A Maryland man was arrested Sunday and charged with trying to rob the CVS Pharmacy on Leesburg Pike (Route 7) in Tysons.

Fairfax County Police say 34-year-old Mark Connor “walked into the CVS, went behind the counter and told an employee he was there to rob him.” The incident happened shortly before 3 p.m.

“Officers arrived and placed Connor under arrest for robbery, false identification to law enforcement and felony possession of narcotics,” FCPD said in a crime report.

Map via Google Maps

Don’t let grumbles about a lack of local nightlife scare you, there’s still plenty to do around Tysons for Halloween tomorrow.

The Tysons Biergarten (8346 Leesburg Pike) will be hosting a night full of Halloween festivities. An in-house trick-or-treat runs from 3-7 p.m. with candy given out to children and adults. A Halloween-themed trivia night will start at 7 p.m., then at 9 p.m., Chuggalug will be performing live music until 2 a.m. Admission to the Halloween festivities is free, with registration available online.

Meanwhile, Greenhouse Bistro and Tea Lounge (2070 Chain Bridge Road) will be hosting a Stranger Things-themed Halloween costume contest. The grand prize is $500, with 2nd place winning $250 and 3rd place winning $100. Drink specials will also be available all night.

For those looking for a healthier alternative, Tysons Sport & Health (8250 Greensboro Dr) will be hosting a Zumba Halloween Party from 7:35-8:45 p.m. The event is open to non-members. Attendees are welcome to wear a costume and invite their friends.

The AMC in Tysons Corner Center will have a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a bizarre cult-classic musical, at 10 p.m. The movie is rated R and tickets are $5 for adults.

In nearby Vienna, the Blackfinn Ameripub at 2750 Gallows Road will be hosting a Hallowine and Whiskey party from 5-9 p.m. The bar will feature a selection of spooky specialty cocktails with half-off all whiskey and bottles of wine. Costumes are optional.

Photo via Greenhouse Bistro and Tea Lounge

Extra Security for Synagogue Event Tonight — “Temple Rodef Shalom, a Falls Church synagogue, will hold an interfaith gathering and has [additional] security in response to the shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11.” The event is being held tonight (Oct. 30) at 7:30 p.m. [Patch]

Local Housing Watch — A two-bedroom, two-bath condo in Tysons is on the market for $374,900. The condo was written up in WaPo’s “Where We Live” section. [Washington Post]

Microsoft Store Hosting Senior Day — The Microsoft Store at Tysons Corner Center is hosting a “senior day” this coming Friday, with software training and a number of special guests. [Facebook]

McLean may not be as fully walkable as residents would like, but one stretch of road is stepping in the right direction.

According to a Twitter post by District Supervisor John Foust, construction finished last week on a new sidewalk along Dolly Madison Highway (Route 123) near downtown McLean.

Did you notice the construction along 123 near downtown #McLean? @fairfaxcounty just installed new sidewalk to complete an important missing link & provide safer pedestrian access to bus stop near Kurtz Rd. Coming soon ➡ filling the gaps along 123 between Old Dominion & Beverly. pic.twitter.com/hmmo4MznQ1

— John Foust (@johnfoustva) October 26, 2018

The sidewalk construction is part of a broader effort to install new walkways across McLean.

Foust said the new sidewalks are part of an effort to complete a missing link and provide safer pedestrian access to the bus stop near Kurtz Road.

According to Foust, the construction will continue with new sidewalks on Dolly Madison Highway between Old Dominion. A Sept. 25 update on transportation projects estimated the Kurtz Road area sidewalks to be fully completed next spring and cost $450,000.

Additional sidewalks further along Dolly Madison Boulevard will be completed later that summer, also costing $450,000.

Photo via Twitter

The large-scale redevelopment of three blocks of Maple Avenue, the subject of earlier debate and discussions, returns for consideration at tonight’s Vienna Town Council meeting.

A proposed four-story, mixed-use development would replace the Vienna Wolf Trap Hotel and Tequila Grande restaurant at 430, 440 and 444 Maple Ave. W. The subject has been the topic of conversation in development meetings throughout the summer.

In a response to questions raised at the earlier work session, project developer Vienna Development Associates LLC said the proposal was scaled down to 151 total residential units, a nine-unit decrease from the initial proposal.

The development has also been decreased by 12,000 square feet of floor area while open space on the site has increased from 20,000 to 24,000 square feet.

Critics of the development called for the building to feature more setbacks and to be reduced to three stories. But the developer said reducing the building to three stories would make the project economically unfeasible given the cost of underground parking, undergrounding utilities and proffers.

Included in the list of proffers offered by the developer are a variety of traffic improvements. The added congestion was one of the major concerns voiced by the public and the Town Council at earlier meetings.

• Extend the westbound left turn lane from Nutley Street to Maple Avenue by 120 feet.
• Adjust the existing crosswalk on the east side of the Maple Avenue and Nutley Street intersection, including the construction of a new accessible curb and the relocation of the pedestrian signal at the crosswalk.
• Apply signal timing and/or phasing modification at the Maple Avenue and Nutley Street intersection.
• Provide a dedicated left turn lane and dedicated right turn lane to exit new development onto Maple Avenue.

For at least a year, the developer will also have to provide a shuttle bus that runs from the property to the Vienna Metrorail station. The shuttle must be operational before the development reaches 90 percent capacity.

If the development is approved, the developer says rents at the new apartments will range from $1,500 to $3,000 per month.

Image via Vienna Development Associates LLC 

While Tysons Galleria is still putting together plans to replace the vacant Isabella Eatery, there are a handful of new stores coming to the mall by the end of the year.

The first is Santa’s Workshop, a yearly pop-up that allows kids to chat with Santa and take photos for holiday cards and keepsakes.

Santa’s Workshop will be open Nov. 16 to Dec. 24, from noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Reservations can be made online to skip the line and save $5 on a photo package. A standard $39.99 package comes with six photos of varying sizes, a digital download, and a short video. The $49.99 version has ten photos, digital downloads, and a premium video.

In addition to traditional Santa photos, the Workshop will host “Ugly Sweater” days on Nov. 16 and Dec. 13 and Pet Nights every Monday from 5-8 p.m.

Two other retailers are under construction and expected to open in December, according to a mall employee. Among them:

• Lafayette 148 New York, a high-end women’s clothing store founded in 1996. The Galleria location will be one of only three locations outside of New York.
• Lik Fine Art, a gallery specializing in the landscape photography of Peter Lik.

Tysons Car Dealership Properties for Sale —  “Perhaps the largest concentration of vehicle dealerships in Tysons is on the market. McLean-based Capital Automotive has retained Newmark Knight Frank Capital Markets to sell a large portion of Dominion Square, its long-planned redevelopment of a collection of dealerships adjacent to the Spring Hill Metro station.” [Washington Business Journal]

Unusual Bike Theft Near Vienna Metro — Fairfax County Police investigated a burglary at a townhouse development not far from the Vienna Metro station last week. Police say someone rummaged through an unlocked car and used a garage door opener to break into a house and steal a bike. [Fairfax County Police Department]

Overeager Trash Collector Cited in Vienna — From the Town of Vienna Police Department’s crime blotter: “While on routine patrol Sgt. Ruddy observed a trash truck emptying dumpsters prior to 7:00 a.m. Sgt. Ruddy made contact with the driver and issued him a summons to the 49-year-old man from Dartford Place in Bristow, Virginia charging Noise Violation. The man was released on his signature.” [Town of Vienna]

Many people like the taste of bacon, but sometimes bacon likes the taste of people.

According to the monthly Vienna Police highlights, last Friday (Oct. 19) at noon, a woman on the 600 Block of Tazewell Road reported that she had been bitten by her pet mini-pig.

Vienna Animal Control Officer John Barker said the pig was taken and placed on a ten-day quarantine, where it currently remains. Barker said the homeowner was trying to clear something from the pig’s mouth when the animal bit down.

Barker said pet pigs are not prohibited in Vienna provided they are not being raised for a commercial use. Though somewhat outside the array of typical household pets, pet pigs are not unheard of.

This summer, the Fairfax County Animal Shelter found a new home for a pet-pig named Roger abandoned outside the shelter. While pigs can bite like any animal, the shelter described other pet pigs like Roger as smart and loving.

“He’s clearly been a pet since he knows how to wear a harness and walk on a leash and generally just be super friendly and sweet with everyone he meets,” the shelter said in a Facebook post. “He’s young and still has some growing to do, and is 100 percent a pet pig. Pigs are just as smart as dogs and love to root around, eat all kinds of tasty snacks, and snuggle up in a comfy cushy bed when it’s nap time.”

Photo via Flickr/Cloudtail the Snow Leopard

The blistering pace of development in Tysons has many looking to the future, but sometimes it’s interesting to look back.

Aerial photos from the 1980s, available via Google Earth, help tell the story of the region’s evolution over the past three decades.

Tysons as an urban metropolis is a somewhat modern phenomenon for an area that was largely farmland for 100 years after William Tyson purchased it. In the 1960s, development was jump-started by the construction of the Capital Beltway, Dulles Airport, and the Tysons Corner Shopping Center in 1968.

By the 1980s, when the first satellite photos are available, Tysons was already a developed area. According to data from the U.S. Census, in 1990 the population of Tysons was 9,374. It grew by 35.8 percent to 12,734 in 2000.

The growth slowed a bit between 2000 and 2010, when the population rose by 11.2 percent to 14,159. Since then the pace of residential growth in Tysons has picked back up; the current population of Tysons is 19,627, already a 38.7 percent increase over 2010.

The 1988 image of Tysons, above, shows Tysons Galleria to the north on the eve of opening later that year. The streets surrounding Tysons Galleria were also widened and became more interconnected over the years, allowing for more dense construction to the north and to the east, including several recently opened and planned mixed-use developments. The offices to the west of Tysons Galleria are currently planned for major renovations to keep up with development further west on Leesburg Pike.

One of the most visually striking shifts on Leesburg Pike is the decrease in surface parking lots, which covered much of the office parks east of Leesburg Pike. Several of the lots have been replaced with under-construction developments like The Boro. The shopping centers west of Leesburg Pike have also become more active as well, with new restaurants like Honeygrow and Cava opening this year.

Photos via Google Earth