State Honor For SLHS’ Vigen — South Lakes High School senior Sara Vigen was one of four students awarded the Student-Athlete of the Year award by the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Vigen, a soccer player with a 4.3 grade point average, has committed to play at William & Mary. She is the Liberty Conference Soccer Player of the Year and was named to the Washington Post’s first team all-region and first team all-Met in soccer. [FCPS]
Big Upset For SLHS Boys Basketball — Senior Brandon Kamga led all scorers with 29 points and teammate Zach Pearl added 20 points as the Seahawks upset No. 13 Woodson 75-70. [Washington Post]
Take The Tour De Lights — Reston Association’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee is organizing a bike tour of Reston’s holiday lights. Mark your calendar for Saturday, Dec. 20 4:30-6 p.m. Meet at Lake Anne Plaza parking lot. All ages are welcome, but riders must have experience and ability to keep up with a group averaging 10 mph over a one-hour ride, including hills. [Reston Association]
Girls Code — Checking in on unique club at Langston Hughes Middle School, where girls learn it is cool to write computer code. [Washington Post]
Chili’s Bar & Grill’s Reston location will likely close in the next few months, a company spokesman said.
Chili’s has been located at 11840 Sunrise Valley for nearly two decades. Mike Huffman, director of operations for Chesapeake Restaurants, Chili’s parent company, said there is not yet an exact closing date.
“We are on a very short time frame,” he said “I think from our best understanding, it will be this spring.”
The International Center area, where Chili’s is located, is slated for major redevelopment.
In summer 2013, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a mixed-use plan for the 10-acre site that current is a surface parking lot, a small strip mall, the stand-alone Chili’s, and office space.
Developer JBG’s plans call for a 15-story addition to the Reston International Center and four new buildings: a six-story residential building, a 15-story residential building, a five-story building that incorporates a parking garage with residences and retail space; and a 10-story building that mixes office space, parking and retail space.
The plan includes 145,000 square feet of above-grade retail, 100,00 square feet of below-grade retail, 428,225 square feet of office and 498 residential units.
JBG first had a plan for the area approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2008. That plan featured 498 residential units, 245,000 square feet of retail and nearly 430,000 square feet of office in six buildings. In the newer plans, the numbers are similar, but the design has changed to better engage with the surrounding environment.
There will be an entrance to the development from the Reston Parkway side, something the area currently lacks.
In a presentation to the Reston Association Design Review Board in 2013, Cunningham Quill Architects and Olin, a landscape architecture firm, said they were seeking a design that engages with the landscape and connects with the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station via bike and foot paths.
The new plans will also be harmonious with the adjacent Reston Heights project, also built by JBG. That includes the Westin Reston Heights hotel and the Mercer Condominium, as well as office space.
A Wells Fargo branch in the same development closed in August and sits empty as the center gets ready for the development. Under the current plans, only the stand-alone Popeye’s restaurant will be incorporated in the redevelopment.
JBG has not said when construction will start on the new development.
Ugly Sweater Animal Adoption Party — The Fairfax County Animal Shelter is hosting an Ugly Sweater Party Adoption Event Friday and Saturday (Dec. 12 and 13). There will be 40 available cats and kittens and 25 dogs and puppies, many wearing their best holiday sweaters. Dog adoption fees will be reduced to $100 and cat adoption fees will be $50. [Fairfax County]
Rivalry For a Cause — Herndon and South Lakes High Schools are engaging in a competition to see who can collect the most toiletry donations for the Embry Rucker Community Shelter. Toiletry donations (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.) will be collected at both schools the week of Dec. 15-19. Each item a school collects, regardless of size, will count as one “point” towards the school’s total. The winner will be the high school with the most “points” by tip off of the SLHS-Herndon Boys Basketball game at SLHS on Dec. 19. The principal of the losing school must wear the opposing school’s spirit wear to school on Jan. 5.
Toys For Tots Event Tuesday — Reston Town Center has been participating in the U.S. Marines’ annual Toys for Tots Drive since Dec. 1. The collection will culminate Tuesday, Dec. 16, when U.S. Marines will be on site collecting unwrapped toys and cash donations from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. [Reston Town Center]
Fairfax County Police are searching for a suspect who robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 11911 Freedom Dr. at Reston Town Center on Wednesday.
Police said a man entered the bank at 1:52 p.m. and told a teller he had a weapon. He took cash and fled.
Witnesses told police the suspect was a black man, about 6-foot-1 and in his late 20s or early 30s.
Police are trying to determine whether the robbery is connected to another one in Reston two weeks ago or two that occurred in the McLean District in the last week.
Reston Now will add additional details as we get them.
Reston Now is looking for some freelance help covering the community.
What we need is someone with new media skills who also understands news and issues that affect Reston.
Qualifications:
- Must have news writing experience and experience with content management systems (WordPress a plus)
- Must have basic photography skills and a camera (or at least a good camera phone)
- Be available flexible hours for some evening and weekend assignments
- Have access to a car
- Ideally, live in or very near Reston and be familiar with Reston businesses, issues, locations and Reston Association
- Be able to work quickly and meet deadlines
- Pay is competitive and by the post.
If this is you, send your resume, writing sample(s) and three story ideas to Reston Now editor Karen Goff at [email protected].
The multiple celebrations that make up the holiday season bring travel, big meals, and family and friend reunions. For state legislators, the end of the year and the holidays bring an additional dimension: preparation for the next legislative session.
The Virginia Constitution provides that the General Assembly shall meet each year on the second Wednesday in January. This year that is Jan. 14, a later date than in most years.
Leading up to opening of the General Assembly session there is a great deal of preparation that needs to be done. Study committees that have been meeting throughout the year conclude their work in order that their reports can be written and legislation drafted. In order to spread out the workload on staff for the Division of Legislative Services that does the statutory drafting, a deadline is set in early December so that bills that are to be filed early can be drafted. A limitation on the number of bills that can be introduced after the session begins encourages members to get their bill drafting requests in early which happens to be during the time of preparing for the holidays.
With lobbyists, stakeholders, interested citizens and others concerned about getting legislation introduced or in opposing bills that others are proposing, the end of the year and the holiday season signals the need to move to action.
Legislators get numerous invitations to meet with legislative committees of various organizations, lobbyists employed to support or oppose bills, and individuals who have an interest in a good government idea. Because regular business hours of both legislators and advocates get filled with meetings, social and meal times are used as opportunities to educate legislators and for lawmakers to learn of the interests and needs of members of the community. There are breakfasts, lunches, dinners and even a Sunday brunch scheduled on my calendar.
Many advocates who are otherwise employed and who have their own family responsibilities use the social and meal times as available opportunities for themselves to meet with their representatives. Cynics of the process who suggest that the rubber chicken or high-calorie hors d’oeuvres are somehow attractive to lawmakers have clearly not been to any of these.
What goes on during the holiday season is critically important to the legislative process. With the heightened expectation that the General Assembly is going to be meeting, more people become focused on it and on making their views known. As representatives of the people we have to hear from constituents.
That is why during the holiday season I send a survey to voters as a means for them to express their views to me. Complete it online at www.kenplum.com. I also have a public hearing with Sen. Janet Howell on Jan. 8, at which we welcome public testimony.
In between getting ready for the legislative session, I will be enjoying time with family and friends. The holiday season makes for a busy time for sure, but it also is a time to feel the honor of being your representative in the state legislature.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. His opinions do not necessarily represent those of Reston Now.
Reston is affluent when compared with the rest of Virginia, has a growing population and a median age of 38.6.
Those are some of the findings of the Five-Year American Community Survey, which was released last week.
The American Community Survey is an ongoing survey by the United States Census that provides data every year — giving communities the current information they need to plan investments and services.
Here are some of the basics the ACS Found. To see much more data, visit the ACS Website.
Reston By the Numbers 2009-2013
Population: 59,388 (up from 58,404 in 2010 Census)
Race
43,061 White (72.5 percent)
6,373 Asian (10.7 percent)
6,028 Black (10.2 percent)
8,555 Latino (14 percent)
Of note: While the White, Black and Asian percentages populations have stayed about the same since 2010, the Latino population has grown by 2 percent (the 2010 Census counted 7,479 Latinos or 12 percent of the population).
Income
Reston’s Median Household Income is $107,962 (Virginia median is $63, 907)
7.9 percent of individuals live at or below the poverty line (Virginia average is 11.9 percent)
The mean travel time to work is 29.9 minutes — but 6.8 percent of Restonians say they work at home.
Housing
Reston has 26,859 housing units. Sixty-two percent (16,594) of those are owned rather than rented. Median value is $436,200.
Fun fact: 161 residents say they purchased the home in which they lived in 1969 or before.
The Initiative for Public Art Reston (IPAR) announced on Tuesday that it is among 919 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive a National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) Art Works grant.
IPAR has been recommended for a $20,000 grant to support the creation of a temporary, site-specific, large-scale public art work in Reston by artist Patrick Dougherty.
IPAR, in collaboration with the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE), will commission Dougherty to create a public art work in Reston Town Square Park in Reston Town Center over a three-week period in April 2015.
The project will feature local saplings and will involve local artists, youth, and other community members, GRACE and IPAR officials said.
The Dougherty installation will remain on site for one to two years. There will also be a tandem exhibition in the GRACE gallery from April to July 2015. The display will document the installation and explore Dougherty’s work throughout the world through photographs, sketches, models, and video. There will also be a series of related public programs at GRACE.
“We are thrilled by this significant support for the Dougherty project and its related programming,”said IPAR Executive Director Anne Delaney. “The NEA Art Works grant will enable the Initiative for Public Art Reston to realize this major temporary art installation. IPAR is delighted to collaborate with GRACE and other Reston organizations in a public art project that will engage the community at-large.”
“The project reflects the spirit of the Public Art Master Plan for Reston, which encourages working with other community organizations to commission public art projects that energize public places and engage the community,” she added.”
Delaney said this is the first time that IPAR is the recipient of a NEA Art Works grant. It is also the first time the group made a submission attempt, she said.
Art Works grants support the creation of art, public engagement with art, lifelong learning in the arts, and enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts, according to the NEA. The NEA received 1,474 eligible applications under the Art Works category, requesting more than $75 million in funding. Of those applications, 919 are recommended for grants for a total of $26.6 million.
For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, visit the NEA website. For more examples of Dougherty’s work, visit his website.
Photo: Patrick Dougherty outdoor work “Call of the Wild,” in Tacoma WA/Credit: Duncan Price
Let’s Talk Snow Removal — How does your neighborhood handle snow shoveling and could neighbors be helping each other? That is the topic of a meeting Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Reston Community Center Hunters Woods . The meeting is sponsored by Reston For a Lifetime. [Reston Now]
Reston Group To Commemorate Sandy Hook Victims — Members of the Reston-Herndon Alliance to End Gun Violence will commemorate the second anniversary of the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary at Newtown, Conn. Sunday at 2 p.m. with a march at National Rifle Association Headquarters, 11250 Waples Mill Rd. in Fairfax. The group has been picketing the NRA monthly on the 14th since 2012, but is hoping for an extra large turnout this time.
New Private School In Reston — Rockville’s School for Tomorrow says it will open a Reston location next year. [Reston Patch]
FACETS Has New Leader — Meet Margi Preston, the new executive director of FACETS, the Fairfax-based group to aid those in the county suffering the effects of poverty and homelessness. [Reston Connection]
Now that comprehensive plan changes for Lake Anne-area revitalization have been approved, the real work can begin on transforming Crescent Apartments and the surrounding areas.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last week approved changes that mostly tweaked densities and added continuity to the six separate land bays that comprise the Lake Anne revitalization area.
That sets the stage for the next round of county discussions and approvals to begin in early January.
Lake Anne Development Partners, which was chosen by the county in the summer of 2013 to redevelop the area, has shown concept designs of a wide entry boulevard, mixed-use housing and enhanced retail.
LADP’s plan concept calls for up to 1,535 dwelling units and up to 135,000 square feet of non-residential use under full consolidation.
Crescent Apartments is a county-owned affordable apartment complex. The plans call for replacement of all 181 affordable units on the 16-acre property, as well as adding additional affordable units and market rate units, including an active seniors community.
The interior of Lake Anne Plaza is under historic designation and will not be altered. However, Lake Anne merchants and Republic Development (LADP’s parent company) President and CEO David Peter have said they hoped added density and additional retail nearby will bring new life to the plaza.
Staff reports on the Lake Anne plans are scheduled to be released in late December. The Reston Association Design Review Board approved LADP’s concept in October.
The county planning commission will discuss the Lake Anne plans on Jan. 8 at 8:15 pm. If recommended for approval, the plan will go to the Board of Supervisors for a Jan. 27 public hearing.
Peter said the entire project should take at least 10 years to complete.
If the highlight of your annual trip to the Outer Banks involves a stop or two at Duck Donuts, then you will like this retail news.
Duck Donuts will open a store at BB& T Bank Center at Elden Street and Herndon Parkway (near the Bagel Cafe) this spring, according to the company’s Facebook page.
Duck Donuts began as a family-run operation in, of course, Duck, N.C. It later expanded to nearby Kill Devil Hills and Corolla.
Recently, it has been offering franchise opportunities, and Virginia outposts are planned for next year in Williamsburg, Charlottesville, Virginia Beach, as well as Herndon.
The Herndon store put up a new Facebook page on Tuesday and got several hundred likes within a few hours. Follow them to keep up with store opening details.
PetMAC, the locally owned pet supply store opening this month at Lake Anne Plaza, is inviting all pet owners to bring their pets in on Saturday, Dec. 13, for a photo with Santa.
Santa will be at the store, located at 11412 Washington Plaza, from 2 to 4 p.m.
“Santa loves our pets as much as we do, so bring your dog or cat to sit with Santa for a photo and to let him know what your best friend wants for Christmas this year (hint, hint, PetMAC’s Christmas toys and treats make perfect stocking stuffers),” says PetMAC owner Cindy Williams.
Cats are welcome during the last half hour of the event, says Williams. She asks that they cats visit the store in a secure cat carrier.
Reservations are requested. To reserve a time with Santa, please call 703-908-7387. Walk-ins will be accepted, depending on availability.
The cost of the photo is a $15 donation (cash or check), which will be given to Homeward Trails to help rescue more cats and dogs in need of homes.
Photo Courtesy of Virginia Tech, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
The Reston Association Board of Directors is exploring the formation of an ethics committee and/or a Board Governance Committee.
The board will hold a work session on the idea Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. at RA Headquarters, 12001 Sunrise Valley Dr. The session is open to the public.
Since RA board members are volunteers and have various interests, employment and investments in the community, forming an ethics committee would add transparency to the organization.
Earlier this year, at-large Director Rachel Muir proposed the creation of an independent ethics committee made up of three RA general members and one RA Board director to investigate ethics complaints. Next Thursday’s meeting will discuss the need and feasibility for it.
Even if an ethics committee is incorporated into the responsibilities of the governance committee, many of the principles would be the same, says RA President Ken Knueven.
“Promoting an ethical culture is a key leadership responsibility in any organization,” said Knueven. “Transparency, commitment, integrity, equity, honor and stewardship, are governance standards for excellence. This board, working with the members, staff and other stakeholders is working to properly define governance roles and responsibilities of the Reston Association Board, CEO, Staff and Committees — separating organizational purpose (ENDS) from organizational administration (MEANS).”
RA has also met with BoardSource, a national organizational advisory group, last spring. Knueven said that after that consultation, the board agreed “we would create the methods and procedures to provide the standards, tools, and processes needed by future volunteer RA boards and staff ” to:
- Establish how the Board would operate as one entity.
- Establish standards of behavior, roles, commitments and code of ethical behaviors – to avoid “micro-governing” the officers, directors, or committees.
- Define the CEO’s job description, and ground rules, by focusing decisions on Ends.
Knueven says the overall outcome of the Governance Committee would allow the board “to align and provide vision and strategic leadership — focusing on the what and why of RA’s operations through ends policies that define success, while the CEO and staff would be allowed to focus on who, how, when, and at what cost.
“It is important to state upfront — one best practice is to charge this Board Governance Committee, like all committees, to help the full board do its job,” Knueven said. “This committee’s work does not negate the need for full board discussion and debate on the most important issues.”
Fairfax County Police detectives have charged two men and a woman in connection with a series of car larcenies, burglaries and credit card thefts that have taken place in Western Fairfax County since August.
Police said the suspects were allegedly entering vehicles in the pre-dawn hours, rifling through items and taking credit cards, cash and other items of value. In some cases, garage door openers may have been taken and used to enter homes.
All three suspects are from the Herndon area police said. They have arrested Ezekiel Pajibo, 25,; Marion Pajibo, 18; and Nicholas McCloud, 22.
From FCPD:
Typically, stolen credit cards were used at local stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target to make purchases. Police were alerted and worked closely with store security personnel to identify evidence relating to the crimes through video.
After uncovering positive identification on possible suspects, detectives continued their comprehensive investigation and three were charged on Dec. 1 and 5; resulting in a total of over a dozen charges. The investigation is ongoing.
During the holiday season, and at all times, police remind residents to lock their car doors. Vehicle larcenies are not rare and police want residents to take all reasonable precautions to prevent from becoming victimized during the busy holiday season. Make sure to check online credit card statements frequently to ensure your cards haven’t been stolen or compromised.
Photos: Upper: Ezekiel Pajibo, Marion Pajibo; Lower: Nicholas McCloud/Courtesy of FCPD
Caution From Dulles Toll Road — Construction on the Dulles Toll Road near Hunter Mill Road Eastbound began last night and will run through approximately Dec. 23. The far right lane will be closed for construction. Use caution when turning onto the Hunter Mill ramp.
Handel’s Messiah In Reston — The Reston Chorale (and the audience) will sing this holiday favorite tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 9) at 7:30 p.m. at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 11900 Lawyers Rd. Buy Tickets Online or at the door 30 minutes prior to the event.
Shop and Eat At Athleta Thursday — Athleta at Reston Town Center invites all “significant others” to come to the store Thursday night to pick out a gift for their favorite female exercise enthusiast. Not only will the staff help you, they will give you California Tortilla for dinner as well.
Mattress Sale To Benefit SLHS Basketball — South Lakes High School boys and girls basketball will be holding its annual mattress sale fundraiser Dec. 14 at the school. There will be 20 different mattress models (including Pillow Tops and Memory Foam) from major manufacturers on display. Sets start at: Twin $199; Full $279; Queen $299; Kings $499 (about 50 percent off store prices).
