Keep the poop out of the parkland and off of Hunter Mill Road.
That was the sentiment — if not the exact phrasing — of dozens of citizens who attended a community meeting with Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins in Reston on Thursday.
At issue is the county’s proposal to relocate a Septage Receiving Site from Colvin Run in Great Falls a few miles away to the Fairfax County Park Authority’s Maintenance Area 6, located off of Hunter Mill Road on the Reston-Vienna line.
The Colvin Run site, one of two septage receiving sites in Fairfax County, collects waste from septic tanks at homes not hooked into public sewer lines. In this part of the county, most of those homes are in Great Falls and Oakton. Overall, 21,000 Fairfax County homes do not have public sewer service, says a feasibility report on the potential move. Read More
Ceremonial shovels of dirt were turned on Thursday at the site of The JBG Companies’ second phase of development at Reston Heights.
The real dirt has been churning for months, since the former Reston International Center convenience center’s shops, as well as the free-standing Chili’s Bar & Grill and a bank building, were demolished late last year.
What JBG is building in their place is VY, a 385-unit apartment community, as well as 89,000 square feet of retail.
The 483,000 square foot mixed-use VY is a continuation of JBG’s Reston Heights, which already includes the Westin Reston Heights, the Sheraton Reston, the Mercer Condos and office buildings along Sunrise Valley Drive.
JBG says it is planning active community spaces integrated throughout walkable retail, including a public plaza lined with outdoor dining, a play area and an amphitheater for programmed events.
“Reston continues to be a thriving submarket, and JBG is pleased to be expanding our strong presence here,” said JBG Principal Greg Trimmer. “VY at Reston Heights will be an active destination with social public spaces, new living options, and new shopping and dining for all of Reston.”
So far, the project has signed one major retail tenant: 24-Hour Fitness.
A JBG spokesman previously said VY is an abbreviation of “very.”
As expected, the Fairfax County School Board voted Thursday to close all schools on Tuesday, March 1.
Virginians will vote in the 2016 Presidential Primary that day. The school board had voted in October for a two-hour delay that day, but with a record turnout expected, reconsidered.
From FCPS:
In past presidential primaries, Fairfax County public schools have remained open, and the board had planned to continue this practice with the upcoming primary. In light of historic turnouts in primaries across the country in the past few weeks, it is anticipated that voter turnout in Fairfax County will likewise result in historic numbers of voters.
A total of 167 Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) buildings are used as polling sites, 124 of which are elementary schools with very limited parking and restricted access in and around buildings.
Record voter turnouts in New Hampshire and Iowa, and anticipation of an historic voter turnout from the Fairfax County Office of Elections, led the Board to believe that there could be significant logistical issues regarding parking and building access on March 1.
The Board was also concerned that the sheer number of citizens entering schools to vote will make it difficult to conduct a normal school day. Both the Office of Elections and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors encouraged the Board to consider closing schools March 1 and, after deliberating with state officials, they decided to do so.
Teachers and students will not report to school on March 1. SACC (school age child care), school offices, and central offices will be open.
Since FCPS has extra hours built into the school calendar to accommodate weather emergencies, it will not be necessary to make up the day.
Going Green — Fairfax County Public Schools has joined a national movement to support environmental sustainability. Joining the Green Schools Alliance District Collaborative with New York City, Chicago and other large school districts will help Fairfax obtain favorable prices for materials that advance conservation and environmental sustainability, school officials said. [Washington Post]
Transportation Solutions — Fairfax County officials are looking to citizens for solutions to alleviating traffic over the next 40 years. [WTOP]
Summit Saturday — Reminder, the annual Hunter Mill Community Summit is Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Vienna Fire Station, 400 Center St. Sw in Vienna. Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins will be on hand to discuss the county and Fairfax County Public Schools’ 2017 budgets. [Fairfax County]
TEDx Tomorrow — TEDxYouth@Herndon, an independently organized TED event targeted at an audience that is young at heart, takes place Saturday at Herndon Middle School. [Reston Now]
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue crews are on the scene of a fire that apparently started the garage of a townhouse in the 11800 block of Mediterranean Court in Reston.
Firefighters were called to the scene about 4:30 p.m. and were still working to get the last of the blaze under control in the two-car garage 30 minutes later.
There did not appear to be any injuries, firefighter said, adding they would have more details later.
A day after Fairfax County Fire and Rescue crews saved a dog who fell through the ice at Reston’s Lake Thoreau, personnel were out on Lake Audubon practicing for more ice rescues.
Firefighters often conduct drills on the lake, particularly in the limited time the water is frozen each winter.
They also warn people and pets to stay off the ice so that rescue won’t be needed. The ice on Reston’s lakes rarely freezes solid enough to hold people (or in Wednesday’s case, a 75-lb. dog), Fairfax County Fire and Rescue officials said.
Public officials and private developers are going to have to work together as Reston embarks on rapid transit-oriented development.
That was the takeaway from a legislative forum, The Changing Future of Reston, sponsored by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce last week.
Speakers included officials from the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, which says Reston will need more than $2.6 billion in improvements, as well as representatives from Boston Properties, JBG Companies and Reston Association.
The county is in the process of identifying what projects will need to be done to alleviate traffic, make new streets in an urban grid pattern, and, most importantly, where the money will come from.
The county hopes to have a longterm plan in place later this year, said Janet Nguyen of FCDOT.
But don’t expect lots of immediate change. There likely won’t be a large amount of public funding until at least 2021, said Nguyen. That’s when a new cycle of the county’s six-year transportation project priorities will be formulated.
Money for changes, many of which were outlined in 2014’s Comprehensive Plan Amendment, will eventually come from a variety of sources, including federal funding, state funding, county contributions, developer proffers, and possibly a special service district, county meals tax or a rise in county real estate taxes.
Pete Otteni, senior vide president of development for Boston Properties, said “I think private developers and the public have to be in this together.”
“An interesting way to look at this is the areas around Metro, if they develop under current zoning, they will be 100-percent commercial. But if you talk about changing it into the kind of development that should reduce traffic, where people live and work in same location, you will be taking taking cars off road. We have to look at what will happen if we don’t do anything. We have to do something. It can be can be solved, but we have to be in this together.” Read More
The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended for approval plan amendments that move along a Pennsylvania company’s application to bring more senior citizen housing to the Hunters Woods Village Center area.
The plans now move on to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for a final approval.
The 4.3-acre lot at 2222 Colts Neck Rd. — the former site of United Chirstian Parish Church — was first approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for 210 senior housing units in 2007.
IntegraCare, which has facilities in Pennsylvania and Maryland, plans to retain 91 of the 210 previously approved independent living units and to add 79 assisted living, 24 memory care, and 16 high-acuity assisted living/memory care rooms.
The building will be 230,000 square feet in two wings, one along Colts Neck and one along Reston Parkway. The estimated completion date is 2020. Read More
Spring registration for Girls on the Run, a national organization that promotes self confidence and healthy habits for elementary school girls, is now open.
Girls on the Run is open to girls in grades 3 through 8. By using a curriculum that integrates running with life lessons, Girls on the Run of Northern Virginia supports girls in developing the confidence and character they need to become strong, healthy women, says Girls on the Run.
In Reston, Spring 2016 teams will be hosted at the following schools:
- Armstrong Elementary
- Aldrin Elementary
- Dogwood Elementary
- Forest Edge Elementary
- Lake Anne Elementary
- Reston Montessori
Girls on the Run offers discounts for active duty and retired military families, as well as families registering two or more siblings. Financial aid is also available based on household income.
Registration is open on the Girls on the Run NOVA website until Feb. 29.
It looks like Fairfax County Public Schools students will get the entire day off on Tuesday, March 1, as voters head to the polls in Virginia.
March 1 is Super Tuesday, when Virginia and a dozen other states vote in the 2016 Presidential Primaries.
Since many polling places are at schools (including Hughes Middle, Aldrin Elementary, Sunrise Valley Elementary, South Lakes High School and others in Reston), the FCPS school board voted in October for a two-hour delay on March 1.
Since then, there has been extensive lobbying of the Board of Supervisors — including by Fairfax County Electoral Board Secretary Kate Hanley, a Reston resident and the former county supervisor chair (1995-2003) — asking that the schools be closed for the day. Hanley said she had security concerns as a very large turnout is expected.
In January, the BOS voted 9 to 1 to ask the schools to close. At that time, schools superintendent Karen Garza said there were no plans to close FCPS on primary day. Read More
Talking Racial Equity — Join civil rights leader and University of California-Berkeley professor john a. powell for “Racing to Justice: Achieving Social Equity in Our Community, discussion at Reston Community Center Hunters Woods on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. Explore where we are today and how we can continue to live the values of our community’s ideals. Free tickets are required. Call 703-476-4500 or visit restoncommunitycenter.
Simon Post Office’s Grand Opening — Take a closer look at the new Bob Simon Post Office that recently opened inside of Chesapeake Chocolates. [Reston Connection]
VDOT Route 7 Meeting March 1 — The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will hold a community meeting for more details on a Route 7 widening project. The project, which will include a bridge over the Dulles Toll Road, will begin next month and will take more than two years to complete. [VDOT]
Garza’s Listening Tour Rescheduled — Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Karen Garza has rescheduled her listening tour stop for the Reston area. Garza’s Hunter Mill visit was supposed to take place last week, but was canceled due to snow. The new date is March 29, 6:30 p.m. at James Madison High School in Vienna. [FCPS]
Reston-area residents will have a chance to get more details about a septic waste receiving site that county officials are planning for Lake Fairfax Park land.
The current county dumping site is located on Colvin Run Road in Great Falls. Tank trucks deliver sewage from homes not tapped into the county sewer system — mostly ones on acreage in Great Falls and Oakton — and grease from area restaurants to the facility.
However the facility is outdated, has a flooding risk and other issues, says Fairfax County Park Authority Chair Bill Bouie.
The community meeting is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Bechtel’s Conference Center, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston. Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins is expected to provide more information and answer questions.
Fairfax County’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services briefed park authority officials last week on its Septage Receiving Site Feasibility Study that found several reasons to move to a new site in Reston.
The county is proposing a secure, modern, odor-controlled facility off Hunter Mill Road. It is important to have the new plant located off a major road to minimize the impact on traffic, county officials said.
While the proposed new site is on park land, it is not in a part of Lake Fairfax Park that is accessible to citizens, said Bouie.
The Park Authority’s Area 6 Park Operations / Lake Fairfax Maintenance area is located in an isolated, employee-only part of the park. The septage facility would be heavily screened by trees and is not in a floodplain, according to the county’s proposal.
Fiefighters from Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Station 25 in Reston saved Angel, a Chow, when Angel fell through the ice on Lake Thoreau in Thursday morning.
Witnesses said the dog was about 10-15 feet from the shore off of Turtle Pond Drive when the ice cracked and the dog fell in the lake.
Firefighters rushed to scene and dove into the icy water, where they brought Angel back to safety at about 8:45 a.m.
Video courtesy of Fairfax County Fire and Rescue
A group of Shadowood Condominium owners say they are fed up with mismanagement at the 450-unit development and are mobilizing for new directors to run for the condo board in March.
Shadowood has had a history of issues over the last several years, including a case in 2012 about the limits of the board to impose fines and rules on owners. That case went all the way to the Virginia Supreme Court.
There was also a political battle in 2012, when condo owner Brian Olivia headed the board and ran “Shadowood in a manner that caused Shadowood to to sue him last year to recover damages for harm down to Shadowood,” current board chair Tom Summakie said in an email to owners.
More than half the units are occupied by renters, so most owners live off-site. Nearly two dozen units are owned by Fairfax County, which offers them as Section 8 housing.
A group that calls themselves “Concerned Co-Owners at Shadowood” has sent a list to other owners of 30 complaints about the neighborhood and its board.
“Are you fed up with or even know that these things may be occurring?” the email reads. It points out that the community website has not been updates in more than a year, that the board dos not communicate with residents, that rules are not enforced and that common areas and properties are dilapidated, among other complaints. Read More
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue’s Swift Water Rescue Team was called to a neighborhood on Lake Thoreau Wednesday morning to rescue Angel, a Chow who fell through the ice.
Witnesses said the dog was about 10-15 feet from the shore off of Turtle Pond Drive when the ice cracked and he fell in the lake.
Firefighters rushed to scene and dove into the icy water, where they brought Angel back to safety at about 8:45 a.m.
Reston Now will have video of the rescue shortly.
Photo: Swift Water Rescue Team hoses off after saving a dog who fell into Lake Thoreau.
