Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

County paves way for construction on MetroWest town center — now with pedestrian improvements

Published November 9, 2022 at 11:45AM | Updated November 28, 2023 at 4:14PM

Until a third residential building is constructed, the MetroWest town center will include an interim plaza (via Fairfax County)

A path has been cleared for construction to begin soon on the long-awaited MetroWest town center, promising retail and pedestrian safety enhancements near the Vienna Metro station in Oakton.

As recommended by the planning commission in late October, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted last week to remove a limit on the number of residences allowed at the mixed-use development before work also starts on planned office buildings.

News

Custom home builder pleads guilty to defrauding McLean residents

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 9, 2022 at 11:00AM | Updated November 9, 2022 at 5:08PM

A construction worker on a house building frame (via Josh Olalde on Unsplash)

(Updated at 5:10 p.m.) A 57-year-old contractor from Centreville could face up to two decades in jail for using his custom home building company to defraud McLean homeowners.

Pedro Felipe Valdes Sanchez pleaded guilty yesterday to defrauding “several couples” who hired his company to build or remodel their houses in and around McLean, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.

News

Man, 93, dies after SUV crashes into his car on Old Keene Mill Road

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 9, 2022 at 9:30AM

Fairfax County police car with lights flashing (file photo)

Another driver has died after a vehicular crash on Fairfax County’s roads, bringing the non-pedestrian death toll up to 16 people.

The most recent casualty is John Rowley Jr., a 93-year-old Springfield resident who died Monday evening (Nov. 7) after an SUV crashed into his car on Old Keene Mill Road in the West Springfield area that morning.

News

Proposed design of new Dunn Loring Elementary School to be unveiled

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 8, 2022 at 3:00PM

The Dunn Loring Administrative Center is slated for replacement with an elementary school (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Local residents will get their first glimpse of the planned Dunn Loring Elementary School later this week.

Fairfax County Public Schools will kick off the public input portion of the project’s design process on Thursday (Nov. 10) with a meeting at the Gatehouse Administrative Center (8115 Gatehouse Road) in Merrifield.

Around Town

McLean Pizza has permanently closed after 50 years in business

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 8, 2022 at 11:00AM

McLean Pizza and Subs is permanently closed (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

McLean Pizza and Subs has served up its last slice.

The Italian and Greek restaurant at 1434 Center Street is permanently closed after supplying the neighborhood with pizza, pasta, subs and more since 1962, according to its website.

Countywide

Fairfax County’s second-ever poet laureate revealed by ArtsFairfax

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 8, 2022 at 10:15AM

Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill, Fairfax Poet Laureate Danielle Badra, and Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey McKay (courtesy AE Landes Photography)

Fairfax County has a new ambassador for poetry.

Danielle Badra will serve as the second Fairfax Poet Laureate through 2024, leading a program to bring poetry-related activities to local parks, ArtsFairfax shared yesterday.

News

Tysons condo proposal faces uphill battle over loading, traffic concerns

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 7, 2022 at 1:30PM

A rendering of the proposed Flats at Tysons Corner condominiums along Gallows Road (via Fairfax County)

For a small development, a proposal for 86 condominium units near the Fairfax Square shopping center in Tysons has turned out to be surprisingly vexing.

Fairfax County’s planning staff recommended denying developer Pulte Group’s rezoning application for a Flats at Tysons Corner last Wednesday (Nov. 2), taking issue primarily with the size and location of sites for loading and trash collection.

Countywide

Rooftop solar panels are coming to Annandale High School, a first for FCPS

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 7, 2022 at 11:00AM

Annandale High School (via Google Maps)

For the first time, the Fairfax County School Board has approved a contract to install rooftop solar panels on a school building, a move both board members and advocates said has been a long time coming.

Under a solar power purchase agreement (PPA) that the board authorized Thursday (Nov. 3), Annandale High School will receive solar panels as a pilot program to give Fairfax County Public Schools “a working knowledge of these installations,” Mason District Representative Ricardy Anderson said before the vote.

News

Express lanes project will soon close I-495 North exit to Dulles Toll Road

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 7, 2022 at 9:30AM

The current end of the I-495 North Express Lanes in Tysons (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Starting next week, all drivers traveling north on the Capital Beltway through Tysons will share the same exit to get to the westbound Dulles Toll Road.

The existing Exit 45 will be closed around Wednesday, Nov. 16, so construction can begin on a new bridge for the Beltway (I-495) over the toll road ramps, the Virginia Department of Transportation announced Thursday (Nov. 3).

News

BREAKING: Shots reportedly fired outside Hutchinson Elementary School in Herndon

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 6, 2022 at 7:10PM

Fairfax County police car lights flashing (file photo)

A man allegedly fired gunshots outside Hutchinson Elementary School near Herndon before fleeing police and getting into a crash on the Dulles Toll Road.

Fairfax County police officers were called to the school for a report of shots being fired into the air around 4:09 p.m. today, according to Fairfax County Police Department Lt. Dan Spital.