The Weekly Planner is a roundup of the most interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.

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

Tuesday (March 26)

• Dining for Dollars at Chipotle — 5-9 p.m. at Chipotle Mexican Grill in Vienna (213 Maple Ave E) — Dining at Chipotle tomorrow can help raise money for the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department. Showing the cashier a flyer for the event — or just mentioning the fundraiser — will send 33 percent of the meal’s proceeds to the department.

Thursday (March 28)

• Black Politics: Beyond Northam — 7-9 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Vienna (450 Orchard Street) — The Fairfax County NAACP is hosting a meeting to discuss the state of the Democratic Party and how it handled the concerns of the African American community in Virginia in the wake of Ralph Northam’s blackface scandal. Tickets are free but RSVP is required.

Friday (March 29)

• LUSH Cosmetics 30-Year Birthday — 10 a.m. at LUSH Cosmetics in Tysons Corner Center — To celebrate the company’s 30th birthday, the Tysons location is hosting a weekend of activities starting with a raffle and bath-bomb giveaway on Friday.
• MAC Community Workshops — 6 p.m. at the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry St) — The Town of Vienna is offering the public two opportunities this weekend to get a hands-on feel for the changes to the town’s controversial Maple Avenue Commercial zoning. The first workshop will be on Friday, with a second workshop on Saturday (March 30) at 11 a.m.

Saturday (March 30)

• DC Bulldog Playdate — 11 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Vienna Dog Park (700 Courthouse Road) — A regional bulldog meetup will be held in Vienna this weekend, giving dogs and humans a chance to play and mingle. The event listing notes that the bulldogs typically tire after 45 minutes, so those looking for the “full bulldog experience” should arrive right around 11 a.m. The meetup is free but RSVP is requested.
• Rise Against Hunger Food Packing — 1-3 p.m. at Andrew Chapel United Methodist Church (1301 Trap Road) — The Andrew Chapel United Methodist Church in Vienna is hosting a meal packing event to put together nutritious meals for school feeding programs and crisis relief. The packaged meals transport quickly and has a shelf-life of two years.

Sunday (March 31)

• Tysons Galleria Fur Protest — 12 p.m. at Tysons Galleria (2001 International Drive) — A local group called the Help Our Animals and Planet Foundation is hosting a protest outside Tysons Galleria to advocate for banning the sale of fur in Fairfax County.
• Discussion with Local Thriller Writers — 2-3 p.m. at Bards Alley (110 Church Street SW) — Alma Katsu, author of The Hunter, and Greer Macallister, author of Woman 99, will be in Vienna’s Bards Alley bookstore this Sunday for a discussion and Q&A about their books, followed by signings by the authors. The event is free to attend, but RSVP is requested.
• Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” — 2-4:30 p.m. at the Alden Theatre (1234 Ingleside Ave.) — The Alden Theatre in McLean will host a performance of Shakespearian tragicomedy The Winter’s Tale by the American Shakespeare Center. Tickets are $110 or $80 for McLean residents.

Photo via Facebook

After a moratorium on new applications and a long series of discussions, the Town of Vienna is ready for the public debut of the new Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zoning changes at two workshops next week.

The community workshops will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, March 29, and from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, March 30 at the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry Street SE).

The workshops will demonstrate how the community feedback has been translated into changes in the design guidelines, according to the Town of Vienna newsletter.

Some of the first changes proposed addressed the scaling of buildings, one of the biggest topics of controversy in last year’s MAC debates. Further changes have been added over the last month of workshops between the Town Council, Planning Commission and Board of Architectural Review.

The workshops are scheduled to be “open house” style, meaning residents can drop in and leave at any point. No formal presentations are planned.

Image via Town of Vienna

South American chicken chain Pollos Keiko has opened its first American location — “Keiko Charcoal Chicken” — this week at 235 Maple Ave E. in Vienna.

The restaurant offers a variety of chicken options, from quarter-portions for $5.49 to whole chickens and three sides for $24.99, as well as salads, sandwiches, and sides like rice and plantains.

Nelson Barrios, one of the partners opening the restaurant, repeated the old real estate axiom for opening in Vienna: “location, location, location.” Barrios said he didn’t see anything quite like Keiko available in Vienna. (Don Pollo, a Peruvian chicken chain that opened a few blocks south in January, said the same thing).

Barrios said, for the most part, it was easy to get started in Vienna, though some of the administrative issues along the way were stressful.

“But once that’s done, you get to the fun part,” Barrios said. “It’s the reason someone wants to open a restaurant in the first place.”

Barrios encouraged Vienna residents to come in and try the chicken. Among the sides, Barrios said one of the more unique was “Tallarin Saltado” — a Peruvian stir fry noodle dish with green peppers and onions.

Five months after it was destroyed in a fire, the ruined husk of the Marco Polo restaurant building in Vienna has finally been completely demolished.

It’s unclear when demolition began, but by March 19 most of the rubble had been removed from the site.

The restaurant was originally built in 1954. In 2015, local developer Doug D’Alexander applied to have the lot redeveloped as Vienna Market, but the application failed. A more scaled-down version was presented in 2017 and was approved.

The development plans were complicated an alleged intentionally-set fire that gutted the building. Two teenagers were later arrested and charged with setting the fire as part of a vandalism spree.

The charred remains were left as a visible blight along Maple Avenue, though Vienna staff said plans for development are still in the works.

In January, Cindy Petkac, director of planning and zoning for the Town of Vienna, said the building was expected to be demolished within the month.

Vienna residents remembered the building, a longtime local prom-date spot, fondly.

Marco Polo… Vienna will always remember you fondly…. I think we all have had first dates, and prom dates, and meeting here over the years… Thank you for your service!

— Vienna Business Association (@vba_vienna) March 17, 2019

At least according to one real estate broker, realtors looking to expand outside Tysons, Reston or Arlington County should be looking into commercial redevelopment in Vienna.

In an article published by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, Frank Dillow, a senior commercial broker in Long & Foster’s Commercial Division, pointed to 2014’s approval of Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zoning as a step towards flexible zoning to attract new developments.

“Vienna’s interest in rethinking its downtown comes as suburban communities throughout Northern Virginia react to residents and developers seeking to transform existing retail outlets into more modern lifestyle community centers featuring restaurants and entertainment,” Dillow said.

The approval of MAC zoning regulations are part of an effort by the Town of Vienna to combat rampant vacancies throughout the town. The new regulations allow buildings up to four stories tall and greater density than usual to be considered for Maple Avenue, a primary thoroughfare in Vienna.

But the MAC zoning has also come under fire, from the public and members of the Town Council, for what is seen as too quickly and too radically altering the character of downtown Vienna. Controversy over MAC zoning led to a moratorium on new proposed developments until a review process for the ordinance can be completed. That review is currently ongoing.

But Dillow said in his article that local residents are increasingly understanding the necessity of added density.

“Increasingly, people understand that to achieve their community goals and create a vibrant place to live, the community needs different types of development — different types of density,” Dillow said. “As Northern Virginia continues its rapid commercial transformation, realtors should be looking beyond the current well-publicized developments in Tysons, Reston or Arlington County, to expanded opportunities in the commercial redevelopment occurring in older, more established communities such as Vienna.”

A combination of a bubble tea shop and electronic dance music lounge is set to arrive soon along Maple Avenue.

Currently in Falls Church at the Eden Center, TeaDM Lounge plans to open a new location at 142 Maple Ave W. — the former spot of E.G. Comics.

A TeaDM Lounge employee told Tysons Reporter that a grand opening is expected near the end of April.

Locals who don’t want to wait the month can head to 6765 Wilson Blvd for a taste of the bubble tea, flavored tea, coffee and smoothies paired with electric beats.

Photo via Facebook 

(Updated 8:30) — A new exhibit in Vienna’s Freeman Store & Museum showing the town’s expansion in the 1950s is scheduled for a grand opening Sunday (March 10).

The museum’s website says the new exhibit will feature stories of how the town grew in the ’50s through the twin lenses of the opportunities and challenges of the decade.

The store and museum is managed by Historic Vienna Inc., a local non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting local history.

According to the Historic Vienna Inc. newsletter:

Remember hula hoops, Barbie dolls, play doh, and matchbox cars? Remember Patsy Cline, Elvis, Little Richard, and the Kingston Trio? How about Leave It to Beaver, Gunsmoke, I Love Lucy, and The Ed Sullivan Show? The Korean War? segregation? Vienna experienced the 50s in all its good, bad, and ugly. Come to the Freeman Store to experience Vienna in the 50s through an exciting multimedia exhibit.

In the early part of the decade, Vienna’s Maple Avenue was still a street that ran mostly through fields with sporadic residences along the roadside, but over time the next few decades, the town would gradually become more and more developed.

According to the Town of Vienna website:

In 1940, Vienna was still a small, quiet, rural town with a population of 1,237 and remained virtually untouched by the metropolitan character of the nation’s capital. The town began to take on a new look in the 1950s when many businesses started to move from the old commercial section on Church Street to Maple Avenue. The post-World War II rush to the suburbs brought a burgeoning of population to Northern Virginia, almost 10,000 new residents to Vienna alone, their new houses blending with those of an earlier era.

In 1954, the first of Vienna’s modern shopping centers was opened. More shopping centers followed in quick succession along a widened Maple Avenue in an attempt to keep up with the influx of newcomers who bought homes in the town’s new subdivisions. Older residents recall with nostalgia the Victorian homes and the maple trees that lined Maple Avenue before it was widened in 1958.

The other current exhibit in the museum is dedicated to the Women’s Suffrage Movement, highlighting the 100th anniversary of the League of Women Voters.

Photo via Town of Vienna

The Vienna Town Council will review two projects along Maple Avenue in a work session tonight (Monday), after indicating concerns that developers are trying to skirt zoning regulations by pushing their proposed heights a bit higher than current limits might allow.

The 380 Maple development is a proposed mixed-use building with 7,500 square feet of ground floor retail and 40 residential condominiums on three floors. The building includes one floor of underground parking and two floors of structure above-ground parking, but staff noted that the applications calls for an extra half-floor added to the mix, beyond current limits in the area.

“Staff notes that the applicant is proposing a half-floor of parking between the first story and second story of the building, beyond the four stories allowed per code,” staff said in a project overview. “The applicant is applying for a modification of requirement for the additional half-story.”

While approving of greater levels of parking available at the site, Councilmember Douglas Noble said at a meeting last week that he was concerned the additional half-story would still be contrary to the Maple Avenue zoning code’s five-story limit.

Meanwhile, the Sunrise Assisted Living project, a four-story building with 85 assisted living units and 7,700 square feet of first-floor commercial space, is also requesting a “half-story” space.

“Staff notes that the applicant is proposing a half-story space to include additional lobby and common spaces for the assisted living facility between the first story and second story of the building, beyond the four stories allowed per Code,” staff said in the project overview. “The applicant is applying for a modification of requirement for the additional half-story.”

An additional item listed as “limiting discussion with developers” was also added to the agenda at the request of Councilmembers Pasha Majdi and Howard Springsteen, two of the leading opponents to the controversial Maple Avenue Commercial developments last year.

Image via Town of Vienna Planning and Zoning

(Updated 3:15 p.m.) — For 17 years, Natalya Anderson worked cutting hair in Tysons with one goal: opening her own salon. The recently opened Alya Salon and Spa, located at 139 Park St. in Vienna, represents the realization of that dream.

“I always wanted to own my own salon,” said Anderson. “I wanted to have a great team and create a good family.”

The salon opened on Feb. 1, and Anderson said business has been good so far, with a very friendly customer base in Vienna. The store is one block south of Maple Avenue behind the Whole Foods.

For Anderson, people working in hair design are artists, and one of her goals was to have a place in Vienna where she could bring great artists under one roof.

The salon deals mainly with hair, including coloring, cuts and extensions. Anderson said she’s currently looking for someone to help the salon expand to offer spa and facial care services.

Haircuts at the salon are $75, with the salon specializing in curly hair and health-focused haircare. Anderson said the salon has vegan, gluten-free, and paraben-free hair products.

“We’re working on being a ‘green salon’ in the near future,” said Anderson.

Anderson said the green salon status involves entirely eliminating product waste and reducing energy use. Gustavo LLC, where Anderson says she gets her cosmetic products, is also cruelty-free and organic.

But it isn’t all checkups and dye jobs at Alya Salon. Anderson said the company also handles weddings and some fashion shoots.

They recently helped Fairfax Woman Magazine with the cosmetic work for their March/April magazine. Anderson’s also interested in helping out more with charity events around town to help give back to the community that’s welcomed her.

Two developments planned for Maple Avenue are facing some backlash from the Vienna Town Council for trying to slip an extra floor or two into their projects.

At last night’s (Monday) Vienna Town Council meeting, Councilmember Douglas Noble said he had concerns about the mixed-use development at 380 Maple Street and the 80-unit Sunrise Assisted Living facility proposed at the corner of Maple Avenue and Center Street.

For 380 Maple Street, Noble said he was happy to see new parking recently added to the project but was concerned that the building’s height exceeds four-story limits established in the zoning code.

“The applicant has come in with a proposal that has an extra floor… for parking,” said Noble. “It’s a creative solution to add parking. [They] also asked for a site plan modification to add a half-story. I have strong concerns that this is contrary to the intent of Maple Avenue [zoning]. It’s five stories.”

Meanwhile, Noble also said the Sunrise Assisted Living Facility had recently proposed a mezzanine that doesn’t actually fit the town’s definition of one.

“My reading of MAC code and my understanding of how we wrote it was that a mezzanine does not occupy more than 50 percent of the area of the floor below. In our current definition, it says it’s partially open to that floor below. I do not believe plans at Sunrise meet either criterion. I have concerns that these plans are not compliant.”

Town staff said both projects will be discussed in a work session with the Town Council next Monday (March 4).

Photo via Town of Vienna Planning and Zoning