the Annandale Blog

UPDATED July 13, 11 p.m. A couple of blocks in a townhouse community on Ravensworth Road, Annandale, have been blocked off with police tape since the early hours of July 13 as Fairfax County Police are carrying out a search for an “explosive device,” according to a police officer on the scene. The occupants of two adjacent houses were evacuated.

The suspect, Marc Cassell, 36, was arrested by Fairfax County police and is awaiting extradition to Montgomery County, Md.

The investigation, which began at 2 a.m., is related to a domestic dispute. A report by WTOP radio says the suspect had used explosives to try to force his way into the home of his in-laws in the 11400 block of Marcliff Road in Bethesda, then fled to Fairfax County. Two devices had been detonated, one outside the front door, and one by the garage, causing significant damage.

According to news reports, the resident of the house told police that Cassell, 36, is involved in a divorce and custody dispute with his daughter.

Cassell’s Facebook page indicates he is from Annandale and went to Annandale High School.

After a long break, the construction project under way at 7250 Columbia Pike in Annandale is back on track with a new contractor.

The building, across from Walgreens, is house a Middle Eastern restaurant, reports Derek Sielewicz, owner of ADS - Architecture Design Services. The lower-level will offer regular eat-in dining and carryout, and the upper level will have a rooftop deck and hookah lounge.

The restaurant is on the site of the Sunset Grille, which closed in 2012. The owner, Hassan Iqbal, also owns the former site of American Rental next door and is seeking a retail tenant for that spot.

The Annandale Central Business District Planning Committee had approved a redevelopment plan for a restaurant and store in May 2013 on that site presented by a different builder. ADS was hired about two months ago to finish the project.


7250 Columbia Pike in July.

Looking for some free entertainment nearby on a summer evening? The Spotlight by Starlight series at Mason District Park and Ossian Hall Park are the places to go.

Here’s a video by Bob Kovacs of Jeff Little performing “Orange Blossom Special” on July 11 at Mason District Park during a show that also featured Wayne Henderson and Helen White:

The video below captures the George and Ira Gershwin classic, “You Can’t Take That Away From Me,” during a July 6 performance by the Reunion Music Society Jazz Orchestra at Mason District Park.

That show featured jazz and pop standards made popular in the 1950s by saxophonist Charlie Parker. The group used Parker’s original arrangements with NOVA professor Herb Smith taking the lead on sax. The group is directed by Christopher Johnston, who also plays piano. See more videos by Kovacs on the Annandale Arts You Tube Channel.

Upcoming shows this week at Mason District include Scott Kurt & Memphis 59 (roots rock/alt-country) on Wednesday, July 18; HuDost (neo-folk/world rock) on Friday, July 18; and the Capitol Steps (political satire) on Sunday, July 20. All shows start at 7:30 p.m.

On Saturday, at 10 a.m., bring the little ones to the park for a puppet show with the Pointless Theatre. On Saturday evening, bring the whole family to Indonesian Cultural Night (with dance and music) at Ossian Hall Park, 7:30 p.m.

If there’s rain, the concerts are canceled. If it looks like it might rain, call before 703-324-7467 one hour before show time.

This is the third in a series of profiles of the winners of 2014 Annie Awards, presented to local businesses at Blogapaloozaon June 28. The winners were selected by Annandale Blog readers in an open-ended survey.

Cue Club manager John Kim.

The Cue Club“is your neighborhood bar, no matter what your neighborhood is,” says marketing specialist Chase Moon Chichester. Located at 7014 Columbia Pike in the Annandale Shopping Center, the Cue Club is the winner of the Annie Award for best bar in the Annandale/Mason area.

It’s the kind of place where you might find a cadre of friendly regulars of all ages, a softball league relaxing after a game, sports fans, karaoke enthusiasts, and pool players of all skill levels—and most of the time you’ll find manager John Kim greeting customers and pouring drinks.

Kim switched from an office job to bartending when his mother, Sunny Kim, purchased the Cue Club about eight years ago. The bar was expanded this spring when a former storage room was transformed into a party room with another big-screen TV.

There are special happy hour prices every day, including $2.75 for domestic beer, $3 for Guinness and Corona, $3.50 for house drinks, and $4.50 for appetizers, including wings, tenders, quesadillas, mozzarella sticks, and cheese poppers.

The Cue Club also has a complete dinner menu, with the house specialty, bulgogi subs, as well as burgers, meatballs, nachos, sandwiches, salads, and much more.

The Cue Club opens every day at 3:30 p.m.—or earlier when there’s big sports event, like the recent World Cup finals or a big football game.

Three different pool leagues play at the cue Club: the TAP League on Mondays, the APA League on Wednesdays, and the Nine Ball League on Sundays. There are generally eight players on a team with a mixed level of skills. Dart teams play on Wednesdays.

There’s karaoke on the first and third Saturday of the month. Live music will be starting soon on the second and fourth Saturday. Kim is considering starting a “nerd night,” possibly with board games, videogames, and trivia contests.

You don’t need a special occasion to get into the Cue Club spirit; you would feel welcome just walking in for a cold one on your own. There’s a good chance you would make a new friend or two.

The site of a proposed shopping center on Leesburg Pike as seen from Charles Street.

With a public hearing scheduled before the Fairfax County Planning Commission July 17 on a proposal for a shopping center on Route 7 in Bailey’s Crossroads, local residents are urging that the project be modified to protect the Courtland Park neighborhood.

A letter signed by 37 residents was sent to Mason Supervisor Penny Gross July 14 urging her to “help us defend the integrity and livability of our deeply rooted community.”

The project, proposed by Spectrum Development, calls for a retail center on a 2.7-acre property on Leesburg Pike between Washington Drive and Charles Street. The center would have a CVS drugstore, Smashburger, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, and additional tenants not yet determined. A Geico claims center and two houses would be demolished.

The Planning Commission will consider an amendment to the county’s Comprehensive Plan calling for a rezoning (from C-2 and R-3 to C-6) and a special exception to allow a drive-through pharmacy. A staff report from the Department of Planning and Zoning recommends approval of the shopping center, calling it consistent with the redevelopment plan for Bailey’s Crossroads.

The Mason District Land Use Committee deferred a decision on the shopping center proposal in June and is scheduled to consider it again on July 22. A hearing before the Board of Supervisors is scheduled for July 29.

Courtland Park residents believe the project is likely to go forward so they are concentrating on ensuring that disruptions to their neighborhood will be minimized.

“Restaurant uses should not be permitted,” their letter to Gross states, noting that those businesses would lead to significant increases in cut-through traffic on Washington Drive, Charles Street, and adjacent roads.

The letter quotes from a 2013 Planning Commission document that states a proposed development along Route 7 and Charles Street “should be urban in character and pedestrian friendly” and says “auto-oriented uses, including drive-thru facilities should be prohibited” and “restaurant uses are strongly discouraged.”

“The need for redevelopment of Bailey’s Crossroads along pedestrian-friendly lines is self-evident,” the residents agree. “We who live in and walk around our historic neighborhood hope that you and your colleagues on the board will be committed to a strengthened pedestrian standard to stem the tide of car-oriented development.”

The residents call it “unconscionable” that Gross would support a plan amendment allowing a project that favors “auto-oriented uses that would endanger residents” rather that a pedestrian-friendly development.

The Annandale Goodwill

Someone donated a 3-carat diamond ring to the Goodwill store in Annandale. The store had been prepared to sell it for $200, but it was put on the Goodwill online auction site instead, where it sold for $11,600 on July 15, says Kiri Grant, general manager of the store on John Marr Drive.

The proceeds from the sale will be used to support Goodwill’s career training programs.

The ring was in a Ziploc bag with other jewelry that was dropped off anonymously in June in a bin behind the store, said Grant. “Just before we decided to put it on the floor, something struck us, and we decided to get it appraised.” The diamond, set in a 14k yellow gold ring, was appraised at $10,000. There were other real gold and silver pieces of jewelry in the bag, but nothing that valuable.

If you’ve been to the Goodwill store, you’ll know most of the items on sale aren’t worth much. But every once in a while, something extraordinary is donated. Just yesterday, Grant said, someone bought an antique sewing machine from 1891 for $500.

How many of these letters can you identify? They are all from signs on businesses in Annandale.

The Route 50 Gold & Jewelry Exchange

When armed robbers hit the Route 50 Gold & Jewelry Exchange July 14, they not only made off with cash and jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, they took irreplaceable items of sentimental value.

That’s what happened to one local resident who went to the store the next day to retrieve a couple of pieces of jewelry she had pawned and learned they were gone. She lost a one-of-a-kind $1,200 silver ring with a moonstone and a pair of silver earrings—and doubts she will ever see them again.

The robbery occurred at about 6 p.m., when two masked men entered the store waving guns around, said general manager Kevin O’Dell. They smashed four display cases, taking whatever jewelry they could and ordered the two employees working there into the back room.

There were no customers in the store, fortunately, says O’Dell, who wasn’t there during the robbery, either. When he arrived later, “there was broken glass everywhere,” he said. “It was brutal.”

An employee who was there, and is still pretty shaken up, said one of the robbers pointed a gun at him numerous times as they made him and a co-worker lie on the floor in the back room and threatened to shoot if they didn’t tell them how to open the safe.

There wasn’t a lot of cash in the safe, but there was jewelry on loan, including the moonstone ring. The store is fully insured, O’Dell said, “but some things have sentimental value and can’t be replaced. We understand that but when you have gun pointed at your head, it’s very upsetting.”

According to the employee, one of the robbers was African-American, but he could only see the other one’s feet from his vantage point on the floor.

The Gold & Jewelry Exchange is at 6670 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church, at the intersection with Annandale Road. O’Dell believes the robbers had done some research because “they knew which cases had the nice stuff” and they picked a Monday because that’s when the bar next door, JVs, is not crowded.

O’Dell plans to beef up security at the store. He already installed a buzzer at the front door, plans to move the cashier’s counter to back of the store, requires employees to wear firearms, and is thinking of hiring an armed guard. “We’ve been here five years and never had any problems before,” he said.

This building is available for lease.

Bandi Books, the Korean bookstore at 4305 Markham Street, Annandale, closed a couple of weeks ago for the same reason that bookstores everywhere are shutting down.

It’s too hard to compete against online book sellers and there’s so much free information available on the internet, says property owner Gary Cha. Why buy a cookbook, for example, when the recipe you’re looking for is online?

He hasn’t lined up a tenant for the building yet, but he’s had inquiries from people interested in opening a halal food market, doctor’s office, restaurant, and salon.

Cha owns the Yes! Organic Market chain, with six stores in D.C. and one in Hyattsville, Md., so we had to ask if he would consider opening a Yes! store in the old Bloom building on Columbia Pike. That wouldn’t work, he said, because it’s not big enough and there already are a lot of grocery stores nearby.

This house in the Brook Hill Estates community is on the market for $1.475 million.

The housing market in Annandale was pretty flat in June, reports real estate contributor Vivianne Couts of Coldwell Banker.

The average price of a home sold in Annandale (zip code 22003) last month was $508,564, down 4 percent from June 2013. The median price, $552,460, is up 0.63 percent. Sixty-two units sold last month, compared to 63 in June 2013.

“Houses that are well priced are selling quickly,” Couts says. “But the ones that are overpriced—and we have lots of those—are sitting.” There are two houses that have been on the market for more than a year, one of them for 605 days.

The lowest-price home for sale in Annandale is a condo on the market for $169,900. It’s a street-level unit on Americana Drive with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

The highest-price home on the market, $1.475 million, is a 7,200-square foot house on Brook Hills Drive, Annandale. It has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a wine cellar, a pond in the front yard, and much more. Two houses priced in the $1 million to $2.5 million category sold in Annandale last month.

Washington Drive, looking toward Leesburg Pike. The shopping center would be at the left. [Google Maps]

The Fairfax County Planning Commission deferred a decision on a shopping center proposal for Leesburg Pike in Bailey’s Crossroads until July 30, primarily because commissioners felt there was not enough information on a plan to align Charles Street with Glen Forest Drive.

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation hasn’t developed a detailed plan on realigning those two roads as they cross Leesburg Pike, said Janet Murphy, the planning commissioner representing the Mason District, during a public hearing July 17. The road realignment is driving the entire plan amendment language and rezoning request for the proposed retail center between Charles Street and Washington Drive, Murphy said. “I’m not clear how this would work. . . . Clearly we are not ready to move forward on this.”

Several residents of the Courtland Park neighborhood spoke at the hearing, primarily about their concerns with traffic and the need for a more extensive buffer between the shopping center and their homes. Murphy urged local residents to bring their issues to a meeting of the Mason District Land Use Committee July 22, 7:30 p.m., at the Mason Government Center.

Courtland Park doesn’t have an active community association, but Wayne Valis, a resident of Washington Drive spearheaded an effort to draft a letter to Mason Supervisor Penny Gross outlining residents’ concerns and got 37 people to sign it. In response, Gross invited residents to meet with her on July 22 at 6 p.m. immediately before the MDLUC meeting. [That’s a change from July 21.]

At the hearing, Gwen Doddy Lowit, a resident of Washington Drive, urged the commissioners to not allow restaurants or a drive-through at the proposed shopping center. Spectrum Development has already signed up Smashburger, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, and a CVS with a drive-through pharmacy.

Restaurants will lead to more litter, noise, smells, and cut-through traffic, said Lowit, who notes that an earlier county planning document “strongly discouraged” restaurants on that site. The planning staff now believes restaurants should be permitted, because the developer has since acquired additional properties, allowing for a larger buffer zone.

Lowit also complained that it’s already impossible to make a left turn from Washington to Leesburg Pike, and that more people would cut through the neighborhood to get to Columbia Pike.

“If the proposed project is supposed to be pedestrian friendly, why have a drive-through?” Lowit asked.

A representative for Spectrum, William Lawson Jr., said the CVS drive-through would only be for prescriptions and would only be used about seven times an hour, which is a lot less than fast food or bank drive-throughs. Murphy said if people are sick, it’s better that they pick up prescriptions in their car rather than walk through the store.

Commissioner Janyce Hedetniemi (at large) said the proposal doesn’t adequately support pedestrians and bicyclists. “This is not well thought out and seems kind of haphazard,” she said. “We need to be more creative to get people out of cars.”

Nicholas Ferk, whose house on 3427 Charles Street would be next-door to the new development, urged the commissioners to extend the buffer zone. He said the wall proposed by the developers at the rear of the site would be just one foot away from his house and that someone could climb the wall and break into his bedroom window. Lawson said if the community prefers, the wall could be moved closer to the shopping center.

Irene Xenos, whose grandmother’s house on Washington Drive would be close to the shopping center entrance, expressed concerns about more traffic, more illegal parking on the street, and property values. These are valid concerns, Murphy said, but “these are public roads; people can use them.”

The Annandale Blog presented 2014 Annie Awards to six local business during our fifth-year anniversary party, Blogapalooza, on June 28. The winners were chosen by Annandale Blog readers in an open-ended online survey. Collector’s World and AnnSandra, which was profiled July 10, got the same number of votes in the best gift shop category, so they both got an Annie Award.

Former Washington Senator Frank Howard signs a photo for a fan at Collector's World.

Collector’s World, 7030 Columbia Pike, Annandale, is the best place to find the perfect vintage sports card to complete a collection, a one-of-a-kind item to display in a man cave, or get the latest installment of a comics series.

Ryan Zimmerman's shoes can be yours for $800.

Steve Weber and Damon Hudson, both long time collectors who became friends while working for the same defense contracting company 10 years, purchased Collector’s World in 2012 from brothers Ron and Vinnie Savino.

Hudson had been driving around Annandale killing time between meetings when he stumbled upon the shop and bought some sports cards. Vinnie Savino mentioned the shop was for sale, so Hudson called Weber and the two decided to buy it. There are also three other co-owners who own smaller shares: Doug Steele, David Miller, and Jonathan Goldman.

Collector’s World is bursting at the seams since the owners bought the entire inventory—four truckloads—from Pete’s All Stars, a sports card and memorabilia shop in the Landmark area that recently closed. Some of the items are in storage and will be listed on Collector’s World’s eBay store.

Collector's World is branching out into custom framing.

The shop hosts autographic-signing sessions with sports celebrities usually once a month except during the summer. At the most recent event, about 50 people showed up to meet legendary baseball player Frank Howard,left-fielder on the Washington Senators from 1965 to 1971.

Other sports stars who’ve appeared at Collector’s World in the past few months include former Washington Capitals defenseman Rod Langway who’s in the Hockey Hall of Fame, Washington Redskin cornerback Dave Amerson, and Redskin greats Charlie Taylor and Roy Jefferson

One of the most valuable items in the shop is a pair of shoes owned by Ryan Zimmerman, third baseman for the Washington Nationals, priced at $800. The shoes (size 12, Under Armour) were autographed and actually worn by Zimmerman in a game. In the comics section, the store has #2 in the Green Lantern series for $900 and recently sold a couple of the sought-after Iron Man #55 comics for $1,000.

Other treasures in the shop include a series of vintage Mickey Mantle baseball cards (ranging from $30 to $150), an autographed photo of Mantle ($795), and a framed jersey and autographed photo from Terry Bradshaw ($395). There’s plenty of inexpensive items, too, like vintage Star Wars cards from the 1970s for $1.

A sink in a FCHS science lab.

The Fairfax County School Board spent an hour at a work session last week talking about the possibility of renovating Falls Church High School sooner than scheduled. But there wasn’t enough support to do that, so the school is still slated for the 2019 school bond, which means renovations won’t be completed before 2024.

FCHS is the only “legacy high school,” which refers to schools built in the 1960s, that has never been fully renovated. Among other problems, its science labs are woefully outdated and have sinks with non-working faucets, its music rooms are inadequate, and while it has a large special education program, it doesn’t meet federal accessibility standards for people with disabilities.

School board member Sandy Evans (Mason) is urging that the school be moved up on the “renovation queue” so it could be placed on the 2017 bond. She argued that FCHS was unfairly placed too far down on the queue because the ranking system gives a higher priority to schools with trailers.

Evans said it’s more critical for high schools to have up-to-date facilities because they have a greater impact on student learning and serve more students than elementary schools. She also believes schools that serve a high-needs population should have a priority.

Accelerating renovations for FCHS, however, means renovations for 13 other schools would be delayed by 12 to 18 months. The only school in Mason District on that list is Annandale Terrace Elementary School, which is overcrowded.

During the work session, school board chair Tammy Derenak Kaufax (Lee) and members Kathy Smith (Sully), Jane Strauss (Dranesville), and Ted Velkoff (at large) said they opposed “queue jumping.”

Superintendent Karen Garza said the idea of giving high schools more weight is a worthwhile conversation for future sessions on the Capital Improvement Program but it would be problematic to push back the renovation of schools already promised.

Board members Megan McLaughlin (Braddock) and Patty Reed (Providence) supported the idea that FCHS should be renovated sooner, and Elizabeth Schultz (Springfield) said there needs to be some flexibility in the queue.

“I have seen what Falls Church looks like,” McLaughlin said. “A mistake was made and Falls Church got overlooked.” High schools are critical as students try to get into college, she said, noting, “I’m not convinced we have to keep the status quo.”

“We all represent all of these schools,” Reed said. “We have to consider educational equity.”She said it’s embarrassing that FCHS is a Governor’s Health Sciences Academy and it’s in such bad shape, adding that the school’s planetarium uses 1968 technology.

Jeffrey Platenburg, assistant superintendent for facilities and transportation, argued against disrupting the queue but suggested there are some creative ways to address some of the needs at FCHS, such as using proffer money, without waiting for a full renovation. FCHS Principal Mike Yohe plans to submit a list of facility repairs and maintenance needs to FCPS.

Sign over JV's bar.

JV Restaurant, the small bar and live music venue that’s been at 6666 Arlington Blvd., in Falls Church for the past 66 years, is going to double in size. The small pharmacy that’s been next door for some 28 years moved to Annandale, so JV is expanding into that space.

JV is taking over the empty store on the left.

Lorraine Campbell, the owner and manager of JV’s for the past 30 years, won’t say when the work is supposed to be completed because there’s a contest under way. Customers have written their names on the wall between the two units with the date when they think the wall will come down. The winner will get a surprise prize, says Campbell, whose parents founded JV’s 66 years ago.

The Andy Poxon Band on July 20. [Photo by Lorraine Campbell]

The larger JV’s won’t lose any of the “ageless charm” it’s known for. In fact, the original side will stay the same and the new area will be a “mirror image” of the old JV’s, Campbell says. “No one wants us to change anything.” The new space will allow more room for the bands, more seating, and more bathrooms. Currently there are just booths with room for 50 people. The expansion will allow tables and chairs with seating for 130.

JV’s features live music (rock, country, blues, rockabilly, bluegrass) every night. Among the acts playing during the next few weeks: Dave Chappelle Band, Dead Cat Bounce Band, the Doug Cooke “Killer” Show with Jerry Lee Lewis tunes, Over the Limit, Dan Hovey Band, and Catfish Hodge.

The wall between the old and new space is covered with JV customers' estimates of when the expansion will be done.

This is the fifth piece in a series of profiles of the winners of the Annandale Blog’s 2014 Annie Awards, presented to local businesses at Blogapalooza on June 28. The winners were selected by Annandale Blog readers in an open-ended survey.

Silverado, the popular Southwestern-theme restaurant at 7052 Columbia Pike, was selected by Annandale Blog readers as the best restaurant in Annandale/Mason District.

When asked to name customers’ favorite menu items, manager Dustin Ranney listed the salmon salad, prime rib, crab cakes, fresh fish, firecracker shrimp, and “our world’s greatest fajitas,” along with the chocolate waffle for desert and huevos rancheros served at brunch on Saturdays and Sundays and summertime dessert special, mixed-berry shortcake. New happy hour items will debut soon, he says.

Silverado is on the site of the old Fritzbe's

Silverado is part of the Great American Restaurants (GRA) group, which was founded in 1976 by Ranney’s father, Mike Ranney, along with Jim Farley and Randy Norton, who had opened Picco’s Pizza in Fairfax in 1974. Ranney, a graduate of Woodson High School, worked in several GRA restaurants and has been at Silverado for four years.

The first GRA restaurant, Fritzbe’s Flying Food Factory, opened in Annandale in 1976 and lasted nearly 20 years. In 1995, GRA launched Silverado in the same location.

Dustin Ranney

To celebrate GRA’s 40th anniversary, Ranney says Silverado will bring back some of Fritzbe’s popular appetizers, including “loaded dippers” (potato skins with lots of toppings) and mozzarella sticks with raspberry sauce—plus half yards of beer. [Fritzbe’s also offered full yards.]

GRA approves the menus in its restaurants, but anyone can propose a new item, Ranney says. Silverado’s assistant manager, Alex Beddell, for example, created a popular watermelon margarita which is spreading to the other restaurants.

Silverado is an active supporter of the Annandale community. The restaurant fields a team in the annual Annandale Bed Race, and 25 percent of the proceeds from dessert sales go to Share Our Strength. Through a partnership with Annandale High School, special education students work at the restaurant in the mornings with teacher supervision, doing jobs like polishing silverware, shucking corn, and cleaning up.

Salmon salad

GRA now has 12 locations, including Sweet Water Tavern in Merrifield, Centreville, and Sterling; Coastal Flats in Tysons Corner and Fairfax; Artie’s in Fairfax; Carlyle and Best Buns in Shirlington; Jackson’s in Reston; Mike’s in Springfield; and Ozzie’s in Fairfax. A new Coastal Flats is scheduled to open in Gaithersburg, Md., this fall.

The Capital One Bank in the Seven Corners Shopping Center was robbed on July 21, Fairfax County Police reports. A man entered the bank at 5:20 p.m., handed a teller a note announcing a robbery, and implied he had a weapon. The suspect took cash and fled. There were no injuries.

The suspect was described as black, in his 30s, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, with a mustache. Contact the police, 703-691-2131, or Crime Solvers, 866-411-8477, if you have information. A man was arrested in June 2012 for an attempted robbery at that bank.

The Capitol Steps drew a large crowd to a free Spotlight by Starlight show at Mason District Park July 20. The video above, shot by Bob Kovacs and posted on AnnandaleArts, is “I Don’t Know How to Log In,” about the Obamacare problems, to the tune of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

The clip below is from a Scot Kurt & Memphis 59 concert at the park on July 16. This alt-country band reminded Kovacs of Garth Brooks’ style. The song here, “Heart Like Mine,” was a hit for Miranda Lambert.

The site of a proposed shopping center on Route 7.

The Mason District Land Use Committee (MDLUC) July 22 called for Fairfax County planning staff to revise the proposal for a shopping center on Leesburg Pike between Charles Street and Washington Drive to prohibit drive-through fast food restaurants.

Angela Valis, a Courtland Park resident who spoke at the MDLUC meeting, called that “a huge victory for our community.” Valis and her neighbors are concerned that the shopping center proposed by Spectrum Development would bring more traffic to already-congested roads. The center, however, would have a CVS with a drive-through pharmacy.

So far, the official discussions on this project have been limited to changes in the section of the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan dealing with Bailey’s Crossroads. Once that’s resolved, the county will address the rezoning application.

The Planning Commission held a public hearing on the plan amendment July 17, but deferred a decision primarily because of confusion over language calling for the realignment of Charles Street and Glen Forest Drive.

The MDLUC agreed to strike proffer language in the plan amendment calling for Spectrum to pay the construction costs for the road realignment. Spectrum prefers its proffer money be used for traffic calming measures in Courtland Park and says road construction should be the Virginia Department of Transportation’s responsibility. VDOT and the Fairfax County Department of Transportation are trying to sort out how the realignment would work.

There was also some discussion about whether the shopping center proposal should be revised to require the front entrances of businesses to face Leesburg Pike. The Bailey’s Crossroads revitalization plan says the area should have an urban design and be pedestrian oriented.

Spectrum wants the stores’ front entrances to be in the middle of the three-building shopping center, facing one another. There would be walkways along Leesburg Pike and into the interior of the center. Parking would be at the rear of the property.

One of the MDLUC members, Shari Harowitz, suggested the project could be considered urban and pedestrian friendly without requiring the shops to face the street. Marianne Gardner, director of the Planning Division in the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning, disagreed, stating, “pedestrian friendly means the door is on the street.”

An illustration showing the new site design for the Markham project.

The Mason District Land Use Committee unanimously endorsed a rezoning application July 22 for a 12-story, 308 unit apartment building on the site of the AMF Annandale Lanes bowling alley on Markham Street in Annandale. The project is a joint venture of Southern Management, which owns The Parliaments, and the Webb Cos.

The L-shaped building would have one and two-bedroom apartments and about 36 efficiency units. There would be space for a 6,000-square foot restaurant on the first floor and a plaza with a swimming pool for residents on the fourth floor.

An aerial view of the project with Markham Street on the left.

The architect, Faik Tugberk of Architects Collaborative Inc., explained some tweaks to the design of the project made at the request of Fairfax County planning staff. The building was moved a bit further back from Markham Street creating a linear park in front, and the urban park at the rear would be smaller and would be eventually converted to another public use, such as additional parking.

The building would include a semi-underground parking garage with 40 spaces for restaurant patrons, 30 spaces for general by the public, and 496 spaces (1.6 per unit) for residents. Instead of including the required affordable “workforce units” in the building, Southern Management agreed to provide 90 larger, affordable units at The Parliaments.

The Annandale Central Business District Planning Committee endorsed the project in January. Committee chair Greg McGillicuddy told the MDLUC July 22, “It’s a great project. It will be the centerpiece of Annandale revitalization and will spark more revitalization.”

MDLUC member Stephen Smith acknowledged the issue of overcrowded schools but said if the project doesn’t get built, “you lose tens of millions of dollars of investment.” The building is expected to draw 33 school-aged children, according to Fairfax County Public Schools estimates.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal for Sept. 10.

Ben Peter and Caity Brown in "Gruesome Playground Injuries." [Photo by Rich Stanage and Meg Christensen]

When drama students at Falls Church High School hit a snag with school authorities three years ago and a one-act play festival was cancelled, they arranged to stage the show at the theater in the James Lee Community Center on Annandale Road.

That’s how the Flying Muskrat Theatre Company started, and it’s still going strong, with about half a dozen of the original FCHS students still involved, says founder Brennan Jones.

The theater group put on three performances of the play “Gruesome Playground Injuries” earlier this month, and it was so successful, they’ve added three more shows: Aug. 1 and 2 at 8 p.m. and a 2 p.m. matinee on Aug. 2. (Tickets can be purchased online for $15, with discounts for students, seniors, and the military).

The Flying Muskrat Theatre also sponsors a student playwright contest and will hold a night of staged readings of the five winning one-act plays on Aug. 8. Entries were submitted from students of all ages from Canada and Mexico, as well as the United States. The winners were selected by a panel of professionals.

“Gruesome Playground Injuries” is a two-character play by Rajiv Joseph, who’s best known for “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.” Jones, the director, calls it a “very funny play about how people don’t remember things chronologically and about why people hurt themselves.” The stars, Ben Peter and Caity Brown, were cast following a call for auditions.

Most Flying Muskrat’s productions have been in the summer—this is their seventh show—since some of the company’s personnel are in college during the school year. Jones, a student at George Mason University, took a semester off to work as an actor and plans to transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to study stage management.

The other former FCHS students involved with the Flying Muskrat Theatre include costume designer Ava Hockenberry, who is studying costume design at VCU; board member Melanie Reuter, who helps with publicity and directs some shows and is studying musical theater at Temple University; Jimmy Miller; and Bill Miller.

When the students started the theater company, they got some financial help from their parents, but they’ve paid them back with revenue from the shows. “We’re trying to learn how to become a legitimate business,” Jones says. The James Lee Community Center provides free rehearsal space in exchange for help with its summer camp for kids.

Jones likes to select plays that are both funny and thought provoking. “If you have a message to get across, you can do that better if you can get them to laugh,” he says. “We try to do things the community isn’t used to seeing.”

The Flying Muskrat Theatre will do another playwriting contest and might put on a full-length play next year, Jones says. But after that, the future is uncertain. Some of the company’s members are trying to get internships at professional theaters, so the fate of the Muskrat “depends on what happens with their professional careers.”

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