Safety Concerns At Herndon-Monroe — Do you use the commuter lot at Herndon-Monroe? Fairfax County officials want to remind patrons of some lane changes this week. Please comply to keep everyone safe, they say. [Fairfax County]
Chatting With Bob — Restonian Kristina Alcorn’s book about conversations with Reston founder Bob Simon gets some Washington Post attention. [Washington Post]
Behind The Beer — This online video reviewer checks out Aslin Brewing Company’s Astro Zombie brew. [YouTube]
Grant Hill Gets Another Honor — Reston native Grant Hill will be inducted into the Duke University Athletics Hall of Fame in September. Hill, a star basketball player at South Lakes, was part of two NCAA championship teams at Duke from 1990-94 before embarking on a 19-year pro career. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Photo: Fun at 2o16 RA Spring Festival/Credit: Volunteer Reston
It’s been five years since a store occupied the 25,000-square-foot grocery store space at Tall Oaks Village Center.
Giant Foods was in residence from the center’s founding in 1974 until 2007. In the following four years, two international groceries gave it a go, but came and went pretty quickly. Compare Foods, the last tenant, left in March of 2011.
The Jefferson Apartment Group purchased Tall Oaks for $14 million in late 2014. The developer has plans to tear down the strip center and redevelop it as residences (townhouses and condos) with 8,500 square feet of service and retail.
JAG reps say a recent consultants’ study, reviewed by the county, shows that no grocery store will thrive at Tall Oaks because of severe nearby competition (Whole Foods, Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter and future Balducci’s) and lack of road visibility.
JAG held a community meeting in the store space on Tuesday. With no heat or light, the old bones of the place are far from historic. With all store accoutrements stripped away, what’s left is rust, dust, must, and for Tall Oaks-area residents, memories.
Retail employees at Reston Town Center will not be charged for parking when a paid parking system goes into effect this summer, RTC owner Boston Properties has confirmed.
On Aug. 1, Reston Town Center will roll out RTC Park, an app-based system for paid parking. Parking will cost $2 an hour for a maximum of $24 a day. Some retailers will validate parking.
But originally, workers — from the CEO of a tech company on Freedom Drive to a sandwich maker at Potbelly — were going to to have to pay too, though they were going to be offered $50 or $70 a month passes.
Now retail and restaurant workers will get free parking. Office workers will still have to work out any subzidies with their employers or pay for parking.
Boston Properties says it is going to the new system to discourage commuter parking. There is evidence people are parking in some of RTC’s seven parking garages, then taking a shuttle to Wiehle-Reston East to board Metro’s Silver Line. The problem will likely get worse when the Reston Town Center station opens in 2020.
Parking at Reston Town Center will be free on weekends and at special events, management says.
RTC patrons have not been happy with the change. Thousands have signed petitions asking Boston Properties to reconsider. Many others have said they will no longer visit RTC during the week.
Masked men carrying guns held up the Sunoco gas station at South Lakes Village Center on Wednesday, Fairfax County Police said.
Police said two men entered the store at 11900 South Lakes Dr. where one employee was working about 3 a.m.
One of the suspects allegedly displayed a gun and demanded money. The suspects took an undisclosed amount of money and fled, the victim told police.
The suspects were described as black, in their 20s or 30s, between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall and 150 to 160 pounds. Both wore dark-colored clothing and their faces were covered. The victim did not require medical attention.
Last week, the 7-Eleven on Soapstone Drive a few miles away was also robbed in a similar fashion. It is not yet known whether the incidents are related.
South Lakes Sunoco/file photo
This week’s Reston Pet of the Week is Johnson, an older guy who needs a forever home.
Here is what the people at Homeward Trails Animal Rescue have to say about the hound/Lab mix:
Johnson is an awesome 50 lb. hound/lab mix dog. He is outgoing and friendly and happy to make friends with children, dogs and cats.
He’s a mature boy — not quite 9 years old — but full of life. He’s a bouncy boy who is calm in the house but loves walks. Johnson is an enthusiastic, happy boy. He is housetrained. He is not a fan of the crate — he prefers to find a nice spot to hang out in the home.
Johnson would be happy in a home with other dogs or as an only dog. He’s lived with cats as well as with dogs. He’s really gentle with children.
Johnson’s fantastic personality saved his life. Johnson was found as a stray and brought to a rural shelter. Being a mature and larger-size hound normally would have weighed heavily against his odds of getting out of the shelter alive. But Johnson quickly won the hearts of the shelter staff who make it their mission to save this charming, good natured and friendly gent.
Johnson is now eagerly looking forward to finding his new home. He hopes to find a home where he won’t be alone too much — he loves human companionship.
Johnson is in a foster home and is eagerly waiting to find his forever home.
Johnson’s adoption fee is $275. Please fill out an HT adoption questionnaire if you are interested.
Are you and Johnson a match? If so, let us know and our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, will send you $100 in Becky’s Bucks, as well as some treats.
Want your pet to be considered for the Reston Pet of the Week?
Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet.
Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks.
Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Reston and Northern Virginia.
For more than a year, Jefferson Apartment Group (JAG) has been brainstorming what to do with Reston’s Tall Oaks Village Center, which it purchased in 2014.
JAG wants to build mostly residential on the land at Wiehle Avenue and North Shore Drive. Many Tall Oaks-area residents are still hopeful for the return of retail, which has essentially died over the last decade. The 70,000-square-foot center has been without an anchor grocery for five years — and a majority of the smaller retail spaces remain empty too.
JAG said in May of 2015 that large retail was untenable at Tall Oaks. Then it commissioned a consultants’ report, which was presented Tuesday night and echoed that analysis.
The study by national real estate consultants RCLCO says no grocery will work at the 42-year-old village center. Not traditional (i.e., Giant or Safeway), not speciality (i.e. MOM’s Organic Market) and not a Trader Joe’s. (RCLCO looked at all three).
“The conclusions are a grocery store is not supportable,” said RCLCO’s Len Bogorad, speaking to the community in the chilly, dark and empty 25,000-square-foot grocery space for dramatic effect. “Without a grocery anchor, there is limited demand for other services as well.”
Bogorad said heavy competition from nearby grocery stores at North Point Village Center, the Spectrum, Plaza America and other centers, combined with limited access and visibility for Tall Oaks mean the center could support about 7,500 square feet of retail. That number is, not coincidentally, nearly the exact amount JAG was proposing in its most recent vision for Tall Oaks.
Barbara Byron of Fairfax County’s Office of Community Revitalization says the county had a third party review RCLCO’s findings. The review, by consultants RKG, said about the same thing — that Tall Oaks could support about 6,000 square feet of retail but could also support a bit more in services. RKG says there should be about 3,000 square feet of service-oriented businesses at Tall Oaks.
JAG took that into account when unveiling its latest proposal for the center. The newest draft keeps roughly the same number and layout of residences, but adds additional retail and service space in an existing office building for about 8,500 square feet (up 21 percent from the previous proposal). The new plan also adds 39 percent more green space.
The tweaked plan contains structured open space, including a small amphitheater, lawn areas, a public art/fountain feature and outdoor exercise stations geared toward senior citizens.
There are also plans for a children’s play area that will be “very Reston,” with natural materials, said Duncan Jones, JAG’s Director of Development & Investments.
Herndon High Cabaret — Herndon High will perform “Once Upon a Time,” its annual cabaret, Saturday at 2 and 6:30 p.m. at HHS. The show will feature performances from Phantom of the Opera, Footloose, Aida, Wicked, Aladdin, Seussical, Dream Girls, Newsies, Big Fish and many more! Tickets available at the door: $10; Students, seniors, Faculty $5. The show is a benefit for Herndon High’s choral department.
Dock Diving Dogs Return May 14 — Chesapeake Dock Diving Dogs will be back in Reston Saturday at Lake Anne Plaza. Check them out at 1 p.m. [Facebook]
Reston’s Spring Splendor — Captured in great photos. [Modern Reston]
UCP’s P3 — United Christian Parish is holding a birthday celebration for the church. P3 (Pentecost Praise Party) is Sunday, May 15, 11 a.m. at Lake Anne Park (11301 North Shore Drive). There will be shuttles from UCP, as well as refreshments and music.
Photo of Herndon High Cabaret cast members/Credit: HHS
Refraction, a coworking space sponsored by Canvas, has taken over new space at Reston Town Center and will hold an open house on Thursday to show it off to prospective tenants.
The Grand Opening event is from 6 to 9 p.m. at Refraction, 11911 Freedom Drive, Suite 850.
Refraction says it will have space for 50-60 companies in the new digs. The 23,000-square-foot expanded space has room to “house 250+ entrepreneurs, 23 meeting spaces, 14 offices, 2 kitchens, 1 multi-purpose event space and heaps of room for informal collaboration,” Refraction representatives say.
Refraction memberships will include free coffee and Wi-fi, meeting rooms and other collaborative space. Rates start at $30/daily for a drop-in desk to $300 for a co-working desk. Full offices are also available; inquire for prices.
From Refraction:
For three years and across three continents, we have studied every aspect of a successful startup office — speaking to entrepreneurs and their teams, boomers, millennials, investors, mentors, unicorns, academics, designers, and architects. The result of this research and consultation has been distilled into Refraction’s expanded space and the brand new HQ of Canvas, our major sponsor. We know what a team needs to be productive, collaborative and engaged.
Want to attend Thursday’s event? RSVP with Refraction.
A cell phone monopole is back in play for Crossfield Elementary School.
Verizon Wireless is seeking to build a cell phone tower at the Fairfax County Public Schools elementary school at 2791 Fox Mill Rd.
Verizon is working with local firm Milestone Communications to get approval to build the pole and improve cell phone reception in the area. The proposal is for a 138-foot tower disguised to look like a tree.
The request to build the pole comes about 2 1/2 years after a similar proposal fell apart in the application process. T-Mobile and Milestone filed an application in November of 2013 seeking to build at Crossfield. The request was postponed indefinitely.
Meanwhile, there was organized resident opposition to the 2013 proposal, including a petition signed by fewer than 200 people. Residents said there was already a cell phone tower nearby, that the tower would affect home values, and that cell phones should not be allowed on elementary school property because studies showing longterm health effects are inconclusive.
There was also a proposal by AT&T and Milestone for a pole at Hunters Woods Park, a Reston Association property, in June of 2014. The RA Design Review Board nixed the idea of a 115-foot pole in the woods behind a soccer field.
But many poles have been built on to public lands in recent years. South Lakes High School, Herndon Middle School, Madison High School and Carson Middle School are among the many FCPS properties that have cell phone towers on their grounds.
The cell phone companies pay the landowners to lease the pole space. FCPS, for instance, has made more than $4 million from the arrangement over the last several years, FCPS officials said.
Milestone collects rent from the wireless carriers on its towers, 40 percent of which goes to FCPS. Schools receive $25,000 each time a tower is built, and then $5,000 from each wireless carrier that leases space on the tower.
Milestone says schools and parks are ideal locations for these towers because they often have existing structures, such as field light poles, in place.
FCPS says it has has done studies on cell phones being located on school grounds and has determined the practice is safe.
Have some thoughts on a pole for Crossfield? A community meeting has been scheduled for May 19, 7 p.m., at the North County Government Center, Hunter Mill District Office, 1801 Cameron Glen Dr.
Map of proposed cell phone tower location/Credit Milestone Communications
Fairfax County Police say that there have been a series of thefts from American-made cars and trucks in Herndon, Chantilly, Fairfax and Vienna areas in the past four months.
Since February, there have been 10 incidents of tires and wheels stolen from 11 GMC or Chevrolet model vehicles, police said. The majority of cases occurred within the Fair Oaks police district but three cases were from the Reston, McLean and Sully districts (one each).
Detectives of the Criminal Investigations Section believe these cases are related and have determined the thieves are targeting SUVs, large body trucks and Corvettes manufactured by General Motors.
The suspects appear to be traveling along the Fairfax County Parkway to reach the targeted areas. It appears the majority of thefts are taking place between Sunday and Tuesday and between 2 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. In all cases, the vehicles were parked outside close to the home, either in the driveway or in the street
Here is where thefts have occurred:
Monday, February 1: 8200 block of Madrillon Estates Drive, Vienna; 2010 Chevrolet Corvette
Saturday, February 13: 4800 block of Autumn Glory Way, Chantilly; 2014 GMC Denali 1500
Wednesday, February 17: 2200 block of Stirrup Iron Lane, Reston; 2013 GMC Sierra
Tuesday, March 8: 4500 block of Stone Pine Court, Chantilly; 2015 GMC Sierra
Monday, March 21: 3000 block of Heritage Farm Court, Herndon; 2013 and 2008 Chevrolet Corvettes (two vehicles)
Tuesday, March 29: 13100 block of Bramblewood Lane, Herndon; 2015 GMC Sierra
Friday, April 1: 3000 block of Hughsmith Court, Herndon; 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe
Sunday, April 3: 12800 block of Shadow Oak Lane, Fairfax; 2015 Chevrolet Suburban
Tuesday, April 12: 3200 block of Orchard Glen Court, Herndon; 2010 Chevrolet Corvette
Wednesday, May 4: 3800 block of Highland Oaks Drive, Fairfax; 2015 GMC truck
Detectives have also released photos of a vehicle they believe to be involved in the thefts (See above). The vehicle was seen on April 3 in the 12800 block of Shadow Oak Lane in Fairfax around the time of the theft that occurred in that location. The vehicle appears to be a silver 2011 to 2015 Ford Explorer SUV.
Police are encouraging residents who own a GM manufactured vehicle to park in a well-lit area and immediately report any suspicious noise, persons or vehicles to police. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477, e-mail at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637 or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.
Photo courtesy Fairfax County Police.
Nearly 50 puppies who were rescued from a Chantilly pet store last fall are now healthy and ready for permanent homes, says staff at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter.
The dogs were taken from Dreamy Puppy in late November after Animal Control officers had received multiple complaints from citizens about the health of the puppies in the store, Fairfax County Police told NBC4 at the time.
Officers removed between 46 puppies from the store and took them to a veterinarian to be examined. The Dreamy Puppy location in Chantilly appears to now be closed.
The puppies have since been given medical care and have been living in foster homes. The county animal shelter said on its Facebook page yesterday that the dogs are now ready to go to homes. But getting to this point did not happen without a legal battle.
“After months of court hearings and testimony from expert witnesses, we are thrilled to announce that the court has awarded custody of all 46 puppies to Fairfax County,” shelter staff wrote. “These foster families have been caring for these puppies for more than five months, and it has truly taken a village. Some of the puppies required extensive medical care, and we are grateful to have been able to provide it.”
“The fosters have cared for the puppies like part of their families, providing transportation to the shelter for regular and routine exams and vaccinations, seeing to the puppies’ everyday needs, and most of all providing invaluable love and socialization during a formative time in these puppies’ lives.”
Some of the puppies have been adopted by their foster families. However, a number of pups are still looking for homes. Those pets will be available for adoption beginning Tuesday.
Read more about animal adoption on Fairfax County Animal Shelter’s website.
Will Tall Oaks Village Center get another shot at being a retail destination?
Come to a community meeting Tuesday, May 10 to find out the results of a retail study — and whether it has any impact on Jefferson Apartment Group’s (JAG) plans for the ailing shopping center.
The meeting is at 7 p.m. in the vacant anchor store space at Tall Oaks.
The future of the village center has been been a development topic for more than a year and JAG’s proposal is now scheduled to go before the Fairfax County Planning Commission on June 23.
JAG purchased Tall Oaks in December of 2014. The group held a series of community meetings in the spring of 2015, where it initially outlined plans to turn the 70,0000-square-foot center into more than 100 multifamily units and townhomes and limited (about 3,000 square feet) of retail.
Tall Oaks’s 25,000-square-foot anchor space, occupied for years by Giant Foods and then briefly by two international grocery stores, has been vacant for more than five years.
At a meeting last year, Tall Oaks representatives said at community meetings in spring of 2015 that Tall Oaks’ current retail space — which went from 90 percent occupied in 2007 to 13 percent in 2015 — was not viable.
They said they shopped the store vacancies, including grocery store space, to retailers but there was no interest.
That did not sit well with neighborhood residents, who said the center could work as retail if marketed properly. Reston Association also said in a letter to county officials last summer that the plan fell “woefully short” on retail and community space.
JAG then came back with a new proposal, which offered a reduction in the number of residences and doubled the planned retail space to 7,000 square feet.
Several Tall Oaks-area residents have said they would like to see a study done independent of the one JAG is conducting.
They have also said they would like to see about 10,000 square feet of retail, as well as more green space, on the site.
Graphic: Tall Oaks concept as of June 2015/Credit: JAG
Big Yard Sale — Reston Association is holding its annual Community Yard Sale on Saturday, May 14. The sale is at 12000 Sunrise Valley Dr. from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Nearly 100 families will be selling a variety of items (household, kids’ toys and clothes and more). Rain date is May 15.
Towering Over Reston — Here’s a look at Reston’s proposed tallest building, which is planned for 1760 Reston Parkway. Developers are seeking a few tweaks, and will be before the Fairfax County Planning Commission later this month. [Washington Business Journal]
Recycling On The Rise — A recent report says the rate of recycling by Northern Virginia residents rose 10 percent from 2012 to 2014. [Northern Virginia Waste Management]
Riding Sober — SoberRide gave a record number of people rides home on Cinco de Mayo. [Inside Nova]
Photo: Reston Youth Triathlon May 8/Credit: Core Foundation
Fairfax County Police are looking for suspects in a robbery that took place on a trail near the 12000 block of Sunset Hills Road and Reston Parkway.
The victim said he was walking on the path on Sunday about 9:30 p.m. when when two men pushed him to the ground, took his property and fled.
The suspects were described as Hispanic, late teens to early twenties, approximately 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 11 inches, wearing dark clothing, police said.
In other weekend crime news reported by FCPD’s Reston District Station:
COMMERCIAL BURGLARY, 1700 block of Clubhouse Road, May 7. Police responded to a business for a burglary alarm. Responding officers located a door open and while waiting for K-9 to respond, a man was seen walking away from the business with a backpack.
Further investigation revealed that the man had allegedly been inside the business and taken property. A juvenile was arrested and charged with burglary.
LARCENIES
11900 block of Bowman Towne Drive, camera and microphone from vehicle
11600 block of Ivystone Court, electronics from residence
2100 block of Whisperwood Glen Lane, items from vehicle
1800 block of Wiehle Avenue, cigarettes from business
STOLEN VEHICLES
1300 block of Aldbury Way, 2012 Kia Soul
It’s not your imagination. It has been raining for nearly two weeks — and that is a new record.
Northern Virginia residents who have been looking for spring sunshine instead have gotten record sogginess since late April.
The Capital Weather Gang confirms that May 8 tied the record for consecutive days with rain here at 12. And it is raining again today, so that makes 13 and a record-breaker.
The previous records were 10 straight says, set in July of 1938 and August of 1873, the CWG says.
We may even see 14 or or more straight days as there is still rain in the forecast for much of this week.
See lots of stats and charts on the CWG. And stay dry out there.
