The Town of Vienna will roll out new fitness classes to help people with arthritis and other chronic conditions in June.

Vienna’s Parks and Recreation Department is one of the 40 park and recreation agencies in the U.S. that received a grant from the National Recreation and Park Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a press release.

The grant pays for instructor training for the Walk With Ease program — a fitness initiative the Arthritis Foundation developed to help reduce pain and stiffness linked to arthritis and other chronic conditions, the press release says.

“Sixty percent of adults in the United State, including people who live right here in Vienna, suffer from one or more chronic conditions,” Recreation Coordinator Kathy Blevins said in the press release. “This grant allows us to help older adults in our community and provides a new way for Vienna residents to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Certified and trained instructors will teach the low-impact exercise program through the town’s Parks and Recreation Department starting June 3.

More concerns about the proposed Sunrise Senior Living Facility cropped up at the Town of Vienna’s Planning Commission meeting last night (April 24).

The Sunrise development and Vienna Town Council are already at odds over the project exceeding the town’s height requirements — a topic that also resurfaced during the public comment period last night.

“My real concern this is essentially a five-story building that is being sold as a four-story building,” Vienna resident Chuck Anderson said during public comment. “MAC was sold as a four-story and now we’re allowing five stories. I think there are a lot of people who are upset about this.”

While the public hearing focused on the development’s proposed reduction for its loading space width, fewer bike spaces, new fencing, extended awnings and desire to move the bus stop, concerns about parking and retail space dominated the discussion.

Planning Commissioner Sarah Couchman stressed an emphasis on maximizing opportunities for the assisted living facility’s ground floor retail space. Jerry Liang, senior vice president of development for Sunrise, said the current plans could support one larger tenant or two smaller ones.

“I think it would be great for Vienna to have another retail bay in that area,” Couchman said, questioning whether the lobby with the grand staircase could get reconfigured to add more retail space. “I don’t really see many people using the stairs given your population.”

Questions around parking erupted after Liang told the Planning Commission that the 83-unit facility proposed might have up to 35 employees during peak times on weekdays and would also want to offer valet parking on site for holidays and weekend events.

Some of the planning commissioners expressed skepticism that 60 parking spaces could fit the residents, visitors, retail customers and employees. Liang responded by saying that some of the employees will probably use public transit and carpools and that residents are expected to use about 33 spaces, with the retailers having 29 spots.

Planning Commissioner Mary McCullough said she is concerned about how the parking will affect the already-congested Church and Center streets.

“It’s a problem right now without your facility,” she said, questioning how the senior living facility could also valet park with only 60 parking spaces.

Chair Michael Gelb said he also shares McCullough’s concerns about the parking. “It’s a little bit of a hope and a prayer that this will work out,” he said.

The Planning Commission voted to keep the public hearing on the Sunrise proposal open and will return to the development on May 8.

Image via Town of Vienna

This Saturday, the 8th annual Taste of Vienna will offer bites of food from various local restaurants and chains.

More than a dozen restaurants are signed up for the event, including:

• Taco Bamba
• Kay’s Smoothies
• Viet Aroma
• Pure Pasty
• Ledo’s Pizza
• Nothing Bundt Cakes

Food trucks will also serve up food and drink, from desserts by Captain Cookie and The Milkman to Thai food by Tuk Tuk.

Admission to the festival is free, and guests can purchase food and drink there or via a variety of ticket packages that include tokens for drinks and a commemorative pint glass. Discount drink and food packages will be on sale until midnight tomorrow (April 25).

The event helps raise money for the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department (VVFD), which hosts the event.

Rain or shine, Taste of Vienna will take place from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. at the VVFD parking lot at 400 Center Street S.

Photo via Facebook

Funding for two positions to help alleviate two very different crises in Vienna was salvaged by last-minute savings.

Digging around the proverbial sofa to find extra funds for previously unfunded priorities is a time-honored local budget tradition. In Vienna, that took the form of $400,000 recovered from transferring repaving to a cheaper system and changes in the town’s health insurance structure.

In response, Town Manager Mercury Payton proposed $383,000 worth of items that were not funded in the budget that could be financed by the found-funds in the final budget.

The largest item among the unfunded priorities was $144,600 for an economic development manager — a long-discussed idea in Vienna.

Despite more businesses opening than closing in the town, Vienna is still struggling with rampant closures from small businesses. The manager would help assess problems facing local business and develop strategies to help keep businesses in town. Vienna is currently the only locality in Northern Virginia without a person working specifically in an economic development role.

The list of unfunded priorities also includes $50,000 for an economic development and market study.

The other crisis addressed in the list of priorities is handling the town’s massive wave of tree deaths. Over the last few years, every ash tree in Vienna has been killed by the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive parasite that’s devastated North America’s ash tree population.

But the town is also dealing with the still-unsolved mystery of what is killing the town’s Norway maples. The death tally reached 30 earlier this year, and Town Arborist Gary Lawrence said the killings were so similar to the Emerald Ash Borer deaths that at first the deaths were mistaken for that infestation.

The list of unfunded priorities includes $69,364 for an assistant arborist and $20,000 to help handle tree maintenance.

A public hearing on the tax rate is planned for April 29 and adoption of the budget is scheduled for May 13.

File photo

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!

Monday (April 22)

• Game of Thrones Trivia Night — 8-10:30 p.m. at Blackfinn Ameripub (2750 Gallows Road) — The Blackfinn Ameripub is hosting a trivia night themed around the popular HBO show Game of Thrones. There is no entry fee, but top teams can win special Game of Thrones-related prizes. Food and drinks themed around the show will also be available.

Wednesday (April 24)

• 2019 Green Expo — 7-9 p.m. at the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry Street SE.) — The event hosted by the town’s Community Enhancement Commission helps locals learn about sustainability, home energy efficiency, recycling and more. Activities at the Expo include a raffle to win a rain barrel and lessons on how to make a yard a habitat for local wildlife. Green Expo is free and open to the public.

Thursday (April 25)

• Rosé All Day Event — 5-7 p.m. at Tysons Corner Center — As part of series of events coming to BrandBox, Winky Lux’s Roseé themed event will feature all-day pampering with hair touch-ups and creative consultation. Entrance is $20, which also comes with a $20 WinkyLux gift card, a makeover and rosé tasting. RSVPs can be made by emailing [email protected].
• Claude Moore Farm Public Meeting — 6-8 p.m. at Madison Community Center (3829 N Stafford Street, Arlington) — The National Park Service is launching its planning effort for McLean’s Claude Moore Farm, which closed last fall, with an open house. Concepts for the park are planned to be shared at the meeting with the public given a chance to offer feedback.

Saturday (April 27)

• 8th Annual Taste of Vienna — 11 a.m.-8 p.m. at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department (400 Center Street) — The annual fundraiser for the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department is coming back, rain or shine. The event showcases food and beer from around Vienna. For adults, beer tickets are $15. All-day moon bounce admission for children is $2.50.
• Caboose Brewing Company’s Springfest 2019 — 12-7 p.m. at Caboose Commons (2918 Eskridge Road) — Caboose Commons is hosting its first craft brewery festival, with eight other breweries planned to attend the event in Merrifield. Live music, smoked barbecue, and authentic German beer are planned for the celebration. Tickets are $25.
• Pints for Parkinson’s — 1-5 p.m. at Tysons Biergarten (8346 Leesburg Pike) — At a special fundraiser, all donations and a percentage of sales at Tysons Biergarten will be given to local non-profit Parkinson Social Network — a group dedicated to bringing the Parkinson’s community together to inform and encourage those living with Parkinson’s.

Sunday (April 28)

• 2019 Walk on the Hill — 2-5 p.m. at the Windover Avenue — The annual tradition dating back to 1971 takes visitors on a self-guided tour through a historic Vienna neighborhood. Approximately 50 yards and gardens are planned to participate in the tours, and live entertainment is also planned for the celebration.

Photo via Facebook

Free Bike Rides on Earth Day — In celebration of Earth Day today (April 22), Capital Bikeshare wants to encourage more carbon-free transportation by offering a free 24 Hour Pass, which gives cyclists a full day of unlimited 30-minute rides. [Capital Bikeshare]

Restaurant Site Faces Redevelopment — “D.C.-based Northfield Investment and Development has acquired the former Marco Polo restaurant site in Vienna with plans to develop 44 condominium townhouses and 8,200 square feet of retail. The former Marco Polo restaurant at 245 Maple Ave. had already closed when it was heavily damaged by fire in October and later demolished.” [Washingtom Business Journal]

Virginia Tops Distracted Driving List — “April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month and this year, a new study ranked Virginia as the worst state for texting and driving… In 2019, Zendrive found that Virginia drivers use their phone an average of 9 percent of the time, which is a 3 percent increase from last year.” [Inside NoVa]

Pop-Up Fitness Class at Caboose Commons — People can lift, tone and drink brews at a free pop-up class by Falls Church Pure Barre at Caboose Commons tonight at 4 p.m. Happy hour will take place from 3:30-6 p.m. [Caboose Brewing]

Vienna Students Win National Merit Scholarships — “The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the first 1,000 corporate-sponsored scholarships Wednesday, April 17… Chloe E. Martin of Paul VI Catholic High School received a scholarship from the PwC Charitable Foundation. Martin plans to study business in college. The other winner, Richard H. Wang of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, got a scholarship from Northrop Grumman. Wang will likely study engineering.” [Vienna Patch]

It’s been a long time coming, but Vienna’s two existing Starbucks are closing down as the chain readies to open a drive-thru location a few blocks away at 367 Maple Ave E.

On Sunday, April 28, both of the Starbucks along Maple Avenue will be permanently closing.

“We would like to thank you for being a part of our store community,” Store Manager Jesus Torres said in a sign posted on the store’s front door. “You are the heart of who we are at Starbucks. It has been a great pleasure to connect with you every day. We are very thankful to have played a role in your daily routine and that you have shared these moments of your life with us.”

The new Starbucks location is planned to open Thursday, May 2.

If you absolutely, positively, cannot go four days without Starbucks, the closest nearby locations are one at 2930 Chain Bridge Road in Oakton and one at 8381 Leesburg Pike in Tysons.

A resident called Vienna police after she found unwanted bags of dog poop and trash in her yard last week.

The incidents took place in the 100 block of Dogwood Street, SW between 7 a.m. on Monday, April 8, and 6:07 p.m. on Friday, April 12, according to police.

“A resident reported that there have been a couple of occasions when someone as left bags of dog excrement and trash in her yard,” according to today’s Vienna crime report.

Elsewhere in Vienna, this week’s crime report includes a case of a Windover Avenue, NW resident who “reported she has received packages from Amazon that she never ordered” between last Wednesday, April 10, and Wednesday, April 17. “The person placing the order is using some of the resident’s personal information,” the report says.

Photo via Facebook

This summer, the Village Green Shopping Center is set to welcome in Dog World Pet Salon’s former spot a new spa for humans instead of furry friends.

A sign in the storefront window says that an “organic spa” called Soleil Beauty is “coming soon in July 2019” to 515 Maple Avenue W.

The spa will join several hair salons and spas currently at the shopping center. Soleil Beauty will neighbor the Village Green Hair Salon and Nail Design on one side and Avivo Salon and Day Spa on the other side a couple of doors down. People can also get pampered at the Moonlake Massage Spa and get a hair cut at the Dogan and John Hair Salon above Cupcakes and More.

The shopping center is also home to the Vienna Arts Society and the Italian Gourmet Deli, a family-owned business that has been in Vienna for more than 35 years.

A building permit indicates that work is getting done now on the newcomer’s spot.

Diners will have to wait a bit longer for Mediterranean restaurant Zenola to open in Vienna.

Zenola pushed its expected opening from the winter to this summer. The restaurant is currently hiring and posted jobs last week for wait staff, bushboys, bartenders, managers and kitchen staff.

Located in the former Maplewood Grill space (132 Branch Road SE) near the Fresh Market, the restaurant plans to serve Mediterranean cuisine along with beer, wine and cocktails, according to a liquor license application.

While the menu hasn’t been posted online yet, diners can expect this small fruit: olives. “Food is our passion and the olive is our inspiration,” Zenola says on its website, adding:

Olives are a foundational ingredient in each of the five great cuisines of the Mediterranean. Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Moroccan and Spanish cuisines each uniquely pay homage to the olive in their savory offerings. Which is best? We couldn’t decide so we give you the opportunity to determine for yourself by offering exquisite dishes from each.