The Weekly Planner is a roundup of 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 (Sept. 12)

• Mayor at Your Service — 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall (127 S. Center Street) — Susan Shaw from the Virginia Department of Transportation along will join Town of Vienna Mayor Laurie DiRocco to discuss the I-66 expansion project near the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro station. The event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday (Sept. 11)

• Canvas Painting — 7-9:30 p.m. at Muse Fairfax (2920 District Avenue, Suite 100) — An instructor will teach attendees how to paint a road and nature scene. The event is $35 and open to all ages.
• Yoga with Alyson — 10 a.m. at Caboose Tavern (520 Mill Street NE) — For $10, participants can take part in a yoga class. All experience levels are welcome and guests should bring their own mats.

Friday (Sept. 13)

• DMV 2 Go Full-Service Bus — 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Falls Church City Hall parking lot (300 Park Avenue) — The Department of Motor Vehicles will host a pop-up full-service office, helping people to obtain identification cards. The service will also help people apply for various licenses including fishing and hunting, driving permits, ordering disability placards and registering to vote.

Saturday (Sept. 14)

• Red Cross Wilderness First Aid — 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Campaign Pay It Forward (9893 Georgetown Pike, Suite 105 — This two-day training course prepares attendees for dangerous wilderness scenarios and how to take care of medical emergencies in the field. It costs $150 and everyone is welcome.
• Vienna Quarterly Recycling Day — 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Northside Property Yard (600 Mill Street NE) — People can come and recycle unusual items such as chemicals, appliances or small electronics. No TVs or dangerous items will be accepted.
• Comedy and Cocktails — 8 t0 10 p.m. at Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington Street A) — North American Comedy Distillery Tour will bring nationally known comedians to Falls Church for an evening of humor. Presale tickets start at $20.
• 2019 Wolf Trap Ball: Singapore — 7 p.m. at Filene Center (1551 Trap Road) — This black-tie gala supports Wolf Trap’s arts and cultural foundation while allowing guests to enjoy a classy evening with Singapore Ambassadors Ashok Mirpuri and Gouri Mirpuri. Email Wolf Trap for tickets.

Sunday (Sept. 15)

• Tysons Farmers Market — every Sunday through November from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at 1961 Chain Bridge Road — The weekly farmers market features local produce, meats, eggs, hot foods, baked goods and more. In addition to food, attendees can enjoy live music, cooking demonstrations and kids events. The market accepts SNAP and matching on all SNAP purchases.

Image via Wolf Trap

Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in McLean. Reach the office at 703-790-9090.

So this fall schedule of back to school, fall sports and oh yeah, the fall real estate market, has begun to really mess with my ability to plan for dinner!

I don’t own an instant pot, and I barely use our crockpot, so I’ve been looking for other ways to feed my boys (well, okay, one of them survives on air somehow but the other kid actually eats). I’ve put together some deals around town that offer a “kids eat free” option or a cheap incentive to bring you in. As always, if I have left something off the list, please drop it in the comments to share with other readers!

Falls Church

• Pizzeria Orso, Falls Church — Kids eat free Tuesday for lunch and dinner kids 10 and under get one free item from the children’s menu for each traditional or house specialty pizza ordered. Dine in only.
• Chevy’s Fresh Mex, Falls Church — Kids eat free all day Tuesday. Two free kids meals per regular priced adult entrée. Dine in only.
• Pizzeria Uno, Falls Church — Kids eat free on Tuesday.
• Liberty BBQ, Falls Church — Kids 3 and under free at Bottomless Brunch on the weekends AND on Monday nights, kids 12 and under eat free (Pulled Pork Sandwich, Pulled Chicken Sandwich, or a Hot Dog with a side of fries, fruit or tomato soup).
• Jason’s Deli, Falls Church — Kids eat free on Tuesday from 5-10 p.m. Dine in only, 1 kid’s meal per each adult entrée for kids 12 and under.

Vienna/Oakton

• IHOP — Kids eat free from the children’s menu everyday, 4-9 p.m. with the purchase of 1 adult entrée.
• Anita’s Mexican Grill, Vienna — Kids under 10 eat free all day on Tuesdays.
• Foster’s Grille, Vienna — Kid’s meals for 10 and under are 1/3 off the regular price with the purchase of an adult entrée. Dine in only.
• Ledo’s Pizza, Vienna — Kids eat free on Thursdays with 1 adult entrée.
• Dickey’s BBQ, Vienna — Sundays, kids eat free 12 and under if an adult spends at least $10.
• California Tortilla, Oakton — Free kid’s meal with adult entrée purchase.

McLean

• Lebanese Taverna, McLean — Kids age 12 and under eat free off the kid’s menu with adult entrée purchase on Thursdays 11 a.m. to close.
• Silver Diner, McLean — Kids eat free on Tuesday.
• Rocco’s Italian Restaurant, McLean — Kids eat free (1 per adult entrée), or 1 free kid’s meal with a medium pizza, or 2 kid’s meal with a large pizza over 25. Dine in only. Mondays and Tuesdays.

An upcoming community garage sale in McLean will offer people the chance to buy or sell unwanted items.

Hosted by the McLean Community Center, the sale offers more than 50 booths and even an area where kids can practice their entrepreneurial and business skills.

If anyone wants to set up a booth, it will cost $45 or $35 for McLean residents. For kids aged 3 t0 15 wanting to set up a booth, there will be a fee of $25 or $15 for McLean residents. The webpage warns that spots are available on a first-come-first-serve basis and interested parties can contact organizers by email.

For those looking to buy or just browse the selection, admission is free.

The event will be held regardless of the weather on Saturday (Sept. 14) from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the intersection of Ingleside Avenue and Beverly Road.

Photo via Freddie Marriage on Unsplash

The McLean Citizens Association would like a little more space between neighbors on corner lots.

Currently, homes built on corner lots fall under a special set of zoning parameters. While the zoning law says the home must be at least 25 feet from the front and side streets, homes can be built with as little as 12 feet between them and rear lots — though some in the MCA said there are lots with as little as 8 feet of distance.

The result are tiny back yards on homes built at an angle and very little space between the corner lot and their catty-corner neighbor.

In a resolution approved on Wednesday (Sept. 4), MCA calls for Fairfax County to change the regulations so the setback is at least 18 feet if at an angle or 25 feet if set squarely.

“In recent years redevelopers have increasingly been targeting corner lots in order to take advantage of Fairfax County’s unusual corner-lot rear setback requirement… by placing large houses with square footprints squarely onto corner lots, with only a rump ‘rear yard,'” the resolution said.

The resolution noted that the unique corner lot calculations mean homes on street corners can be 25 percent larger than interior lots within the same subdivision. The MCA said recent corner lot permits with inadequate setbacks have resulted in increased stormwater runoff, reduced natural light and reduced privacy.

It’s a problem county staff are aware of and have been making efforts to amend. As part of Fairfax County’s efforts to modernize its zoning regulations — called zMOD — the county has a section specifically about corner lot setbacks:

Corner lots need to provide the minimum front setback adjacent to both streets, but in the referenced districts, the rear setback can take the dimension of the side setback. For instance… a corner lot is required to provide a 35-foot front setback from the lot lines which abut each street, and a 15-foot setback from the lot lines which abut both adjoining lots, in lieu of providing a 25-foot setback from the rear lot line.

The zMOD document notes that in older residential areas experiencing redevelopment, older homes are being replaced with new homes that maximize the lot’s space, “leaving limited usable rear yard area.”

“Staff has received comments about this setback provision, noting that the additional lot width required for a corner lot as compared to an interior lot more than off-sets the additional front setback requirement,” staff said in the document. “The attached draft now requires that a 25-foot rear setback be provided.”

The MCA resolution also includes information about technical changes requested, like adjusting where the “front lot line” is located for the corner lots. But the resolution also encouraged Fairfax County to act more swiftly on the issue than the framework of the zMOD ordinance would indicate.

“County staff are aiming for public hearings in spring or summer of 2020 on the new Zoning Ordinance arising from zMOD, and effectiveness of the new ordinance is expected to follow enactment by an interval of some months,” the resolution said. “The MCA urges Fairfax County to enact and implement such reform by the end of the first quarter of 2020.”

Image via McLean Citizens Association

After seven months of work, construction crews finally refurbished the stream that cuts through a nature preserve in McLean.

Scotts Run Tributary is encompassed by the Scotts Run Watershed project.

Improvements to the stream included reducing sediment, improving ground nutrients, stabilizing the banks and improving the overall water quality for 600 feet of stream, Matthew Kaiser, a spokesperson for Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, said.

The project began in late November of 2018 and finished this July and cost Fairfax County $1.5 million, Kaiser said.

“Water quality benefits of the project include removal of 47 pounds of total phosphorus, removal of 238 pounds of total nitrogen, and removal of 15,132 pounds of total suspended solids per year,” Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust wrote in his September newsletter.

The makeover also added setup pools, a reinforced pipe and stronger material, according to a Fairfax County presentation.

Photo via Fairfax County

After flooding in early July washed two dumpsters into Pimmit Run, the stream bed is now dumpster-free.

On Wednesday, Tysons Reporter found the two dumpsters — washed up on the bed of Pimmit Run near Old Chesterbrook Road.

Fairfax County officials said the bins that washed up on the stream bed roughly eight weeks ago and belonged to American Disposal Services and Republic Services.

The county alerted the companies about the dumpsters in July, Judy Pedersen, a spokesperson of the Fairfax County Park Authority, told Tysons Reporter.

“Over the past few weeks we have contacted these two companies six times in an effort to get them removed,” Pedersen said.

One Nextdoor user said they reached out weeks ago to Fairfax County Park Authority, DPWES, law enforcement and Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust about the dumpsters.

“Admittedly, removing the dumpsters is going to be difficult,” the user wrote. “There’s no easy access for heavy equipment to reach them.”

Both bins were removed today (Sept. 5), according to Nathan Geldner, a spokesperson for Republic Services.

Geldner did not answer Tysons Reporter question about why it took so long to respond to the requests from governmental officials.

American Disposal Services promised to have both bins removed after the county’s Department of Code Compliance pressured the garbage companies to make changes, Matthew Kaiser, the spokesperson for the county’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES), told Tysons Reporter.

Kaiser said a contractor removed the bins. Tysons Reporter has not been able to confirm which company hired the contractor.

After months of waiting, pedestrians and drivers can expect two McLean roads severely damaged by flash flooding in July now to reopen this fall.

The 1300 block of Kirby Road and Swinks Mill Road by Scott’s Run have been closed since the July 8 storm. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has said that it will take months to repair the damage.

In a newsletter to residents, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said that VDOT plans to complete repairs to Swinks Mill Road by the end of this month and Kirby Road by late November.

“VDOT is working on both roads concurrently and has committed to aggressive schedules for completing the repairs on each road,” Foust wrote in the newsletter.

VDOT is looking to secure an emergency contract for bridge and road repair at Kirby Road.

More from the newsletter:

Kirby Road has been cleared of debris, and temporary repairs to the bridge and roadway have been completed to make travel safe for local residents until the permanent repairs can be completed. However, the road is not open to through traffic. Safety and structural assessments have been completed, as have boundary and topographic surveys, which are being used to plan the repairs. Identification of types and locations of utilities have been completed, and utility repairs are planned.

The design has been finalized for a contractor bid, with the contract expected to be awarded by mid-September. Completion of the roadway and bridge repairs is expected by late November, with the roadway being completed first in order to maintain access to homes, and the bridge repairs being completed after.

Swinks Mill Road has been cleared of debris and been made safe for travel for local residents and emergency responders, but the Swinks Mill bridge was and remains closed. Safety and structural assessments, as well as boundary and topographic surveys, are being used to develop plans for the repairs. The bridge design has been finalized. VDOT state crews began making the permanent repairs on August 9. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of September.

Kirby and Swinks Mill roads weren’t the only local ones damaged — VDOT has said that “extensive repairs” were made to 12 McLean-area roads right after the storm.

Tired of underpaid jobs and inconvenient hours, three entrepreneurial McLean teens decided to start their own company.

Their new company, TeenServ, aims to solve teenage unemployment with a platform that matches students and community members who need short-term assistance with various tasks. Website users can pick-up shifts wherever and whenever they want, making it convenient for hectic schedules.

Around a year ago, Jack Lannin, Quin Frew and another McLean teen were walking home together from the local pool where they worked as lifeguards, upset that they received a significant pay cut when they came up with the idea for TeenServ.

Lannin told Tysons Reporter that pay change “almost cut their salary in half,” and they wanted to find another job but there were few options.

“Aside from getting a real job, reffing sports or yard work, there isn’t really a good way to make money,” Lannin said, adding that even becoming a referee requires a significant startup cost for teens — around $70 — to pay for training and a uniform.

They started out by going door-to-door and asking community members if they would pay teens fair wages for short-term yardwork. Soon enough, they began gathering opportunities.

“For teens, it’s really intimidating going door-to-door,” Lannin said. “But for us, it wasn’t a big deal.”

With help from an entrepreneurship class at McLean High School and feedback from peers, the students were able to turn their idea into a reality. Currently, they said they are learning as they go, thanks to guidance from their class and feedback from customers.

So far, the website has employed more than 200 teens, according to Lannin.

The third founder, whom Tysons Reporter wasn’t able to receive parental permission to publish their name, said one of his friends has made more than $1,500 so far by taking on random jobs and managed to build a rapport with homeowners who request him for all their upcoming tasks.

TeenServ pays students up to $18 per hour — well above Virginia’s minimum wage of $7.25.

The boys say the platform is mutually beneficial for community members and teens. The community members enjoy working with teens because it gives them an opportunity to interact with someone they otherwise wouldn’t, and teens feel like they are giving back to the community, they said.

If the customers are unsatisfied with the work, the three founders will come back to finish the job free of charge. The founders said they only had to take a customer up on this once or twice so far.

“For the future, we really want to start with McLean and expand as large as possible thought the area,” the third founder said.

Photo Courtesy TeenServ 

Tysons Reporter is back with its new monthly crime map showing where the incidents occurred in Fairfax County Police Department’s McLean District Station.

We went ahead and pulled together all of the incidents noted for the McLean District Station in FCPD crime recaps from Aug. 1-31, weeded out the ones that are not in the Tysons Reporter coverage area and plotted them in the interactive map above.

The McLean District Station covers crime in Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Falls Church, McLean, Tysons and Great Falls.

The map only includes information from FCPD and does not include reports to the police departments in the Town of Vienna or the City of Falls Church.

Use the icon in the top left corner of the map to toggle between the various types of crimes displayed.

Fairfax County’s weekday police recaps are not comprehensive lists of every incident and the addresses are approximate. FCPD also notes that information in the recaps “is generally based on initial reports made to the police department.”

Anyone with information about any of these crimes should call 703-691-2131 or 1-866-411-TIPS(8477).

Dominion Energy Backs Electric School Bus Push — “Dominion Energy announced an initiative to bring electric school buses en masse to school districts around Virginia. The effort comes amid a Fairfax County group’s call for its school district to transition to all electric buses.” [Patch]

McLean Program Encouraging Green Thumbs — “The McLean Trees Foundation’s Neighborhood Tree Program returns for its sixth year… For $50, the foundation will help McLean homeowners select a tree and then deliver it, help to plant it and offer instructions on caring for it.” [Inside NoVa]

Transforming Tysons Into a Walkable City — “According to its comprehensive plan, Tysons is aiming to become ‘a true urban downtown for Fairfax County’ by 2050. But the question on a lot of people’s minds is how they will get there, and how they will get around within the four-square-mile area.” [Greater Greater Washington]

New Track at McLean School — “Fairfax County officials, school staff and students on Aug. 22 dedicated a new track on the grounds of Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean… The soft-surface track is 1,550 feet long, or just more than one-quarter mile, and will be used by Franklin Sherman Elementary students and community members.” [Inside NoVa]

Foust Shares His Favorite Local Spots — Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust shared some of his top picks of things to do and places to go around McLean in a guest article. [Connection Newspapers]

Therapy Dog Comes to Vienna School — “The student services department at Thoreau Middle welcomes therapy dog Jackson Granados as part of their clinical team. Jackson will be at Thoreau part-time with school social worker Joy Granados visiting select classrooms and students and traveling the hallways at arrival and dismissal times.” [Fairfax County Public Schools]

New HQ in Tysons Building — “Strategic consulting firm Dean & Company has signed a 36,205-square-foot lease at 1600 Tysons Boulevard, with plans to move its corporate headquarters [there]… The company currently operates out of 8065 Leesburg Pike in Vienna.” [Commercial Observer]

Silver Line Work Affecting Tysons — “Beginning later this month, pedestrians and drivers will encounter daily lane and partial sidewalk closures along eastbound and westbound Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) and northbound and southbound Route 123 (Dolley Madison/Chain Bridge Road), along the Silver Line Phase 1 alignment in the Tysons area.” [Inside NoVa]