Plans are still in the works to turn Reston Town Center’s last remaining surface parking lot into a mixed-use development.

There has been little movement on the proposal since August, when developer Boston Properties filed plans to redevelop the six acre spot with a 21-story residential building with more than 500 units, up to 25,100 square feet of retail/restaurant uses and more than 275,00 square feet of office space.

However, a county staff report on the proposal is slated to be published in late May, and the Fairfax County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the development June 11.

Boston Properties purchased the site at Fountain Drive and New Dominion parkway in 2013 for a reported $27 million. At that time, Boston Property executives said they planned to change the zoning from office space to residential

Boston Properties owns much of the Town Center, including the newer portion south of Market Street, the Fountain Square buildings, and Block 16, where it recently constructed the Avant Apartments (and ground floor retail).

Nearly adjacent to the surface lot are the blocks-long planned redevelopment of the Spectrum, as well as a 23-story tower at 1760 Reston Parkway. The board of supervisors gave approval to both of those projects in 2013, but there has been no movement on them. The Spectrum project may not get underway for many more years, developers have said.

When Herndon’s NextStop Theatre presents its production of Into the Woods May 1 to June 1, Today Show co-host Kathie Lee Gifford will be providing the voice of the Giant’s Wife in the staging of the Stephen Sondheim musical.

Gifford is an old friend of NextStop Artistic Director Evan Hoffman.

“I have known Evan since he was in an early production of Saving Aimee at Signature Theatre back in 2007, So I was happy when he asked me to record the voice of the Giant’s Wife,” Gifford said in a statement. “I love the DC theatre community, I adore Stephen Sondheim, and I am always thrilled to help a friend who is working to achieve his dreams.”

Into the Woods combines the iconic stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Jack (the giant killer), plus the new tale of a childless baker and wife.

Their intertwining quests into the woods result in a twistedly funny, but sobering musical about the cost and consequences of “happily ever after,” says NextStop. The original Broadway production earned three Tony Awards and a Grammy. It also inspired an upcoming Hollywood movie starring Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, and Anna Kendrick.

NextStop was formerly known as the Elden Street Players. It changed its name last year after hiring Hoffmann, a 2000 graduate of Herndon High School and who has worked extensively in Washington-area theater. Hoffmann says Gifford’s addition to the production is a significant achievement for the theater company.

Visit NextStop’s website for show times and to purchase tickets.

The National Weather Service has issued a Freeze Warning for Fairfax County and surrounding areas for late Tuesday night and early Wednesday.

Overnight temperatures are expected to dip to about 30 degrees, which will kill your cold-sensitive plants if you have already (optimistically?) planted them. Traditionally, the area’s last frost is between April 21-30, according to gardening zone maps.

If you have garden containers, bring them inside where it is warmer. If plants are in the ground, follow these tips from The Garden Helper:

• Water the garden thoroughly before nightfall. The soil will release moisture into the air around your plants during the night, keeping the air somewhat warmer.
• Cover up. By the time it gets dark much of the stored heat in the garden has already been lost. If you have time, build a simple frame around the plant, or row of plants. (Even a single stake can be used in many cases.) Then drape a cover of newspaper, cardboard, plastic tarps, bed sheeting or any other lightweight material over the frame to create a tent. If you don’t have time to create a frame, lay the protective cover directly onto the plant. This will help to slow the loss of heat rising from the foliage and the ground. Remove the covers in the morning, once the frost has thawed, to let the light and fresh air back in, and to prevent overheating by the sun.
• For smaller individual plants you can use glass jars, milk jugs with the bottom removed, paper cups upside down flower pots as heat traps. Don’t forget to remove these covers in the morning.
• You can collect heat during the day by painting plastic milk jugs black and filling them with water. Place them around your plants where they will collect heat during the day. Water loses heat more slowly than either soil or air. This collected heat will radiate out throughout the night.

Baron Cameron Park’s off-leash dog area remains without noise-reducing fencing more than a month after a storm damaged the fencing material.

The sheeting, aimed at reducing noise from the dog park, was put in place more than a year ago. Park officials said last month the fencing material, which was attached to the metal chain link fencing, is being repaired and will be replaced.

But the timing of the barrier damage and removal could not have been worse as the park and Reston Dogs Inc., the group that operates the dog park, are responding to neighbors who filed a lawsuit in early March complaining about the noise.

The residents live in Reston’s Longwood Grove neighborhood, located across Wiehle Avenue from the dog run. The dog park, which is open during daylight hours, is the only off-leash dog run in Reston.

“The dog park noise, mainly from unruly dogs barking and fighting, has grown to intolerable levels over the last two years and is likely to become even more severe in the spring and summer months,” says the court document. “On its worst days, the noise is incessant. The nuisance noise at the dog park disrupts the Longwood Grove Plaintiffs’ reasonable use and enjoyment of their properties.”

There are 100 homes in the Longwood Grove subdivision, but the complaint was brought by seven individuals representing five households.

The injunction cites several previous Virginia rulings dealing with the definition of a nuisance. It claims the plaintiffs are likely to suffer “irreparable harm  from the dogs barking and fighting in the dog park in the summer of 2014 as this case proceeds” and have no legal remedy other to quiet the noise other than to ask for an injunction to shut down the park.

The injunction says that several of the plaintiffs suffer from lack of sleep and extreme stress.

Baron Cameron is about to embark on changes in a new master plan process. There are two visions for the improved park, both of which include a dog park. However, one of the plans includes moving the dog area farther into the 68-acre park’s interior in order to make way for a large indoor pool and recreation center and additional parking.

At a March 27 community meeting on the Baron Cameron Master Plan, many dog park users spoke in support of keeping the dog park at its current location.

“We would like to see the dog park remain in its current position and retain the same character,” said Tom Krassalt, president of Reston Dogs. “One of our concerns is that if the population of Reston is going to double [with upcoming development] then it would mean the dog population would double and a larger park should be considered.”

However, other citizens made the suggestion that the dog park be moved to Lake Fairfax Park, which has more open space and is farther away from homes.

Cherry Blossoms = Metro Record —  Beautiful weather, peak bloom and the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade all contributed to especially high ridership on Metrorail this past weekend. On Saturday, riders took 638,474 trips on the rail system, making it the highest Saturday ridership since the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on October 30, 2010.  Saturday’s ridership was nearly double that of an average Saturday(93 percent higher). [Metro]

Ride to Provide Returns Saturday — The annual annual charity bike event hosted by NFL players Lorenzo Alexander and Kedric Golston returns to Reston Town Center this weekend.  Hundreds of participants will bike ride on the W&OD Railroad Regional Park Trail to aid wounded veterans and kids in need. [Ride to Provide]

Are You Committing E-Z Pass Errors? — Faulty installation could be messing up your E-Z Pass, costing you a bundle in fees. [WTOP]

The financial website Nerd Wallet says Reston is No. 8 among the fastest-growing cities in Virginia.

We know Reston is technically not a city, but with a population of nearly 60,000 (plus another 60,000+ who work here), it has city-sized stats.

NerdWallet says it bases its picks on this criteria:

1. Population growth. Growth in the working-age population from 2009 to 2012.

2. Employment growth. Growth in the percentage of employed residents from 2009 to 2012.

3. Income growth. Growth in the median income for workers from 2009 to 2012.

Here is what the site had to say about Reston:

Reston’s growth in jobs, income and population earned this census-designated place a spot on our list.

Located just outside the Capital Beltway, Reston offers great schools, big houses with large yards, high-end shopping and manageable commutes to downtown Washington, D.C. Reston was originally built up in the 1960s and has grown into a destination of its own.

Large companies including Microsoft, SAIC and Sallie Mae have large offices in Reston and the city will have two Metro stops on the new Metro Silver Line opening in the near future.

Planners predict that the new Metro stops, along with a new city plan that calls for more pedestrian and bike-friendly city spaces, will keep Reston growing for years to come.

Reston, Centreville (No. 5) and Fairfax City (No. 10) were the only Fairfax County spots in NerdWallet’s Top 10.

The complete list:

1. Harrisonburg
2. Fredericksburg
3. Blacksburg
4. Charlottesville
5. Centreville
6. Lake Ridge
7. Staunton
8. Reston
9. Richmond
10. Fairfax

Visit Nerd Wallet for a complete description of why the Top 10 cities were chosen.

After a glorious spring weekend with summer-like temperatures, Reston is about to get a reality check Tuesday.

The forecast is calling for a 40-degree temperature drop, as well as just maybe a few flakes of snow.

From The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang:

Between late afternoon Monday and Tuesday, we’ll go from temperatures near 80 to the 40s.  Tuesday afternoon’s cold rain could even transition to mixed precipitation before ending  at night.  Many parts of the area see temperatures drop below freezing early Wednesday morning and some then struggle to escape the 40s Wednesday afternoon.

…Temperatures continue to fall through the 40s during Tuesday evening, into the 30s by around dark in some of our colder suburbs and closer to 10 or 11 p.m. inside the Beltway.  This may allow rain — if it lingers long enough — to mix with and change to sleet and/or snow before ending (20-30 percent chance, highest western areas).  As usual, the best chance of any wintry precipitation is in our colder suburbs to the northwest.  Little or no accumulation is expected and it’s completely possible the rain shuts off before it’s cold enough for frozen precipitation.

To review: April 15. Wintry Mix.

Fun fact: The National Weather service says the latest measurable snow recorded in D.C. was April 28, 1998 (0.5 inch). At Dulles, the latest measurable snow was April 12, 1973, when an inch was recorded.

Police in Maryland are continuing to look for clues in the mysterious shooting of a Reston man as he kayaked in Anne Arundel County, Md., on Saturday.

David Seafolk-Kopp, 56, was treated and released from Baltimore’s Shock Trauma on Sunday.

Seafolk-Kopp told Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police he was paddling on Bodkin Creek Saturday night. He stopped to look up at the stars and he noticed a campfire on the shoreline, where people were laughing and partying.

Construction fencing recently was put into place surrounding the former United Bank building at North Point Village Center.

The bank closed last fall and has been empty ever since.

So what is going to open up in the space at 1498 North Point Village Center? Another bank. Wells Fargo has filed permits for interior demolition as it plans to open a branch there.

No opening date has been set.

This is the latest in a series of recent changes for North Point. Among them: a new Massage Envy opened last week. Burger King closed March 31 and Glory Days Grill is slated to open later this year.

A Reston man was mysteriously shot in the stomach while kayaking in Anne Arundel County, Md., on Saturday, Maryland Natural Resources police.

Police said that David Seafolk-Kopp, 56, was shot while taking a break from paddling. He told police he saw a red dot near the lower part of his stomach and felt an excruciating amount of pain shortly thereafter.

Officials said the man launched his kayak from a friend’s home near Pasadena, Md., but was unable to make it back to shore until Sunday morning.

Seafolk-Kopp was taken to Baltimore’s Shock Trauma with non-life threatening injuries. The Baltimore Sun reported that he was treated and released.

Police told the Sun that they don’t have a motive or suspect, but the incident is under investigation.

The Fairfax County Public Schools board announced on Friday that Wednesday, June 25 will be the last day of school.

Previously, snow makeup days for June 23 and 24 were announced. The school system applied for a waiver from the state to get an exemption for the required 180 days in the school year.

FCPS had 11 snow days during 2013-14, one of the snowiest winters in recent history.

While the three new school days will be shortened days, there is likely to be a lot of movie watching and yearbook signing to take up the time.

Is a delayed summer break the best plan? Take our poll or answer in the comments.

Suli Dainkeh, a former South Lakes High School soccer standout, has been named to the U.S. Men’s Under 20 National Team for a major tournament in Dallas next week.

Dainkeh, a defender, played his first season at University of Maryland last fall. The Terps made it to the national championship game, where they lost to Notre Dame.

Dainkeh also formerly played for D.C. United’s Youth Academy.

Dainkeh, who will start for the U.S. at the Dallas Cup, played midfield for the Seahawks. He was named 2103 Gatorade State Player of the Year in Virginia and was a First Team All-Met, All-Region and Liberty District selection. He helped lead the Seahawks to a 12-1 regular-season record last spring.

Read more about Dainkeh’s journey from Sierra Leone to Reston.

The snowy winter of 2013-14 is still leaving its mark on Fairfax County.

The Fairfax County School Board has voted to add a day to the end of the 2013-14 school calendar as a makeup day for the 11th missed day of the year due to weather.  The Board’s action makes Wednesday, June 25, the last day of the 2013-14 school year.

“This has been a unique and challenging year due to snowstorms both early and late in the season,” said FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza.

“We explored the option of counting instructional hours instead of days; however, our elementary schools would have fallen far short due to our current model of early release Mondays. We considered converting those early release Mondays into full days, but that would have eliminated critical planning time for elementary teachers, which was a real concern for us.”

Garza said the teacher’s groups hope to plan meaningful learning options for the extra days.

June 23 and 24 have already been tacked on to the school year as makeup days. June 25 will be an early dismissal day, the system says.

From FCPS:

State law requires school divisions to provide instruction for a minimum of 180 days or 990 hours each school year. If the school division cannot meet the requirement for 180 days or 990 hours of instruction because of bad weather or other emergencies, days missed must be made up in accordance with the formula outlined in the Code of Virginia.

This formula requires that the school division must make up the first five days, and then make up one day for every two days missed in excess of the first five days missed by adding instructional days to the school calendar or extending the length of the school day. School divisions may use instructional time built into the school calendar that exceeds the 990 instructional hour minimum or add time to the remaining days to offset the days missed.

FCPS’ adopted calendar for school year 2013-14 identified specific makeup days – Feb. 17, April 7, June 23, and June 24.   The calendar approved by the School Board for the current year provided a plan for 10 makeup days.    The 11th snow day occurred on March 17, requiring the need for an additional makeup day.

FCPS officials contacted the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to discuss the possibility of a waiver for June 23-25.  VDOE advised that a waiver would not be granted for June 23 and 24 because those days are already reflected in the Board approved calendar for 2013-14 and it would be unlikely that a waiver would be granted for June 25 because state law requires school divisions to certify that all reasonable efforts for making up lost teaching days or teaching hours were exhausted before requesting a waiver.

Other Virginia jurisdictions have added time to the instructional day, eliminated early release days, or added full days to comply with the 180 day or 990 hour instructional requirement.