After a short pursuit, the vehicle came to a stop colliding with utility wires. 52-year-old Romulo Aparicio, of Falls Church, was arrested and charged with DWI, felony speed to elude, driving on a revoked license, and driving while a habitual offender. No one was injured during the pursuit.

Map via Google Maps

Vienna is working on updating its 50-year-old zoning code, but at last night’s Vienna Town Council meeting, the prospect of the code overhaul raised concerns that updating those ordinances could open a new path for a higher density Vienna.

The Town Council voted in favor of a resolution requesting funds from Fairfax County’s Economic Development Support Fund to update Vienna’s zoning and subdivision ordinances.

While new urban areas with comparatively lax zoning codes have sprung up in Tysons and Merrifield, Vienna is still working with ordinances put together in 1969, and many of those relics of earlier zoning codes written in the 1950s. Staff joked that some zoning ordinances are kept in notebooks in a management office.

Councilmember Carey Sienicki, who announced earlier that meeting that she would not be running for reelection later this year, compared the code to an old station wagon.

“We keep replacing parts and fixing the station wagon from the 1960s, but in reality, there’s a lot of cars out there that work without all of the little patches. We have to take a holistic approach to this and I think this is going to be a benefit to the town in the long run.”

But while the majority of the Council approved exploring new zoning codes, Councilmembers Pasha Majdi and Howard Springsteen, who have both frequently opposed higher density developments, voted against the request.

“When we say we’re not changing the zoning, that’s missing the issue,” said Majdi. “We have ordinances that are woefully out of date. OK, but what is the effect of bringing them up to date? Bringing them up to date means a potential developer has the ability to develop on that land financially viable project.”

Majdi said that rather than being a detriment, the town’s arcane zoning ordinances are a source of strength, forcing developers to work closely with Vienna staff if they want to get a development approved.

“I would bet my entire salary, $10,000, that the recommendation is going to result in higher density, which I oppose,” said Majdi. “When you update the code, you get higher density. If you want higher density, you got Tysons. This is a niche market for homebuyers with a niche appeal. It’s brought a lot of success to our town. We don’t have to be everything to everybody.”

But other members of the Council called Majdi’s bet. Councilmember Douglas Noble said he’d match Majdi’s $10,000 that updating zoning codes wouldn’t automatically result in higher levels of density unless that was something specifically sought out by the Town Council.

“We’re not going to be Tysons,” said Mayor Laurie DiRocco. “We’re not going to be Arlington. We’re going to update the code in a way that’s more understandable to residents, developers and everyone… so it’s all written down and not just in a booklet in a manager’s office.”

Majdi and Springsteen voted against the request, but the resolution was approved on a 5-2 vote.

File photo

If you check the Google homepage, you might have noticed today’s charming dancing dinosaurs doodle. What you might not know is the artist is local second-grader Sarah Gomez-Lane.

Last year, Gomez-Lane won the 10th annual “Doodle 4 Google” competition, earning a $30,000 scholarship and $50,000 for her school, Pine Springs Elementary, to spend on technology.

Animators at Google also helped Gomez-Lane turn the artwork into a short interactive, animated feature where, on clicking, each of the animals will act out a scene, from eating berries to playing the trumpet.

Surfing the net today? Take a minute to peep the Google Homepage and celebrate #OurFCPS https://t.co/Qybq5bHotH

— Fairfax Schools 🌟 (@fcpsnews) January 8, 2019

“When they called my name, I felt happy and surprised,” said Gomez-Lane in a video put together by Google. “I’m going to call my principal. He’s going to say ‘yay.'”

According to a statement from Google:

“We’re thrilled to share the work of our 2018 Doodle for Google winner on the US Google homepage: 2nd grader Sarah Gomez-Lane, who drew delightful dinosaurs to highlight her dream of becoming a paleontologist! We fell in love with Sarah’s rendering of her dinos, and were blown away by her big (you might even say “dino-sized”!) ambitions for her future, especially at her young age.”

Image via Google

Developer Buys NADA HQ — “The Meridian Group has acquired the NADA headquarters building and an adjacent development site, adding to its growing Boro District near the Greensboro Metro station in Tysons.” [Washington Business Journal]

Police Expanding Dressing Room Filming Case — Fairfax County Police have added Fair Lakes Promenade and Springfield Town Center to the list of shopping centers where they think 39-year-old Mumtaz Rauf secretly filmed women in the dressing room of stores like Forever 21, Gap, H&M, and Old Navy. Rauf was already suspected of filming at Fair Oaks Mall and Tysons Corner Center. [FCPD]

Park Fees May Increase — “Fees for using the Fairfax County Park Authority’s RECenters, gardens, historic sites, rental facilities and trails would increase under a slate of fee changes proposed by agency officials. The fee package would bring in an estimated $656,000 more revenue, officials said.” [InsideNova]

Tysons Startup Moving to California — “Tysons personal data startup Kork… recently got a $5 million term sheet from a New York-based private equity firm for its Series A round that values the company at $15 million… But the growth has also led to another big moment — Kork plans to move to California in the coming months, according to CEO and co-founder Robert Wensley. ‘We tried really hard to raise money here in D.C. but it’s impossible unless you are cybersecurity of some sort,’ Wensley said.” [Washington Business Journal]

Tysons Startup Raises $10 Million — “McLean-based Verato Inc., which provides cloud technology to consolidate medical records, has raised $10 million in Series C financing… Verato has already outgrown its 6,000-square-foot headquarters, so it plans to move in July to another Tysons space totaling 12,000 to 14,000 square feet.” [Washington Business Journal]

Tysons Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in the Tysons area.

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

Tuesday, Jan. 8

Food 4 Thought: Likely Federal Policy and Budget Priorities for 2019
Temple Rodef Shalom (2100 Westmoreland St)
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.

Tim Shaw, senior policy analyst for the Bipartisan Policy Center, will host a discussion of congressional budget priorities. The event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, Jan. 9

Inca Social Soft Opening
Inca Latin Kitchen (2670 Avenir PL)
Time: 4-9 p.m.

The new Inca Latin Kitchen in Merrifield will host a soft opening this week before a grand opening planned in early February.

Thursday, Jan. 10

Chairman’s VIP Breakfast
The Tower Club (1700 Towers Crescent Drive)
Time: 7:30-10 a.m.

The Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce will host a breakfast with community and business leaders featuring a discussion about the future of Tysons. Admission is $45 for chamber members or $65 for non-chamber members.

Meet Brad Meltzer
Tysons Corner Center Barnes & Noble (7851 Tysons Corner Ctr)
Time: 7-9 p.m.

Author Brad Meltzer will be stopping by the Barnes & Noble for a signing of “The First Conspiracy,” a non-fiction book about a plot to kill George Washington.

Old World vs. New World Wines
Chain Bridge Cellars (1351 Chain Bridge Rd)
Time: 7-8:30 p.m.

The McLean wine store Chain Bridge Cellars will host an exploration of the difference between old and new world wines. Tickets are $30.

Friday, Jan. 11

Chesterbrook PTA Meeting
Chesterbrook PTA (1753 Kirby Rd)
Time: 9-10 a.m.

The Chesterbrook PTA will host its first meeting of 2019. The meetings are open to members of the Chesterbrook Elementary School community, including parents, guardians, teachers and staff.

Voyages Opening Reception
Torpedo Factory Artists at Mosaic (2905 District Ave)
6-9 p.m.

The Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association will host an opening reception for Voyages, the latest exhibit in the group’s Mosaic District gallery. The gallery will run through Jan. 27.