It may be a while before Lake Anne’s fountain is functional again.
Repairs are expected to take at least two more months to complete due to supply chain issues, according to Reston Association.
“The repair facility is basically rebuilding the motor/working parts. It had to be done at their shop. They are experiencing part delays which is typical in this post-pandemic era,” RA spokesperson Mike Leone wrote in a statement to FFXnow.
The fountain closed in late August after its pump and motor burnt out. At the time, staff estimated parts would be available within three to four weeks.
Leone said that the association hopes that the fountain will be operational by Thanksgiving — assuming that the rebuilt motor arrives on schedule.
“If there are further delays, then it could be pushed into December,” Leone said.
The fountain was inspired by Jet d’Eau, a 140-meter single geyser fountain on Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
Photo via Reston Association/Twitter
Centreville Man Charged in Fairfax Hit-and-Run — “City of Fairfax Police arrested a 34-year-old Centreville man for driving away from a multi-car crash on Saturday afternoon, according to the weekly crime report. Responding around 1:03 p.m for the report of a crash, officers found two vehicles that had sustained significant damage at Main Street and Judicial Drive.” [Patch]
Metro Plans Bus Network Redesign — “Metro is going on the road with Better Bus, a new initiative to rethink, redesign, and revitalize bus service. In a bold inaugural effort to redesign the current bus network, Metro is holding events across the region to hear from customers and the community.” [WMATA]
County Assisted With Alexandria Apartment Fire — “Apartment fire in 6200 block of Edsall Road on 10/8 at 10:41 AM. One occupant rescued by firefighters from second-floor window via ladder. No reported injuries. Cause: Unattended cooking on stove. Damages: $12K. Three occupants displaced. @AlexandriaVAFD assisted” [FCFRD/Twitter]
Reston Community Center Adds Board Members — “On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at the request of Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appointed three Reston residents to the nine-member Reston Community Center Board of Governors: Beverly A. Cosham, Paul D. Thomas and Shane M. Ziegler…The three-year terms for Cosham, Thomas and Ziegler will begin on November 7″ [RCC]
Input Sought on New Annandale Community Space — “The Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services is hosting a series of Community Engagement Forums regarding the upcoming community space at Heritage Center in Annandale. The 1,800-square-foot space is located in a retail shopping plaza and will house the Boys & Girls Club.” [NCS]
Firefighters Free Dog’s Paw From West Falls Church Playground — “Excited for his afternoon playdate with friends yesterday, Baloo wanted to try the monkey bars; it was his first time. He was nervous, and as he pawsed to plan his leap, a digital pad got stuck in one of the holes on the playground. Fortunately, his friends were there to help.” [FCFRD]
Full Launch of New County Land Use System Pending — “Fairfax County’s land use systems will partially shut down from Friday, Oct. 21, to Monday morning on Oct. 31, when the new Permitting and Land Use System (PLUS) becomes fully operational…For several weeks after Oct. 31, data will still be migrating, and the processing of records might be affected.” [Annandale Today]
McLean-Based Hockey Star Details Morning Routine — Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin will start his 18th season with the D.C. hockey team today (Wednesday) against the Boston Bruins. Resident of a five-bedroom mansion in McLean since 2012, Ovechkin says he starts each day at 7 a.m. with a shower, feeding time for his black Labrador, and a walk. [Axios D.C.]
It’s Wednesday — Possible light rain overnight. High of 69 and low of 49. Sunrise at 7:16 am and sunset at 6:36 pm. [Weather.gov]
The end of Fairfax County’s state of emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic won’t mean the end of expanded outdoor dining.
At a land use policy committee meeting last week, the Board of Supervisors indicated strong support for permanently relaxing the county’s permitting rules to let restaurants and other food and drink service establishments set up temporary outdoor dining areas.
Under the proposal put forward by county staff on Oct. 6, restaurants would only need an adminstrative permit to provide outdoor dining in parking spaces and other hard-surface areas, such as an existing patio or sidewalk, for a six-month period.
“The administrative permit would place limits on the size of the outdoor dining area, the hours of operation, and the duration of the permit,” said Jennifer Josiah with the Fairfax County Department of Land Development Services. “No site-related plans would be required, as long as there’s no land disturbance.”
She noted that regular health department inspections would continue, and businesses would still have to get approved by the fire marshal “to ensure all safety standards are met regarding tents, heaters and seating areas.”
The new process would be similar to the looser regulations in place since May 2020, when the board approved an emergency ordinance letting some businesses operate in outdoor tents to encourage social distancing and limit the spread of COVID-19.
The Board of Supervisors declared a local state of emergency for the pandemic on March 17, 2020, giving the county more flexibility to respond. In addition to enabling more outdoor dining and fitness activities, the board reduced fees for hospitality-related development and streamlined the process for establishing temporary medical facilities.
All of those provisions must end one year after the state of emergency concludes. The county told FFXnow this summer that the board could end its declaration in September, but the vote was evidently postponed, as staff were still reviewing the implications.
Staff have recommended that all of the emergency measures be allowed to lapse except the one for outdoor dining.
According to the county, 91 businesses have taken advantage of the ordinance since it took effect, though as of Sept. 1, the Department of Code Compliance only found five sites still using parking spaces for outdoor dining. When board members expressed surprise at that number, Josiah allowed that there may be more businesses that weren’t counted.
“We were working off a list that the health department gave us of all the eating establishments and food establishments that they licensed,” she said.
The administrative permits for outdoor dining will likely carry a $200 to $500 fee, similar to those offered for other temporary uses, such as farmers’ markets. In comparison, the minor site plan approval typically required costs $3,901.
To ensure compliance, staff suggested that the county could require businesses to regularly renew their permits, but the board appeared to lean away from the idea of expiration dates.
“I think the one thing the pandemic has clearly shown a lot of people is the beauty of the outdoors and dining outdoors,” Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity said, shouting out street closures in Old Town Leesburg and Alexandria. “…I’m clearly in favor of doing this as easily and as quickly and as flexibly as we can with no need to come back on the administrative permit.”
In a rarity, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay was on the same page as his lone Republican colleague, noting that permits could always be revoked if there are issues with accessibility, noise, and other conditions.
According to Josiah, the county has gotten “relatively few complaints” about outdoor dining, but on a few occasions, tents have collapsed, though no injuries have been reported.
As was the case in the Town of Vienna, Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross predicted that noise will be the biggest challenge to address, singling out the Skyline Plaza in Bailey’s Crossroads as an area where amplified music has drawn complaints.
County Zoning Administrator Leslie Johnson noted that a separate special exception permit is required for public entertainment. Though the county has a noise ordinance to regulate sound levels, Gross said the outdoor dining ordinance should still include clear, specific guidelines on noise.
“I think we really owe it to the residents nearby,” Gross said. “I have a lot of residential areas that are hard up against the fence line of a shopping center, so we need to have that kind of protection in there.”
A new fitness center is coming soon to Great Falls’ Seneca Square.
Orangetheory Fitness, a national fitness boutique that focused on training endurance and strength building, has signed a lease for 4,726 square feet of space at 1025 Seneca Road in the commercial plaza.
According to the company’s website, the location is expected to open soon. A company representative did not immediately return a request for comment.
The company has locations throughout the country, including several in the area. Local locations include Ashburn, Reston and Potomac Falls.
Photo via Google Maps
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The preceding sponsored post was also published on FFXnow.com
A major rewrite of Reston’s central planning document — the Reston Comprehensive Plan — could take additional time for review due to pending legal issues and concerns flagged by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
At the board’s land use policy meeting last week, county staff noted that the update to the plan — which was led by a 31-member task force over the last two years — contains language that is at odds with some countywide policies. The county’s attorneys office is reviewing the draft, which was written by the task force, for legal issues.
The ongoing review is expected to delay the approval process — which previously docketed for Nov. 2 before the Fairfax County Planning Commission.
Public comment on the plan is ongoing. The task force approved draft recommendations on Aug. 28 after 58 public meetings. Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn convened the task force after he took office in 2020.
While lauding the overall effort led by Alcorn and the community, some board members characterized the update as ambitious or overtly prescriptive.
Rather than broadly limiting, restricting or expanding development, the plan makes site-specific changes to a limited number of areas. It also includes specific chapters dedicated to equity and community health.
The recommendations are intended to bring Reston — which is navigating the tension and opportunity of growth in transit-oriented areas and old development — into a new era.
“I am concerned that this may fail by its sheer weight,” Mason District Supervisor Gross said, observing that the draft appears to lean toward creating space for more William-Sonomas, a candle shop, than Dollar Stores.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said it’s important to recognize the plan is not the first in the county with a chapter dedicated to equity as a planning tool. The county’s One Fairfax racial and social equity policy, adopted in 2019, applies to the entire county.
“The last thing we want to do is confuse people that that’s not a standard,” McKay said.
Others questioned the decision to give the task force the authority to draft the plan instead of staff.
In a statement to FFXnow, Alcorn defended the approach, which he said is characteristic in community planning:
This is not new. Ever since the scandals of the 1960s (note these were referenced recently in a Fairfax County Times article on Edwin Henderson II) Fairfax County has practiced community-based planning where community task forces have been “given the pen” to ensure the direction and vision of the comprehensive plan reflects the will of the community. In my 16 years on the Fairfax County Planning Commission Mt. Vernon Commissioner and Planning Commission Vice-Chair John Beyers regularly referred to the comprehensive plan as “the people’s plan.”
This practice is noted in the 2011 Burnham Award from the American Planning Association when the Tysons plan was recognized as the best top comprehensive plan in the country. As for the recent Reston process, it is also true that much of the task force recommendation was drafted by County staff – frankly to the disappointment of some task force members. The task force recommendations include new proposed guidance on quality of life issues like equity and community health, and I look forward to continued community feedback and ultimately a recommendation from the planning commission that reflects the values that make Reston a special place.
Comparing the comprehensive plan amendment process to Seven Corners, Gross questioned why the task force led the writing when staff with professional expertise in policy writing and planning could have initiated the process with significant task-force and community input.
Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk encouraged staff and the board to use the “excellent” work by the task force as a foundation for the final update.
“Let’s think about this as an opportunity to use this excellent work as a way to be a foundation for the future changes that we could make,” Lusk said.
Now, county staff are leading a comprehensive effort to review the document — which has already piqued several issues.
Chris Caperton, deputy director of the county’s department of planning and development, said the plan includes “a lot of aspirational language” that appears to be “heavy-handed.”
McKay concluded that staff and board comments indicate that more time is needed for review.
“I think what’s clear here is this is going to take a while,” he said.
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity encouraged staff to iron out the legalities of what developers should, could and are simply encouraged to do in Reston.
“The conflicts also make it more complicated for developers, ” Herrity said, adding that Reston is a critical economic corridor.
Fairfax County Task Force Returns From Hurricane — “Today we warmly welcomed back VA-TF1 from their remarkable service to the victims of Ian. As always, the brave women, men and K9s of @VATF1 came through when the call to help arrived. They stand ready for the nation and the residents of Fairfax County.” [Jeff McKay/Twitter]
U.S. Opposes FCPS in Sexual Assault Case — “A recent filing in the U.S. Supreme Court supports a former Oakton High School student’s Title IX lawsuit against Fairfax County Public Schools over claims the student was threatened with discipline if she reported she was raped on a school outing.” [Patch]
Reston Golf Course Owners Say Underlying Zoning Would Allow Redevelopment — “The owners of Reston National Golf Course are not happy with Supervisor Walter Alcorn’s recent announcement that he would not support redevelopment of their property…[Weller Development partner] Siegel said the owners would be pursing redevelopment based on their legacy zoning rights.” [Patch]
Watch Out for Deer This Fall — “With fall deer breeding season now underway, police in Fairfax County, Virginia, are giving drivers tips on how to safely navigate the roads. Police say there are hundreds of reported accidents involving deer in Fairfax County. More than half of those happen during October, November and December.” [WTOP]
Falls Church to Vote Today on Movie Theater — “City lawmakers are set to vote Tuesday on a deal that could grant as much as half a million dollars every year for the next three decades to the developer behind the Founders Row project. The pay-as-you-go arrangement would essentially reinvest tax revenue generated by the sale of movie tickets and concessions as a way to offset the cost and economic risk of bringing in the theater.” [The Washington Post]
Vienna Elevator Replacements Delayed — “Due to supply chain issues, the Town Hall elevator replacement schedule has been delayed. As a result, Town Council and other public bodies will continue to meet at Town Hall as scheduled until further notice.” [Town of Vienna/Twitter]
Route 7 Bus Study Turns to Falls Church — “The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) has scheduled a community discussion [Tuesday] to look at the planned Route 7 BRT system.” While the route will begin in Tysons, tonight’s discussion “will mostly focus on the Falls Church section.” [ALXnow]
GMU Reports Increased Student Enrollment — “Bucking a statewide trend of declining college enrollment, George Mason University has welcomed its largest student body in school history for the fall 2022 semester, with a freshman class that set a new record for both diversity and academic accomplishment.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
It’s Tuesday — Clear throughout the day. High of 70 and low of 48. Sunrise at 7:15 am and sunset at 6:37 pm. [Weather.gov]
This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.
By John V. Berry, Esq.
Our law firm has represented thousands of security clearance applicants and holders over the years. As such, one of the most common mistakes that security clearance applicants or clearance holders make is not being fully truthful on security clearance forms, e.g. e-QIP or SF-86. A significant percentage of our cases involves this very issue.
Here are three quick tips to consider:
Take Time to Complete Clearance Forms Accurately: One of the most common issues that we run across in representing those with security clearances are situations where the individual has completed their clearance forms with no intent to deceive, but erroneously.
Later, an investigator uncovers the mistake and wonders if the individual was attempting to deceive them. In those types of cases, we have to demonstrate the honesty and integrity of the individual involved to the clearance adjudicator and how the mistake was made. The far easier solution is to try to catch the mistakes in advance by taking the time necessary for accuracy.
Get Legal Advice if you are Hesitating About Whether to Disclose Something: Another common situation is when an individual doesn’t want to disclose something that has occurred in their past, say marijuana use on a security clearance form. When these individuals come to us ahead of time we remind them that not being truthful on clearance forms is the worst possible plan.
While not often charged, lying on security clearance forms can be considered a criminal offense. In many of these cases, just speaking with a lawyer knowledgeable in security clearances can help the person decide whether to disclose an issue or discontinue the clearance process if there is potential criminal liability. There are situations when it is better to back out of the security clearance process early than complete security clearance forms if there are significant criminal issues.
Rectify Old Mistakes: Another area where we counsel clearance clients is when a prior disclosure was never made, e.g. drug usage or an arrest. For those types of situations, we often counsel individuals to speak with their security officers to complete a supplemental security disclosure where appropriate. This often comes up when the non-disclosure occurred many years ago when the individual held a secret clearance but whose career has since been very successful and they are now seeking higher level clearances or will be undergoing polygraph testing.
Security clearance adjudicators will often given credit to an individual for voluntarily disclosing adverse information before it is uncovered (or even where it might never have been uncovered).
Honesty is always the best policy. However, mistakes are often made and can often be mitigated. The important thing to know as a security clearance holder or applicant is that these issues can often be overcome. When in doubt about disclosures, please get legal advice because each situation varies depending on the facts involved.
Contact Us
If you are in need of security clearance law representation or advice, please contact our office at 703-668-0070 or through our contact page to schedule a consultation. Please also visit and like us on Facebook or Twitter.
The preceding sponsored post was also published on FFXnow.com
The Fairfax County School Board reaffirmed its support for transgender students last week as community members spoke out against policies proposed by the state that would limit their rights.
At a meeting on Thursday (Oct. 6), members issued a statement reiterating Fairfax County Public School’s commitment to policies that “will continue supporting our transgender and gender-expansive students, staff, and families”:
The Fairfax County School Board understands that our LGBTQIA+ students, staff, and families are worried about the impact of Governor Youngkin’s proposed model policies for transgender and gender-expansive students. Nearly one in five transgender and non-binary youth attempted suicide in the last year. LGBTQIA+ youth who found their school to be affirming reported lower rates of attempting suicide. It is necessary to ensure our school community is a place where all students can live without fear of prejudice, discrimination, harassment, or violence.
The statement followed walkouts in late September by thousands of students who opposed the draft policies from Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the Virginia Department of Education. Prior to the school board meeting, the LGBTQ staff advocacy group FCPS Pride led a protest in front of Luther Jackson Middle School.
Released on Sept. 16 and open for public comment through Oct. 26, the state’s draft policies direct schools to treat transgender and gender-expansive students according to their sex assigned at birth unless they present legal documentation of a change to their name or sex.
Even if a student changes their official school records, the policies say they must still use facilities based on their sex assigned at birth and prohibit schools from disciplining staff or students who misgender or deadname a student, citing free speech protections.
In its statement, the school board says FCPS will continue to adhere to its existing policy and regulation, which prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and promise acceptance of “a student or parent’s assertion of a student’s gender-expansive or transgender status.”
The policies allow students to use “a locker room or restroom consistent with the student’s gender identity,” which run opposed to the state’s new proposed policies.
When asked for a response to the school board’s statement, Youngkin’s office told FFXnow that the guidelines are not for the local school system to decide.
“Children belong to families not bureaucrats and school board members,” Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter wrote in an email. “Virginians spoke clearly last year and they continue to say that parents matter. Parents deserve to be involved in all critical discussions about their children. School boards should bring them into the conversation, not cut them out of it.”
Noting that most school districts in Virginia never adopted model policies under former governor Ralph Northam, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay told FFXnow last month that he believes the county would be on “safe legal ground” if FCPS sticks with its own policies.
Last week was the first school board meeting since Youngkin’s draft policies were released. The board also voted unanimously on a resolution to declare October “LGBTQIA+ History Month” in county schools.
Providence District School Board Representative Karl Frisch, who lost a bid this weekend for the House of Delegates, called the new state-proposed policies “shameful and divisive.”
“I’m proud of the policy and regulations we have implemented in Fairfax County Public Schools to protect and affirm our LGBTQIA students, particularly those who are transgender and gender expansive,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have not always moved fast enough. Generations of students and staff walked the halls of our buildings before they were treated with respect by our school division. Thankfully, we have made extraordinary progress, especially in recent years.”
He also commended students for protesting and deciding to “stand up for change.”
Other school board members, including Mason District’s Ricardy Anderson and Springfield’s Laura Jane Cohen, shared similar sentiments.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, many community members also shared concerns and fear about the policies. One FCPS student noted they were “terrified” by the governor’s proposals, and another called them “blatantly discriminatory.”
Several FCPS teachers also spoke, with one saying that the new policies would undermine a school system’s top goal of protecting students.
A number of speakers asked the school board to go beyond words and “take concrete actions” against Youngkin’s proposed policies.
Photo via Alexander Grey/Unsplash
Fairfax County and Virginia state police are looking for a 74-year-old woman who went missing in Reston early this morning (Monday).
Rabieb Tandee Palmer was last seen at 2:15 a.m. in the 1300 block of Gatesmeadow Way, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
Police describe her as a white woman with brown eyes and brown and gray hair. She is 5 feet and 1 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. When she was last seen, she was possibly wearing a red and white pinstriped sweater, black pants, and blue or purple New Balance shoes, according to the Virginia State Police, which is assisting in the search.
“The missing senior suffers from a cognitive impairment and her disappearance poses a credible threat to her health and safety, as determined by the investigating agency,” the VSP said in a senior alert.
Community members with any information about Palmer’s whereabouts can contact the FCPD at 703-691-2233.
#Virginia Senior Alert ACTIVATION: @FairfaxCountyPD is looking Ms. Rabieb Tandee Palmer, 74. Last seen 2:15 AM 10/10/22 near Gatesmeadow Way in #Reston. Call 911 or #Fairfax Co. PD at 703-691-2233. @VaDOTNOVA @fairfaxsheriff @ffxfirerescue pic.twitter.com/kYXgohGc8y
— VA State Police (@VSPPIO) October 10, 2022
Local Bus Changes for Indigenous Peoples’ Day — In observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, formerly known as Columbus Day, Fairfax Connector will operate on a holiday weekday schedule today (Monday). Metrorail is following a standard weekday schedule, but Metrobus is using a Saturday supplemental schedule. [Fairfax Connector, WMATA]
Local Tourism Spending Starts to Bounce Back — “Though still down from pre-pandemic levels, Fairfax County continued to make inroads in terms of rebounding tourism spending in 2021, according to new state figures. Domestic visitors spent an estimated $2.4 billion in Fairfax County in 2021, up more than 22 percent from 2020, according to figures reported Oct. 4 by the Virginia Tourism Corp.” [Sun Gazette]
Possible Sinkhole Closes Tysons Blvd — “Road damage closed a portion of Tysons Boulevard between International Drive and Park Run Drive on Friday, according to Fairfax County police. The incident was initially reported as a sinkhole, police said.” [ABC7]
Vienna Church Collects Kits for Hurricane Ian Survivors — “In response to the hurricane’s destruction, Vienna Presbyterian Church launched a fundraiser to create Gift From the Heart Relief kits that will benefit Florida residents…Cleanup bucket kits and hygiene kits can be delivered to Vienna Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, Oct. 19 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.” [Patch]
Groveton Workforce Training Center Gets Grand Opening — “With the grand opening of the new Workforce Innovation Skills Hub (W.I.S.H.) at the Hybla Valley Community Center on Saturday, Oct. 8, Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk is fulfilling his campaign promise to deliver in his first term a workforce center in an economically challenged part of Southeast Fairfax County.” [On the MoVe]
Animal Shelter Adoptions on the Rise — “The Fairfax County Department of Animal Sheltering has seen a nearly 60-percent surge in pet adoptions in the last six months and is ramping up to meet the need with additional programs and a new shelter set to open next year.” [Sun Gazette]
Upcoming Mosaic District Restaurant Gets New Name — “The team behind Compass Rose and Maydan are putting the finishing touches on the first of two Northern Virginia restaurants…Their kebab-centric Eastern Mediterranean concept — opening next month in Fairfax’s Mosaic District — formerly went by Tawle. But owner Rose Previte has since decided to go with a more personal name that won’t be confused with Maydan’s family-style ‘tawle’ menu: Kirby Club.” [Washingtonian]
Virginia’s Pay-Per-Mile System Already Biggest in U.S. — “More than 7,000 Virginians have signed up to pay a fee for each mile they drive under a program launched this summer, putting the state at the forefront of a nationwide effort using new technology to prop up gas taxes that pay for roads.” [The Washington Post]
County Highlights Link Between Guns and Domestic Violence — “As part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October and Family Services’ focus on domestic and sexual violence and firearms surrender, [Domestic and Sexual Violence Services advocacy services program manager Angela] Yeboah was featured on the Oct. 5 edition of the ‘County Conversation’ podcast.” [Fairfax County Government]
It’s Monday — Clear throughout the day. High of 66 and low of 44. Sunrise at 7:14 am and sunset at 6:39 pm. [Weather.gov]
The weekend is almost here. Before you consider whether your neighborhood school should have a speed camera or head to bed for some much-needed sleep, let’s revisit the past week of news in Fairfax County.
Here are the 10 most-read stories on FFXnow this week:
- Three dead after vehicle crashes in Tysons and Fort Belvoir, FCPD says
- FCPD to review viral traffic stop of mother on Richmond Highway
- Fairfax County proposes compelling developers to replace lost affordable housing
- Virginia’s limits on local authority are becoming “more intrusive” for Fairfax County, board chair says
- Fairfax County must pay MWAA another $40M for Silver Line Phase II
- New Route 7 travel lane opens earlier than expected in Reston
- County plans to get more HOAs on board with electric vehicle chargers, starting in Reston
- I-495 widening will require removal of cell tower in McLean, potentially affecting service
- Police: Vienna resident assaulted after confronting men leaving his apartment
- Shooter fires gun into car in Mount Vernon, killing man, police say
Ideas for potential stories can be sent to [email protected] or submitted as an anonymous tip. Photos of scenes from around the county are welcome too, with credit always given to the photographer.
Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans, or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below. Have a great weekend, Fairfax County!
A much-discussed senior living community is now open in Great Falls.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last month to open the Residence at Colvin Run at 1131 Walker Road. In attendance were a few local officials, including Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust.
The 53,000-square-foot facility is being run by IntegraCare, which also operates a senior living facility in Hunters Woods on Colt Neck Road.
The one on Walker Road is on nearly three acres of land near the Colvin Run Mill historic site. It has 62 units in a mix of assisted living apartments and memory care residents for adults 65 and older.
Amenities include a fitness center, an art studio, a theater with an audio system that pairs with hearing aids, an aviary with finches, a rustic-inspired pub, and a trail connecting to neighborhood businesses. It will also bring more than 50 jobs to the community.
The facility fills a need for senior housing in Great Falls, where more than a third of the population is over 55 years old. Residents 65 and older make up about 14% of Fairfax County’s total population.
“In our experiences, we’ve found that seniors want to continue to live in the communities that they raised their families in,” IntegraCare CEO Larry Rouvelas said at the groundbreaking in April 2021. “The need to build senior housing communities in the specific neighborhoods that people grew up in is an important part of their quality of life.”
The project was first proposed more than four years ago and got the county’s approval in early 2019.
Foust has been a supporter of the project since the beginning. He told Reston Now last year that the current demand for senior living communities “far exceeds any supply that we’ve been able to create.”
Having grown up in Great Falls, Rouvelas said in the press release that the Residence at Colvin Run is a community that “will make the parents of my friends proud.”
“The parents of my friends here carpooled me and fed me at their dinner tables,” he said. “Decades later, when the opportunity arose to run a senior housing community in Great Falls, I jumped at the chance. We will run a community that will make the parents of my friends proud.”
A pump station proposed for the Herndon Police Department site will be able to process 10 million gallons of water per day, town staff say.
The station is part of a broader retooling of Herndon’s Utility Master Plan, which outlines how the town will bolster its water infrastructure in preparation for development around the downtown and future Metro station.
Presented to the town council in 2017, that plan anticipated the town would need to increase its water capacity by an additional 1 million gallons per day by 2025. The town purchased new storage in 2018, bringing its total capacity to 5.7 million gallons per day, according to a staff report by the Herndon Department of Public Works.
However, a shift in development trends in favor of residential construction over commercial led staff to revisit its earlier estimates and conclude that a new pump station would make more sense than the previous plan to add two transmission mains.
“This would allow us to get the additional capacity that we will need in a much more economical and reliable fashion than our previous plans estimated,” Herndon Deputy Director of Public Works Tammy Chastain told the town council during a work session on Tuesday (Oct. 4).
The new pump station will be on the police station property at 397 Herndon Parkway, where it can be connected to an existing 24-inch-wide pipeline that runs parallel to the Washington & Old Dominion Trail.
The town council is slated to approve a pending agreement with Fairfax Water for the project on Tuesday (Oct. 11), kicking off the design process.
Fairfax Water would be responsible for designing, building, operating and maintaining the facility, while the Town of Herndon would cover the design and construction costs.
“They are the ones that are going to have to upgrade it and maintain it,” Chastain said. “If it needs major repairs, we’d probably be helping in funding that. It’s only for us right now, which is why we’re paying the full cost.”
Right now, the estimated cost is nearly $5 million — higher than what town officials suggested before initiating an engineering study in 2019 but lower than the over $6 million that would’ve been needed for two transmission lines, according to Chastain.
The funding will come from the federal COVID-19 relief that the town was allocated by the American Rescue Plan Act, which included water and sewer projects as a viable use of the money, Town Manager Bill Ashton confirmed.
“This is good news because we’ve been planning for this for years,” Mayor Sheila Olem said. “Unfortunately, we went through Covid, but now, we’re getting this funding for something we knew we were putting in anyway. This is great.”
The pump station is “a step amongst several” in Herndon’s utility plan, Ashton said. At some point, the town will also replace its storage tank on Alabama Drive with two smaller tanks that the pump will fill.
Since the station will be right next to the W&OD, Councilmember Sean Regan questioned how it might affect the greenery alongside the trail and whether anything will need to be replaced.
Ashton responded that the potential impact on green space is “a design consideration we would certainly look at.”
Retired Priest Found Not Guilty of Sexual Abuse — “Terry Wayne Specht, 69, of Pennsylvania was found not guilty by a jury in Fairfax County of one felony count of aggravated sexual battery of a child younger than 13, court records show. Investigators claimed the assault took place in 2000, according to an indictment, when Specht was chaplain and assistant principal at St. Paul VI Catholic High School.” [The Washington Post]
Vehicle Hits Pedestrian in Groveton — Fairfax County police officers were dispatched to the 7200 block of Fordson Road yesterday morning (Thursday) after a driver hit an adult, male pedestrian. The crash closed the street between Richmond Highway and Lockheed Blvd for more than an hour. Initially considered life-threatening, the man’s injury condition was later upgraded. [FCPD/Twitter]
Victim in Annandale Hit-and-Run ID’d — Dalchoon Park, 74, of Annandale died Sunday (Oct. 2) after a driver hit her while she was crossing Annandale Road in the 4200 block, Fairfax County police say. The driver left the scene without providing aid and remains unidentified, though a witness said a “small white SUV or sedan” stopped in the area before driving away. [FCPD]
Local LGBTQ Students Targeted After Transgender Policy Protests — “In the days after the walkout and the tremendous media coverage it generated, [the Pride Liberation Project’s] internal communications — including a private Zoom meeting and a message board created for students — were accessed by conservative activists who subsequently began sharing screenshots and other information from the group online and with right-wing media.” [Salon]
Inova Buys More Land Around Fairfax Hospital — “Inova Health System is pleased to announce the purchase of approximately 35 acres of land adjacent to the north of Inova Fairfax Medical Campus. The land is currently developed and used under a long-term ground lease to RBDW Amberleigh LLC as the Amberleigh apartment community. Inova has no immediate plans for the land and will have no role in operation of the housing units for the duration of the term of the ground lease.” [Inova]
County Farmers Markets Offer Hot Food — “The Fairfax County Park Authority farmers markets are pleased to announce the 2022 hot foods pilot program for the remainder of this year’s market season. Customers will now be able to purchase a hot breakfast or dinner at the McLean, Annandale, Kingstowne and Oak Marr farmers markets from select vendors.” [FCPA]
Rep. Wexton and Challenger Hung Cao Face Off — “Inflation and abortion kicked off the 90-minute forum Wednesday night, capturing the divides on two issues that have largely defined the campaign narratives in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District and beyond as the nation reels from inflation at a 40-year high and wrestles with the fallout of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.” [The Washington Post]
Fairfax County NAACP Praises New Park Signs — “The Fairfax County branch of the NAACP has awarded NOVA Parks executive director Paul Gilbert a Freedom Fund Community Advocate Award, which celebrates community members who fight for equality and a better future…Under Gilbert’s leadership, NOVA Parks has unveiled nine new interpretive signs in the past year that showcase a more diverse history.” [Sun Gazette]
It’s Friday — Clear throughout the day. High of 73 and low of 55. Sunrise at 7:11 am and sunset at 6:43 pm. [Weather.gov]
