Ex-Fairfax Officer Wants Trial Moved —  The former Fairfax County police officer charged with murder in the 2013 shooting of John B. Geer wants his trial moved out of Fairfax, Adam D. Torres is scheduled for trial next month in the slaying of Geer, 46, an unarmed man in a domestic standoff in Springfield when Torres allegedly shot him. [Washington Post]

Reston’s Bird As Art — Reston artist Dana Scheurer has created limited edition prints of Reston’s official bird. Proceeds from sales benefit Friends of Reston. [Friends of Reston]

Virginia Essentially Ends Veterans Homelessness — Virginia has been certified by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs as the first state in the nation to functionally end veteran homelessness.  Gov. Terry McAuliffe says Virginia has housed 1,432 homeless veterans since October 2014. McAuliffe, as part of the national Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, pledged inJune 2014 and to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015.

Reston Community Center Executive Director Leila Gordon and Reston-based Helios HR are among the recipients of Leadership Fairfax’s 2015 Northern Virginia Leadership Awards.

The awards are given yearly to talented community leaders that have had a significant impact on the Northern Virginia area through volunteerism and community engagement, says Leadership Fairfax President and CEO Karen Cleveland.

Gordon will be honored with this year’s Regional Leadership Award. Helios has earned the Corporate Leadership Award.

Other 2015 honorees:

• Trustee Leadership Award:  Dr. Charles Thomas, Jr., Project Leader, LMI
• Nonprofit Leadership Award, Individual: Eileen Ellsworth, Community Foundation of Northern VA
• Nonprofit Leadership Award, Organization: The Child and Family Network Centers
• Educational Leadership Award: Jesse Kraft, Principal, Providence Elementary School

The award ceremony will take place Dec. 3, 2015 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Waterford Fair Oaks. Tickets can be purchased online at www.leadershipfairfax.org.

Photo: RCC’s Leila Gordon (right) with Reston founder Bob Simon in 2014

Buying a home in Reston can be pricey. Did you know it is the priciest in the commonwealth?

That is the finding from real estate firm Coldwell Banker, which recently looked at the most expensive communities nationwide.

Virginia’s winner was Reston/Vienna, with an average listing price of  $641,783.

Also in the top five: Alexandria, Fairfax, Ashburn and Burke. Neighbor Herndon came in No. 8 with an average price of $490,560.

Meanwhile, the average four-bedroom Virginia home costs $317,336, according to Coldwell Banker.

So what does $640,000 get you in Reston? Here’s some listings that come close:

There is this four-bedroom single family home on Lake Newport Road for $639,900. Here’s a cool Contemporary on Turnbridge Lane (pictured) for $699,900. A three-bedroom townhouse with garage on Waterhaven Drive will cost you $649,500. You could also snap up an original Lake Anne waterfront townhouse on Chimney House Road for $659,000 or a two-bedroom condo at the Paramount for $629,000.

Overall, there are 32 active listings in the $600,000 price range in Reston.

Meanwhile, take pride in knowing we’re No. 1.

Searching for a new home? Check out what’s open this weekend in Reston. For complete real estate information, visit Reston Now’s Real Estate section.

11807 Breton Ct #21D
2 BR, 1 BA Condo
$229,999
Open Saturday 2 to 4 p.m.
Jennifer Linda Powell – (703) 564-4000 *

2051 Chadds Ford Drive
3 BR, 3.5 BA TH
$519,000
Open Sunday 2 to 4 p.m.

12000 Market Street
2 BR, 2.5 BA Condo
$525,000
Open Sunday 2 to 4 p.m.

1830 Fountain Drive
3 BR, 3.5 BA Condo
$1,549,900
Open Sunday 2 to 4 p.m.

11740 Decade Court
3 BR, 2 FB, 2 HB TH
$409,900
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

1232 Tottenham Court
5 BR, 4.5 BA SFH
$1,295,000
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

2130 Whisperwood Glen Lane
2 BR, 2.5 BA TH
$329,000
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

* – Sponsored (paid) listing

Machinery is out on Lake Anne as dredging is taking place there for the next several weeks.

Contractor Lake Services says the dredging should be completed by early December.

Reston Association says it is dredging the coves to clear accumulated sediment and leaf debris to improve boat and shoreline access as well as provide additional water storage areas and deeper areas for fish.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission has few items scheduled for the rest of November, mainly due to Thanksgiving.

But expect a lot of activity in early 2016.

Now is a good chance for a checklist to bring you up to date on what’s in the works for Reston.

Note, these projects are in addition to projects already underway such as JBG’s Reston Heights, Comstock’s BLVD, Bozzuto/Veatch’s residential building off Sunset Hills and Boston Properties’ Signature Site (Block 4) at Reston Town Center.

New Applications Filed

Comstock Partners has filed a Proffer Condition Amendment, Conceptual and Final Development Plan to increase the overall maximum density of Reston Station from 2.5 Floor Area Ratio (FAR) to 3.5. The Application is also seeking an increase off 100 feet in the maximum building height of three of the eight buildings (future buildings 6,7 and 8 from 140 feet to 240 feet).

JBG has filed a rezoning application to rezone 1831 Wiehle Avenue from the I-4 Industrial District Medium Intensity to the Planned Residential Mixed-Use (PRM) district to develop a mixed-use, transit oriented development in the Wiehle-Reston East Transit station area. The rezoning proposes 504 multi-family residential units and up to 61,000 square feet of complementary retail uses.

Tall Oaks Development Company LLC (Jefferson Apartment Group) has filed a planned residential community (PRC) plan to redevelopment the property
with a mixed of residential and retail uses. The proposed redevelopment will
consist of 70 condos in two multifamily buildings with garage parking underneath each building; 42 two-over-two townhomes with a combination of garage and street parking; 44 townhomes; and 7,000 square feet of retail.

Applications Accepted

CESC Commerce Executive Park, L.L.C. has a rezoning/final development plan, concurrent with special exception amendment for 1850 Centennial Park Drive, 11400 Commerce Park Drive, and 11440 Commerce Park
Drive to rezone from Industrial District I-3 (light industrial) to Planned Development Commercial (PDC) to permit the development of approximately 500 new dwelling units, a hotel with approximately 175 rooms, a new trophy office building of approximately 400,000 square feet, and complementary retail/active uses integrated into the ground floor. Read More

The plaza at Reston Station — soon to be home to Urban Pop artisan shops — has some new residents.

Two of the sculptures from D.C.’s Panda Mania public art contest of 2004 have been installed on the plaza.

“PandaMania” was a collection of more than 150 pandas (some in standing poses and some sitting) that had been decorated, painted or customized in various whimsical ways by artists.

New to Reston: “Pandela Anderson,” by artist Maggie O’Neill and “China Doll” by Amy Goodstine and Brandon Bloch.

Pandela Anderson, a take on Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson, can be found by the escalators to take people down to the kiss-and-ride area. China Doll is located around the corner and to the right, across from the new BLVD apartments.

Comstock spokeswoman Maggie Parker said the Pandas are on loan from a private collector.

New Reston Co-Working Space Will Be “MakeOffices” — Uber Offices will open its Reston location next week, and when it does it will be under new name. The company is changing to MakeOffices, says CEO Raymond Rahbar. MakeOffices Reston will be located in the new RTC West area (12110 Sunset Hills Rd.) and will have 42,000 square feet of space, including 112 private offices, 52 “bullpen” open seating areas and 13 common-use conference rooms. [Washington Post]

Hunter Mill District Champions of Character — The Fairfax County Athletic Council annually selects a male athlete, female athlete, coach and parent from each county district for their contributions to our local sports programs. This year’s Hunter Mill honorees are Lila Roades (female athlete, Vienna Youth Soccer); Ryan Ferzoco (male athlete, Reston Youth Football); Doug Fuller (coach, Reston Soccer Association); Zeinab Kamal (parent, Reston Soccer Association).

Seeking Library Director — Fairfax County is having some trouble filling the role of library director. Several candidates have pulled out of the running as the system faced budget cuts and other woes. Director Sam Clay is retiring in March. [Washington Post]

Help For the Holidays — Herndon-Reston FISH is putting together Thanksgiving baskets for those in need. Visit the SignUp Genius if you have some time or goods to spare. [FISH SignUp Genius]

 Photo: Sunrise in Reston on Nov. 12, 2015/Credit: JGS on Twitter

Part of Cameron Glen Drive will be closed for construction around the new Fairfax County Police Reston District Station through Nov. 30.

There will be detours to get to various facilities on Cameron Glen Drive.

A detour will be established at the intersection of Town Center Parkway/Cameron Glen Drive. Access to the Human Services Center is uninterrupted, from Bowman Towne Drive to Cameron Glen Drive.

Access to The Glen, 1800 Cameron Glen Drive, is available and unrestricted from Bowman Towne Drive.

Graphic courtesy Fairfax County Police

Two people were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries when a driver accidentally drove his 1996 Lincoln Town Car into an office building in the 11300 block of Sunset Hills Road, Fairfax County Police said.

The incident occurred about 1 p.m., said police.

Fairfax County Police officer Tawny Wright said an elderly man got into his car and prepared to back away, but instead hit the gas and drove forward.

A patient in the lobby of the doctor’s office where the car landed was also injured.

Both the driver and the bystander were taken to Reston Hospital Center, police said.

Photo: Car crashes into building/Credit: FCPD

This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum, who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

Experts on communications in political campaigns advise that a message needs to be expressed in a matter of seconds — not minutes — if it is to be effective. The best political message should be able to be printed on a bumper sticker.

In a world of complexities and over-loaded communications channels, only the simply-stated message stands a chance of getting through to voters.

Simple messages about complex issues can be misleading and can lead to bad policies. About a million dollars was spent in the most recent cycle to convince voters that certain candidates were part of a plan to put $17 tolls on I-66.

In this instance, voters saw through the falsehoods and re-elected Delegate Kathleen Murphy and elected Jennifer Boysko to the House of Delegates. Republican incumbents who jumped on “no $17 tolls” won re-election, but all incumbents in both parties were re-elected.

The damage done with this campaign message is that it is likely to take off the table a reasonable alternative that could be considered to relieve the massive traffic congestion on I-66. The fact of the matter is that there are $17 tolls on the express lanes on I-95, but they are only imposed as they were proposed for I-66 as part of traffic demand management to keep people off the roads during the worst of the congestion.

What the plan would have done was to allow single-occupant vehicles on I-66 during the morning commute time for a lesser toll that would reduce congestion on other streets and generate funds for improvements in the corridor. The proposal was developed by VDOT and had been discussed extensively with the community.

To listen to the campaign rhetoric one could be led to believe that Democratic candidates had proposed it and every driver would have to pay it. Interestingly, those who ran on the no tolls issue did not offer any alternatives for relieving traffic congestion.

This, of course, is not the first time that simple messages have been used to confuse and mislead voters in Virginia elections. Unfortunately, some of the messages of the past have won elections but with disastrous policy outcomes.

The clever “no car tax” slogan won the governorship for Jim Gilmore many years ago, but the policy impact of the state paying part of the local taxes for persons with the biggest cars cost the state nearly a billion dollars every year since that campaign. The car tax got too high in some suburban communities that faced the expenses of growing school populations and other services, but under the Dillon Rule they had no other options for raising revenue.

The Gilmore proposal had the policy effect of taking from the poor and giving to the rich. The state’s share of school funding went down because of the gimmick to end the car tax. It was a simple message to a complex problem that led to unfortunate results.

The campaign to “end parole” that got George Allen elected has led to jails and prisons being overcrowded with persons who should have alternatives to incarceration. Somehow “use tolling to ease traffic,” “reform the tax structure,” or “reform parole” did not have the same ring to them as the bumper-sticker messages that win elections but can lead to unfortunate consequences.

Reston Town Center is getting a new women’s clothing store. Madewell — the sister brand of J. Crew — is opening a store in January, Madewell officials confirm.

Madewell is considered a younger, hipper version of J. Crew, its parent company. Madwell specializes in jeans, leather jackets and totes, and other casual clothes.

Madewell recently opened a branch at the Mosiac District in Fairfax. It also has nearby locations at Tysons Corner Center and Georgetown in D.C.

The Reston store will take over the former Ben & Jerry’s space at 11928 Market St.

Madewell is currently hiring for the Reston store.

Photo: Georgetown Madewell store/Emmysheehy.com

Preliminary construction is set to begin on Boston Properties’ “Signature Site,” the last undeveloped parcel of land at Reston Town Center.

That means the 251-space surface parking lot at Fountain Drive and New Dominion Parkway will close on Monday, Nov. 16. Plenty of parking is available in RTC’s parking garages, town center officials point out.

The Signature Site, formerly called Block 4, is Boston Properties’ project that will turn the parking lot — also formerly home to rides at Taste of Reston and the Athletes’ Village at last summer’s World Police and Fire Games — into two high-rise residential buildings with up to 549 units and nine levels of underground parking.

The plans also call for a park with a yoga area, public art and picnic areas.

The project will have about 1.85 acres (40 percent) of open space.  There will also be an additional vegetated roof.

Boston Properties purchased the space in 2013 for a reported $27 million. At that time, the lot was zoned for offices. Boston Properties got a zoning change for residential development, though, and will move the office zoning to Block 5, where the current FedEx/Kinkos and Ann Taylor are now located.

Plans call for turning that three-story retail/office building into a 17-story building with 276,788 square feet of office space and 7,800 square feet of ground-floor retail. The building would also have four levels of underground parking.

Winter Forecast — What will the winter of 2015-16 bring? A warmer December, but at least one major snowstorm for Northern Virginia [NBC Washington]

Bechtel Named Military Friendly Company — Reston-based Bechtel has been named a Military Friendly Employer by the publisher of G.I. Jobs and Military Spouse magazines for the third straight year. The designation is given to companies that demonstrate a commitment to hiring, training, and retaining current and former military personnel. [PR Newswire]

Eulogy For Connolly Staffer — Friends and colleagues remember George Burke, a longtime aide to Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA 11th) and other Democratic lawmakers, who died last week at age 64. [The Hill]

Alternative Gift Fair Dec. 5 — The Unitarian Universalist Church, 1625 Wiehle Ave., Reston, will hold its annual alternative gift fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit over 30 booths of socially conscious gift ideas from local and international charitable organizations. 100 percent of all donations and proceeds go directly to the charity of your choice. All donations are tax deductible. [Unitarian Universalist Church]

Wednesday is Veterans Day. If you served (are are currently serving) our country, thanks for your brave service. If you have the day off, enjoy, no matter what you do. Reston Now is off today.

Here is a list of what is open and closed:

It is a federal holiday, so the federal government is closed. There is no mail delivery and most banks area closed.

Fairfax County Public Schools are open.

Fairfax County government, courts, animal shelter and public libraries are closed.

Fairfax Connector – Routes with holiday weekday service operate according to the weekday schedule except routes 335, 394, 395, 432, 493, 494, 495, 585, 599, 724, 734 and 985, which will not operate.

Park Authority – RECenters operate on regular schedule. Historic sites are closed. Nature centers are closed. Riverbend Park’s visitor center is closed. Frying Pan Farm Park is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the visitor center is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Green Spring Gardens is open noon to 4:30 p.m.; the historic house is closed.

Teen and Senior Centers – Closed.

Community Centers – Closed.

Reston Community Center Hunters Woods – Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Reston Community Center Lake Anne – Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Here is a list of businesses offering specials and freebies to vets and their families.

Photo: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier/Wikipedia Commons