Paddleboarding On Reston Lakes Set To Take Shape After RA Votes Wednesday

Reston Associations Board of Directors is slated to vote whether to allow stand-up paddleboard lessons paddleboard yoga on Reston’s lakes.

The plan for summer 2014 looks much different than it did in late summer of 2013, when the RA Board passed a a motion to allow to allow Surf Reston Standup Paddleboard Adventures to do business at Lake Audubon.

That plan was met with complaints from many Lake Audubon residents, who said offering a commercial enterprise at the all-residential lake would lead to an influx of noise, garbage and non-resident use of the lakes.

The board voted in favor of the plan anyway, but the lessons on Lake Audubon never materialized. Chris Higgins, owner of Surf Reston, was transferred out of town. The business, now called Surf Reston Stand Up Paddleboarding, will now be run by Steve Gurney, a certified paddleboard instructor who also heads Reston for a Lifetime.

The new plan takes most of the paddleboarding to Lake Anne, which already has boat rentals and is surrounded businesses at Lake Anne Plaza.

Gurney has met with the Lake Anne Merchants Association, which expressed great interest in having this type of recreational program centered at Lake Anne, he said.

The expected schedule will have two days/evenings of paddleboard instruction on Lake Anne per week, and no more than three intermediate level classes per month at Lake Audubon. There will be no “rental fleet” of paddleboards at any Reston lake, says Larry Butler, RA’s Director of Parks and Recreation.

RA says it notified the members living around both lakes of the proposed paddle board activities and to make them aware of Wednesday”s board vote.

As part of the agreement between RA and Surf Reston, the paddleboard company will pay to RA 10 percent of its gross revenues per class season. RA says that will be between $500 and $1,000.

 Meanwhile, a local yoga studio is working on purchasing space at Lake Anne Plaza. In addition to offering studio yoga, there would be about four classes per week of SUP-Asana — yoga on paddleboards — at Lake Anne. 

Have something to say about paddleboards on Reston lakes? Speak up at the RA Board meeting, Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Reston Association, 12001 Sunrise Valley Dr.