Vienna Cannot Be Bothered With Such Silly Trendiness

Magruder's is the worst. Seriously.

Really, we could have had a Trader Joe's and Panera? Would they rather those storefronts sit empty?

As I have gotten old (and much grayer, dammit), I have learned that Walmarts and other stores do not necessarily just show up. Politicians can make their towns/counties more pleasing to corporations/businesses.

The Town has a tendency to vote down anything that is remotely "chain" oriented. Not that I want Vienna to be just a bunch of chain stores but Panera and Trader Joe's would be nice.

Example: The little store on Church Street which houses the new Diamond Spa? The Town voted down both a cafe and a cigar store at the location. So, yes, another nail place. SWEET. (And, these are not even chain stores. They like to piss on small businessmen, too).

You all must realize that Mad Maud and Mayor Boob hold the cards. They are allowing you to have the stores they want you to have. Burger King? Nope. Do you know how long they fought against Taco Bell? Granted, I don't eat there much but it is nice when that craving hits, to go get a Mexican Pizza and not have to drive to Merrifield like I did all during HS.

Details please. I am very interested in knowing how the town voted down a cafe and cigar shop. Could you provide please?

I would guess the owner of the building talked to Greg Hembree's office and the word came down as "no" till the Town decided a nail place would be nice in the location.

Let's ask the owner of the building what other businesses were looking to lease her space. Mrs. Tochterman?

I don't think even this town can regulate what specific businesses go into a privately owned development. they can regulate the look of the exterior of the building, and the general use of the space, but I don't believe that they can vote down a particular retailer in favor of another. Although, they can regulate certain uses, like massage parlors & x-rated video stores, etc.

"I would guess...." Lets deal with facts please.

Also Longtime NW Area Resdent: Please get the answers to your questions from Town Hall and share them with us here.

The owner of a private building can rent out his place to whoever he/she wants. On the other hand, the Town must approve the business license of someone who wants to run a business in a place. Some businesses (such as my home-based writing business) can get approved fairly easily, but a cigar shop/cafe might run into issues. Also, we do not know if the cigar shop owner made demands the Town staff found unreasonable (or if the Town staff were unreasonable in their requests.)

How long have Hollywood Video and That's Amore been out of business? Are any hangups due to landlords or the Town?

What is the vacancy rate for light retail space in the Town as compared to Herndon, Fairfax City, Falls Church City, and comparable areas of Fairfax County?

As for the walkable mall -- I'd like to see that on Church Street, actually.

Close Church between Lawyers and Park, put plenty of parking on the edges, and make it similar to Old Town Winchester (I can't think of a similar place in Northern VA right away.)

Tearing up 123 to make a Ballston-style development (this seems to be what many here want, right?) out of Maple would mean 2-3 years of traffic nightmares and uncertain success for the retail venture (especially in this economy, where financing would be uncertain.)

Shawn,

Maybe some people want Ballston in Vienna, but especially with Tysons planned for that type of high-rise development, I would guess most people just want to improve the vibrancy of Vienna's downtown by creating a more mixed-use and pedestrian friendly area. Many places have revitalized their downtowns with just 2-5 story buildings (of course many did this before the recession). One problem preventing Vienna from having mixed use buildings though is the 35' height limit. With retail merchants wanting a tall first story, it's very difficult to build more than 2 stories with a 35' height limit and most mixed use buildings are at least 3-4 stories. Below are some examples of what I'd like Vienna to emulate at least in the center of town (most are local but I included Naperville since it's regularly listed as one of the best places to live by CNN Money Mag). I would guess that with this economy, Maple would not be developed overnight and the redevelopment would have little impact on at least the vehicular travel through Vienna and only sporatic impact to pedestrians.

Hyattsville
http://www.eya.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=microsites.welcome&neighborhoodid=6B5240AC-96B6-175C-99CE06061246A2C6

http://whyhyattsville.typepad.com/why_hyattsville_real_esta/hyattsville_business/index.html

Fairfax:
http://www.fairfaxva.gov/Oldtown/Images_files/chainbridge.jpg

Kentlands:
http://luciensteil.tripod.com/katarxis02-1/id53.html

Naperville:
http://www.visitnaperville.com/newsite/images/downtown.jpg

Historic Manassas:
http://historicmanassas.mymediaroom.com/gallery/viewimage.aspx?id=1658

Also, Vienna's train/metro stop is not near the center of town anymore. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to put any high rise development along Maple Avenue when we can plan high-rise development closer to the metros. However, it does have bus service, has good access to metro (even better when the silver line is built), and is one of the more historic towns in Fairfax County. Therefore, it makes sense to continue to work on keeping Vienna a vibrant town and improving the commercial corridor along Maple Avenue and Church Street.

Wyltn to Also Longtime NW Area Resdent: "Please get the answers to your questions from Town Hall and share them with us here."

I did not make the statements saying the town voted down a cigar shop and a cafe. Vienna Mommy clearly has those details, so hopefully she could share the facts with us all and spare me the research.

Vienna Mommy - I await your input.