Fairfax County plans to turn a vacant retail building in Tysons into a new grid of streets.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors bought the site that once housed the Container Store (8508 Leesburg Pike) from a JBG affiliate for $16.6M, the Washington Business Journal reported.

The county plans to add a new street that would connect Leesburg Pike and Greensboro Drive, according to the story.

The site sits across from Embassy Suites by Hilton and Ruth’s Chris Steak House by the Spring Hill Metro station.

The Container Store relocated from 8508 Leesburg Pike to 8459 Leesburg Pike near the Best Buy last October.

Image via Google Maps

Autonomous vehicles connecting the Mosaic District to the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro may arrive as soon as next spring.

Earlier this year, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors decided to start a pilot program for self-driving vehicles as a shuttle service. Dominion Energy and the county decided to partner up on the program.

Deputy County Executive Rachel Flynn said at a Bisnow event today (Thursday) that the autonomous vehicles are expected to arrive in the spring or summer.

The vehicles will come from EasyMile, which is based in France, she said.

Flynn also said that the county has received a grant from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, but did not disclose the amount.

Photo via Facebook/EasyMile

Fairfax County may reduce its parking requirements for its largest malls — including Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria.

The proposal would affect four malls in the county — the two in Tysons, Fair Oaks and Springfield Town Center.

A review of the parking rates and demand at large regional malls by consulting firm Nelson/Nygaard found that less than 65% of the available spaces were occupied during peak times, according to county documents.

The proposal would alter the requirement from four to 2.5 or three parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area — the recommended change from Nelson/Nygaard.

“This is a more realistic parking requirement and, if implemented, would continue to provide an oversupply of parking at peak demand on weekdays and weekends during all times of the year,” according to county documents.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on Tuesday (Oct. 15) on authorizing public hearings — a Planning Commission one on Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. and one before the board on Dec. 3 at 4 p.m.

“Overall, the changes will provide Fairfax County’s largest commercial retail centers additional flexibility to react to a changing retail marketplace,” according to county documents.

One Fairfax County official is urging the county to take more responsibility for stormwater management regardless of its liability.

Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust represents McLean, Great Falls and Herndon on the Board of Supervisors. After major flash flooding in July, Foust saw severe storm damage throughout McLean — from two severely damaged roads to flooded yards and fields.

“This is the issue de jure out in the communities after July 8, at least in my neck of the woods,” Foust said. “This is what I hear about all the time.”

Randy Bartlett, the director of the county’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, gave a presentation to the Board of Supervisors about flood mitigation activities on Tuesday (Oct. 8).

Some of Bartlett’s proposed policy recommendations included using 100-year storm benchmarks when upsizing pipes, requiring new developments to capture a certain amount of rain and designating overland relief paths on plats.

“I think that these are good recommendations,” Chairman Sharon Bulova said, adding that the county needs to designs for the 100-year storm and consider upsizing at new developments.

Foust agreed with Bulova and said that Bartlett suggested “some good alternatives,” before pushing the county to do more.

Bartlett said that the county will install backflow valves that residents then need to maintain.

“I know we offer constituents options to make investments to limit the ability of our sewer systems to back up into their basements when our sewer systems get overflowed with stormwater,” Foust. “I think that should be our responsibility.”

Foust added that the county either needs to find a way to keep stormwater out of the sewer systems or — if it does — to at least make sure it doesn’t get into constituents’ basements.

Overland relief is causing dangerous situations, Foust said.

“We have to think about getting more of this water into a conveyance system that is not free-flowing in these neighborhoods,” he said.

Aside from the county’s efforts, Foust also said that more state funding is needed.

“We have neighborhoods being literally destroyed when it rains hard,” Foust said.

Photo via @SteveML9022/Twitter, graph via Fairfax County

Fairfax County police set aside some time today (Oct. 2) to hang out with locals around the county.

The annual “Coffee With a Cop” events are part of a nation-wide initiative to build a rapport with the public by sending police officers to coffee shops to chat with community members.

Over at the Merrifield event this morning, Lt. Tim Field and crime prevention officer Mario Colorado, both from the McLean District Station, fielded questions from locals at Starbucks (8104A Arlington Blvd) from 9:30-11 a.m.

“We are the public face of the county,” Colorado said, adding that the event allows people to approach police in a relaxed environment where they can “overcome the hurtle” of feeling like they are being a bother.

Therapy dog group Caring Angles brought Kyira, a 110-pound Rottweiler with an affinity for lap-sitting, to the Merrifield event this morning. An organization representative said they wanted to support the officers and also educate the community on the benefits of therapy dogs.

Field said he has been serving FCPD for around 33 years while Colorado has served for 22. Both men said they enjoy the event because it gives them an opportunity to visit with community members under happy terms, rather than during an emergency response.

Field said that people often want to talk about a wide variety of topics, ranging from quality of life concerns to fun philosophical ideas.

People will sometimes approach police at the “Coffee With a Cop” events and ask how to resolve personal dilemmas they are facing, like how to help a family member struggling with substance abuse, he said.

For anyone wanting to take advantage of this opportunity, there will be another chance to talk with Fairfax County police at Turkish Coffee Lady in Tysons Corner Center (1961 Chain Bridge Road) this evening from 5-7 p.m.

(Updated 10/16/19) Fairfax County is now asking residents to toss glass bottles and jars in the trash instead of the recycling bin at home.

The county decided to change its rules that previously required that glass bottles and jars be placed in curbside recycling bins “to improve the quality of single-stream recycling,” according to the county’s website.

As of yesterday (Oct. 1), residents now have two options for glass disposal — take the items to purple, glass-only recycling containers located around the county or throw them in the trash.

“The decision to remove glass from the single-stream recycling program was made after consulting with private recycling sorting centers and Covanta Fairfax, Inc., which operates the waste-to-energy plant,” according to the county.

The county also says that China’s decision to stop accepting some recycling materials has prompted changes to glass recycling.

Glass containers can break in curbside recycling bins, leading to the shards damaging the other recycled items and possible damage of machinery, the county said, adding that bins weighed down by heavy glass can increase transportation costs.

Earlier this year, Arlington County also decided to move away from recycling glass in a single stream system that has recycled items mixed together in one bin.

Meanwhile, the City of Falls Church and the Town of Vienna still allow glass bottles in curbside recycling bins.

The closest purple containers in the Tysons area are at the Providence Community Center (3001 Vaden Drive), Dolley Madison Library (1244 Oak Ridge Avenue) and the Lee Community Center (5722 Lee Hwy).

People can place any colored glass bottle or jar in the purple containers, but should not bring lamps, light bulbs, windows, mirrors or glass sheets.

What about broken glass? The county urges residents to place the broken glass in a rigid container labeled “GLASS” for trash collection.

This is “Big Blue” ⁦@ffxpublicworks⁩ recycled glass crusher that turns glass into reusable construction material. For everything you need to know about glass recycling in ⁦@fairfaxcounty⁩ click https://t.co/6efkyFiCr3 ⁦@route1corridor⁩ ⁦@FortHuntHerald⁩ pic.twitter.com/YA67hwOFPv

— Tony Castrilli (@TonyCastrilli) October 2, 2019

Map via Fairfax County

Locals want more eco-friendly guidelines as Fairfax County looks ahead to the next 10 to 20 years.

Roughly four dozen attendees showed up to the meeting at Marshall High School last night (Wednesday) to provide feedback on the county’s preliminary strategies.

After brief presentations by County Executive Bryan Hill and James Patterson, the manager of the countywide strategic planning process, attendees were able to choose three out of the nine areas they wanted to learn more about by talking to team members.

Attendees were given copies of the preliminary strategies — 166 in total — and asked to provide feedback to the teams.

The county is especially interested in these nine areas:

• cultural and recreational opportunities
• economic opportunity
• education and lifelong learning
• effective and efficient government
• health and environment
• housing and neighborhood livability
• mobility and transportation
• safety and security
• self-sufficiency for people with vulnerabilities

The nine areas have five shared themes: affordability, equity, sustainability, innovation and collaboration, Patterson said.

Many of the people told the various teams that they support environmentally-friendly strategies, urging the staffers to strengthen or add language that would reduce pollution and waste. “I feel like the environment is critical,” one attendee said.

Locals talking to the “Health and Environment” team pushed for replanting of older instead of younger trees and stronger recycling rules.

People also suggested mandating that businesses recycle, adding urban gardens to schools and reducing food waste. Several attendees expressed frustration about unclear recycling rules and suggested that Fairfax County use stickers and more communication to clarify its glass recycling rules.

“We’re a wealthy county,” one person said. “Give us a glass recycling bin.”

While attendees seemed to come to a consensus that they want stronger protections in place to protect the environment, not everyone agreed on the specifics. In response to a suggested plastic ban, an attendee pointed out that plastic bans can hurt low-income families.

Over at the “Mobility and Transportation” station, people pushed for more frequent bus transit, suggesting different size buses — like double-deckers and buses of various lengths — to accommodate more riders.

Brent Riddle, a transportation planner for Fairfax County, said that the staffers are exploring different ways to add more cross-county transportation, like adding buses between Annadale and the Mosaic District and creating bus-only lanes.

“Public transit is more oriented as a feeder system into D.C,” Riddle said about current transit options.

Overall, attendees said that it’s better to incentivize group travel than disadvantage single-occupancy vehicles — possibly hurting lower-income communities in the process.

Some of the strategies that attendees showed strong support for include:

• Increase the walkable access (within half-mile or 10-mile walk countywide) to parks, facilty entrances or trailheads to connect people to nature and receational experiences, prioritizing implementation in areas with disparate health outcomes and other equity measures.
• Prioritize and incentivize the use of high-occupany vs. single-occupant vehicles; this includes transit buses, vanpools and carpools.
• Shift the design of selected roadways away from a sole focus on automobile traffic to a multi-modal focus by incorporating sidewalks, bike lanes and high-occupancy vehicle and bus lanes and rail lines.

The meeting last night was the last of six recent meetings to seek community input. Currently, county staffers are working to develop and refine strategies before finalizing the draft by the end of the year, Patterson said. Early next year, the draft will get publicized and adopted by the Board of Supervisors.

The county plans to use the input to identify priority areas and success metrics for the county-wide strategic plan.

People can still submit feedback on the preliminary strategies through an online survey that is available in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Urdu and Vietnamese.

(Updated at 2:35 p.m.) Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved today (Tuesday) $4 million to begin implementation of police body worn cameras.

The Fairfax County Police Department is set to receive 1,210 body-worn cameras that would be phased in over three years with a five-year contract for equipment, licensing and storage.

Before the vote, Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity shared concerns about the fiscal impact of the proposal, including that the funding approval is happening outside of the budget cycle, Chairman Sharon Bulova said it’s necessary to have the funding before the budget decisions in May.

The $4.3 million approved by the board today comes from the Reserve for Ad-Hoc Police Practices Review Commission.

“This amount will cover the initial cost of equipment, infrastructure enhancements and will allow for the immediate recruitment and hiring of personnel to ensure a seamless implementation on or about May 1,” according to county documents.

Herrity also said that he has concerns about the funding coming from the reserve — a one-time fund — and that body worn cameras are getting prioritized over increases in police officers’ pay.

“This is going to set our public safety budget back by millions of dollars,” Herrity said, adding that he wants information on extra costs for the Public Defenders’ Office.

In response to Herrity’s concerns that the program is meant to address national issues with police, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said that the program is not trying to address criticism of police outside of Fairfax County.

“The overwhelming support in the community for doing this is important. We know our community pretty well and we know the respect the community has for the Fairfax County Police Department,” Foust said. “We have the tech to do it, and we should move forward.”

After the vote, Braddock District Supervisor John Cook requested that the county executive work with the Public Defenders’ Office to determine an increase in the office’s budget that the board can consider in May.

Cook said that the body worn cameras will generate “significant legal work needed to review [the footage],” noting that most of the defense attorneys are from the Public Defenders’ Office.

The full implementation of the body worn cameras is expected to take three years. The cameras would come to the McLean District during the second year of the program.

“This is about transparency. This is about the community feeling confident in our police department,” Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay. “We know that they do.”

Image via FCPD

Locals may spot a new sculpture outside Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library in the near future.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is slated to approve a public art donation from Promila and Krishan Chhabra at the meeting next Tuesday (Sept. 25).

The Chhabras want to mount a bronze, life-size sculpture by artist Dennis Smith of a girl reading a book outside the library’s front window.

The piece is meant to help beautify the library, according to county staff.

More from county staff:

After she retired from the Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) system in 2017, Ms. Promila Chhabra and her husband, Krishan, looked for a way to express her gratitude to the county for her fulfilling career as a library aide at the library. The couple became inspired by the idea of donating a monument for installation on the library grounds…

The donors envision mounting the bronze on a 3-foot cinderblock pedestal with brick siding and a polished black stone pedestal top, with a small plaque on one side of the pedestal that states the dedication is made “in honor of Promila Chhabra’s years of service” to the library.

If the county board OKs the donation, the Chhabras would then select the contractor and pay for the construction costs.

Photos via Fairfax County

Tysons is poised to have a revamped brand early next year with a more “sophisticated” approach than water tank decals and streetlight banners.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering investing up to $1 million in the Tysons Partnership, which plans to rebrand the area while establishing a “sustainable business and funding model” for the nonprofit association.

The funding could get allocated toward placemaking events, branding efforts, sponsorship and media outreach Joe LaHait, the debt manager for the Department of Management and Budget, said during a Budget Committee meeting Tuesday (Sept. 17).

Any funds granted by the Board of Supervisors would also be matched, LaHait said.

Tysons Partnership is aiming for the rebranding study to be completed by the end of the year or early 2020 and has already brought on a global design firm at a cost up to $250,000 to help develop the place-branding strategy for Tysons, LaHait said.

Several of the board members said that the funding could benefit the county by revitalizing Tysons.

Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth said she’s hopeful that Tysons Partnership will learn from past mistakes for the new rebranding effort.

“I remember the first rebranding exercise in Tysons where we had the banners on the streetlight that faded and fell apart and we had all of those negotiations with Dominion that were very painful,” she said at the meeting.

Smyth said she wants some of the money to go toward looking at the partnership’s business and financial model, along with regular reports on the rebranding progress and how the money is getting spent.

“I would like to see some latitude in this so that it could be used for that exploration of different financial and business models along the way because that’s actually part of this,” Smyth said. “You can’t just brand. You have to have a body that’s going to maintain it.”

Sol Glasner, the president of Tysons Partnership, agreed with Smyth’s assessment that the partnership needs a new business model, calling the current members dues-based model “not sustainable.”

“It’s gotten us to this point but it will not carry us for the years to come,” Glasner said. “So we are exploring a variety of options and our plan is to transition to a different business and financial model by the middle of 2021.”

Glasner said that Tysons Partnership is working with Gensler.

“This is a one-to-one match from our own membership and the idea is to jumpstart the implementation of a far more sophisticated branding campaign than banners and shrink wrap,” he said. “That was something done in the early stages of the partnership.”

Jeff McKay, the representative for the Lee District, said that the rebranding effort in Tysons can serve as a role model for other areas in the county.

“Not only is this good for Tysons, which is good for the county, but it’s also good for us as other groups pursue similar structures to learn from what you have evaluated, what you’re already doing because there are other parts of the county that are ripe for a partnership-type entity,” McKay said.

The county staff recommends that the Board of Supervisors OK the funds.

“We view this as an opportunity to get them off the ground and provide them with the seed money,” LaHait said.

“It’s a million, which looks like a lot on this chart, but in the context of what our return on our investment is, it’s a very small investment in the future of Tysons,” McKay said.