County Board Votes to Kickstart Review of Reston Comprehensive Plan

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn kicked off his first Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ meeting today (Tuesday) by calling for a review of Reston’s Comprehensive Plan.

The proposal, which was approved by the board,  initiatives a 12 to 18 month period of public engagement to update the plan, which was last updated five years ago.

In a statement, Alcorn noted that more than 30 rezoning applications have been approved in Reston’s transit station areas since the last plan was last reviewed. He hopes to set up a community task force and start a series of public meetings.

Alcorn hopes to tackle the following topic areas, which were presented to the board today (Tuesday): 

• Projected population thresholds for Reston, and how to ensure that population, infrastructure and the environment are all in balance
• Land use in the village centers (Hunters Woods, South Lakes and North Point) – including clarification of what type of future redevelopment proposals might require an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan
• The adequacy of existing plan language to generate additional affordable housing, and improvements to plan language to encourage preservation and enhancement of existing communities that now provide affordable housing
• The adequacy of existing and planned pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure for accessing Silver Line stations
• The adequacy of existing Comprehensive Plan guidance to facilitate urban-scale mobility and development design in the TSAs while protecting the stability of nearby neighborhoods
• Existing Comprehensive Plan transportation improvements to ensure that they are aligned with planned development
• How the Comprehensive Plan could better facilitate enhancement of Reston’s natural environment, encourage energy efficiency and support sustainable green neighborhoods
• How the Comprehensive Plan could address concerns about monopolization of ownership in Reston, and ways to encourage diverse ownership and/or management over the long term
• Whether the historic practice of promoting privately-owned and managed open space sufficiently addresses public needs during the next 50 years of Reston

In a previous interview with Reston Now, Alcorn said he hopes updates to the plan will help better manage growth and infrastructure in the rapidly changing community.