The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Reston, Fairfax County and most of Northern Virginia from 10 p.m. Monday through Tuesday night.
Snow is heading here, with accumulations of 1 to 3 inches. Locally higher amounts are expected North and West of D.C.
The weather will begin as a mixture of rain and snow Monday night, turning to all snow after midnight. Periods of snow will continue into Tuesday, the NWS said.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is urging commuters to plan ahead for Tuesday morning’s commute.
VDOT says c rews have treated interstates and major roads in Fairfax and surrounding counties with brine and liquid magnesium chloride in advance of the snow. About 1,450 trucks will pre-deploy Monday night along interstates, main roads and neighborhood streets. They will remain on duty to plow and treat roads through the day Tuesday, says VDOT
More from the NWS:
EXPECT SNOW COVERED ROADS AND TRAVEL DISRUPTIONS.
WINDS…NORTH 5 TO 10 MPH.
TEMPERATURES…IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 30S.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE PRIMARILY TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.
Reston Now will keep you up to date on any school delays or closings, as well as road conditions.
The Virginia Senate will vote today on a bill that would weaken developer proffers, which Fairfax County officials commonly use to get builders to contribute to park, roads and other improvements in exchange for development.
This is important in Reston, which is undergoing a period of multifamily housing growth as it turns towards being a transit-oriented community.
For instance, the Fairfax County Park Authority has said it will seek developer proffers to partially pay for a multimillion indoor recreation center, now slated for Reston Town Center North. The county also has identified more than $2 billion in infrastructure improvements needed in Reston over the next several decades — money that would likely come from proffers, as well as taxes and even a new special tax district.
Features of the bill require that proffers be limited to offsetting impacts that are directly attributable to new residential developments, such as traffic. The Senate version of the legislation does not apply to high-density areas, commercial developments or neighborhoods near Metro stations.
The bill places restrictions on what local officials can ask for in development negotiations. A House version of the bill passed 68-27 last week.
Officials in Northern Virginia told the Washington Post that changing the legislation would hamper their ability to negotiate for extra amenities from developers. They also argue that amending the land-use tool would open them up to lawsuits if builders whose projects were rejected argued that they were denied because of their refusal to agree to “unreasonable” proffer requests.
The proffer system in Virginia has been around for three decades. In Fairfax County, rapid growth in the 1970s prompted local government to demand that builders contribute to offset population growth’s effect on traffic, sewers and other systems, as well as help grow affordable housing.
The presidents of the Home Builders of Virginia told the Post that the proffer system has gotten out of control, developing into a list of demands rather than requests.
“We feel that proffers have gotten out of control,” said J.M. Snell, whose group helped craft the legislation. “They’ve grown out of proportion to where now localities have already predetermined proffers, which become demands, which is exactly the opposite of the word ‘proffer.’ “
Fairfax County Supervisor Chair Sharon Bulova says the new restrictions could lead to development projects’ not being approved.
Have something to say about Reston Community Center’s future planning and programming?
The attend RCC’s Board of Governors Community Relations and Program/Policy Joint Committee Meeting Monday at RCC Hunters Woods at 6:30 p.m.
RCC’s Board of Governors is working on its 2016-2021 Strategic Plan, which will guide the center’s efforts for the next five years.
The public is invited to participate in a facilitated conversation to review and make recommendations. After considering all input, RCC Board and staff will present a revised Strategic Plan draft to the public on March 14.
Can’t make it? Residents of Small Tax District 5 are invited to send suggestions and comments to [email protected]. A copy of the Strategic Plan draft may also be requested through that address.
Loudoun Runner Breaks Webb’s Record — Drew Hunter of Loudoun Valley High School broke the longstanding high school indoor mile held by Reston’s Alan Webb on Saturday. Hunter ran a the mile in 3:58.25 at New York’s Armory Track Invitational. Webb became the first American high school student in indoor history to turn in a sub-4 minute mile with a 3:59.86 at the same meet in 2001.
No Chiptole For Lunch — Today’s the day all Chipotle stores, including the three in Reston, will close for part of the day for a “national team meeting” after recent outbreaks of foodborne illness at the chain. Stores will open at 3 p.m. [News 4 Washington]
Laptop Drive at Supervisors Office — Help America’s Adopt a Soldier program reach its goal of collecting 500 donated working computer laptops/pads/tablets for homeless youth in Fairfax County. You can drop off your unwanted hardware at the Hunter Mill District Supervisor’s Office at 1801 Cameron Glen Drive, Reston, through Feb. 29.
Dippers Raise $95K — The ninth annual Freezin’ for a Reason Virginia Polar Dip raised $95,000 to help children with life-threatening illnesses attend Camp Sunshine in Maine. There were 204 jumper who paid to jump into Frigid Lake Anne, organizers said.
Photo: Heron at Lake Audubon/Credit: Laura Noll
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority’s plan for the Reston Town Center Metro station.
What to know now: The station, which will be located in the Dulles Toll Road median just west of Reston Parkway and about a half-mile from the current Reston Town Center, will look exactly like other Silver Line stations.
That is disappointing news to the Reston Town Center Association and its Design Review Board, which requested adding some flair in order to give the station area, particularly on the north side closest to town center, a sense of place.
“The station proposal reflects ‘standard’ station design and does not distinguish this stop as a place of special distinction appropriate to Town Center’s status in, and contributions to, the county and the region,” Robert Goudie, RTC Association Exeuctive Director wrote in a letter to Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins and Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova. Read More
A flight passenger is appealing to Jet Blue to change its alcohol policy after he was allegedly assaulted in flight Sunday by a Reston man who had been drinking, a Florida TV station reports.
Florida resident Kyriakos “Dom” Doukas, the passenger allegedly assaulted by Joseph Michael Sharkey, 36, of Reston, en route from Reagan National to Jacksonville, said Sharkey put him in a headlock about 2o minutes before they were to land in Jacksonville.
According to a criminal complaint, Sharkey, who was served four drinks during the flight, verbally assaulted Doukas and place him in a headlock; assaulted two flight attendants; and tried to open the cabin door while the plane was in flight.
Sharkey was charged by federal authorities with assault or intimidation of a flight crew. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
According to the complaint, after Sharkey’s scuffle with Doukas:
Sharkey got up from the seat and told the flight attendant that he was going to leave the aircraft; Sharkey had also told [flight attendant Robert] Studebaker he was a Federal Air Marshal and that the flight crew was under investigation; Sharkey attempted to walk to an exit door; Sharkey pushed flight attendant Studebaker who attempted to stop Sharkey; at some point Sharkey struck Studebaker in the groin with his knee; then two flight attendants used volunteers aboard Flight 715 to subdue Sharkey and place him in flex cuffs.
Doukas told News4Jax he was told by another passenger that Sharkey was “hammered before boarding” and that “as passengers waited for the FBI another flight attendant told him that he served Sharkey four rum and cokes during the flight.”
Doukas has asked Jet Blue to implement an internal policy of one alcoholic beverage per legal passenger per hour of a flight, the TV station reported.
Kelly Hennessa, a Reston native and 1978 graduate of Herndon High School, is continuing to recover after a car accident in June left her in a coma for months.
Aiding in that recovery: her teen idol, David Cassidy.
Hennessa, who now lives in Prince William County, was severely injured when she and her son Carson were headed to get ice cream there on June 1. Hennessa suffered a severe head injury and was hospitalized for months. Her son Carson, 12, suffered broken bones and other injuries.
Which brings us to David Cassidy. To help Kelly during her recovery, her husband, Greg Powell, would play his wife’s favorite David Cassidy songs for her.
Kelly especially liked the song “I Think I Love You,” and her husband says he would always see a small grin come to her face when the song played.
Earlier this week, she got to meet Cassidy prior to his performance at Alexandria’s The Birchmere. See the full story in this clip from Fox5.
Friends are still offering lots of support for the Hennessa, who is on leave from her job as a special education teacher at Centreville High School.
More than $45,000 has been raised on a Go Fund Me page started by a family friend to help the family with its growing medical expenses. Hennessa requires 24-hour care at home and struggles with cognitive impairment and speech difficulties, according to a message on the Go Fund Me Page.
The family may also have to modify its house for accessibility modifications, and is still paying the surgeons, ambulance, medical helicopter and hospital bills from the initial car crash.
Kelly Hennessa and son Clayton/Go Fund Me
Fairfax County Police say DWI patrols will be “out in full force this weekend” as residents prepare for the Super Bowl, which has become something of a national drinking holiday.
“The Super Bowl is America’s most popular sporting event,” police said in a release. “Game day parties can be epic events with football, great food, lots of friends, and typically, alcohol. Unfortunately, adding alcoholic beverages in the mix makes this weekend historically dangerous.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says in 2012, 43 percent of all traffic fatalities on Super Bowl Sunday were caused by drunk driving.
In 2014, 9,967 people were killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes in the United States. Alcohol-related crashes accounted for 31 percent of all vehicle crash fatalities in the nation.
BACtrack, a company that makes smart phone-enabled breathalyzers, says that in 2014, its users recorded an average Blood Alcohol Content of .091 percent on Super Bowl Sunday. The legal BAC limit in Virginia is .08 percent.
From the FCPD:
What’s your game plan this weekend? Are you drinking OR are you driving? Doing both is simply not an option. Driving while intoxicated is illegal, dangerous and costly but easily preventable. Some basic planning can keep you and other drivers safe this weekend, or any weekend. If you plan to drink, plan not to drive:
- Designate a sober driver.
- Arrange for a taxi.
- Plan to stay overnight at a friend’s home.
If you are hosting a party, here are some helpful tips:
- Offer non-alcoholic drinks in addition to beer.
- Serve plenty of food. A full stomach can slow the rate of alcohol absorption.
- Stop serving alcohol an hour or two before the party ends.
- Arrange alternate transportation for your intoxicated guests.
- Never serve minors alcohol.
Protect yourself from drunk drivers on the road by knowing how to spot one. An impaired driver may:
- Weave, swerve or straddle the center line.
- Drive on the wrong side of the road.
- Drive at a very slow speed.
- Stop or brake for no reason.
- Have an extremely slow response to traffic conditions or signals.
- Drive without headlights at night.
The Fairfax County School Board on Thursday adopted the Fiscal Year 2017 Advertised Budget of $2.67 billion. That amount is an increase of 4.8 percent, or $121.4 million, from the FY 2016 Approved Budget.
The board voted 9-3, with board members Elizabeth Schultz (Springfield), Jeanette Hough (At-Large) and Tom Wilson (Sully) voting against Superintendent Karen Garza’s budget proposal.
After much community discussion about a possible budget deficit of more than $50 million in 2017, Garza announced her proposed budget in January. The budget features no program cuts — something that had been discussed and feared in the FCPS community — and it calls for step- and market-increases for staff.
The budget also includes an additional $40 million to enhance teacher salaries and make them more competitive, as well as funding to keep class sizes at the elementary level below 30 students.
“A budget is fundamentally a statement of values, and the advertised budget reflects this community’s unwavering support for excellent public schools,” School Board Chairman Pat Hynes (Hunter Mill) said in a statement. Read More
Remain Calm, Connolly Asks — Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va 11th) has asked for that Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Karen Garza ” tone down the rhetoric and the hyperbole so that we can actually get something done instead of making a point,” as the school system and the county Board of Supervisors head for a budget showdown. [WTOP]
Date Night — Reston Association is hosting “Parents’ Night Out” Friday, Feb. 12, 7-9:30 p.m. Get a head start on your Valentine’s Day celebration while your kids (ages 5 to 12) have a fun-filled night. with us. Children will go on a night hike (weather permitting), play games and make a red treat. $15/child RA members, $20/child non-members. Email [email protected] or call 703-476-9689.
Election Season — Restonian breaks down the upcoming Reston Association elections. [Restonian]
Book Signing With Kwame Alexander — Newbery Award winning author Kwame Alexander, a Reston resident, will hold a book signing for his new childrens’ book, “Surf’s Up,” Monday, Feb. 8, 5 p.m. at Green Lizard Cycling in Herndon. The event is hosted by Reston’s Scrawl Books. [Facebook]
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors have unanimously approved a 155-bed assisted living and memory care facility for Leesburg Pike (Route 7) near Baron Cameron Avenue.
Singh Senior Living of Cary, NC, plans to build Waltonwood Reston on a 23-acre parcel at 10819 Leesburg Pike. Singh currently manages more than two dozen Waltonwood facilities nationwide, including one in Ashburn.
The special exception is required to build a medical care facility on land that is currently zoned residential. The land currently contains a 1,500-square-foot unoccupied house, which will be torn down, according to an October report by the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning.
The staff report recommended approval of the project, as did the Fairfax County Planning Commission at a December meeting.
Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins said she appreciated Singh’s flexibility in making the design something that fits in with the residential neighborhood nearby.
“I also appreciate county staff working to develop conditions so it could be an asset to the Hunter Mill District and the county’s 50+ plan, which reflects the aging we will see as a community,” Hudgins said.
The 155,150-square-foot facility will feature about 20 acres of open space on the the 23-acre property. There will be 113 parking spots, but Hudgins added the additional development condition that Singh provide free shuttle bus service for employees from nearby Metro or bus stations.
Other development conditions agreed to by the developer: to add a right turn lane on Leesburg Pike and build a retaining wall and vegetation to screen the front of the building from Leesburg Pike.
Singh will also contribute $10,000 for additional traffic signals.
The brick-and-stone building will be designed in a courtyard configuration. It will include additional common areas, including: a common dining room, hair salon, convenience store and cafe, library, hobbies & crafts room, movie theatre and assorted lounge areas. A complete physical therapy and exercise area is also planned.
No residents spoke out at the public hearing portion on the issue at Tuesday’s board of supervisors’s meeting. Read More
A Reston homeowner got a surprise along with her morning coffee Thursday morning when a deer smashed through a large window of her Hunters Woods-area home.
The homeowner — who asked her name and address not be used because her house is not secure right now — said she heard a large crash.
“I thought it was a tree branch,” she said. “There was a rumbling sound and glass breaking. Then I looked in the sunroom and there was a mess all over.”
The homeowner, who has lived in the house off of Steeplechase Road for 49 years, said the deer knocked a chair across the room. The sunroom door was closed, so the deer was unable to run through the house, she said.
Among the broken glass from the 3-by-5 foot window, the homeowner and her daughter found clumps of animal hair.
The homeowner said she sees deer coming through her wooded lot almost daily.
“They pass through all the time,” she said. “They are usually so tame. I don’t think there was anything I could have done to prevent this.”
Deer population has been on the rise in Reston and other Fairfax County areas, officials said. It has created mainly a hazard on roads, especially during mating season. Reston Association in 2014 approved a private deer hunt on Sourwood Lane, which is also in the Hunters Woods area.
Lake Anne Plaza is the place to be Saturday.
The 9th Annual Freezin’ for a Reason Virginia Polar Dip begins at noon on the dock.
Hundreds of people will jump into Lake Anne to raise money for Camp Sunshine, a camp in Maine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.
Read more about the Polar Dip, as well as register and donate, on the Virginia Polar Dip website. This year’s goal is to raise $125,000, which will help more than 50 families.
Many Lake Anne merchants will have special events on Saturday as well:
Chesapeake Chocolates will be hosting a wine tasting, selling hot chocolate, and featuring chocolate polar bears, along with their regular menu of fine chocolates. The shop will also be celebrating the grand opening of the Bob Simon Lake Anne Post Office, located inside Chesapeake Chocolates.
Small Change Consignment will be giving away hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves to everyone who jumps (while supplies last). Also they are holding their annual one-day-only, half-price toy sale.
Kalypso’s Sports Tavern will be donating 10 percent of sales from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday to the Virginia Polar Dip. Kalypso’s will also be holding a raffle for a big screen HDTV on Super Bowl Sunday. Proceeds from the raffle will go to the Virginia Polar Dip.
PetMAC Pet Nutrition Center will be donating 40 percent of all sales (excluding food) on Saturday. to the Virginia Polar Dip.
Samantha Hu of Lake Anne Wellness will be donating 10 percent of sales on Saturday to the Virginia Polar Dip. Hu practices intuitive energy healing, healing meditation coaching, and Feng Shui for home and office.
Lake Anne Brew House — slated to open for business soon — will have merchandise for sale. Proceeds will benefit the Virginia Polar Dip.
Just Cats Clinic will be hosting an open house from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Stop by for a tour, drink some hot chocolate, meet some kittens and for “ask a vet with Dr. Elizabeth.”
Another residential building is being planned for the area around the Wiehle-Reston Metro Station.
Wiehle Station Venures LLC, has filed rezoning and development plans for Lincoln Commerce Park at Commerce Park Drive, Association Drive and Sunrise Valley Drive.
The application seeks to develop a surface parking lot and turn it into 260 residential units across the street from the Sunrise Valley convenience center, and, beyond that, Reston National Golf Course.
The property is also close to Soapstone Drive, where a future 
toll road crossing is planned.
A portion of the property (approximately 1.99 acres) will remain Industrial District I-3 and provide parking for the condo office building.
The developer is seeking a special exception to to permit commercial off-street parking to serve the office condo building.
The Planning Commission public hearing is scheduled for May 12.
This is one of several potential developments located south of the Dulles Toll Road.
Among the others in the works (mostly still in the first steps of development applications):
Major development Commerce Park, which is adjacent to the Lincoln Commerce Park project.
That plan calls for 500 residential units, a hotel, office and retail. CESC Commerce Executive Park, L.L.C. has a rezoning/final development plan, concurrent with special exception amendment for 1850 Centennial Park Drive, 11400 Commerce Park Drive, and 11440 Commerce Park Drive to rezone from light industrial to Planned Development Commercial to permit the development of the multifamily buildings, as well as the 175-room hotel, a 400,000-square-foot office building and additional retail.
Two existing office buildings will be retained (totaling 356,496 square
feet). The Application also includes an option to convert the proposed hotel to multifamily residential, and the proposed new office building to multifamily residential and/or hotel.
A plan by Sekas Homes for 37 townhomes on the site of the former American Press Institute building
JBG’s application for building 504 residential units and other development at 1831 Wiehle Ave., currently an office building.
Farther down Sunrise Valley, Reston Heights’ second phase of development is underway. That development by JBG — called VY at Reston Heights — will have 498 residential units in mid-rise buildings and a 10-story building that mixes office space, parking and retail space.
A former director of Reston’s Sunset Hills Montessori School is co-founding a new elementary and middle school slated to open its doors in or near Reston next fall.
Reston resident Garrett Wilhelm, who for years worked at Sunset Hills and most recently was director of The Boyd School’s Westfield campus, and Rodney Berthold, formerly the middle school dean at The Boyd School, are teaming up for the Berthold Academy for the Gifted and Talented.
Berthold Academy will be the area’s first Montessori school that focuses only on grades one through eight, said Wilhelm. Most Montessori schools start with or are strictly preschool programs.
“There are 57 Montessori schools in Northern Virginia — 23 of them in Reston/Herndon/Great Falls,” said Wilhelm. “There are only four in Northern Virginia that do elementary and middle school grades. None of them are elementary and middle school only.”
Montessori education is an approach developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori that emphasizes independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological, physical, and social development.
Wilhelm says that method is ideal for children in elementary and middle school. Rather than lecture-based learning, students in mixed-age classrooms learn through self-directed discovery and small collaborative groups.
The school is not going for full accreditation by the American Montessori Society because it wants to mix in its own curriculum to prepare middle schoolers for traditional high school, Wilhelm said.
Tuition is expected to be about $15,000 a year. Fifteen students are already enrolled, and the first-year goal is to start with 40 students, said Wilhelm.
Berthold Academy already has a lineup of unique classes and speciality teachers, including:
- Yoga and Mindfulness – taught by certified yoga teacher Jessica Simpson
- Culinary Arts – taught by Emilia Cirker, a recent contestant on TV’s “Next Food Network Star.”
- Music Production – taught by Mix Major’s DJ Enferno, who has worked with musicians such as Madonna.
- Entrepreneurial Education – taught by founder of IFormBuilder, Sze Wong.
- IT/Coding/Programming – Taught by the team at IFormBuilder
- Gardening (Farm to Table) – A full gardening program taught by Emilia Cirker in which the children will learn the value of growing, harvesting, and cooking organic produce.
- STEAM program and Spanish instruction.
Wilhelm said the he and Berthold are very close to signing a lease for school space in Reston.
Want to learn more? Attend an information session Feb. 11 at The Harrison Apartments, 1800 Jonathan Way, Reston at 6:30 p.m. Babysitting will be provided.
