Zoning board approves temple on Gallows Road

The house has been transformed into a Buddhist temple.

The Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals on July 8 approved a special permit from Van Duc Tu allowing a place of worship in a residential property at 5728 Gallows Road, Annandale. 

The property is used as a nonprofit meditation facility focusing on the teachings of Buddhism. Two monks live there.

The Annandale Healthcare Center during COVID lockdown: ‘worse than prison’

The Annandale Healthcare Center

Residents of the Annandale Healthcare Center are stuck in their rooms all the time, with barely any outside contact, as large numbers of the patients are getting sick and dying from COVID-19. 

The Annandale Heathcare Center, at 6700 Columbia Pike, has had 156 COVID cases and 55 deaths, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) reports. That’s more than any other nursing home or assisted living facility in the state. 

Ricardy Anderson of Mason District elected school board chair

Anderson

The Fairfax County School Board, at its July 9 meeting, elected Ricardy Anderson of Mason District as chair for a one-year term. 

The school board also agreed to revise the 2020-21 school calendar to delay the start of the school year from Aug. 25 to Sept. 8. 

Related story: FCPS gives families more time to choose virtual or in-person learning

The delay will give staff members additional time to plan instruction and schedules, provide professional staff development, and finalize transportation and other operational details. 

Libraries open for express services on July 13

Thomas Jefferson Library on Arlington Boulevard.

All Fairfax County libraries are opening for limited, express services beginning on Monday, July 13. 

Library visits are limited to 30 minutes. Visitors can browse the shelves, use a computer, and pick up holds. 

Flooding destroys homes and cars in Bel Air neighborhood in Mason District

Flood damage in the Stowell’s house. Holes were punched in the walls to prevent mold.

The thunderstorm storm that hit the Annandale area Monday night caused Tripps Run to overflow, resulting in severe flooding in the Bel Air neighborhood in Mason District. 

Houses and cars were damaged along Barrett Road between Annandale Road and Cofer Road, said Karolina Chapman, president of the Bel Air Civic Association.

Gardeners encouraged to grow extra produce for food banks

People stuck at home are doing more home gardening, while local food banks are running out of fresh produce, due to the economic hardships resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. 

Belvedere Elementary School environmental education teacher Stacey Evers put those two trends to together to launch Grow a Row FC, a program that encourages local gardeners to grow some extra produce to donate to food pantries. 

Mason District committee approves Skyline and McWhorter projects, rejects infill proposal

These buildings at the Skyline Center could be repurposed.

The Mason District Land Use Committee (MDLUC) on July 7 endorsed proposals for a live/work project at the Skyline Center and townhouses in Annandale and opposed an infill development in the Alexandria area. 

Both the Skyline and McWhorter Place projects will be heard by the Fairfax County Planning Commission on July 15 and the Board of Supervisors on July 28.