It’s Girl Scout Cookie season! Can’t get enough Trefoils and Thin Mints? Scouts from area Girl Scout troops will be selling cookies at these Reston locations Friday evening and most of the day Saturday and Sunday through the end of the month. Need to find more cookie booths? Download the Girl Scouts’ mobile cookie finder and input your Zip code.

• Potbelly, 12150 Sunset Hills Road
• Reston Town Center, various spots
• Flippin’ Pizza, South Lakes Village Center
• Safeway, South Lakes Village Center
• Safeway, Hunters Woods Village Center
• Giant, North Point
• YMCA Reston

Wednesday’s Reston Now article about a group of North Reston residents asking the Fairfax County Park Authority to shut down the Baron Cameron Park off-leash dog area generated a record number of page views and comments, as well as lively social media reaction.

Last week, a group of residents of Longwood Grove, the subdivision situated across Wiehle Avenue from the dog park, filed an injunction in Fairfax County Circuit Court asking that the park be immediately closed. The residents, who represent five of the 100 households in the neighborhood, say the dog barking is a nuisance that is affecting their quality of life.

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.

Most people who commented and engaged on Reston Now’s Facebook page say the injunction is not warranted.

“Wiehle in and of itself is loud and busy, as is Baron Cameron, so why not just shut them both down as well as the entire Baron Cameron Park since I can hear kids and parents yelling and whistles blowing? Who are these people anyway? They should really consider packing up and moving out of a metropolitan area so someplace like the Montana wilderness,” said Facebook commenter Robbie Nolan.

Said Deloris Bailey:  “This park is used by so many dog owners and is a benefit to the ENTIRE community … how can 5 families shut it down? Also, if you wanted peace, why buy a house off of Wiehle? It will still be extremely noisy. When I was a kid, we moved to a neighborhood off of a major intersection. At first the noise kept me up, but eventually I got used to it. When I went away to college, the quiet campus kept me up, for awhile.

Also, the article said that the new Master Plan recommends moving the dog park into an interior section of the park … this should work. … And they should make it bigger.”

Here is a sampling of what others had to say:

On Facebook – 

* Ok, how do we protest. Sign me up! This is ridiculous. Sure, there are doggy-noises, but the dog park is not close enough to houses to warrant noise complaints. I’m seriously appalled by this. Some people just have to find something to complain about!!! Read More

A Pot of (Pet) Gold This Weekend — The Fairfax County Animal Shelter is holding a special pet adoption event in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Visit the shelter March 13-15, where adoption fees for adult pets (ages five and over) have been cut in half. Adoption fees for 10 of the pets will be completely waived. Currently, there are more than 25 dogs and puppies, 30 cats and kittens and 15 small pets that are hoping to “get lucky” this weekend. [Fairfax County]

From Egypt To Reston — Reston’s Lisa-Maria Padilla is a celebrity in the world of trained cats. Her performance cats called “Abys” do feats of athleticism at cat shows in Madison Square Garden, Orlando, and Las Vegas. She also operates Hitails Abyssinians Cattery in Reston, where she breeds the felines that originated in Egypt. [Reston Connection]

Get Reston Now In Your Inbox — Have you subscribed to Reston Now’s daily email blast? Get the day’s headlines in your inbox at 4 p.m. weekdays — for free. [Reston Now]

Robocalls in Reston — Restonian takes a humorous look at the the campaign methods in this year’s Reston Association Board of Directors election. [Restonian]

High winds blew through Northern Virginia Wednesday night, bringing with it cold temperatures, power outages and other hazards.

What you need to know:

* A National Weather Service (NWS) wind advisory remains in effect until 11 a.m. A wind advisory means gusts of 45 to 55 miles per hour are expected.

* 60 mile per hour winds were measured at Dulles International Airport overnight, according to the Capital Weather Gang.

* There are reports of several trees down in Reston.

* As of 7:30 a.m. Thursday, the traffic light at at Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills Road had blown down. Police are on the scene directing traffic.

* Fairfax County has issued a Red Flag Warning from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.  A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.

* Dominion Virginia Power is reporting about 1,500 customers without power in Fairfax County as of 7:30 a.m.

Any wind damage in your neighborhood? Let us know. Send photos to [email protected].

Crews were busy on Wednesday breaking up the last bits of ice at the Reston Town Center pavilion.

The pavilion is home to an outdoor skating rink from October to early March. The last day of skating season was Sunday.

The ice-free pavilion hosts concerts and other special events from March to October. The surface will be ready for Clyde’s of Reston’s 4th annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Saturday.

Update, 2:40 p.m. Wednesday:  The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory, in effect from 6 p.m. Wednesday evening to 11 a.m. Thursday.

Winds are expected to be from the Northwest at 20-30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.

Should you lose electricity, here are the numbers to report outages:

• Dominion Virginia Power: 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357), TTY 711.
• Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC): 1-888-335-0500 or 703-335-0500, TTY 711.

Other tips to consider:

• Take care driving high profile vehicles.
• Secure outdoor furniture.
• If you have a police, fire or medical emergency, call 9-1-1. For non-emergency needs, call 703-691-2131.
• If you have downed trees, here’s a resource list of who to call.

Original story: 

Technically, Spring begins March 20. But temperatures will be “Springlike,” touching 70 by early afternoon. Then Northern Virginia revisits winter.

Wednesday afternoon will see rain and win with gusts up to 40 miles per hour.

Then the temperatures will fall fast. The National Weather Service says it will be in the low 20s overnight, with a slight chance of snow showers after midnight.

Get your winter coat out again Thursday: the highs will be in the low 30s.

Temperatures return to the 50s and 60s for Friday and the weekend.

A group of residents of Reston’s Longwood Grove neighborhood has filed an injunction to shut down Baron Cameron Park’s Dog Park.

The dog park, which is open during daylight hours, is the only off-leash dog run in Reston. The neighbors filed the preliminary injunction last week in Fairfax County Circuit Court, saying the park “constitutes a private nuisance.”

“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.

The neighbors — named in the injunction as Moira Callaghan, Carrie Sawicki, Robert Sawicki, David Okerson, Barbara Okerson, Judith Strother and Kris Capps — say the noise begins at 5:30 a.m. and continues through the day and evening.

“On its worst days, the noise is incessant,” the document states. “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.  A member of the plaintiff group declined to be interviewed for this article, as did Zachary Williams, the plaintiffs’ attorney.

In the complaint, it states that the Longwood Grove homes are 300-400 feet from the dog park. However, Wiehle Avenue, a busy, four-lane main road, along with a buffer of trees and a noise-reducing fence, separate the homes from the park.

Baron Cameron Park is owned by the Fairfax County Park Authority, which is named in the injunction.

Fairfax County Park Authority Board Chair Bill Bouie says the county has listened to the affected residents and installed the noise-reducing fencing. He also said the county has done its own tests and found no measurable noise coming from the park.

“The traffic noise on Wiehle is louder than the dog noise,” said Bouie.

The recent Reston Master Plan revision says that an average of 41,000 cars travel through the intersection of Wiehle Avenue and Baron Cameron daily.

Also named in the injunction is Reston Dogs, a volunteer organization that organizes and operates the dog park.

“We obviously don’t agree with the facts as stated from the five families bringing the case, however, we take all of our neighbors perceptions about noise seriously,” said Tom Krasselt, a representative of Reston Dogs. He says that dog park users are respectful of one another and are quick to remove their pets if the barking gets out of control.

Krasselt says the dog park has been in Baron Cameron Park since 1991, a few years before the Longwood Grove homes were built.

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.

There will be a public meeting on the Baron Cameron Park Master Plan process on March 27 at 7 p.m. at Buzz Aldrin Elementary School.

It is Reston Association Board of Directors election season — do you know who your candidates are and where they stand on Reston’s issues?

While several open seats are uncontested, there are five candidates —  incumbent Andy Sigle, Jeff Thomas, Colin Mills, Mason Miller and Michael Mackert — running for a three-year At-large spot, upping the campaign stakes. For the first time in recent memory, candidates have purchased ad space — and one candidate even hired a robocall company to call on his behalf.

Board members are volunteers who generally have fulltime jobs. They represent the members of Reston Association and work together to set policy, craft a budget and serve as a neighborhood liaison, among other things. They must be willing to sit through hundreds of hours of meetings, pay attention to small details of the community and sometimes receive derisive feedback from members.

Past RA election results show that turnout to elect those people is slim. Whether these public awareness methods will work remains to be seen.

Last year’s board elections were all uncontested seats, so that is not a worthy barometer of turnout.

In 2012, five candidates ran for two open At-large terms. Of about 25,000 eligible households, there were 3,798 ballots returned.

When Sigle was elected in 2011, there were five candidates in the race for the At-large seat. He won with 2,527 votes on 3,709 ballots returned, a 14 percent turnout.

Turnout for the neighborhood board seats such as Lake Anne/Tall Oaks or North Point is generally smaller since only the people in that territory are permitted to vote. For instance,  the last time there was a contested neighborhood seat was 2011, where Cheryl Beamer (Hunters Woods/Dogwood) was elected with 845 votes.

Reston Now has been running candidate profiles last week and this week, and there will be a candidates forum Saturday at 10 a.m. at Reston Association Headquarters. Voters were also mailed an RA Voters Guide last week.

Voting is by mail-in ballot or online through the end of March. Winners will be announced on April 8.

Will you vote in the RA election? Do you learn about the candidates beforehand?

Voting in the 2014 Reston Association Board of Directors election is now open. There are nine candidates running for five seats. A candidates forum will be held Saturday, March 15 at Reston Association headquarters at 10 a.m.

Reston Association members should have received an election guide and ballot in the mail last week. 

Reston Now will have Q & As with each candidate running daily this week and next. In the spirit of fairness, each candidate was given the same questions.

Today’s Q & A is with Andy Sigle, the incumbent and one of five candidates running for the three-year At-large term.

Q: How long have you lived in Reston?

A: I have lived in Reston for 8 years.

Q: What inspired you to run for the board?

A: I firmly believe — and my experience confirms — that the best communities are the ones where the residents get involved. I have enjoyed participating as a volunteer for Reston Little League, Reston Swim Team Association, Reston/Herndon Youth Softball, Vale United Methodist Church, Forest Edge and Hunters Woods Elementary Schools, Langston Hughes Middle School, South Lakes High School, and Reston Association.

As I got more involved at Reston Association, I learned about the duties of the Board and believed that I would be an asset to it.  I am so glad that I ran and have been able to get involved in our community from this aspect.  Thank you for the opportunity. Read More

Just Cats Clinic, a new veterinarian practice, will open at Lake Anne Plaza on April 15, the clinic’s owner says.

The vet clinic specializing in feline care will take over the Millennium Bank building at 1601 Washington Plaza. The building’s ground-floor space has been mostly vacant since the bank moved out in 2009.

Veterinarian Elizabeth Arguelles, a resident of Herndon  and the clinic’s owner, said on the Just Cats Facebook page this week that their county permits are finally progressing.

Remodeling crews have been busy renovating the 6,600-square-foot space for several months. Arguelles had said she hoped to be open in March.

Arguelles formerly worked at NOVA Cat Clinic (formerly known as Capital Cat Clinic) in Arlington. She told Reston Now in January that the area needs a dedicated cat clinic.

“At my former clinic, I would see clients coming from Reston and Leesburg,” she said. “There is a market and a need here. A cat-only clinic is a much better environment than a dog and cat clinic. Getting a cat to the vet is so hard. We try to make it as easy as possible.”

Arguelles — “Dr. Elizabeth” to her patients — said she is excited about opening at Lake Anne. She did not want to be located in a strip mall, and the the floor-to-ceiling windows of the bank building also appealed to her.

“Lake Anne has unique shops, and a cat-only vet is a unique venture,” she said. “Cats feel much more at home if they have light and can see out of windows.”

In addition to vet services, Just Cats intends to offer luxury cat boarding. Arguelles says boarders will not be in cages, but will be in cat condos with a view to the outside.

As Reston residents continue to wait for an opening date for Metro’s Silver Line, a new paper by John McClain with George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis outlines the many missteps area’s transportation planning has taken over the last 50 years.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is overseeing the Silver Line construction, said Monday there are no updates on the completion of Silver Line’s Phase 1, which will run from East Falls Church to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue.

Dulles Transit Partners, the contractors that building Phase 1, told the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on Feb. 7 that it had reached “substantial completion” on Phase 1 of the Silver Line. But after a 15-day review period ending Feb. 24, MWAA said it and found issues in 7 of 12 areas, ranging from leaks to problems with the automatic train control system.

DTP is correcting the issues, but MWAA spokesman Marcia McAllister said there is no progress report as of yet.

Meanwhile, McClain says  in Reflections on the National Capital Region: Transportation For the Past Half Century that “… in looking back over the past half-century at the region’s transportation process development and evolution, there are serious doubts about the region’s ability to address and resolve its needs in the most effective way. It seems it will more or less muddle along – developing reasonably good plans but no really good way to get them done.”

Several issues have affected Metro, as well as area highways, says McClain:

* One of the key failures regarding the region’s transportation system has been the lack of dedicated regional funding for regional facilities, he says. While federal funds were key to building Metro and regional highways, it may be time to diversify the sources.

The federal government gave $900 million to Phase 1 of the Silver Line, but nothing to Phase 2, though local funding and expected TIFIA funding should help cover some of the $2.7 billion Phase 2 costs.

“The region’s economy has diversified enormously over the past five decades, and Federal employment now only represents about 12 percent of total employment, McClain writes. “Attempts have been made to find some source of regional funding for Metro and those attempts have so far failed. But in looking ahead to rehabilitation needs of Metro (as well as regional highways), and future extensions, efforts should continue to seek a regional funding source. It is likely that federal funding levels and options will continue to decline, and the National Capital region will need to become more self-sufficient.”

* Planning and building of the region’s highway system has had mixed success. Plans written in the 1960s called for three three circumferential highways and other freeways within the region were obviously not completed as called for, but a case could be made that if the planned circumferential highways had been built and connected with the radial corridors containing both freeways and transit, then the region’s development patterns and transportation systems would have made for a region better positioned in the 2000s for economic growth and better quality of life (read, less gridlock).

“A case could also be made that much of the reality that did happen — 12 circumferential facilities taken off the plans — was because the region did not need so many roads,” writes McClain. “However, taking those facilities off the plans meant that rights-of-way could not be protected for potential future needs. While some
circumferential roads like the Fairfax County Parkway and the InterCounty Connecter did get built, their transportation usefulness to the region could have been much greater.”

 Read the entire report here 

Kudos For Armstrong Crossing Guard — Reston’s Phyllis Krapf, a crossing guard at Armstrong Elementary School, has been recognized by the Virginia Department of Transportation as one of Virginia’s Most Outstanding Crossing Guards of 2013. Krapf works the Lake Newport Road crossing and is praised for going above and beyond her job, coming in early to make sure students can cross safely and looking out for families who are running late. [Fairfax County Public Schools]

Lake Anne Plaza Celebrates Virginia Wine Month —  March is Virginia wine month, and there will be several events at Lake Anne Plaza. Among them:  Wine tasting at Lake Anne Florist – Virginia Wine & Gourmet from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 14. Check Virginiawine.org for other nearby wine events. [Virginia Wine]

Make It To The Maker Faire — Tickets are still available to the NoVa Mini Maker Faire Sunday at Langston Hughes Middle School and South Lakes High School. The event brings together area craftsman, inventors, engineers and other ideas. [NoVa Mini Maker Faire]

This snowy winter has had an impact in missed school days for students and missed work days for business owners. It has also greatly impacted the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) snow budget.

VDOT says it will likely exceed its $157 million ($63.7 million for Northern Virginia) snow budget by more than $100 million this season.

However, the agency says it has resources in place from its larger maintenance budget for snow removal, pothole repairs, repaving and other road fixes. 

“Make no mistake, this winter has put a strain on our maintenance budget,” Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said in a statement. “However, we have sufficient resources to ensure our roads are well-kept and we will continue to be good stewards of public funds. This winter has been rough, but we’re committed to delivering a safe and reliable transportation system. “

Last winter, which was not a particularly snowy one, VDOT budgeted $149 million for snow-removal activities and spent $142 million. The agency used the the remaining money for maintenance. Only 12.7 inches of snow fell in Northern Virginia the entire 2012-13 season.

This season, Northern Virginia got about that much in one storm in mid-February. A typical season sees about 22 inches fall around here.

The additional snow removal costs will be paid out of VDOT’s overall maintenance budget, VDOT said. 

From VDOT:

VDOT is looking ahead at where adjustments can be made to the maintenance budget to compensate for those costs.  With safety always first, VDOT is considering the following adjustments:

• Extend completion dates of select paving projects
• Limit use of service contracts (excluding snow removal and pothole patching) and perform needed services with VDOT staff
• Limit overtime (excluding snow operations/safety related activities)
• Delay new equipment purchases

“The safety of motorists and our employees is always the first priority,” said VDOT Commissioner Charlie Kilpatrick. “Funds will be spent as necessary for snow removal, incident management and other maintenance needs including pothole patching.”

The snow budget is part of VDOT’s overall $1.8 billion maintenance budget for such expenses as pothole repairs, repaving and other activities. VDOT’s $1.4 billion construction budget will not be impacted by snow removal, pothole repair or other maintenance costs.

Who is ready to re-imagine Reston — built out of Peeps?

Chesapeake Chocolates at Lake Anne Plaza is holding its own Peeps Show, much like the popular annual contest run by The Washington Post.

Instead of Mad Men or Ben’s Chili Bowl or the Congressional chamber constructed out of the Easter confection, think about a Reston tableau in honor of Reston’s 50th anniversary and founder Robert Simon’s 100th birthday.

What would look good in Peeps? The Lake Anne fountain? Saturday night at Reston Town Center? Boats on Lake Audubon? A swim meet at Lake Newport Pool?

You won’t even have to run the plans by the Reston Association’s Design Review Board.

Chesapeake Chocolates says entrants should deliver their shoebox-size diorama to the store at 11426 Washington Plaza West. The store will keep it on display through Founder’s Day on April 5. A panel of judges will win a basket of Chesapeake Chocolates.