Reston Century Rolls Through — The Reston Bicycle Club’s annual Reston Century takes place Sunday. There are several rides (of various distances) from Reston to points in Loudoun County. Rides start and end at Reston Town Center, where there are special events and refreshments planned. Spaces still available. [Reston Bicycle Club]
Nearby: TSA Pre Check at Tysons DMV — The Tysons location of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is the first DMV office in the nation to process applications for Transportation Security Administration’s “TSA Pre Check” program for trusted travelers. [TSA Pre Check]
Digging Deep on Deputy Shooting — The Washington Post speaks with the family of a suicidal man who was shot and killed by a Fairfax County Sheriff’s Deputy near Inova Fairfax Hospital last week. [Washington Post]
Back-to-School Special — Cafesano at South Lakes Village Center is offering a special Saturday and Sunday – 50 percent off a kids’ meal with a purchase of an adult meal. [Facebook]
Photo: Heron in Reston/Credit: JGS via Twitter
Over the next two weekends crews will complete maintenance and improvements to the Reston North/Wiehle Avenue park-and-ride lot.
That’s the long,skinny lot near the intersection of Sunset Hills Road and Isaac Newton Square.
Here is the schedule, weather permitting:
- This weekend (Aug. 27 and 28), crews will rope off sections of the lot to cut vegetation for better parking and aisle access.
- The lot will be closed entirely from 5 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3 through 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 5 in order to refresh pavement markings and make signage improvements.
About 35 new signs will be installed, with existing signs replaced, removed or relocated to designate legal and illegal parking, the Virginia Department of Transportation said in a release.
The lot will also be increasing its capacity. Pavement markings throughout the lot will be refreshed, with some reconfigured to add six additional spaces. The new lot capacity will be 340.
The lot formerly served as parking for buses that would take commuters to Metro Stations at Vienna and West Falls Church. It now serves as free parking for the 300+ commuters who arrive early enough to find a space there instead of in the pay ($4.85 daily) garage adjacent to the 3,000-space Wiehle-Reston East station. It sees few cars on weekends as parking in the garages is free on those days.
Photo courtesy VDOT
The dog days of summer deserve a day just for dogs.
Reston Association is hosting a “Dog Paddle” Saturday at Dogwood Pool, 2460 Green Range Rd.
Before the pool closes up for the season, it’s Fido’s turn to take a dip.
Here is what you need to know:
The event is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The fee is $4 for RA members; $6 for non-members.
Humans are not allowed in the pool with the dogs. Humans must also sign a waiver and show proof their dog has a rabies vaccination. RA also reserves the right to ask any badly behaved dogs to leave.
Register at www.reston.org or in-person at RA’s member services office.
The event could also use some volunteers. Volunteers are needed in shifts from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Volunteer roles/responsibilities:
- Dog behavior monitors (these people will also help with setup in morning and cleanup in afternoon)
- Poo Patrol (handing baggies to the owners of dogs who “doo” their thing on the deck)
Coffee and granola bar breakfast will be provided in the morning. Pizza lunch will be provided at 12:30 p.m.
Volunteers must be comfortable outdoors for duration of event and like dogs. Volunteers cannot bring their own dog and volunteer at the same time, but they can bring their own dog during the other shift for free.
Contact Ha Brock, [email protected], to sign volunteer.
Fairfax County Police received a report earlier this week from a woman who said a man exposed himself in the 11900 block of Freedom Drive at Reston Town Center.
The woman said she was near the Fedex store and the Signature construction site Tuesday about 5:45 p.m. She was getting into her parked car when the man allegedly exposed himself, police said.
The suspect was described as black; 30-35 years old; between 5 feet 9 and 5 feet 11 inches tall.
He was driving a white work van, the woman said. There were no injuries.
In other crime news reported to the FCPD’s Reston District Station this week:
BURGLARY: 13200 block of Coppermill Drive. Aug. 19, 11:18 p.m. A resident reported that someone entered the residence and took property.
LARCENIES:
- 13200 block of Keach Place, bicycle from residence
- 2400 block of Southgate Square, gun from residence
- 2200 block of White Cornus Lane, sneakers from vehicle
- 11500 block of Hearthstone Court, bicycles from residence
- 9500 block of Leesburg Pike, items from vehicle
- 2400 block of Centreville Road, cigarettes from business
Nearby: Couple flees from police after trying to pass counterfeit bills at Fair Lakes Wegmans.
Target stores nationwide have long had red balls (or “fanciful bollards,” as our friends at Restonian call them) marking the entrances serving and, ideally, a foil for cars to smash into the store in a robbery.
A Reston now reader did a double take this week when she noticed some of the red spheres outside the Reston Target were painted to look like Pokeballs.
Pokemon, the Japanese media company, is having a resurgence these days with the innovation of Pokemon Go, the phone-based GPS game that is being played seemingly everywhere this summer.
Comicbook.com reports that 400 Target stores across the country are getting the Poke-treatment in prep for a promotion between Target and the Pokemon Company.
A company spokesman says the the Pokeballs’ iconic button/clasp will be added to the ball once painting is complete.
In Reston, the two Pokeballs still had “wet paint” signs on them early Thursday.
Local Fortune 500 Companies — A Reston firm and several Herndon companies made this year’s Fortune 500 list. There were 158 companies from Fairfax County — nearly half of the Washington, CA-area firms. [Fairfax County Economic Development Authority]
Don’t Find My Car — An Australian mall had a not-so-great experience with Park Assist, which is about to be used at Reston Town Center’s Parking garages. Many customers had similar problems with privacy concerns, as do some patrons in Reston. [The Australian]
Nearby: Dog Day At The Pool — Want your dog to hit a pool before summer’s end? if you miss Reston Association’s Dog Paddle on Aug. 27, here are some other nearby pools that have an end-of-season dog swim. [Dulles Moms]
Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern in Herndon will be showing its patriotism — and throwing a big party — Labor Day weekend.
Jimmy’s 9/11 Memorial Ride and Party in the Alley on Saturday, Sept. 4 is an all-day event at Jimmy’s, 697 Spring St., but patrons are invited to take part in all or just some of it.
Here’s what’s happening:
Jimmy’s Opens at 8 a.m.
The Outdoor Party in the Alley begins at noon with a All-U-Can-Eat Pig Roast Buffet, a special a la carte menu and live music indoors outdoors. There is no cover charge.
The pig roast buffet includes Slow-Cooked Pig, Beef Brisket, Grilled Chicken, Burgers, Dogs, Baked Beans, Slaw, Potato Salad, Corn-on-the-Cob, Jimmy’s BBQ Sauce and more. It’s all-you-can-eat. Adults, $20; kids, $8.
The tavern is also sponsoring a motorcycle ride to Quantico National Cemetery. That begins at 9 a.m. with registration and breakfast. The bikes will depart at 10 a.m. At 11 a.m., the group will place American Flags on veterans’ graves.
The cemetery visit will be followed by a visit to the U.S. Marine Crops Museum and Murlarkey Distillery, Bristow.
Cost: $30 per rider, which includes full breakfast buffet, an awesome ride, the pig roast and more.
Here is the schedule for musical entertainment:
Outdoors:
- 12:00 p.m. – Open Jam with Brian Symmes
- 2:00 p.m. – Dedline
- 4:00 p.m. – Poker Run Awards with Jimmy!
- 4:20 p.m. – Performance of the National Anthem featuring Kimmy Holland
- 4:30 p.m. – JOTT-O Blues Band
- 6:00 p.m. – Theycallmepiano
- 7:00 p.m. – Unsullied
- 8:30 p.m. – The Roadducks
Indoors:
- 12:00 p.m. – The “Best Of” Open Mic Hosted by Andrew Lee!
- 8:30 p.m. – Nigel Brewer’s Tribute to the Fallen
- 9:00 p.m. – Soul Craft
- 10:30 p.m. – Johnny Rushmore Band
(Band lineups and times subject to change without notice)
Proceeds from the day benefit the Firefighters Fund of Fairfax County & the Herndon Fraternal Order of Police. For more details contact Jimmy at 703-470-4014 or [email protected].
When Reston Town Center paid weekday parking goes into effect on Sept. 12, it will also have the distinction of being one of the most expensive garage systems in the area.
Reston Town Center will charge $2 an hour on weekdays, with a maximum of $24 a day. Parking will remain free on Saturdays and Sundays, and there will be validation and discounts from retailers that will bring costs down.
Reston Now (with the help of reader Suzanne Zurn, organizer of the Change.org petition against paid parking at RTC) took a look at some nearby retail complexes to see how the new plan stacks up.
First of all, here is where you can park for free:
- Tysons Corner Center
- Fairfax Corner
- One Loudoun
- Dulles Town Center
- Downtown Herndon
- Fairfax Square (Tiffany Plaza in Tysons)
Now here’s where you have to pay:
Reston Town Center Parking – $2 per hour / max daily rate of $24.
Pentagon City Mall Parking – $2 for up to 2 hours / max daily rate of $18.
Rockville Town Square – $2 per hour / $3 for up to 1-2 hrs / max daily rate of $12.
Market Common Clarendon – $6 for up to 1 hour / $8 for up to 2 hours / max daily rate of $12.
Ballston Mall Parking – $1 for up to 3 hours / max daily rate of $10.
Mosaic District Parking – Free up to 5 hours.
Downtown Bethesda – $1.25 per hour in short-term parking (four hours hours or less) and .80 cents to $1 (depending on garage) per hour in long term parking (more than four hours). Street parking is $2 per hour for 1-2 hours.
Representatives for Boston Properties, which owns Reston Town Center, say paid parking has always been the plan for the 25-year-old town center. BP has invested in several high-tech features for the new system, including an app, ParkRTC, which will include a safety feature and ticketless and gateless payment.
“We realize moving from a free to a paid parking model gives some pause,” BP Executive Vice President Peter Johnston says. “However, Reston Town Center leadership continually focuses on strategies to enhance customer convenience, safety and overall quality of life. The technological integration is an enormous step in advancing both of these historical and worthwhile goals.”
The plan to re-develop St. Johns Wood Apartments will get at least an additional month before its Fairfax County Planning Commission public hearing.
Developer Bozzuto is now on the planning commission’s schedule for Oct. 26.. Most recently it had been scheduled for a hearing on Sept. 29.
The plan to more than double the size of the garden-style development at Reston Parkway and Center Harbor Drive has been on and off the county agenda for more than two years. It has also been reworked several times.
The postponement gives Bozzuto more time to make changes, since the current tweaks are not well-received by area residents, who have spoken up at two recent community meetings.
Bozzuto’s latest plan for the 14-acre space is to turn the 250 units in nine garden-style buildings into 467 units and 46 townhouses. They will be rental units.
That’s scaled down from the starting point for 625 units in 2014 and then 511 units and 51 townhouses in an amended plan earlier this year.
The latest plan was called many things — none of them very affirmative — at the Aug. 4 meeting organized by Bozzuto and the Hunter Mill Supervisors’ office. They said the plan looked like “Inova Fairfax Hospital,” or a “VCU college dorm with a facade like the Mosaic District.”
“This is way too large,” said area resident Gary Fogel. “It is twice what is there now. If you told me 100 more units, that makes sense. But doubling it? That’s insane.” Read More
Special RA Meeting — Reston Association’s Board of Directors will hold a special meeting Sept. 14 to discuss land issues. [Reston Association]
Last ‘Concert On The Town’ For 2016 — The 2016 Reston Concerts on the Town series at Reston Town Center wraps up Saturday, Aug. 27 with a performance from Leonard, Coleman & Blunt. Glenn Leonard, Joe Coleman and Joe Blunt — who have been the original singers with The Temptations, The Platters, and The Drifters — will sing do-wop favorites. Bring lawn chairs or picnic blankets and enjoy the live outdoor music at the Pavilion. Free. Rain or shine. [Reston Town Center]
Get to Know Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation — Interested in becoming a part of the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation community? The temple is holding a pancake breakfast for the whole family to see what NVHC is about on Saturday, Aug. 27, 10 to 11:30 a.m. [Reston Now]
Photo courtesy of Ed Schudel
Several Reston Now readers have checked out the “Find My Car” kiosk now in use at Reston Town Center parking garages.
They don’t like what they — or pretty much anyone — can see.
The Find My Car electronic kiosk, touted by RTC owner Boston Properties as a perk of parking in the RTC garages, is aimed at helping you locate where you parked.
When you return to the garage, you can punch in your license plate number. The screen will show you a picture of your parked car, as well as info on space number.
Some users are calling that a violation of privacy, however.
Reston resident Mary Brett recently posted this on a local listserv and also messaged Boston Properties with her concerns:
“Yesterday, I became aware of the extremely dangerous ‘find your car’ computer in the garage next to Jackson’s. Once I typed my license plate number on the homepage, it revealed a very large, sharp photo of me exiting my vehicle alone. Once I tapped on the photo, it located my vehicle on a map.
Didn’t ANYONE realize that this machine is a stalker’s dream machine to hunt down prey?!? Angry ex? Bad boyfriend? Stalker? Robber? Rapist?”
The “Find My Car” software is part of the electronic upgrades that are being installed at Reston Town Center as paid parking prepares to go into effect on Sept. 12.
Parking will be $2 an hour on weekdays (Saturdays and Sundays remain free). RTC management is encouraging visitors to download the ParkRTC App for gateless and ticketless payment, as well as parking discounts and validation. There is also a LiveSafeRTC portion of the app, where visitors can report suspicious incidents and easily communicate with RTC security.
But some would-be visitors say they have issues with town center and the app developers, Passport Parking, having their credit card numbers, license plate numbers, and GPS location.
Brett calls the picture of her at RTC a “gross invasion of privacy.”
“Your seemingly innocent ‘innovation’ is both dangerous and a gross invasion of my privacy,” she told BP. “I never consented to you taking my photo, my vehicle’s photo, and providing this information to anyone perusing your public machine!” Read More
There is a rare empty storefront on Reston Town Center’s Market Street.
PR Barbers recently packed up its styling tools from 11944 Market St. (next to Bow Tie Cinemas) and moved to a more compact spot near RTC’s pavilion.
That leaves a vacant space for now. No permits have been filed and Reston Now does not yet know of a lease signed for the space.
There are several other empty storefronts at the other end of Market Street, where an AT&T Store and Brighton Collectibles used to be housed. That space is being cleared out for redevelopment of that block into an office tower with first-floor retail.
Since no construction start date has been announced, RTC is letting pop-up shops do temporary business there. A sustainable textiles store, Living Threads, recently opened, and more pop-up shops are expected soon.
Meanwhile, what should go in the PR Barbers’ space? Tell us in the comments.
Tony Rodham, Hillary Clinton’s brother, will be among the VIPs at the opening of the coordinated Clinton campaign office at Lake Anne Plaza Tuesday night.
The campaign is setting up shop in a former hair salon at 1635 Washington Plaza for the final months leading to election day Nov. 8.
This will be the district headquarters for Hunter Mill, Sully and Dranesville Democrats.
Says Hillary for Virginia:
At the office opening, local leaders, supporters and volunteers will discuss Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine’s new plan to support small businesses, including Virginia’s more than 680,000 small businesses and 1.5 million employees. Donald Trump has made a career of stiffing small businesses and refusing to pay his bills across the country — even putting some on the path to bankruptcy.
The Reston office will serve as a hub for organizing activity to allow supporters to mobilize and help elect Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine and Democrats up and down the ballot on Nov. 8. Organizers and volunteers will host phone banks, organizing meetings, and canvasses from the office as well as from supporters’ homes across the Commonwealth.
There will be an opening reception at the office Tuesday at 7 p.m. RSVP online.
Grammy Award-winning singer Kathy Mattea and her longtime collaborator, guitarist Bill Cooley, will bring their “The Acoustic Living Room” show to Reston Community Center’s CenterStage on Sept. 17 (8 p.m.)
Says RCC:
The two have shared one of Nashville’s most musically rich partnerships for over two decades. The duo meets as old friends, welcoming you into The Acoustic Living Room to share songs and stories near and dear to their hearts — including Kathy’s beloved classics such as 18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses, Where’ve You Been? and many other hits.
Mattea, who has released 18 albums, will play a variety of her music, all reinterpreted for the duo format.
Read a Huffington Post interview with Kathy Mattea.
Tickets are now on sale on RCC’s website. Cost: $25 for Reston residents and employees/$35 for non-residents.
Updated, 4:20 p.m. Tuesday: Reston Town Center now said Tuesday afternoon in a Tweet it is turning off the availability signs “to allow for the final preparations for Sept. 12.”
Original story: Paid parking is still a few weeks away, but one of the features of the new parking system is up and running.
The electronic parking availability signs were on as of Monday, directing visitors to how many spaces are open at RTC’s seven garages.
There is one sign outside the garage entry that shows the total number of spaces available. A second sign, just inside the entry, shows the number of available spaces on each garage level. Signs inside the garage, suspended from the ceiling, show the number of available spaces in a particular row.
This could save visitors time they would spend circling the garage to find an open space.
After Sept. 12, this feature comes at a price. Parking will cost $2 an hour for weekday visitors. Saturday and Sunday will remain free, and some businesses will offer validation or discounts on future parking.
Learn more on Reston Town Center’s website.
