The Reston Citizens Association officially has a new board of directors.
The nonprofit community organization, which represents about 60,000 Reston residents, announced the new board members yesterday (Wednesday) after holding an election on May 27 to fill four seats on the 13-person board.
The new directors are Yavuz Inanli and Vincent Dory, who won the two at-large seats that were up for election this year, and Joe Leighton, who now represents South Lakes.
RCA also sought candidates for a Hunters Woods seat, but for now, that area will be represented solely by Connie Hartke, who has served in the position since 2013.
“We do still have one other vacancy for the Hunters Woods District and are always receptive to expressions of interest,” incoming RCA President Lynne Mulston told Reston Now.
Effective June 1, here is RCA’s full 2021-2022 board of directors:
- Hunters Woods: Connie Hartke
- Town Center/Lake Anne/ Tall Oaks: Lynne Mulston and Craig Stevens
- North Point: Shawn Endsley and Brian Steiner
- South Lakes: Joe Leighton
- At-Large: Dennis Hays, Yavuz Inanli, Gary Maupin, and Vincent Dory
Mulston has been nominated to serve as RCA president for the next year, taking over from Hays. Maupin will succeed her as vice president, with Leighton as treasurer and Endsley as secretary rounding out the new officers.
RCA directors each serve three-year terms and are selected by Reston residents. Everyone present at the board’s meeting on May 27 was entitled to a vote, including members of the public, according to Mulston.
Founded in 1967, the nonprofit says its vision is to “promote Reston’s vision and planning principles, to sustain and enhance its quality of life now and in the future.”
“RCA takes a holistic approach to understanding the Reston community’s needs and desires and proposes results-oriented solutions,” Mulston said in a statement. “The passion and energy that this RCA board brings to advancing RCA’s mission is encouraging.”
Photo via Reston Citizens Association
The Reston Citizens Association is on the lookout for residents who want to get more involved in the community.
The association will hold an election on May 27 to fill four district seats on its board of directors, which consists of 13 members who serve three-year terms. The filing deadline for candidates is coming in just 10 days on May 24.
A nonprofit, non-partisan organization that serves more than 60,000 residents, RCA says in a news release calling for candidates that this will be an “exciting” year, with the Reston Comprehensive Plan Study Task Force preparing to wrap up its review of a document that will shape the area’s future.
Other issues that RCA expects to tackle in the near-future include major transportation projects like the proposed Town Center Parkway underpass and the ongoing commitment to preserving Reston’s golf courses.
“We have learned in recent years the importance of having an informed and involved community,” RCA President Dennis Hays said. “By working together we are able to have an effective — and if need be loud — voice in preserving the Reston we have come to love and cherish.”
The four board seats up for election this year include two at-large directors, a Hunters Woods District director, and a South Lakes District director.
Candidates must be Reston residents who live in the Reston Community Center tax district, also known as Small Tax District 5. They must also be 18 years of age or older and vote at Reston district precincts.
The application can be downloaded from the RCA website, and completed forms must be submitted by email to RCA Elections Chair Brian Steiner at [email protected].
Any questions can be sent to RCA at [email protected].
Photo courtesy Reston Citizens Association
Fairfax County’s Zoning Ordinance Modernization Project (zMOD) remains a point of discussion among members of Reston’s community as the heft project moves forward.
The project, which was launched in 2017, is aimed at modernizing the county’s zoning ordinance that was established in 1978. It has been the subject of debate in recent months, but the project’s progress was authorized by the Fairfax County Board of Directors on Dec. 1 to be advertised for public hearings.
The board’s decision to move forward with the project in December was billed as an opportunity to “provide sufficient time to advertise” today’s 7:30 p.m. planning commission public hearing on zMOD and a public hearing with the county’s board of supervisors on March 9.
While the project has moved forward, it has come under scrutiny by various community members and organizations.
The Reston Association (RA) issued a letter to Hunter Mill district Supervisor Walter Alcorn in November wherein RA President Julie Bitzer outlined a number of concerns regarding zMOD. In Bitzer’s letter on behalf of RA, the listed concerns outlined issue with proposed changes for accessory living units (ALU), home-based businesses, parking, and traffic.
RA and Reston Citizens Association (RCA) have discussed those initial concerns and more over the last week. Each organization has taken umbrage with the zMOD proposal to remove a 55-and-over age requirement for ALUs due to a belief that the change will create a strain on the local infrastructure and population density.
Both organizations also have opposed proposed changes to home-based businesses due to concerns about traffic congestion and losing the character of single-family residential neighborhoods.
RCA adopted a set of resolutions to outline community concerns with the latest zMOD draft on Jan. 21 while RA held a special Board of Directors meeting to discuss a resolution on the project to be presented to the county. RCA offered a measure of support in its resolutions to defer a detailed review of these points for future study.
“RCA has carefully followed the progress of the county staff’s proposals in the zMOD project,” Reston Citizens Association president Dennis Hays said in a release. “We believe the staff has gone far beyond the intended purpose of zMOD, proposing far-reaching changes with little to no consideration as to the impact such changes would have on established communities.”
Among the primary concerns that RA and RCA have raised is the amount of time to suitably address the zMOD changes as a whole when there is not a sufficient redline version or chart to identify potential changes in the zoning ordinance. The current executive summary of the zMOD project was released Nov. 24 is 741 pages.
“Our goal is to slow this down and give us a bit more time to participate and drill down into some of the details,” Bitzer said during RA’s Board of Directors meeting.
Image courtesy Fairfax County
A Tribute at Reston Hospital Center — Local officers and first responders gathered yesterday (Monday) for a tribute at Reston Hospital Center. The emergency responders turned on their sirens as they drove around the center. [WJLA]
Longtime Reston Citizens Association Board Member Dies — John Hanley, who joined RCA in 2009, played a vital role in considering nominations and planning for RCA’s Citizen of the Year award. He also helped shape RCA’s position on the issues of land use and planning. [Reston Citizens Association]
Easing of Business Closures in Sight — “Gov. Ralph Northam held a press conference this afternoon in which he announced that “Phase 1” of the Commonwealth’s easing of restrictions is likely to start on Friday, May 15 — in about a week and a half. In the meantime, Northam extended the closure of non-essential businesses through May 14, and said his stay-at-home order will become a “safer at home” recommendation.” [ARLnow]
Local Student Wins 2020 College Board Opportunity Scholarship — “Imani Irons, a senior at South Lakes High School, has been named one of 25 winners nationwide of a 2020 College Board Opportunity Scholarship.  The $40,000 scholarship was awarded to Irons for completing all six college planning steps laid out in the College Board Opportunity Scholarships program. Research shows that completing specific steps helps clarify the complex college planning process, especially for low-income and first-generation students.” [Fairfax County Public Schools]
Oversight Body Shoots Down Sale of Reston-based .org Operator — “The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has rejected the $1.13 billion sale of the Reston operator of the .org domain to private equity firm Ethos Capital. As the domain system’s nonprofit governing body, ICANN had to approve the deal.” [Washington Business Journal]
Photo via Walter Alcorn/Twitter
Some of the Area’s Largest Veteran-owned Companies are in Reston — With 82 employees and $502.8 million in total revenue last year, ThunderCat Technology (1925 Isaac Newton Square) is the second largest veteran-owned company in the District area. Other Reston companies also topped the list. [Washington Business Journal]
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Candidates’ Forum Set for Tuesday — Reston Citizens Association is hosting a candidate forum from 7-9 p.m. at Lake Anne Community Center (1609-A Washington Plaza N). Dennis Hays, RCA’s president, said the organization is “very excited to resume our long tradition” of hosting a candidate forum. [Reston Citizens Association]
Fox and Kits Get Some Attention — A red fox and her kittens have built a tiny home in Autumnwood area. A video of the mom calling to her babies has generated some attention online. [Walker Nature Center]
Flickr pool photo by vantagehill
This letter was submitted by Dennis K. Hays, the president of the Reston Citizens Association. It does not reflect the opinions of Reston Now. We publish article and opinion contributions of specific interest to the Reston community. Contributions may be edited for length or content.
Fairfax County has proposed to increase the population cap of the Reston Planned Residential Community district (PRC) from the long-standing 13 persons per acre (ppa) to as many as 15 persons per acre — which when combined with already approved projects would add an additional 30,000 people above our current population for the established, primarily residential areas of Reston. Please keep in mind this doesn’t include the areas around the Metro, where the county is on track to authorize building enough high rises to add an additional 80,000 residents.
Here are 10 reasons why the cap should be left alone. There undoubtedly are more.
1. If the ceiling (13) is shattered, there is no new ceiling: Fourteen or 15 today will be 16 tomorrow, 17 the day after and 20 down the road. The current 13 ppa has been in effect since Robert Simon created Reston. Does anyone believe the county will stop at 15?
2. The county bases its proposal on numbers that are rough estimates at best, gross misrepresentations at worst. The county has provided no established methodology that can be used to arrive at accurate numbers. The county promised to meet with the Coalition for a Planned Reston (CPR) and the Reston Association to agree on a methodology before any action would be taken. We’re still waiting.
3. There are thousands of dwelling units (what the county calls where we live) that have been approved but not yet built (1,400 at Spectrum alone). How will all these already authorized residences affect roads, schools, first responder services, and parks? The county counts them for cap purposes, but not for the provision of services.
4. The county doesn’t count people who live in affordable or workforce housing as part of the cap, despite CPR’s frequent complaints. These neighbors of ours have kids in school, drive to work, go to the library and play ball in the parks just like everyone else. So why are they second-class citizens in the county’s eyes?
5. Although the county is in a frenzied hurry to authorize new high-density construction, they are in no hurry to provide the needed infrastructure that should go along with it. Reston has received no funding from the county in its current transportation budget. There is no land for additional athletic fields or open space confirmed. The Master Plan calls for infrastructure to be phased in with development. County officials talk for hours about their “plans” for roads, schools, parks, etc. but when pressed they are forced to admit they have no funds, no identified land and no timetable for the required infrastructure.
6. Why the push to raise the cap now? Even using the county’s questionable numbers there aren’t any development proposals that take us over the 13 ppa limit. So what is the rush? Why not use this time to assess how we grow in phase with the services needed to support our neighborhoods?
7. Until five years ago the county had an official on the Planning staff dedicated to working on Reston proposals. This provided some coordination. They haven’t replaced that official. Now the county can’t say specifically where the development allowed by their increased cap will go, although it doesn’t take much to figure this out — initially it will go to build high rises in the Village Centers, take parking spaces away from the library and push again on St. Johns Wood and the other “hot spots” the county believes should be more urban. And by urban they mean you will only walk, bike or Metro to work, the grocery store, the movies, to see family and friends and everywhere else. And then they will come for the golf courses.
8. The Reston Master Plan was changed in significant ways after community representatives had signed off on what they believed to be the final version. Leaving that aside for the moment, the Virginia Code calls for Master Plans to be reviewed and updated at least every five years. The Master Plan for the Metro areas is up for review next month. The PRC portion must be updated no later than next year. Yet the county has taken no steps to begin the review process. Given all that has happened, isn’t it time to pause and take stock?
9. The more you dig into the county’s assertions, the shakier they become. The CPR and the Reston Association met with county officials in four sub-groups last summer. It became immediately apparent that a lot more information and data was needed to properly review and assess the issues surrounding the cap. We had agreement coming out of all four meetings that the additional information would be developed before any action on the cap was taken. CPR and RA asked over 30 specific questions. On Dec. 11 the county responded by sending a blizzard of paperwork — that restated what we had already been told but provided no new information. Why hasn’t the county met its commitment to answer these questions? Could it be that the answers would be more damning than not answering?
10. The county speaks often of the need for “community involvement” and the Master Plan lists community participation as the foundation stone on which all else rests. So why has the county refused to meaningfully engage with its citizens? We remain ready to work with the county to further the unique vision of Reston as a balanced, welcoming community that takes to heart our motto of “live, work, play.” Is that too much to ask?
If you agree that raising the cap is unneeded and counterproductive, please let our Fairfax County Supervisor ([email protected]), the other supervisors ([email protected]), the Planning Commission ([email protected]) and the Department of Planning and Zoning ([email protected]) know. We can make this a Happy New Year if we act together.
—Â Dennis K. Hays
This letter was submitted by members of the Reston Citizens Association. It does not reflect the opinions of Reston Now. We publish article and opinion contributions of specific interest to the Reston community. Contributions may be edited for length or content.
If you live in Reston, you surely know that it is a world-renowned master-planned community. Back in 1967, when people realized there would be no mayor or city council for our community, concerned citizens created the Reston Community Association (RCA) to represent its citizens and to monitor and encourage responsible development. Now called the Reston Citizens Association, RCA is still the only community-wide, non-partisan, and action-oriented organization in which everyone that lives, works and plays in Reston has a voice.
Want to take an active role in the future of Reston? Run for a seat on the RCA board!
There are eight seats available in the 2018 elections.  To run for a director seat, you must live in Small Tax District 5, be a Reston resident 18 years or older, and must live in the district which you plan to represent.  Elections will be held from June 7 to June 22 for four district seats and four at-large seats for its Board of Directors.
As a member of the RCA Board of Directors, you will interact with the community on the issues that impact them, meet with county and other local officials, and report on public meetings. You will collect information, provide analysis and, based upon feedback received from the public, inform various local organizations and news outlets directly about public expectations for outcomes on issues that affect Reston.
Your completed application must be sent to [email protected] by May 30. Terms begin at the June 25 board meeting. Download an application online.
Questions? Contact the Reston Citizens Association Election Committee at [email protected]. Learn more at RCAreston.com.
Logo courtesy of Reston Citizens Association
The Reston Citizens Association is seeking candidates for the eight open district and at-large seats for its 13 member Board of Directors.
That’s over 60 percent of the total board.
Four At-Large Director seats are up for grabs, each for a three-year term.
The Town Center/Lake Anne/Tall Oaks District Director position is open for a three-year term and the South Lakes District Director seat is up for a two-year term.
Two open North Point Director positions are also seeking candidates, with one- and two-year terms respectively .
To run in the election from June 7-22, Reston residents are required to file candidate forms by May 30.
A press release from the RCA stated that “to run for a director seat, you must live in Small Tax District 5, be a Reston resident 18 years or older, and vote in designated precincts/polling places within Reston districts.’
Applications are available online and must be emailed by May 30 to [email protected].
File photo
Woman arrested for intent to distribute narcotics — Police found marijuana, cocaine, MDMA, and THC wax during a search of the woman’s car. [Fairfax County Police Department]
Local walkouts at schools planned today — Students at Langston Hughes Middle School and South Lakes High School plan to leave class around 10 a.m. today to call for gun control legislation. Participants at SLHS will be marked for cutting class. [South Lakes High School]
Kindness rocks, coming to a place near you — Students at Aldrin Elementary School are spreading rocks they’ve designed throughout Reston. Keep an eye out for special handmade treasures. [Aldrin Elementary School]
A meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Advanced students at South Lakes High School met briefly with Netanyahu during a visit to Capitol Hill. [Fairfax County Public Schools]
If you’re concerned about issues in Reston — The Reston Citizens Association, a civic, non-profit organization, is still looking for volunteers for various committees. [Reston Citizens Association]
Flickr pool photo by  vantagehill.
Big wins for Boston Properties — Ray Ritchey, senior vice president of Boston Properties, can’t remember a better year for the company, which has inked major deals since last July. [Bisnow]
Last chance to hit the ice — The season for skating at the Ice Skating Pavilion in Reston Town Center will be over this Sunday. Get on the ice while you can. Ice ice baby! [Reston Town Center]
If you’re concerned about issues in Reston — The Reston Citizens Association, a civic, non-profit organization, is looking for volunteers for various committees. [Reston Citizens Association]
Free caregiver support group — Are you a caregiver for an older adult? The county is offering a free online program to help you navigate the process. [Fairfax County Government]
Photo by Ruth Sievers
Opponents of a proposal before the county to increase Reston’s population density continue to mobilize ahead of community meeting on Monday night.
The Coalition for a Planned Reston, a community organization that includes Reclaim Reston, Reston 20/20 and the Reston Citizens Association, will gather community feedback about the proposal and discuss specific changes to scale back Reston’s master plan in an effort limit the scale of development in the planned community.
The proposal, which will go before the county’s Board of Supervisors, would increase the maximum allowed population per acre in the Planned Residential Community district from 13 persons up to 16.
The zoning change could also open up Reston’s village centers to increased residential development. The proposal would allow the Board of Supervisors to approve developments above 50 residential units per acre within the district’s Transit Station Areas (TSAs) — so long as the projects comply with the area’s master plan that guides development.
Reston Association staff opposed the changes. In a letter, In the letter, the RA staff also asks county supervisors to hold off on any further consideration of the PRC density cap increase until RA staff and county staff together can examine the Reston Master Plan portion of the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
Meanwhile, the coalition will pitch amendments to Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins before Christmas. Overall, the coalition is seeking to constrain density growth and ensure infrastructure keeps up to pace with development.
CPR hopes to maintain the intensity of opposition to the proposal, which eclipsed in late October during a 900-person public community meeting in Reston where an overwhelming majority of attendees opposed the proposal.
“We are anxious to present what we believe are reasonable Reston plan amendments to Supervisor Hudgins rather than just denoting a list of topic areas where changes could be made,” said Terry Maynard, co-chair of the Reston 20/20 Committee. “We are hopeful that the community will buy in to these proposals and possibly suggest some modifications and additions.”
Changes under consideration include reinstating a population cap throughout Reston which existed in the community’s 1989 plan; placing a cap on high-density, high-rise residential development, which the coalition stated is unlimited in the current plan; and phasing development with supporting infrastructure similar to the Tysons plan.
On a broader level, the coalition seeks to ensure county policies and standards that govern schools, parks and transportation are realistically in line with Reston’s growth potential.
CPR will also use the meeting platform to discuss other controversial zoning matters, including the “densification of Saint Johns Woods” and the addition of a road through Hidden Creek Country Club.
“The last minute inclusion by the Planning Commission of developer language allowing Bozzuto to re-develop St. Johns Woods at triple its current density is a perfect example of community exclusion in the development process,” said Reclaim Reston member Bruce Ramo.
The meeting will be held on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Reston Association Conference Center.
This is an op/ed submitted by Dennis Hays, president of the Reston Citizens Association. It does not reflect the opinions of Reston Now.
It seems like every day, a major new development project in Reston is announced. And it seems like every day, traffic gets a little worse and schools and athletic fields get a little more crowded.
Is there a connection here? Well, of course there is.
Reston, since its founding, has excelled and prospered as a planned community. And the plan has been that development and the requisite infrastructure would go hand in hand. The problem is not (always) new development; the problem is that new development calls for a corresponding investment in roads, bridges and underpasses, schools, playgrounds, storm drainage, additional open space and, yes, trees — and this isn’t happening.
Economists often point to a phenomenon called “the Tragedy of the Commons” — the observation that when individual users of a commonly held resource are free to maximize their personal benefit at the expense of the larger community, they will generally do so. The “commonly held resource” in this case being the unique and special nature of a Reston where one can Live, Work and Play in harmony with nature. In a perfect world, everyone — the County, the developers and residents of Reston alike — would work together to grow Reston while preserving those things that make this community what it is.
Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world.
The County and the developers want to dramatically increase the population density of Reston. They are naturally driven by, and give priority to, a desire for tax revenue and profits respectively. Not bad things in themselves, of course, unless they come at the unwarranted expense of others — which, in this case, they do.
That leaves those of us who live and work here as the ones with both the most to gain and the most to lose as decisions about our future are made. In the coming weeks a number of key issues — ranging from whether to triple the density of Reston, to what kind of library we will have, to how crowded our schools will be — are to be acted upon. As individuals, we have scant ability to ensure infrastructure is given equal priority to development. But this is Reston, and Reston being Reston, we have a vast community of engaged citizens with a deep commitment to balance and fairness and a future we can proudly pass on to our posterity.
Three weeks ago, over 400 individuals turned out for the County’s fourth attempt to justify the density increase — only to have the meeting canceled because we far exceeded the room’s capacity. Now the meeting has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23 at South Lakes High Schools. The County will draw upon the full-time lawyers and urban planners we as taxpayers pay for to tell us what they say is in our best interest. On our side we have — each other. We need everyone who believes in defending the Commons to attend this meeting.
As Margaret Mead observed, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
(This article was updated at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 6, to add official information about the cafeteria’s occupancy limit.)
After being postponed last month because of a huge turnout at Lake Anne Elementary School, the next public meeting on a proposed Fairfax County zoning ordinance amendment for Reston’s Planned Residential Community (PRC) district has been rescheduled.
The meeting is slated for Monday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at South Lakes High School (11400 South Lakes Drive).
The Sept. 25 meeting at the LAES elementary school was called off after a large number of people — estimated at more than 400 — showed up to oppose the plan. It was to be the fourth public meeting on the proposal, which would bump the overall limit on people per acre in Reston’s Planned Residential Community (PRC) District from 13 to 16. (The density is currently about 11.9 people per acre.)
The PRC District does not include any of the fast-growing Transit Station Area property surrounding the Wiehle-Reston East and Herndon Metro stations, nor does it include most of the property in the Reston Town Center Metro station TSA south of the Dulles Toll Road.
The ordinance amendment would also allow for the Board of Supervisors to be able to approve individual developments in excess of 50 dwelling units per acre in TSAs within the PRC and when in accordance with Comprehensive Plan recommendations. Those areas that would be marked for possible major residential development include all of Reston’s village centers.
Citizen activists warn that the combined effect of these changes could see the population of Reston tripled by 2050.
The occupancy limit for the SLHS cafeteria is 668 when tables are present, though it can hold up to 1,280 if the several dozen large tables are removed.
The SLHS activities office said Supervisor Cathy Hudgins’ office requested a space that would be able to accommodate around 650 people. The school’s auditorium was unavailable for the meeting, the activities office said, because of scheduled theater rehearsals. That space has fewer than 600 seats anyway, according to SLHS officials.
The school’s gym also was not an available or acceptable option, Hudgins’ office said.
Reston residents argue that a zoning ordinance amendment proposed by Fairfax County would cause the community to become too overpopulated to manage.
That makes what happened at a scheduled county meeting to discuss the topic Monday night particularly ironic.
After hundreds of Restonians crowded into the cafeteria at Lake Anne Elementary School for the forum, Fairfax County Supervisor Cathy Hudgins and staff from the Department of Planning and Zoning told them the meeting would have to be postponed until a larger venue could be booked.
“It is a safety issue and a code violation [to have so many people in the cafeteria],” Hudgins said to a chorus of boos from the crowd, many of whom were wearing yellow-shaded Reclaim Reston and Rescue Reston T-shirts. “You did come out and that’s important, and I’m glad that you did, we appreciate that.”
The proposal from the county’s Department of Planning and Zoning would bump the overall limit on people per acre in Reston’s Planned Residential Community (PRC) District from 13 to 16. (The density is currently about 11.9 people per acre.) The PRC District does not include any of the Transit Station Area property surrounding the Wiehle-Reston East and Herndon Metro stations, nor does it include most of the property in the Reston Town Center Metro station TSA south of the Dulles Toll Road.
The ordinance amendment would also allow for the Board of Supervisors to be able to approve individual developments in excess of 50 dwelling units per acre in TSAs within the PRC and when in accordance with Comprehensive Plan recommendations. Those areas that would be marked for major residential development include all of Reston’s village centers.
Citizen activists warn that the combined effect of these changes could see the population of Reston tripled by 2050.
According to signage displayed in the cafeteria at Lake Anne Elementary School, the fire code caps the number of occupants of the cafeteria at 210 when tables and chairs are present, as they were Monday night. Estimates of attendance for the meeting ranged from 350 to over 400.
A zoning ordinance amendment being suggested by Fairfax County could result in Reston’s population increasing threefold by 2050, community advocates say, and local residents are being encouraged to speak out against it.
Reston 20/20, Reclaim Reston and the Reston Citizens Association presented a community information session on the County’s proposal Wednesday, attended by more than 100 concerned Restonians. The goal of the event was to help residents learn more about what the amendment means and to prepare them for a fourth public meeting on the proposal, being presented by Supervisor Cathy Hudgins at 7 p.m. Monday at Lake Anne Elementary School (11510 North Shore Drive). The first three meetings on the proposal, held in May, were not seen as adequate by many Restonians who attended them.
“Community participation is vital and must be continuous,” said Dennis Hays, Reston Citizens Association president, during the presentation. “I don’t believe just sitting and having someone tell you what they’ve already decided is participation.”
The proposal from the county’s Department of Planning and Zoning would bump the overall limit on people per acre in Reston’s Planned Residential Community (PRC) District from 13 to 16. (The density is currently about 11.9 people per acre.) The PRC District does not include any of the Transit Station Area property surrounding the Wiehle-Reston East and Herndon Metro stations, nor does it include most of the property in the Reston Town Center Metro station TSA south of the Dulles Toll Road.
The ordinance amendment would also allow for the Board of Supervisors to be able to approve individual developments in excess of 50 dwelling units per acre in TSAs within the PRC and when in accordance with Comprehensive Plan recommendations. Those areas that would be marked for major residential development include all of Reston’s village centers.
If the zoning ordinance were to go into effect, Hays said, it would be akin to the genie being let out of the bottle for development all over Reston.
“Once it’s a zoning ordinance, it’s done; it’s over; there’s not much we can do, ever,” he said.
According to numbers presented by Terry Maynard, co-chair of Reston 20/20, the proposed changes combined with high-rise development in TSAs could result in Reston’s overall population increasing to more than 177,000 by 2050. John Mooney, representing Reclaim Reston, said that even by conservative estimates, this would increase peak-time traffic in the community by nearly double if infrastructure needs are not addressed concurrently.
In addition to a lack of adequate streets to accommodate the increased population, Maynard said the lacking infrastructure would also include a deficit in schools and parks. Concerns about police staffing, fire coverage and more were also brought up by other residents.
“You don’t put that cart before the horse,” said Bruce Ramo, of Reclaim Reston, which has organized a petition effort in the attempt to get the county to stop new development proposals and zoning changes until infrastructure needs are addressed. “That’s why we’re saying what we’re saying here tonight: Let’s step back and do it right.”
