Thursday, May 16, 2013
Pop in for a chat on dates this week and next.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, May 16
Want to sit down and chat with Fairfax City's mayor? Scott Silverthorne will host office hours in City Hall this week and next. Residents and business owners can call and set up a meeting or e-mail Silverthorne at any time. Office hours, however, allow them to just drop by anytime. Mayor Silverthorne will be available all day this Friday, May 17 and next Friday, May 24, to meet with locals. You'll want to head to the third floor in City Hall, 10455 Armstrong Street. The mayor's office is across from the City Manager's office. Do you have an issue you'd like to bend the Mayor's ear about? Tell us about it in the comments below. Sign up for Fairfax City Patch’s daily newsletter "Like" us on Facebook "Follow" us on Twitter
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City Hall, Annex
10455 Armstrong St, Fairfax, VA
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The decision came after a 5-hour long council meeting Tuesday evening.
The Fairfax City Council approved a developer’s plans to replace the Layton Hall garden style apartments with a 360-unit complex. Councilmembers, developers, and residents debated on the issue in a five-hour meeting Tuesday evening before the council ultimately approved the plans despite passionate pleas from current residents who resisted the move. “I hope that the current residents can see that we are doing what we can to keep you in the city,” Councilmember Dan Drummond said. “As many of you know, I’m the son of a single mother, so when I hear those comments they don’t fall on deaf ears.’” The council raised concerns on everything from affordable housing, to the impact on Accotink Creek, to adequate bike storage. The current Layton Hall…
Monday, May 13, 2013
The Virginia Republican Party will nominate its candidates during a convention this week, and some experts have weighed in on the system.
When Virginia’s Republican Party made a last-minute decision to nominate candidates for the 2013 election in a convention instead of a primary, as originally planned, it prompted Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling to withdraw his name from the race for governor. The move made the especially conservative Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s current attorney general, the GOP’s de facto nominee for governor. He's expected to be officially nominated during the Virginia Republican Convention this week on May 17 and 18 in Richmond. (See our guide to the convention right here.) See Also: Poll: Does the Virginia GOP Convention Represent True Democracy? Bolling said he dropped out of the race because he didn’t agree with the convention system, arguing that it made the …
Sunday, May 12, 2013
First Lt. Robert J. Hess, a Robinson High graduate, died April 23.
WTOP reports Sunday that Fairfax County will fly its flags at half-staff Monday in honor of a soldier from Fairfax who died in Afghanistan recently. First Lt. Robert J. Hess of Fairfax was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan and will be buried Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, according to the radio station report. In an e-mail update to residents, Braddock District Supervisor John Cook asks residents to honor Hess by flying their personal flags on Monday as well. First Lt. Robert J. Hess, 26, had only just this month been deployed to Pul-E-Elam in Afghanistan to support efforts of Operation Enduring Freedom when he was killed by indirect enemy fire, WUSA 9 reported. According to NBC Washington, Hess was an Army Blackhawk …
Presented by Patch, the theme is 'Fairfax Is Beautiful.'
UPDATE: The deadline for the first annual Celebrate Fairfax Photo Contest has been extended to May 15. Enter today! Your photo could be on display at Celebrate Fairfax! --- Are you a natural photographer or just enjoy capturing snapshots of the world around you? Celebrate Fairfax is looking for the best photographs of the natural beauty of Fairfax County and announces their 1st annual Photo Contest! In order to enter, you must submit a photo of something beautiful you see in nature around Fairfax County. You have until May 1 to get your entry in! Let the county be your inspiration — the top 75 entries submitted will be displayed during the Celebrate Fairfax! Festival, which will be held June 7-9. Individuals will compete in one of two …
PATCH CLIPS: Families were still able to enjoy the BBQ, sports, smores, stories around the campfire and more.
Friday was the City's first annual Mother-Son Campout, and luckily, the rain held out long enough for all the planned activities to take place. Families trickled in to Van Dyck Park between 5 and 6 p.m. to set up their tents in the large clearing, and their folding chairs around the makeshift fire pit. Hamburgers and hot dogs hit the grill at 6, alongside big bowls of potato salad, fruit and chips. Mayor Scott Silverthorne popped by to eat dinner with the families and enjoy a few tosses of the softball with some of the boys. To work off dinner, staff from the Parks and Recreation Department led activities such as kickball, basketball and a mother-son obstacle course. Then, it was time to relax around the fire with plenty of good, old-…
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Exemptions given for 10 years.
- GOVERNMENT
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Saturday, May 11
Residents who plan to substantially upgrade their older residences may be eligible for a partial real estate tax exemption, the City said recently. The exemption amount is based on the increased value of a single-family home or a duplex built at least 15 years ago that has been substantially rehabilitated, renovated or replaced. Exemptions are given for a 10-year period. Improvements must increase the assessed value by at least 15 percent. The homeowner must obtain appropriate building permits and inspections during the home improvement process. Interested applicants must apply for the exemption before any construction begins. For more information, call 703-385-7840. - By the City of Fairfax What do you think of this program, …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
The GOP's state convention in Richmond is a little over one week away. Here's what you need to know.
Virginia’s Republican Party will convene in Richmond on May 17 and 18 for its annual convention, where delegates from around the state will elect nominees for Lt. Governor and Attorney General. The Commonwealth’s GOP central committee voted 47-31 in June 2012 to switch the nomination system from an open primary to a closed convention of credentialed representatives. GOP officials had decided in 2011 to hold a primary in 2013, but a group of newly elected members on the committee reversed the decision that June, much to the dismay of some party members who think it makes the process too insular. In 2009, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli were nominated during a convention process. Whereas …
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Greg Hicks answers questions from his congressman, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly.
In a highly-charged hearing room Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Northern Virginia resident Gregory Hicks gave dramatic testimony as the star witness before House members getting to the bottom of a fatal attack in September on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Hicks identified himself at the hearing as a constituent of Congressman Gerry Connolly’s 11th District in Northern Virginia. Connolly is a member of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, holding the hearing Wednesday. Hicks, a Foreign Service officer and former deputy chief of the U.S. consulate, testified about the details of the night of the attack on Sept. 11, 2012, when U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and another man were killed; two others were killed the next…
The City warns that changes to the National Flood Insurance Rate could mean a rate hike of as much as 20 to 25 percent, for around 20 percent of policyholders.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, May 8
Since Congress passed the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, changes are being implemented to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Those changes include possible rate changes that remove "artificially low rates" and discounts that were set nearly half a century ago, when the plan was implemented and grandfathered in some rates. Owners of primary residences in special flood hazard areas (SFHA) may keep their subsidized rates until they sell the property; the policy lapses; the property suffers severe, repeated flood losses; or a new policy is purchased. Subsidized rates for non-primary or secondary residences are already being phased out, and others will be eliminated over time, beginning later this year. Increases will be …
Charles Vannoy
1:43 pm on Thursday, May 23, 2013
It's a shame we are losing these apartments. Setting aside only 18 of 360 units is laughable to me. This is gentrification and I also dislike the idea of a 5 story building with single family homes nearby. I have lived in Fairfax City for 26 years and am distressed by the decline of the city. Fairfax is losing, no, has lost it's small town feel. more ›