Plans to build housing in front of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Idylwood have been resurrected.

After a previous attempt in 2019 sputtered out, the church has found a new developer partner to potentially buy vacant portions of its property at 7426 Idylwood Road and transform it with residential development.

The developer EYA submitted an initial pitch to Fairfax County last summer for approximately 65 to 75 townhouses that would be constructed on two parcels of the roughly 10.7-acre site, an EYA marketing manager told FFXnow. The church intends to stay and use the money from the land sale to fund an expansion of its building, which was built in 1968, per county records.

“EYA is interested in the site for townhome development given its proximity to nearby established retail amenities, Tysons Corner and the City of Falls Church for work and shopping, and a direct bus connection to the West Falls Church Metro Station,” EYA said in a statement. “…We look forward to continuing to engage with the community, staff and elected officials as we develop our plan for this site.”

EYA’s proposal revives a development plan filed in March 2019 by Toll Mid-Atlantic LP Company, an affiliate of the Delaware-based home builder Toll Brothers.

According to that application, St. Paul’s wanted to sell part of its property to pay for a “family life center” that was approved in 2005 but never constructed “due to financial constraints.” The church consists of a main sanctuary with an attached educational building, though it also owns a separate, now-vacant building that once housed Lutheran Social Services.

Toll Mid-Atlantic sought to replace the empty building and another undeveloped parcel — totaling about 5.85 acres — with 67 residential units, which would’ve been a combination of single-family townhomes and two-over-two multi-family units.

The county’s land use database indicates that the application was scheduled for a public hearing before the Fairfax County Planning Commission multiple times, most recently on Sept. 30, 2020, but it ultimately got deferred indefinitely.

To allow for EYA’s development, the county needs to revise its comprehensive plan for the site, which currently designates the entire church property as a future residential development with 16-20 dwelling units per acre.

With the church committed to remaining at the site, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed county staff on Tuesday (Feb. 20) to craft a plan amendment that would reduce the intensity of the housing envisioned for the site.

“Recognizing that the Church wishes to remain on site, and this impacts the available area for development and the design of the site, a Plan amendment for residential development at a lower density, with suitable conditions related to site design, recognizing retention of the existing Church, is appropriate,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said when introducing the request.

Recalling the previous attempt to develop the site, she added that “transportation improvements and others are key to this development.”

The proposed amendment will be added to the second tier of the county’s comprehensive plan amendment work program, meaning it will be reviewed concurrently with rezoning and special permit amendment applications. Submitted on June 27, 2023, EYA’s proposal is still in the “pre-application” stage, so it’s unclear when an official plan will be available.

According to a summary report from the Department of Planning and Development, the initial concept tweaks Toll Mid-Atlantic’s earlier design to allow for more open space and tree preservation. It also features a recommended sidewalk along Idylwood Road and commits to replenishing landscaping that screens the church from existing townhouses to the south.

Image via Google Maps

Vienna police are investigating a conflict between a guest and workers at the town’s hypothermia shelter that involved a bomb threat.

Officers responded to the Vienna Presbyterian Church (124 Park Street NE), which is hosting the shelter, at 3:04 a.m. on Feb. 2 after a man fought with a staff member and “threatened to bomb the church,” according to the Vienna Police Department’s Feb. 1-8 crime recap.

“A patron of the Church’s hypothermia shelter was sleeping in front of the exterior door,” the police summary says. “When a shelter worker asked him to move, the man became upset and smashed the window inside the door. The man then threatened to bomb the church before running from the scene.”

The man was arrested “off site” on Friday (Feb. 9) and has now been charged with two felonies, according to Vienna Presbyterian Church Missions Director Sue Hamblen. A Vienna Police spokesperson confirmed “an arrest was made and the man was taken into custody in Fairfax City.”

“We will pray that he receives the help he needs to reclaim his life,” Hamblen told FFXnow by email. “VPC recognizes the risks of opening our building to potential disruption, but our faith commands us to care for those in need.”

The church is a regular host site for Fairfax County’s Hypothermia Prevention Program, which provides overnight shelter during the winter to people experiencing homelessness. During its two weeks at Vienna Presbyterian, the shelter is overseen by the nonprofit New Hope Housing, which also helps transport guests.

The Feb. 2 incident began when the man “became extremely agitated,” a reminder of the mental health challenges that many guests of the shelter face, Hamblen says.

“Despite New Hope’s best efforts to deescalate the situation, the guest left in anger,” she said. “He broke one of our exterior doors with a skateboard and, in anger, suggested that he might consider setting a bomb off in the church.”

In response to the encounter, the church and New Hope both implemented enhanced security measures for the shelter. Church staff increased their video surveillance of the property and began making more impromptu visits overnight, while New Hope added a third worker to its on-site staff.

The Vienna Police Department also provided nightly patrols “as an additional safeguard” and worked with staff around 4 a.m. “on several mornings to inspect every single room, restroom, pew and stairwell to ensure all was secure,” Hamblen said.

Despite the occasional obstacles, Hamblen says Vienna Presbyterian is proud to serve as a hypothermia shelter, hosting over 500 guests across 154 nights since first joining the program almost 10 years ago.

“We have met some incredible people, and indeed faced a few challenges as well,” Hamblen wrote. “Our congregation loves this opportunity to serve those in need, and we realize that any one of us could be in a position to need a similar helping hand at any time in the future.”

Running until March 31, the Hypothermia Prevention Program relies on nonprofit partnerships and volunteering faith groups, along with the county’s permanent shelters. It typically draws over 1,000 people each season, averaging 215 guests per night during the 2022-2023 season, per the Fairfax County Office to Prevent and End Homelessness website.

A Bailey’s Crossroads resident has been arrested after allegedly threatening violence at a church in Haymarket.

Rui Jiang, 35, posted multiple “threatening” messages to his Instagram account on Sunday (Sept. 24), including ones where he pointed a gun at pictures of churches, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

The messages led a community member to alert the Anne Arundel County Police Department, whose officers determined that Jiang lives in Fairfax County. The FCPD says it was asked to conduct a welfare check at 9:22 a.m.

“Mason Patrol officers responded to his home in the 5600 block of Seminary Road,” the FCPD said in a news release. “They determined Jiang was not home. Based on the messages shared on Instagram, officers believed Jiang was at the Park Valley Church in Haymarket.”

Fairfax County officers then contacted the Prince William County Police Department at 10 a.m., suggesting that it check Park Valley Church to see if Jiang was there.

Police said church staff had been “monitoring a suspicious person on the premises” at the same time that an off-duty Prince William County officer handling traffic outside found Jiang’s car in the parking lot, Inside NoVA reported.

Jiang arrived at the church at 10:12 a.m. and was promptly taken into custody by Prince William police, according to the FCPD.

“The accused apparently entered the building through a separate door and had been inside the location prior to being stopped,” the Prince William County Police Department said in a news release. “Church services were going on at the time, no injuries were reported. The accused was found to be in possession of a loaded handgun, an additional magazine, a folding knife, and a folding ‘credit card’ style knife.”

Jiang has a concealed weapon permit, and the firearm was not reported stolen, according to the PWCPD.

Jiang has been charged in Prince William with threats of bodily harm and carrying a dangerous weapon to a place of worship. He’s being held at the county’s jail without bond.

The FCPD says its new threat assessment managment unit, which launched earlier this month, has been assisting with the investigation.

“TAM detectives assisted with the execution of a search warrant at Jiang’s home,” Fairfax County police said. “Evidence supporting Jiang’s intent to cause harm was recovered from the scene. Detectives will work with our multidisciplinary team to determine the appropriate resources for threat mitigation and management of the case.”

Photo via Google Maps

The Montessori School of McLean is on track to celebrate its 50th anniversary on the same site where it has spent the past half-century.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a special exception permit for the private school and child care center on May 23, allowing it to remain at 1711 Kirby Road even after the church that owns the 3.87-acre property relocates.

The school is expected to buy the property from the Chesterbrook United Methodist Church (UMC), which is being consolidated and moved to another site, according to Holland & Knight land use attorney David Schneider, who represented the Montessori school at the board’s public hearing.

“To [move], they have to be able to sell this site first, and the school has more than 25 years left on its lease, so it’s the only logical purchaser,” Schneider said. “They’ve been a tenant for a long time, they have a great relationship with the church, and they were able to come to terms.”

Chesterbrook UMC hasn’t publicly announced where its new location will be and didn’t return FFXnow’s requests for comment. However, the building at 6817 Dean Drive has been vacant since the Charles Wesley UMC closed its ministry there on June 30, 2020.

The church at Kirby Road was built in 1920, and the Montessori school has been a tenant since a second educational building was constructed on the property in 1973.

Schneider called the application “simple,” with no new construction or changes to its 265-student enrollment cap planned. The school does intend to expand its operating hours from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.-7 p.m. to accommodate after-school activities.

However, a resident from the Franklin Area Citizens Association sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors warning that the plan “presents a clear and present danger due to traffic safety,” particularly for children, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said.

Schneider said the school understands the resident’s concern but doesn’t anticipate any traffic issues, since vehicle trips are expected to go down after the church departs.

“The Montessori school and him are in complete agreement that the safety of the children is priority number one, so there’s no disagreement there,” Schneider said. “…With the removal of the church use, there’s 24 additional surplus [parking] spaces on the property, so queuing and everything, which already works, is only going to get better on the site with that additional availability.”

According to Schneider, neighbors of the property — which is near single-family homes and the Chesterbrook Shopping Center — expressed support for the school, as did the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce and McLean Citizens Association planning and zoning committee.

Foust said the feedback he got from the community was generally supportive, and Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay congratulated the school for reaching the “big milestone” of 50 years.

“We’re lucky to have you, and we’re glad that you’ll be able to stay in that space,” Foust said. “I will say that although there was some negativity from one individual in particular, I got a lot of supportive correspondence suggesting what a wonderful member of the community you’ve been and how much you’ve done to help their children over the years and so forth.”

Photo via Google Maps

The Springfield United Methodist Church will open its doors at 7047 Old Keene Mill Road tomorrow (Friday) to anyone in need of a warm, free meal for St. Patrick’s Day.

While hosted by that church, the St. Patrick’s Day Supper and Community Conversation is being organized by the Provision Church, a new United Methodist Church dedicated to addressing food insecurity in southeastern Fairfax County.

Launched on Jan. 1, Provision Church aims to help people in need not just by handing out meals, but by encouraging entrepreneurship and teaching culinary skills through a planned job training program, its leader, the Rev. Alyssa Densham, told FFXnow.

“We go further up the river than offering someone just a free meal or a free bag of food,” Densham said. “We speak into the right that all people have for self-determination and hope to level the playing field so that all people have access to the resources and support to become the people they dream of becoming.”

A trained chef who graduated from the Culinary Institute of American in 2010, Densham worked at a food bank, the nonprofit National Farm to School Network, and faith-based charity programs before becoming associate pastor of food justice and access at Rising Hope Mission Church in Mount Vernon.

Provision Church grew out of conversations she had while working in communities along the Route 1 corridor, where she met people who aspired to have their own food-related businesses but struggle with a lack of financial or emotional support, health care access, literacy, and other barriers.

“I spoke to one woman who is a phenomenal cook, but because of [a] poorly supported learning challenge, she is functionally illiterate and can’t read recipes to work in the restaurants that she wants to work in,” she said. “Through these conversations, I heard communities cry out for programs that saw them as whole people with real dreams living real lives.”

Fairfax County residents with the greatest challenges accessing food are concentrated along the Route 1 or Richmond Highway corridor, according to the county’s 2022 Food Security Index, though there are also pockets of high need in Annandale, Seven Corners and the Herndon area.

A county economic needs assessment found that food costs in the region rose 8.4% from May 2021 to May 2022 and 25.6% over the past decade, straining households likely also struggling with other expenses.

Overall, about 24% of county residents are food-insecure, 8% of them severely, the Capital Area Food Bank’s 2022 Hunger Report found. Read More

A church is under consideration for the Gum Springs area, according to a proposal filed with Fairfax County this month. 

The applicant, Cornerstone Church, is seeking the county’s blessing to develop at 7900 Fordson Road, just across Sherwood Hall Lane from Bethlehem Baptist Church.

The lot is occupied by a 28,989-square-foot single-family house built in 1950, according to county property records. The Cornerstone Church of Christ bought it for $200,000 in 1992.

The existing two-story brick building will function as the church. A shed will be relocated, and a gravel parking lot will be replaced with an 18-spot parking area.

The Nov. 2 special permit application notes that it will involve no changes to the current building. 

“The proposed changes and design shall add more previous area to the site via the parking lot in comparison to its existing condition,” Lheep Kim, a principal for Greenway Engineering, wrote in a statement of justification for the application.

According to the application, the lot already provides parking to surrounding areas, resulting in “minimal” changes to traffic and overall impact.

“The church and restructured parking lot shall have no adverse impact on traffic since the church is designed to be for surrounding local community,” the application states. “Therefore, only local neighborhood traffic shall be in consideration, which this existing road is already designed for.”

The area is currently zoned as residential, so using the property as a church requires a special permit from the county. 

The church would operate daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, with an estimated 50 patrons visiting and 10 employees staffing the site.

Photo via Google Maps

A church in McLean and an orchestra based in Tysons have teamed up to do their part to assist humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine.

The Virginia Chamber Orchestra will put on a free Benefit Concert for Ukraine in the McLean Baptist Church sanctuary (1367 Chain Bridge Road) at 4 p.m. this Sunday (Oct. 16).

The concert will feature soprano singer Mandy Brown, violinist Emil Chudnovsky, and pianist Tatiana Loisha as well as the VCO String Quartet.

They will primarily perform classical music, including works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, and Antonín Dvořák, but Rogers and Hammerstein also appear. The program closes with “Shche ne vmerta Ukraina,” the national anthem of Ukraine.

While the concert is free to attend, the church will accept donations that will be used to provide medical supplies in Ukraine, according to VCO.

“The Virginia Chamber Orchestra is very pleased to partner with the McLean Baptist Church in presenting a Benefit Concert to provide medical supplies for the people of Ukraine,” VCO Board of Trustees President Douglas Lovejoy said in an emailed statement. “We welcome everyone to the concert and will appreciate your donations.”

Since Russian military forces invaded Ukraine in February, more than 15,000 civilian casualties have been recorded by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as of Monday (Oct. 10), though the organization believes the actual numbers of deaths and injuries are much higher.

Like in other communities across the U.S., acts of solidarity and support for Ukraine have become common in Fairfax County, from a regional winter coat drive and a fundraiser by local breweries to symbolic displays of the eastern European country’s blue-and-yellow flag.

The full program for Sunday’s benefit concert in McLean is below:

• “Sheep May Safely Graze” by Johann Sebastian Bach — VCO String Quartet
• “Uzun Hava” by Osman Kivrak — for violin and viola
• Selections from “44 Duets” by Béla Bartók, including Ruthenian songs from Ukraine
• “Allegro from Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 ‘American'” by Antonín Dvořák — VCO String Quartet
• “Polonaise Brilliante in D Major” by Henryk Wieniawski — Emil Chudnovsky, violin
• “Chanson d’amour” by Jan Tarasiewicz — Tatiana Loisha, piano
• “L’invitation au voyage” by Henri Duparc — Mandy Brown, soprano
• “The Winds are Blowing,” a Ukrainian folksong by Mykola Lysenko — Mandy Brown, soprano
• “Introduction” and “Rondo Capriccioso” by Camille Saint-Saëns — Emil Chudnovsky violin
• “Nocturne in C Sharp Minor” by Frédéric Chopin — Emil Chudnovsky, violin
• “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from “Carousel” by Rodgers & Hammerstein — Mandy Brown, soprano
• “Shche ne vmerta Ukraina” by Chubynsky/Verbytsky

The Montessori School of McLean could soon have the property at 1711 Kirby Road all to itself.

The private elementary school has occupied the nearly 4-acre parcel since the early 1970s, but the site has been shared with the Chesterbrook United Methodist Church, which constructed its longtime home there in 1920.

Now in its 110th year, the church plans to relocate and has proposed selling the property to the Montessori school, a legal representative for the school said on its behalf in a special exception application to Fairfax County.

Received by the county on Sept. 13, the application requests that the school be permitted to stay on the property, even though it will no longer be used for any religious purposes as currently zoned.

“[Montessori School of McLean], as tenant and contract purchaser, seeks to continue its long standing tradition of serving McLean families with quality education and child care on the Property,” Holland & Knight land use attorney David Schneider said in a statement of justification.

The school says no physical changes to the site are planned, and it has proposed leaving the existing enrollment cap of 265 kids in place.

Opened in 1973 with one primary and one elementary class, the school now serves kids aged 2 to 12 with pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first through sixth grade classes, along with a child care center.

According to the application, the school doesn’t anticipate any significant traffic impacts, but it is seeking to expand weekday operating hours from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

The change will “allow additional child care coverage and help spread out the trips from this existing use away from the peak hours” of 7:45-8:45 a.m. and 5:15-6:15 p.m. at the Kirby Road and Old Dominion Drive intersection, Schneider wrote.

According to its website, Chesterbrook UMC started at one of its members’ homes in 1906 before constructing the church building that it has now occupied for over a century. The church didn’t respond to FFXnow’s inquiry regarding the planned sale and where it will be relocating by press time.

According to county property records, 1711 Kirby Road was valued at $3.6 million for the 2022 tax year, including over $1.5 million for the land and $2 million for the current church building. Virginia exempts real estate used for religious purposes from paying state and local taxes.

As a private school, the Montessori school won’t receive the same exemption once the church transfers ownership of the property.

Photo via Google Maps

Sidewalk Projects Planned to Address Route 7 Pedestrian Safety — Virginia and Fairfax County officials are working to add sidewalks along Route 7 in the Culmore area of Bailey’s Crossroads. Prioritized sites include the Liberty gas station where a pedestrian was hit and killed by a vehicle in December, prompting safety advocates to campaign for improvements. [Annandale Today]

Person Rescued from Lincolnia House Fire — “Units arrived on scene with smoke visible and fire on the second floor. Two of three occupants evacuated the home prior to fire department arrival. One occupant was trapped in a bedroom. Crews rescued the occupant via a ground ladder — unharmed!” [FCFRD]

Former FCPD Officer Sentenced in Daughter’s Death — Jason Michael Colley pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree assault in Frederick County Circuit Court last week in connection to his 6-month-old daughter’s death in 2017. Sentenced to a combined 50 years, he will serve eight in private home detention and serve five years of supervised probation on the condition that “he not engage in physical punishment of children.” [ABC7]

Old Dominion Drive Closed for Two Days — “Old Dominion Drive (Route 738) will be closed to through traffic between Balls Hill Road (Route 686) and Route 123 (Dolley Madison Boulevard), weather permitting, from 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 8 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9 to replace stormwater pipes…Traffic will be detoured via Balls Hill Road, Lewinsville Road (Route 694) and Route 123 back to Old Dominion Drive.” [VDOT]

Two Charged in McLean Church Burglary — Two men were reported forcing entry into the Faith Bible Presbyterian Church (6901 Haycock Road) through a window at 5:17 p.m. on July 31. Officers found the 18-year-olds inside the church, taking property. They were both charged with burglary and property destruction, and one of them was charged with providing false identification to law enforcement. [FCPD]

Reston Assault by Teens Under Investigation — “Officers from the Reston District Station of the Fairfax County Police Department are investigating an assault that occurred Wednesday night in the South Lakes area, according to the weekly crime report. Around 10:45 p.m., a group of teens stole property and assaulted a person in the 11900 block of Barrel Cooper Court…The victim was treated for non-life-threatening injuries” [Patch]

Renovation of Merrifield Fire Station Complete — “After a little over two years, the renovation at Station 30, Merrifield, is complete. [Thursday], crews moved back in. Station was totally operationally during the renovation with a trailer for personnel in back. The reno included an addition of 440 square feet.” [FCFRD/Facebook]

Graffiti by Soldiers Revealed at Historic Fairfax Farmhouse — “Between March 1862 and June 1863, hundreds of Union soldiers left their enduring marks in charcoal, graphite or crayon on the walls of the attic and first and second floors of Historic Blenheim, a brick 1859 farmhouse and 12-acre estate on what is now Old Lee Highway.” [WTOP]

It’s Monday — Humid throughout the day. High of 91 and low of 76. Sunrise at 6:17 am and sunset at 8:13 pm. [Weather.gov]

Garfield Memorial Christian Church wants to stay in McLean, but in order to do so, it may need to sell part of its land.

The church’s board of trustees is seeking a special permit from Fairfax County that would enable it to construct a new, two-story building on a 0.87-acre portion of its property at 1731 Great Falls Street, according to an application filed on July 11.

To fund the project, which will replace the existing church built in 1960, the board proposes selling the remainder of its 4.1-acre parcel for residential development, a statement of justification for the application says.

“The applicant has deferred needed repairs and upgrades for many years due to funding constraints,” Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh land-use attorney Lynne Strobel wrote on the board’s behalf. “The applicant has a small but vibrant congregation that wants to continue the operation of the church on Parcel 21A. It has become necessary for the applicant to seek creative ways to remain on its property in McLean.”

A church staff member declined to comment on the proposal when contacted by FFXnow, stating that it’s too soon to share details when the county hasn’t officially accepted the application for review yet.

According to its website, Garfield Memorial Christian Church started as a mission church in 1955 under the Capital Area Christian Churches and United Christian Missionary Society. It held its first service in Pimmit Hills Elementary School before relocating to its current building in 1961.

For the new building, the board of trustees envisions a single structure “constructed of frame and masonry with a peaked shingle roof.”

“The building will be constructed in a traditional architectural style and include a steeple,” the application says. “A small accessory storage shed for lawn equipment will be located on the subject property.”

The church will encompass approximately 7,593 square feet of space, including a 100-seat sanctuary, as well as a cellar not included in the gross floor area. The building “will be consistent” with the single-family, detached houses that surround the triangular lot, the application says.

With two full-time staff members, the church has daily office hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and offers Sunday services at 10 a.m. and noon.

According to the application, the new building will need 25 parking spaces. A traffic impact study estimated that it will generate approximately 51 trips when travel peaks during the Sunday morning service.

The statement of justification says a fence and transitional screening will be provided as a buffer between the church property and the surrounding homes.

Photo via Google Maps