In the year 2030, travelers on The One — the dedicated bus service planned for the Richmond Highway (Route 1) corridor — will be able to wait for their next ride while taking in artwork designed by local students.
Proposed artwork for seven of the nine future Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit stations is now online, and county residents can share their preferences by filling out a survey that is open through April 3.
There will also be a drop-in open house on Wednesday (March 29) from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mount Vernon High School.
Each work is based around themes selected with community input, according to the Fairfax County Department of Transportation. For example, the themes for the Hybla Valley station are retail hub, diversity and multiculturalism.
There are two artworks listed for that station. One features bright colors and “is meant to represent the past making way for the bright diverse future,” according to the included student narrative.
The other is sketched in black and white.
“Students focused on the passage of time, evolution of communication, and how the community has changed and evolved and become more diverse,” the student narrative reads, in part.
Student artwork for the Huntington, Kings Crossing and Beacon Hill stations comes from photography students at Hayfield Secondary School.
“These students created imagery responding to the theme PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE,” the booklet says. “It was their intention to educate citizens and visitors of the Route 1 corridor about the rich history of the land we stand on, while also preserving the present and looking towards the future of our changing community.”
The Woodlawn station got five art submissions — the most of any station. Designs for the Gum Springs and Hyland Center stations have not been completed yet.
Including artwork that reflects “the history, identity, and character of the neighborhoods surrounding each station area” is the goal of the “Community Charm” initiative, according to the Richmond Highway BRT page on the county’s website. The selected windscreen designs will be semi-permanent.
“Student artwork will inspire the first windscreen design, which may evolve or change over time,” the survey says.
Gathering feedback on the artwork is the fourth step in FCDOT’s work to finalize designs for the windscreen area at each station. Next, an executive committee will take a final vote and provide feedback to FCDOT and a consultant design team, which will then make any necessary adaptations to the works.
Local organizations are exploring the possibility of creating a new icon for Reston.
The icon would serve as a local, visible symbol that would be memorialized in sculptures across the community. The symbol would be available for local businesses, corporations and residents to display as a fundraising effort that will provide money for public art.
Friends of Reston, Reston Association, Public Art Reston and other community partners are collaborating on the project.
At a March 23 meeting of the Reston Association Board of Directors, chairwoman Sarah Selvaraj-D’Souza presented the project, following up on a previous presentation to the board in July. RA is the funding beneficiary of the project, while Friends of Reston is leading the fundraising efforts.
The icon will be selected from a list of four choices: a blue heron, woodpecker, a fox, or a write-in animal.
“The infrastructure is us, which is our underpasses and our spillway,” D’Souza said. She hopes that the project will be unveiled at RA’s annual membership meeting on April 11.
Jennifer Jushchuk said she was confused about RA’s role in the project.
“Is there money that’s involved? Is there staff time that is involved?” Jushchuk inquired.
Board member Travis Johnson said he was confused about the scope of the project and the placement of the icon.
“I see the word ‘icon’ and it just concerns me a little,” Johnson said.
The winning selection will be fabricated into a cast sulphur to be painted and auctioned off for future public art projects in Reston.
Selvaraj-D’Souza noted that other communities have similar projects. Norfolk has a mermaid, while D.C. has donkeys and elephants — the animals representing the country’s two major political parties — as well as pandas. She hopes the funds will be used to pay for public art projects on RA’s underpasses.
Board member John Farrell noted that the Walker Nature Center — which is operated by RA — already uses a pileated woodpecker, suggesting that additional animal-centric icons could create confusion.
But board member Margaret Perry, who expressed support for the program, noted that the center also uses a squirrel and turtle in some of its programming.
“We’ve already shot ourselves in the foot there,” Perry said.
Less than two years after overhauling its plan for the West Falls Church Metro station area in Idylwood to allow more development, Fairfax County needs to make a relatively limited but critical revision.
During its meeting last Tuesday (March 21), the Board of Supervisors authorized a study of an amendment to the comprehensive plan for the West Falls Church Transit Station Area (TSA) that would allow more office on Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center at 7054 Haycock Road.
The amendment would also reduce the amount of institutional space proposed for the 7.5-acre property, reflecting changes to developer Rushmark Properties and the construction company HITT Contracting’s plan to expand the campus.
“The rezoning application by HITT Contracting and Rushmark Properties proposes a decrease in the planned institutional use by 120,000 square feet and an increase in general office use by approximately 62,000 square feet,” Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said in his motion asking the board to authorize the study.
Plans to redevelop Virginia Tech’s Idylwood campus have been percolating since 2018, when the university received an unsolicited bid from Rushmark. HITT got involved a year later, seeking to relocate its headquarters to the site.
That original pitch also called for a new academic building and a design and construction research center, along with an additional 250,000 square feet of office space, 500 residential units and 50,000 square feet of retail.
However, Virginia Tech announced on Feb. 28, 2021 that it and HITT had agreed not to move forward with the project. Despite that termination, the proposed development was still incorporated into the new West Falls Church TSA plan approved by the Board of Supervisors on July 12, 2021.
The plan allows 1,720 dwelling units, 301,000 square feet of office use, 48,000 square feet of retail, and 160,000 square feet of institutional use across the TSA, including on the adjacent Metro station property.
Rushmark and HITT put forward a new redevelopment plan last fall that would replace the existing Northern Virginia Center with a 283,000-square-foot office building, up to 440 residential units, and a 2,000-square-foot retail pavilion.
The newly requested plan amendment will be considered at the same time as that rezoning application, which is scheduled for a public hearing before the Fairfax County Planning Commission on June 7.
According to Foust, the use changes won’t affect the 2.5 floor area ratio now allowed on the Virginia Tech site or the overall development limits for the TSA.
(Updated at 2:05 p.m.) Many D.C. area residents who have ventured outside today (Monday) have reported a smoky or burning smell from a wildfire unfolding in North Carolina.
The scent has been reported from D.C. to Arlington and into McLean. The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department confirmed that it has gotten calls from around the county, as previously reported by FFXnow’s sister site ARLnow.
The department confirmed that the smell is being carried over by winds from a large wildfire currently burning in North Carolina, citing the National Weather Service.
“A wind shift has caused smoke from the NC wildfires to migrate widely,” the FCFRD said. “Low wind speeds in our area prevent the odor and haze from dispersing.”
#FCFRD has been getting reports of a burning smell and haze throughout @fairfaxcounty. According to @NWS a wind shift has caused smoke from the NC wildfires to migrate widely. Low wind speeds in our area prevent the odor and haze from dispersing. @FairfaxCountyPD #weather pic.twitter.com/VW7t1xNxSo
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) March 27, 2023
@nbcwashington @ffxnow @ARLnowDOTcom
People are talking about the strange burnt smell across the DMV, any news on what this is???
— Steph Ger (@MrRednWhite) March 27, 2023
Terrible in McLean as well. Know there is a wildfire in NC near OBX. Wondering if it’s from that.
— Mean Streets of McLean (@MeanStreetsMcL) March 27, 2023
Scanner traffic indicates that Fairfax County’s dispatch center received calls from numerous schools, prompting the fire department to send units to some locations until they realized that it appeared to be a countywide issue.
“We’re getting a lot of different calls throughout the county about a smoke smell,” a dispatcher said. “Not sure what’s going on yet, but just a head’s up, we’re getting calls from multiple schools on this.”
“I too smell a strong odor of either wood burning or something similar to that,” a school security contact said.
Fairfax County Public Schools issued a message recommending that any schools “experiencing burning odors” stay inside.
“Fairfax County is experiencing burning odors. Fairfax County fire department is aware. We recommend students and staff remain inside,” the school security announcement said.
One principal reported trying to get through the phone lines for 15 minutes.
“Right now, our phone lines are jammed,” FCPS school security said on the scanner at 1:12 p.m. “State, federal, local officials, meterologists and others are aware of this. It’s a wildfire from North Carolina. We recommend you bring kids inside from the schools due to underlying health conditions such as asthma.”
An FCPS spokesperson said students haven’t been told to shelter in place, but public safety officials recommended that students remain inside if smoke was detected.
“If smoke is detected in the air, it has been recommended to principals that they keep their students inside,” the spokesperson told FFXnow. “This is a school by school decision to be made by individual principals, however.”
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a new policy last week that could offer incentives to developers to replace the affordable housing lost to new development.
The new policy wouldn’t just require a one-to-one replacement of units set aside as affordable — known as committed affordable units — but would incentivize the replacement of those that were naturally affordable — meaning market-rate affordable.
In effect, if a new development brings units to a site previously affordable for those making less than the area median income, the developer would be offered incentives to include an equal number of affordable units in the new development. Those incentives could include additional density, building height and financial assistance.
The sole voice against the new amendment at the meeting last Tuesday (March 21) was Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, who said the county can’t subsidize its way out of the regional housing crisis. According to Herrity:
The requirement to replace market-rate affordable units could inhibit the delivery of much needed housing, especially if incentives fail to cover the cost of the preserved affordable units. It’s a lot of those incentives that are basically making housing unaffordable for many of our residents, because those incentives are paid by our residents. Our young adults and our seniors are priced out of housing. We’re not going to be able to do enough government-subsidized housing to fix this problem. Where we need to start is reducing the cost of housing. I’m not going to be supporting this, that’s probably no surprise to the board, but I think there are better ways to attack this problem.
The rest of the board, though, was enthusiastic in its support of the new policy.
“This is a good next step for us,” Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said. “The issue is: how do we ensure this distribution of housing is countywide? I think this starts to tackle that issue by highlighting and identifying where those issues and where those needs are. I’m looking to support far more housing that’s affordable in many other areas.”
Storck said the policy is part of the county’s commitment to ensure residents can afford to stay in the county even as overall housing prices continue to rise.
“I have a statement that I say often and my staff will probably roll their eyes when I say this again: we need to make sure we leave no one behind,” Storck said. “If you’ve lived in our community for a while, we need to make sure there are options for you. To get those options, we need to build more housing.”
The policy change was approved in a 9-1 vote.
Following adoption by the Board of Supervisors, staff will work to put together a draft of new guidelines in May and present those to the board later this summer.
An 18-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in connection to a fatal shooting in the Fairfax Village Apartments on Saturday (March 25).
Fairfax County police officers were called to the apartment complex in the 10400 block of Viera Lane in Oakton at 7:47 a.m. by a family member of the victim who reported the shooting to 911.
According to the Fairfax County Police Department, the family member was in the apartment’s bedroom when they were awoken by a gunshot. They found Javier Gomez, 20, of Fairfax lying on the living room floor and saw the suspect — identified as Darren Cruz Colindres, 18, of Vienna — running out of the apartment.
“This is not a domestic-related shooting, but the suspect is known to the family,” FCPD Lt. James Curry said in a media briefing that morning.
Cruz Colindres had apparently been staying at the apartment overnight, police said.
When officers got to the scene, they found Gomez on the floor with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the upper body and administered medical aid until Fairfax County Fire and Rescue personnel arrived to transport him to a hospital, where he later died.
Officers and detectives tracked Cruz Colindres to a home in the 2700 block of Pleasantdale Road in Merrifield, according to the FCPD, which reported just before noon that a suspect had been taken into custody.
In addition to second-degree murder, Cruz Colindres has been charged with the use of a firearm while committing a felony.
No firearm has been recovered yet, as of 5 p.m. Saturday, when the FCPD issued its news release.
“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy in the coming days to determine the cause and manner of death,” the police department said. “Detectives continue to conduct interviews, collect video surveillance and process evidence recovered from the scene.”
The FCPD says anyone who may have information can contact its Major Crimes Bureau detectives at 703-246-7800, option 2. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone (1-866-411-TIPS) and online.
This was Fairfax County’s second homicide last week after a couple was found dead on a Reston trail on Wednesday (March 22) in what police believe was a murder-suicide incident.
Local police are seeking the community’s help in identifying a man who has reportedly exposed himself to multiple women at a Reston hotel.
Most recently, Fairfax County police believe the man exposed himself outside a room in the Extended Stay at 12190 Sunset Hills Road on Friday (March 24). A woman was inside the room with her two children when she saw the man.
Two similar incidents happened in February at the same hotel, according to police.
“Detectives canvassed the area following the February incidents, but additional information was not developed,” the FCPD said.
The previous incidents happened on Feb. 18 and 19, according to police.
Police issued the following description of the the subject:
The suspect is described as a black man in his 20s, approximately 5’10, 185 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, black sweatshirt with black jeans and black Jordans with a blue accent stripe on the heels.
Anyone with information is urged to call the police department using the following methods:
Detectives would like to speak to anyone who may have information about this case or other similar cases. Those with information are asked to please call our Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 3. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone – 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477), and by web – Click HERE. Download the ‘P3 Tips’ App and follow the steps to “Fairfax Co Crime Solvers”. Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards. Please leave contact information if you wish for a detective to follow up with you.
Vienna Ice Skater Gets Bronze at World Championships — “Japan’s Shoma Uno repeated as world figure skating champion, performing the total package of jumps and artistry immediately after 18-year-old American Ilia Malinin attempted a record-tying six quadruple jumps in his free skate to earn the bronze medal…Malinin is the only person to land a quad Axel in competition and did so again Saturday.” [NBC Sports]
GMU Students Petition Against Youngkin Speech — “George Mason University students are petitioning against the college’s decision to host Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin as the graduation commencement speaker in May. Senior Alaina Ruffin started the petition Thursday…The petition has received more than 4,000 signatures since then.” [WTOP]
GW Parkway Repairs Delayed — “Emergency repairs to the concrete pavement in the southbound lanes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway near Waynewood Boulevard will take place the weekend of March 31 instead of March 24 due to the inclement weather forecast [last] weekend, according to the National Park Service” [On the MoVe]
Metro Police Add Body Cameras — “Metro Transit Police will start wearing body-worn cameras in a new program being rolled out starting in April…According to Metro, there will be a total of 315 Metro officers wearing body-word cameras by the end of the summer.” [WTOP]
Reston Man Accused of Scamming Businesses — “A man from Reston, Virginia, is accused of helping scam more than a million dollars from businesses across the country using hacked or fraudulent emails. Federal investigators said Patrick Allen Womble helped scam eight businesses out of at least $1.3 million from September 2020 through April 2021 using a business email compromise scheme.” [WTOP]
Three Arrested for Vienna Restaurant Robbery — “A February burglary at a family-owned restaurant in Vienna has led to three arrests. On Feb. 28, Skorpio’s Maggio’s Greek Family Restaurant at 421 Maple Avenue E. reported a burglary that happened the night before.” [Patch]
Former South Lakes HS Classmates Teach Auto Classes Together — “When sophomore Dominic Prakash and freshman David Plum became friends during auto mechanics classes at Reston’s South Lakes High School 40 years ago, they had no inkling of what the future held. But today, the two are still side by side, teaching auto technology in adjoining classrooms at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]
Charitable Donation Site Now Open in Kings Park — “Cut the ribbon for the new Green Drop donation bin location at the Kings Park Shopping Center. Green Drop provides a win-win for our residents, they have a way to recycle useful items and at the same time contribute to great organizations like the American Red Cross.” [Pat Herrity/Twitter]
It’s Monday — Possible light rain in the afternoon and evening. High of 57 and low of 47. Sunrise at 7:02 am and sunset at 7:28 pm. [Weather.gov]
Police are still looking for a driver who fired multiple gunshots at other vehicles on the Capital Beltway (I-495) in the Annandale area on Sunday (March 19).
The shooting was preceded by “aggressive driving behaviors” by occupants of a Mercedes and a silver Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck that were traveling north on I-495 shortly after 5 p.m. that day, according to the Virginia State Police.
“Words and gestures were exchanged between the two vehicles,” the VSP said in a news release today (Friday). “As the two vehicles passed under the Route 236 overpass on I-495, the front seat passenger in the Mercedes fired multiple rounds at the Silverado. The Mercedes then continued north on I-495.”
While the Silverado wasn’t hit, a bullet struck a vehicle headed south in the I-495 Express Lanes. Police confirmed that there were no injuries.
The VSP Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Fairfax Field Office shared a photo that it believes shows the Mercedes driven by the shooter. The photo was taken from a video captured by a driver who isn’t involved in the shooting incident.
“The suspect vehicle has been identified as a matte-finish charcoal gray Mercedes E-Class AMG sedan with a sunroof and tinted windows,” police said.
The VSP hopes to “generate additional leads on the suspect vehicle,” advising anyone who potentially witnessed the shooting and “road rage behaviors,” or who might know the people involved to call 703-803-0026 or email questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
“Anonymous tips are welcome,” police said.
Virginia State Police joined with the Fairfax County Police Department last week for a “Road Shark” campaign intended to step up enforcement and educational efforts to combat aggressive driving.
The initial phase of the campaign lasted one week, from March 13-19, but it’s expected to resume three more times this year.
Image via VDOT/Twitter
A day after neighboring Arlington County made waves by ending single-family exclusive zoning, Fairfax County saw its own zoning reforms reversed two years after they were approved.
The Virginia Supreme Court declared the county’s Zoning Ordinance Modification Project (zMOD) void yesterday (Thursday) because the new code was adopted at a mostly virtual meeting — a ruling could have consequences for other actions taken during the first years of the pandemic, as noted by Inside NoVA, which first reported the decision.
The county is now operating under its previous zoning ordinance, which had been in place since 1978, according to the zoning administration division’s website.
“We are currently evaluating the Virginia Supreme Court decision and considering our options,” Tony Castrilli, the county’s director of public affairs, said. “In the meantime, the 1978 Zoning Ordinance is presently in effect and available for reference on the County website.”
In a 29-page opinion, Justice Wesley Russell sided with four residents who argued that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors violated the Virginia Freedom of Information Act’s open meeting requirements by not holding an in-person public hearing or vote.
The county contended that an ordinance adopted on April 14, 2020 gave it the flexibility to hold public meetings on the zoning update and other subjects electronically during the Covid state of emergency.
The Supreme Court disagreed that the ordinance allowed the county government to conduct all regular business electronically, finding that the zoning update doesn’t qualify as “necessary to ensure the continuation of essential functions and services.”
“The modification of a 40-year-old zoning ordinance after a five-year revision process does not satisfy this standard,” Russell wrote. “It is not a time-sensitive matter, and its adoption is not and was not necessary to allow the County to continue operations.”
The residents behind the lawsuit — David Berry, Carol Hawn, Helen Webb and Adrienne Whyte — filed a complaint in Fairfax County Circuit Court on March 5, 2021 seeking to prevent the board from adopting zMOD at a public hearing on March 9, 2021.
The circuit court denied the request and ultimately dismissed the complaint on Sept. 9, 2021, stating that it had been rendered moot by the adoption of zMOD on March 23, 2021 and that the county board’s emergency powers gave it the authority to act at an electronic meeting. Read More
