Imagining Vienna...

I just got back from Fairfax Square. It is a vibrant shopping, entertainment, and living area!

Parking was plentiful, and everybody was walking, shopping, and smiling.

The sidewalks were wide - 2x what they are in Vienna.
Most of the buildings were 2-3 stories. On top of street level stores and restaurants, there were doctors and other offices. At one end of the square, there were 4 story condos.

People, this is what is meant by mixed-use development. I can imagine having this in the Mill St. - Dominion St. area. Oh, it would be wonderful!!! :-)

>>Fairfax Square

Comfortable WIDE walks made of HARD bricks and NO RAISED BORDERS to trip you up... not like Vienna's narrow walks made of chalk-soft bricks and already crowded with ankle-biting CONTINUOUS flower boxes, HITCHING POSTS, and Bukont's railings, stairs, and ramps. Vienna's stagnant leadership is clearly evident.

Hate to break it to you, but this web site considers any development in the "Mill St. - Dominion St. area" to be an assault upon the Vienna Inn. Prepare to be called a Maudite.

I'm trying to figure out how development 2 blocks from the Vienna Inn is considered an "assault"? Now, development next door to the town green (re: the Vienna Inn) is the only issue any one on here is bringing up.

I echo the comments about the Mill St. - Dominion Rd. area. The area is ripe for redevelopment. If anyone is listening, please sell the Town Green, put up a pedestrian bridge over Maple Ave., and get to work turning Mill St. and Dominion Rd. into the attraction that Maple Ave. should have been.

Yes, Mill St & Dominion Rd are just plain awful! But the reality is that they will be very difficult to redevelop. Years of environmental waste will likely have to be cleared ($$$). The location is tricky, being that it's tucked away from main streets (access & visibility issues). Land ownership is fragmented & lots would have to be consolidated (time-consuming and expensive). And like everything else in town, it will be extremely difficult to draw any developers willing to put up with town politics.

So development of the Dominion Rd-Mill St area wouldn't affect the Vienna Inn? That's funny, because on 2/13/2007, this web site said that promoting development between Park Street and Dominion Road would boil down to "one property targeted by Mother Maud... She wants the Vienna Inn gone." (the "..." was part of your text, not the result of any editing by me).

You continue to apply your trademark double standard: Development suggested by Maud is bad, but development of the same area suggested by one of your crew is brilliant.

Of course, as evidenced by your careful efforts to steer debate on this site about condos in "transition areas", your only real interest is in loosening up the restrictions on your real estate holdings in the historic district. That, and pushing for expansion of the Vienna post office so you can sell your purple and green shack on Lawyers Road to the federal government at a tidy profit. As part owner of said shack, will Susan Stich recuse herself from any discussion of expanding the post office if elected?

I echo the comments about the Mill St. - Dominion Rd. area. The area is ripe for redevelopment. If anyone is listening, please sell the Town Green, put up a pedestrian bridge over Maple Ave., and get to work turning Mill St. and Dominion Rd. into the attraction that Maple Ave. should have been.

I agree. And keep Bukont's quirky buildings out of it.

True about Mill and Dominion Anne. But there are large parcels in Vienna ripe for "new" owned by a few people:

1. Safeway
2. Marco Polo
3. Green mushroom buildings across Pleasant St from Marco Polo.
4. Bank of America.
5. Sun Trust Bank.
6. Tara Thai building.
7. Cedar Lane Shopping Center.

All of these are ready to do something now to make Vienna better. And for all of those "haters" out there, yes, the owners of said parcels will make money too. It's win win. Or we could stay with the Maud-George paradigm of run down decaying strip malls flooded with black top as far as you can see...

That, and pushing for expansion of the Vienna post office so you can sell your purple and green shack on Lawyers Road to the federal government at a tidy profit.

Interesting. Maud can make millions lording over Vienna government for 30 years, but it is now a crime to own an older rental house (which will of course go the route of so many older houses in Vienna - toward something "new" - no surprise there). You probably also know that house is in Maud's wonderful historic district right? So Maud creates the problem, walks over property rights, but the owners of the property are criminal for simply owning property and working toward something that will benefit the Town? Nice logic!

Most people don't know that the house next to the Post Office was painted said colors as a protest to an unjust historic district imposed by Maud. Most people also don't know that particular house has been DELAYED by the likes of Maud due to having to appear before the nonsensical historic review board. You can't have it both ways. The government can't create a shoddy and inept law that actually works to keep homes from improving and then turn around and yell that the homeowner is doing something wrong. That house in particular is the single best example of Maud Robinson's leadership in Vienna. She created the problem, put the homeowner on the defensive and now blames the homeowner for a law that makes no sense! Ladies and gentleman that is HOW Maud has stayed in power for so long. Create problems in the community, pit sides against each other and then come to the rescue as their political messiah. She is phony baloney, just like the non-issue of the color of that house. Go Maud!!

Of course, when Susan Stich is elected to Town Council, she will recuse herself from any deal she is a party to; she's said so before.

She's not like Maud -- who was instrumental in bringing all those banks to Vienna -- banks that she had stock in!

Is the decision to recuse oneself from council votes their own decision or is it to be on the advise of the town attorney? There are no rules?

The only recusal rules we know of are Laurie Cole's rules.

To Tear me up, tear me down:

Have you heard Maud Robinson publicly say the Vienna Inn is worth saving and she would do everything in her power to make sure it stays the Vienna institution that it is?

I can't remember her ever saying anything like that. But, I have heard her promoting "development" right near her Town Green. Don't forget at the NARFE debate Maud stated the Town Green is the economical and cultural focal point of this town. Of course, from *only* this day forward.

Being a lifelong resident, I always kinda thought Waters/Caffi fields were the "cultural/social" focal point of Vienna but what do I know. I just grew up here, attended the local schools, played on the local sports teams, went to movies at Vienna theater, shopped at Peter Pan, blah, blah, blah.

As Vienna residents we are so lucky that Maple Avenue has not be re-developed with the likes of Barnes and Noble and other boxes stores. This is exactly what makes Vienna great and so much better than other towns that have been taken over by out-of-town business owners. Let the box stores go to Tyson and give us the small business like those that line Mill Street. I need my lawn mower repaired, I need flooring, I need my car repaired and I need tile.

Home prices are already driving the working man and small business owners out of their homes in Vienna. Let's not do the same with their businesses.

Ray, there is no law that stops "box" stores. In fact, right now due to extremely poor zoning design in Vienna along with outside forces, we are at risk of having NO control over future development - contrary to the spin Maud will say to get elected.

Also, for clarification, the Giant, Safeway, Whole Foods, VPC Church - do those qualify as "box"? You may want to read the report by the Maple Avenue Vision Committee.

Lastly, what about the other questions?

Hi Ray,
I don't think anyone here is talking about big box stores on Mill/Dominion.

I think that we can agree that there are some thriving small businesses in that area that could and should stay. However, there are quite a few building units for lease/sale, and others seem to be quite unkept - and don't even look like someone is doing business there.

I think that redevelopment of that area would be good for current small businesses, and would help other Vienna residents to start new businesses. I know that if I had the opportunity to be in a new retail area there, I would do it in a heartbeat.

However, as long as Maud is on the Town Council, nothing is going to get better in this town - it's only going to get worse. Remember that when you go to vote on May 1st.

Ray there are 2 Starbucks almost within a block of each other. You would really rather have 23 banks than a bookstore?

Since you asked:

Sidewalks: Yes
Outdoor Cafe: Out of anyone's control.
Flooding: Not enough info.
Entertainment: Already great and mostly out of our control.
Bank: Every town has this problem.
Nail salons: People should be free to start businesses that the market supports.
Reduce traffic: Not convinced that more can be done that is within our control.
Post office & Vienna Inn: need new threads with more detail.

Can the right column of topics also point to things that are going right in Vienna?

Ray, your statements are revealing. You have no idea what is taking place at Town Hall Board and Council meetings. When you say "out of our control" you are speaking for the control freaks. You are an example of why town meetings should be video broadcast.

Congratulations to George & Maud. As for the Vienna Inn, what's the big deal. The last time I ate there 25 years ago the food was terrible. What a dump!