Category: Town of Vienna, VA

Post #227: Lessons the Town has learned

I don’t encourage email.  You can find my email address on the splash page for this website, and I occasionally include it in posts when I am looking for someone to correct me on the facts.

I got an email on Wedenesday, from a reader of this site.  It was a classic example of why I discourage email.  I hate having to be “that guy”, that guy who always has something mean to say.

But in this case, I don’t see much choice.  There was nothing wrong with the email.  It was perfectly pleasant.  And I don’t need to say anything mean about the sender.

But it brought to my attention yet another thing the Town is doing.  So now — yet again — I need to say something deservedly mean about Town government.

Here’s what set me off.  My reader went to the Town’s “community workshops” last Friday and offered her comments.  And in her email to me, she included this, about 444 Maple Avenue West (the Tequila Grande development), emphasis mine:

" ...  The person with whom I spoke last Friday night said there was nothing the Town could do to reverse that.  She did however indicate the Town had learned lessons from that venture.  ... " 

Oh, yeah, our Town government has learned some lessons, all right.  But they are probably not the lessons you think.  Rather than just quietly email her back, I’m  going to lay out my view of the lessons the Town has learned.  In a nutshell, rather than back off one inch in the face of public protest, the Town has done nothing but double down.

Continue reading Post #227: Lessons the Town has learned

Post #225: Take the bus, edited PM 4/3/2019

I took the Fairfax Connector bus down Maple Street last night, to run an errand at the other end of town.  I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.  I’m hooked.  This is not your grandfather’s city bus.

In this post, I am first going to go through the mechanics of it.  E.g., link to the website that does the real-time tracking of the buses.  Then give you my impressions.

Continue reading Post #225: Take the bus, edited PM 4/3/2019

Post #222: TC, PC, TSC joint work session, 4/1/2019, Part One: Sunrise Assisted Living

Last night, the Town Council (TC), Planning Commission (PC), and Transportation Safety Commission (TSC) held a joint work session to talk about two items.  The first was what used to be referred to as the Town’s Maple Avenue Traffic study.  But should not be referred to as that, in the future.  The second was the Sunrise Assisted Living facility proposed for Maple and Center, next to the Vienna Inn.

I will be posting the cleaned-up audio for that meeting, shortly, along with the usual Excel index file, so you can tell what was said, when.  In this post, I give my impression of the discussion of the Sunrise proposal.

Continue reading Post #222: TC, PC, TSC joint work session, 4/1/2019, Part One: Sunrise Assisted Living

Post #220: The NEVCA candidate forum

The North East Vienna Citizens Association (NEVCA) has a tradition of hosting a candidate forum for Vienna Town Council candidates.  They don’t hold this when candidates are unopposed.  But this year, with three contested Town Council seats, I have been assured that, in fact, NEVCA will hold a candidate forum in April 2019.

And if I can ever figure out when and where, I’ll let you know.  Because, as with so much that goes on in the Town of Vienna, it looks like you just have to know the right people, or know exactly the right place to look, in order to know what’s happening.

I have been diligently making audio recordings of Town of Vienna public meetings so that anyone can hear what goes on.  For each such meeting, I provide a recording and index available via public link on Google Drive.  But that’s not going to happen with the NEVCA candidate forum.  Shelley Ebert, of viennavotes.com, asked for permission to tape it, and was denied.  Nor will NEVCA itself tape it and make that available.  If you want to hear what the candidates have to say, you’ll have to show up in person.  If you can figure out where they are holding it.  And when.

Continue reading Post #220: The NEVCA candidate forum

Post #218: 2019 real estate tax increase – or – The Vienna School of Algebra

The Commonwealth has a rule that whenever real estate assessments rise more than 1 percent, but tax rates don’t fall to offset that (to within one percent), local governments have to publish a notice explaining that.  Just a simple bit of algebra to say, here’s the tax rate that would have offset that assessment increase.  Here’s what we’re actually proposing to charge.  And here’s the difference.  It’s just a way to make sure that citizens know how much their taxes are increasing.

I hate to have to be the one to say this.  But the Town just put out such a notice.  And their arithmetic is wrong.  Grossly incorrect.  I checked similar notices from three other jurisdictions, just to be sure that I was doing the calculation right.

And you know why I hate that?  Based on recent history, the most likely outcome is that, instead of just correcting their algebra, the Town will offer the usual bafflegab as why this unique Town of Vienna algebra is fully justified.  (And then quietly correct it.)

Let me be clear:  There is obviously no intent to deceive, because, clearly, nobody pays the slightest attention to this  notice.  Surely nobody within Town government, and I would guess, nobody (but me) outside of it.  I checked an earlier year, and I’m pretty sure their calculation has been wrong for some time now.

That said, at some level, this is all of-a-piece.  Five floors is really four floors.  A building the size of a football field preserves “small town” Vienna.  And a 5.6% increase in taxes is actually a 3.1 percent tax cut.  It all meshes together.

Detail follow.

Continue reading Post #218: 2019 real estate tax increase – or – The Vienna School of Algebra

Post 216: Accidents involving cars and trucks along Maple

This is a continuation of the prior two posts, same data source.  I’m just going to put up three maps showing 2018 reportable accidents along Maple.  The number of reportable accidents involving bicycles or pedestrians is tiny compared to the total number of car crashes annually on Maple.  As with the prior maps, a “reportable” accident is one involving injury or at least $1500 in property damage.

All (blue = injury, green = property damage only)
Bicycle
Pedestrian

Post 215: Accidents involving bicycles along Maple

This is a continuation of my prior post, same data source.  Bicyclists who get hit by cars along Maple mostly do so when riding in the roadway.  Secondarily, while riding in a crosswalk.  Over the period 2015-2019 (to date), there was one reportable accident involving injury to a bicyclist who was on the sidewalk, crossing a driveway along Maple Avenue.

As in the prior post, the blue dot marks the accident scene.  Same minor caveat applies:  The DMV only plots the accident location when they have GPS latitude and longitude data but they appear to have that information for most if not all accidents in Vienna.

Roadway, Tom Yum Thai
Sidewalk, Chipotle shopping center driveway
Crosswalk, Westbriar
In the roadway, west of Nutley
Crosswalk, Pleasant Street
In the roadway, east of Courthouse
In the roadway, mattress district
In the roadway, Mill Street

Post 214: Accidents involving pedestrians along Maple Avenue

This page is an introduction to some easy ways to view traffic accident data in Virginia, including interactive maps showing the exact location of each accident via Google Street View.  The point is that you can look at at all pedestrian injuries along Maple for the past five years to see that the sidewalks along Maple are not dangerous.  You incur some small risk when you cross the road.  The risk of vehicular injury while walking down the Maple Avenue sidewalk appears to be negligible.

Continue reading Post 214: Accidents involving pedestrians along Maple Avenue