Tysons is now set to get a new senior living facility in two towers behind the Tysons Galleria.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the senior living complex known as The Mather during the board’s meeting yesterday (Tuesday).
The Mather is a part of Cityline Partners LLC’s Arbor Row project near Tysons Galleria, which includes the completed Nouvelle residential building and The Monarch, and plans to transform the back of Tysons Galleria along Westpark Drive into a suite of mixed-use buildings.
Slated to open in 2023, The Mather plans to seek a LEED Gold designation for the building and will be the first Life Plan Community in Tysons, according to a press release from Mather LifeWays, an organization that creates senior living programs and places.
“The Mather will offer apartment homes with SMART home technology, amenity-rich community spaces and luxury of a different kind for those who wish to plan ahead to live life to the fullest,” Mary Leary, the president and chief executive officer of Mather LifeWays, said in a press release.
The one- and two-bedroom room apartments in The Mather will start at $650,000, according to the press release.
Image via Fairfax County Planning Commission
Police, fire and emergency response agencies might not be the only ones who will be using unmanned aircraft in Fairfax County in the future.
Back in May, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) program, which proposes to incorporate drones into government operations with a particular focus on public safety.
Now, the county board has decided to not limit unmanned aircraft to only public safety uses.
At yesterday’s meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved a new procedure for non-public safety departments and agencies, including the Fairfax County Park Authority, to obtain the board’s permission to also use the drones.
Interested agencies will need to tell the board why they want to participate in the program, and, after reviewing the request, the board will then take a vote.
Braddock District Supervisor John Cook suggested adding the approval process for the drone program expansion.
Photo via Flickr/Joe Loong
As the Tysons-Pimmit Library continues its quarterly book sales, the library might get a new place to help store some of its books.
Fairfax County is looking to lease a property it owns to the Friends of Tysons-Pimmit Library, the non-profit that provides funding for the library.
“One of the primary methods for the Friends to raise this funding is to hold ongoing book sales at the library as well as much larger book marketplaces on a quarterly basis,” according to county documents.
The nonprofit plans to construct a 199-square-foot brick-faced building next to the library “to assist in their preparations for the book sales,” according to the county. The shed would store books and materials needed for the book sales.
The county’s Board of Supervisors OK’d today (Tuesday) to let residents know about a public hearing on the matter, which is set to be held on July 30 at 4 p.m.
Photo via Friends of the Tysons-Pimmit Library
A proposed senior living facility in Tysons is heading to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for a public hearing tomorrow (June 25).
The Mather, a proposed two-story senior living complex, is a part of Cityline Partners LLC’s Arbor Row project near Tysons Galleria, which includes the completed Nouvelle residential building and The Monarch.
The development would transform the back of Tysons Galleria along Westpark Drive into a suite of mixed-use buildings.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission greenlighted the senior living facility earlier this month despite concerns over the project’s height, size and open space.
Image via Fairfax County Planning Commission
Updated 2:45 p.m. — Bulova’s Office noted that the interview does not represent an endorsement of the Kurtz Road property and that an official letter from the Zoning Administrator is still pending.
What started as residents upset over a series of group homes slated to move into a residential cul-de-sac has ballooned into a contentious issue that could set precedent in Fairfax County.
The Newport Academy, a for-profit therapy program for teens with mental health or addiction problems, wanted to turn its three purchased homes (1620, 1622, and 1624 Davidson Road) into a treatment facility. The plan hinged on the buildings being a by-right use, meaning no zoning approvals would be required, but a letter from Fairfax County Zoning Administrator Leslie Johnson said this wasn’t the case.
The issue seemed settled. The Facebook group that had been the bastion of local resistance disbanded. But yesterday, Fairfax County staff confirmed that Newport Academy had filed an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
Outgoing Fairfax County Board Chairman Sharon Bulova weighed into the discussion to lay out next steps and take a stance on the issue.
TR: We received confirmation that Johnson’s decision is being appealed to the BZA – does it end there or could it move up to the Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors?
Bulova: If they deny it — if the BZA says “no, county staff is correct” — then they could file a special exception, which is what she said they needed to do. I’m assuming BZA will agree with county staff, but that doesn’t mean it’s over for them because they could file a special exception. Then it would go to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors.
They’re appealing this decision probably because they don’t want to move forward with a special exception faced with the kind of opposition they’re getting from the community.
TR: I saw in your letter to the residents that you have concerns about the facility. I was wondering if you could lay out what parts of this facility are concerning to you?
Bulova: I have been very supportive of group homes. I think they’re important, they provide an important service in our community, where people get the kind of support and help that they need, whatever the disability or need.
My concern about the Newport Academy is that this isn’t just a group home, this appears to be a little campus being developed out of a single family neighborhood. This is not a group home, but a [cluster] of individual homes being turned into a complex. That, to me, is a different situation than an individual group home where someone is able to live in a community and get the kind of supportive help they need.
The Kurtz Road [location] may be fine, but the Davidson ones are encircled and fenced in together. That’s something different
TR: In your experience as Chair, have there been other instances of projects or controversies like this?
Bulova: Group homes come up all the time, and back in the olden times group homes used to cause some concerns within a community. I remember back in the olden days, there were community days about the group home. Federal law stepped in and said “you can’t do that, group homes have to be treated like a family moving in.”
Generally, they are welcomed into the community. We’ve never dealt with something in my experience where someone seemed to have consolidated the properties and is trying to create a complex or campus of buildings. I’ve never seen this before. I see this not as being about a group home, but about something very different that changes, I think, the nature of the residential community.
Amid a roar of traffic, a dozen Fairfax County officials gathered to break ground on an extensive Leesburg Pike (Route 7) widening project.
The ceremony was today (Thursday) at Capital Church on the border of the Hunter Mill and Dranesville districts, with their respective Board of Supervisors representatives Cathy Hudgins and John Foust present.
The project will involve adding a third lane to Leesburg Pike in each direction from Reston to Tysons. At the groundbreaking, officials highlighted the new shared-use paths and other improvements planned along the corridor to increase capacity, improve safety and traffic flow, and make life a little easier for cyclists and pedestrians.
“This project will enhance nobility…” said Sharon Bulova, chair of the Fairfax County Board, then laughed and corrected herself, “mobility, but [nobility] too, for cycling and pedestrians.”
The shared-use paths are planned to run along both sides of the road, with bridges and underpasses planned along the way and several other intersection improvements.
“It’s an important milestone many years in the making,” said Bill Cutler, the Virginia Department of Transportation’s district construction engineer. “It’s a 7-mile corridor and an important multimodal project, with 14 miles of multipurpose trail and access to the Spring Hill Metro station.”
During construction, off-peak lane closures are expected as the project works in segments. Final completion of the project is expected for summer 2024.
“If you’re sitting here wondering why we’re doing this, traffic seems to be going pretty well… it’s too late now,” said Foust. “In 2010, it was said that if Tysons was going to work, we needed to ensure that vehicles could get out of Tysons… This improvement will, I hope, make it much more attractive for drivers to stay on Route 7. Right now, we have a lot of cut-through traffic taking Georgetown Pike or Lewinsville Road trying to avoid traffic on Route 7. I think this will go a long way to addressing challenges with cut-through traffic.”
The Fairfax County Planning Commission greenlighted yesterday (June 12) a proposed senior living facility in Tysons despite concerns from staff about the height, size and open space.
Fairfax County staff recommended denial of the proposed two-tower senior living complex called The Mather.
The proposed building would go 60 feet above the 225-foot maximum. “The excessive height combined with a narrow building footprint oriented diagonally results in a building mass that inconsistent with adjoining structures and overwhelms the street,” according to the staff report.
Staff also took issue with the developer wanting to move the open space from an area on top of the parking garage to a sloping area behind the parking garage.
According to the staff report:
The three major issues noted above are all interrelated and stem from the manner in which the continuing care facility is proposed to be integrated into the existing Arbor Row development. Staff does not object to the concept of a continuing care facility as a use, and in fact, recognizes the services provided by such a facility are both necessary and desirable within Tysons. However, the continuing care facility has been designed in a way that reflects the unique needs of the applicant’s specific business model, and does not reflect the urban design recommendations of both the Comprehensive Plan and the Tysons Urban Design Guidelines.
While Providence District Planning Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner called the proposal “one of the most complicated applications the commission will recall,” he ultimately brought forth a motion to approve the project.
Before the vote, Niedzielski-Eichner asked staff to address each of the three major concerns and allowed the applicant’s representative, John McGranahan Jr., to respond.
McGranahan argued that the recommended denial by staff was not considering the proposal’s height and size in the context of the surrounding neighborhood.
A staffer said that the mass of the building was considered to be out of context to the nearby buildings and that the applicant’s desire for more height for operational and financial considerations wasn’t enough justification to go above the maximum height.
Staff and McGranahan also disagreed on the relocation and redesign of the open space.
By the end of the back and forth, Niedzielski-Eichner said he was persuaded by the applicant’s reasoning.
Now that the proposal has a favorable recommendation from the Planning Commission, it heads to Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors.
The project is a part of Cityline Partners LLC’s Arbor Row project near Tysons Galleria, which includes the completed Nouvelle residential building and The Monarch. The development aims to transform the back end of Tysons Galleria along Westpark Drive into a suite of mixed-use buildings.
Image via Fairfax County Planning Commission
School Board member Dalia Palchik and Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay won their Democratic primary races yesterday, marking the end to an expensive, crowded and contentious primary.
Palchik won the nomination for the Providence District seat on the Board of Supervisors, defeating four challengers and pulling ahead of Fairfax County Planning Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner by nearly 1,500 votes.
Meanwhile, McKay beat three challengers to clinch the Democratic nomination for the county board’s chair.
Frank Anderson, the executive director of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, told Tysons Reporter that he was surprised by how many Democratic candidates flooded the Board of Supervisors races, although the large fundraising sums weren’t unexpected.
“I was surprised by how many candidates decided to jump in,” Anderson said, adding that a race like the one for Providence District supervisor typically has two to three candidates instead of five.
With crowded races, some of the candidates’ clashing resulted in an “acrimonious” primary, Anderson said, adding, “It’s expected to be.”
The race for the board’s chair was particularly divisive — McKay faced an ethics complaint filed by a rival, while the Washington Post endorsement raised concerns about sexism.
On the Democratic Party’s end, Anderson said that the debates “got awkward,” yet the staff focused on staying “as non-partial as we can” and professional.
The primary also turned out to be expensive for several candidates.
Niedzielski-Eichner and Palchik both neared the $100,000 fundraising mark in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Every candidate for the Democratic nomination to the chair position raised over $100,000, with developer Tim Chapman raising $952,109.
Anderson said that the high fundraising amounts serve several purposes. Beyond paying for resources like campaign staff, recorded calls, glossy mailers and advertising, they also help to give the impression that a candidate has the backing of more supporters.
“When you donate to a candidate, you do it because you believe in them,” Anderson said. “You can’t know whether your dollar made the difference.”
Anderson said that potential donors can become enticed to give money if they see how much others have donated — essentially equating money with value.
Some candidates in the race received sizable checks, either from donations to themselves or from a few key supporters, like developer Tim Chapman who raised most of his $952,109 by donating to himself in the chair race and Hunter Mill candidate Maggie Parker, who received support from Comstock Companies, her employer.
“Not many voters have the time to see who is donating to the candidates,” Anderson said.
(Updated at 10:05 p.m.) School Board member Dalia Palchik won the Democratic nomination for the Providence District seat on the Board of Supervisors.
Shortly after 9 p.m., Palchik defeated Fairfax County Planning Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner and three other challengers in the Democratic primary.
Palchik received 39.7 percent of the vote. She will face Republican Paul Bolon in the November election.
Palchik said in her victory speech:
This is part of a movement; a movement of people who want new leadership. People who want classrooms — not trailers — and teachers who can afford to live here. They want someone who is going to fight to protect the environment, to get solar panels, who are going to work hard every day to get us out of our cars and walking, biking, getting around, with access to buses and metro, and into a community that cares and is inclusive. This is the beginning. It’s been an incredible campaign. It was scary. It was fun. We cried. We laughed. And we want to see the next phase of Providence District in Fairfax County.
Palchik celebrated her win at Settle Down Easy (2822 Fallfax Drive), a local brewery that launched in 2018. It was a trendy spot that is representative of a candidate who pulled together a coalition across a variety of demographics.
Even at the headquarters of Niedzielski-Eichner, the runner-up in the race with 23.4 percent of the vote, there was a reluctant admission that Palchik was a charismatic candidate. Several Niedzielski-Eichner supporters noted that they saw her at polls shaking hands and taking selfies with voters.
Del. Mark Keam (D-35th) said Niedzielski-Eichner relied on an older local establishment, while Palchik was able to tap into a younger, wider base of local supporters.
Linda Smyth, the current Providence District supervisor, announced in December that she wouldn’t run for reelection this year, along with several other supervisors on the 10-member board.
Shortly before 10 p.m., current Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay won the Democratic nomination for the Board of Supervisors’ chair with 42 percent of the vote. McKay beat Georgetown law professor Alicia Plerhoples, who received 31 percent of the vote, and two other Democratic challengers.
For the Virginia State Senate, incumbent Barbara Favola won with 61 percent of the vote, beating Nicole Merlene for the 31st District seat, which encompasses McLean.
Incumbent Dick Saslaw narrowly beat challengers Yasmine Taeb and Karen Torrent for the 35th District seat. Saslaw received 48 percent of the vote.
In a close race, challenger Steve Descano beat incumbent Raymond Morrogh for the Democratic nomination for the commonwealth’s attorney position in Fairfax.
Catherine Moran and Vernon Miles worked on this story.
With just a few hours left in polling, Tysons-area polls have shown a slow but steady increase in voting throughout the day, particularly in Hunter Mill.
Competitive primaries are underway for the Democratic endorsement for the Providence District, Hunter Mill District, and chairman seats on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
The voter turnout so far in the Providence District is 6.29 percent. The Hunter Mill District, which includes Vienna, is 7.3 percent and is the highest of any district in Fairfax. The Fairfax County average turnout is 5.36 percent.
This year’s primary, particularly the race for the chariman’s seat, has been particularly divisive. One candidate faced an ethics complaint filed by a rival while the Washington Post endorsement raised concerns about sexism.
It’s also been an expensive primary. Every candidate for the Democratic nomination to the chair position has raised over $100,000, with developer Tim Chapman raising $952,109 — mostly through funds Chapman gave to his own campaign. In Hunter Mill, candidate Maggie Parker sits at $258,225 fundraised, in large part with support from Comstock Companies. Two Providence candidates — Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner and Dalia Palchik — neared the $100,000 fundraising mark
If you’re a Fairfax County voter you have a chance to choose the next Chair of your County Board, some new supervisors & new school board members, and also choose between incumbents for Commonwealth’s Attorney, State Senate and State House or their challengers. Just Vote! pic.twitter.com/AA9rFVAgeA
— Mark Keam 🇺🇸 (@MarkKeam) June 11, 2019
At Bonnie Brae polling place. Super weather for Primary Vote today. pic.twitter.com/u7YOMS2Qif
— Sharon Bulova (@SharonBulova) June 11, 2019
The Democratic candidates for the Board of Supervisors are:
Board of Supervisors chair:
Providence District:
Hunter Mill District:
Tysons-area voters will also determine the Democratic nominees for two Virginia Senate seats and the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Any registered voter can participate in the primaries. Polls are open until 7 p.m.
The polls are now open until 7 p.m. for today's primary election. While it's a Democratic primary, every registered voter can participate because in Virginia you don't register to vote by political party. #vote #votejune11 pic.twitter.com/b93Vqw9fPm
— Fairfax County Votes (@fairfaxvotes) June 11, 2019
