Thursday, December 20, 2012
The developer envisions four new buildings on the same site where the apartment building is currently located on Beverly Drive.
The owner of The Ashby apartment complex in downtown McLean has proposed adding four new buildings on the site and doubling the occupancy of the existing apartment building. And the McLean Citizens Association's Planning and Zoning committee is having none of it. Mark Zetts, chairman of the planning and zoning committee, called the proposal to double the number of apartments "insane," telling the developer at a committee meeting on Wednesday evening that the vision won't work in this part of the community. "(The proposed density) is insane," Zetts said. "That’s what you get in Tysons. What is the public benefit? There is none." The Ashby apartment complex is located on Beverly Road in McLean near the intersection of Dolley Madison …
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
McLean Planning and Zoning is reviewing an application from Gannett that would allow the company to lease out some of its office space in Tysons Corner.
Tysons Corner-based Gannett is looking to cash in on some empty office space by leasing part of its headquarters to other tenants. To that end, the company has applied for a special exception to its zoning conditions, which currently restrict use of the property to a single company. Gannett has also asked the county to allow a future tenant to use the helipad, currently located on top of a parking garage on the Gannett campus. Gannett was granted use of a helipad by the county when it built the headquarters more than a decade ago, but the helipad has never been used and Gannett does not own an helicopter. Current zoning stipulates only Gannett is allowed to use the helipad. The company now wants to transfer that right to a potential tenant…
Friday, December 7, 2012
At monthly meeting Wednesday, board urges Fairfax Supervisors to focus on key revenue drivers, establish independent audit office for the school board.
In a letter sent earlier this week, the McLean Citizens Association has encouraged the Fairfax County Executive's Office to find new, "creative" sources of revenue, offering advice on how to maximize the use of available budget dollars and find additional cost savings. In the letter, MCA President Sally Horn wrote, A full copy of the letter is attached as a pdf document adjacent to this article. "We were told that one of the people who had seen the letter who works for the county thought it was a very useful, serious effort," Horn told Patch. "We didn’t push anything in particular, we offered options for consideration." In other business at the board's monthly meeting Wednesday at the McLean Community Center, the group voted unanimously on…
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The board will meet at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the McLean Community Center.
The McLean Citizens Association Board - the community's version of "town council" - will discuss several topics at its monthly board meeting Wednesday, including a letter directed to the chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, Sean Connaughton, regarding the impending Route 7 widening project. The state is currently in the design phase of widening a portion of Route 7 from four lanes to six lanes. "The McLean Citizens Association (MCA) supports the need for a comprehensive integrated analysis of all projects and studies related to the Route 7 corridor, including mass-transit alternatives, in order to address concerns about congestion, pollution, and economic loss in the long-term. The MCA believes that coordination and …
Friday, October 5, 2012
McLean Citizens Association says nature preserve threatened by salty storm water trickling from the Beltway.
The McLean Citizens Association voted on a resolution this week asking state officials to consider de-icing a section of the Capital Beltway with a low-salt solution to preserve wildlife in Scott's Run, a nature preserve in McLean. Frank Crandall, chairman of the association's Environment, Parks & Recreation committee, explained high salt de-icers used on I-495 cause salty storm water to trickle down into Scott's Run, killing wildlife near the freshwater stream. A low salt option "will save much of the wildlife in Scott’s Run," Crandall said. The resolution, which passed unanimously, also asks the state health department to monitor salt levels in the nature preserve. "The health department does a certain amount of stream monitoring, …
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Group passed resolution Wednesday on hunt for new head of Fairfax County Public Schools.
The McLean Citizens Association wants a school superintendent that will "appreciate and do the best to educate every child" and "be willing to challenge the status quo." The group, the unofficial town council in McLean, passed a resolution expressing these wishes, among others during the association's monthly meeting on Wednesday. Jack Dale, the current superintendent of the public school system, will retire in June 2013. The resolution will be forwarded to the Fairfax County School Board for consideration. "The current superintendent in was sort of selected in secret," said Louise Epstein, secretary of the citizens association. "You shouldn't rely just on a headhunting firm and twelve very busy school (board) members." Fairfax County …
Friday, September 14, 2012
The association passed a resolution this week on improving response times for future disaster events.
The McLean Citizens Association decided on Wednesday night that Dominion Power and the Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management need to improve response times to future natural disasters, based on the county's and the utility's performance after the June 29 derecho, which wiped out power to tens of thousands of homes in the Dranesville District. The association passed a resolution this week, citing the fact that many residents were not able to reach a 911 call center during a deadly heat wave that followed the storm and that the first cooling centers in McLean did not open until July 4, five days after the derecho hit the metro area. “It was pretty much a huge order of magnitude of a disaster," said Patrick Smaldore, chair of the …
Thursday, September 13, 2012
The MCA also wants Capital One to pay its "fair share" to improve transportation infrastructure around Tysons Corner.
The McLean Citizens Association is worried about cost overruns associated with Silver Line Metro construction, and the group adopted a resolution on Wednesday night to underscore those concerns. The board adopted the resolution “Concerns About Cost Increases in the Phase 2 Construction of the Silver Line” unanimously. Members of the association specifically took issue with the results of an MWAA study suggesting the Dulles Toll Road rate for drivers could eventually increase to $12, forcing commuters off the major highway and onto McLean’s local roads. “The MWAA toll-rate studies confirm that each increase in the Dulles Toll Road toll produces increasing congestion on the alternative commuter routes and local roads,” the resolution cites…
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The McLean Citizens Association, the community's unofficial town council, will meet on Wednesday night.
The McLean Citizens Association will meet for the first time in two months at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the McLean Community Center. Several items of interest are on the meeting's agenda, including: Patch will bring you a full report on the meeting Thursday morning. Read it first by signing up for our daily morning newsletter.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Proposal is part of transforming Tysons Corner into a city.
High-rise office and apartment buildings, a hotel, community center, stores and new roads could replace the athletic fields that now surround the Capital One headquarters on Dolley Madison Boulevard. Members of a McLean Citizens Association committee listened for two hours Tuesday night as Capital One representative Antonio Calabrese explained how the 26-acre site could eventually be a city-like mixed-use development that would total more than 4 million square feet of new development at Dolley Madison Boulevard and Old Meadow Road. "As patrons exit the rail station, they will find themselves here at this expansive, welcoming Metro station gateway park," said Calabrese, Land Use/Zoning Counsel to Capital One, when he presented the same …
Dr. Marks
3:54 am on Sunday, December 30, 2012
Ask the current residents of the Ashby Apartments about their recent experiences with the WRIT management team and you will find that you do not want that group of incompetent clowns affecting the living experiences of more current or future McLean residents. more ›