UPDATE: Planning Commission to Revisit RTC West Feb. 18

The Fairfax County Planning Commission deferred action on Wednesday regarding a new retail and restaurant destination at Sunset Hills Road and Town Center Parkway.

The planning commission will revisit the plan for RTC West on Feb. 18, mostly to give time for transportation improvements to be formalized. A staff report recommends approval, provided transportation improvements are met.

Developer JBG Companies is planning the development that will bring Reston Town Center-type amenities closer to where the future Reston Town Center Metro Station will be located. Though the Silver Line station will be in the center of the Dulles Toll Road at Reston Parkway, it is actually about a quarter mile from the town center.

The developer is seeking a special exception in order to add retail, restaurant and food stores to the 13-acre site that currently houses three office buildings. Much of the development will convert the first two floors of the office buildings into restaurant and retail space.

JBG’s application says it plans to convert 15,100 square feet of office space to retail/restaurant space and add 25,000 square feet of new retail/restaurant space (on the southwest corner of the site) within an existing office campus on three parcels.

There were two speakers at Wednesday’s public hearing. One was Patty Nicoson, the former chair of the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force and president of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association.

“Hopefully, a good design plan will emerge to support pedestrian and bike planning,” she said.

The other speaker was a resident of nearby Lincoln Park, who said she is concerned about construction noise.

Some of the transportation logistics that need to be worked out:

Connecting an existing walkway to the adjacent trails along the public roadways and adding two new crosswalks across Town Center Parkway.

Connecting the development to the W & OD trail, which runs on the northern part of the property. One development condition for JBG is working with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) and Dominion Virginia Power to establish an easement for a pedestrian connection between the site and the W&OD trail.

Closing the existing exit-only driveway on Town Center Parkway and to construct new signalized access point about 440 feet north of the intersection at Sunset Hills Road. Constructing an entrance in this location will require the relocation or closure of an existing entrance for the property across Town Center Parkway to avoid an unsafe intersection, JBG says. JBG will have to work out an agreement with Boston Properties, which owns that parcel, as a condition of development.

Two new crosswalks across Town Center Parkway at a new access point.

A new turning lane on Reston Parkway.

See the entire staff report on the Fairfax County Planning website.