We’ve reached the end of August and the Labor Day holiday is nigh. Before we head off into the big three-day weekend, though, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.
The following articles were the five most-clicked links on Reston Now this past week.
- Fairfax County School Board Vote is Tuesday (Karen Keys-Gamarra won the election.)
- Mouthpiece for Reston Town Center Merchants Says His Business Is on the Outs
- Arrest Made After Attempted Robbery in Hunters Woods Parking Lot
- Now Open: Coopers Hawk Winery and Restaurant on Sunset Hills Road
- Arrest Made in Attempted Sexual Assault Earlier This Month Near Tall Oaks
This week also saw the first community input meeting on the Hook Road Recreation Area project from Reston Association, which came with controversy along with the beginning of the discussion. We will continue to follow that process as it progresses over the next several months.
And in late-breaking news Friday, At-Large Director Ray Wedell informed Reston Now that he will resign from the RA Board. We’re continuing to follow that story and will provide more information when it becomes available.
In addition, the week marked the one-year anniversary of an unsolved hit-and-run pedestrian death on North Shore Drive. Police are still looking for information.
Feel free to discuss these topics and anything else that happened locally this week. Have a great weekend!
File photo courtesy Joy Every
This is a commentary from Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
Virginia has more Confederate monuments than any other state in the country, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). With 223 by SPLC count, Virginia tops other states like Texas with 178, Georgia with 174 and South Carolina with 112.
Drive through most any small town in the Commonwealth and the statue of an unnamed Confederate soldier can be found on a pedestal near the center of town, near the courthouse, or sometimes by the cemetery. Messages of valor and honor are often chiseled into the pedestal.
A notable exception is Richmond, once capital of the Confederacy. It has a whole street, Monument Avenue, with five different Confederate leaders — Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Matthew Fontaine Maury — sculpted at a super-human scale on an extra-high pedestal to ensure that everyone must look up at them.
More and more individuals and communities are raising questions about the appropriateness of the statues. After all, they attempt to put in a place of honor individuals who led armies against the United States of America. They were in armies that fought for the right of Southerners to own slaves. Contrary to the argument that the Civil War was about states’ rights, the right that was being claimed by the Southern states including Virginia was a right to own another human being to be used as slave labor. Why should anyone leading such an effort be glorified?
The role the men depicted in the statues played in defending slavery is repulsive enough, but the events leading up to erecting the statues make them even more problematic. The statues were not erected near the end of the Civil War, but were put in place between 1896 and 1915 during the “Lost Cause” effort to rewrite history and portray the Confederacy’s cause as noble.
In 1896, the Supreme Court upheld that “separate but equal” was constitutional. Following that ruling, Virginia and the other southern states started passing Jim Crow laws that almost eliminated African Americans from voting and separated the races in schools, buses, social events and most of life. Southerners started spinning their tales of how wonderful the South had been before “the War of Northern Aggression” and how honorable were the men who served in the Confederacy, leading to the monuments.
That history is important for all to learn. It should be taught and explored in our schools. Likewise, the artifacts of the period should be preserved in our museums along with the statues of individuals who played a role in the history. Public spaces should be reserved for the comfort and enjoyment of all our citizens. They need not be part of sending an underlying message that it was acceptable to take part in an insurrection for the purpose of being able to enslave others.
The monuments need to be shipped off to museums where they can be viewed in their historic context. Otherwise, we face a monumental problem of demonstrations like the one that took place in Charlottesville happening again.
The end of another week has arrived. Before we head off into the weekend, though, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.
The following articles were the five most-clicked links on Reston Now this past week.
- Finishing Touches Being Done on Cooper’s Hawk, Set to Open Aug. 28
- Cubicle Fire on 11th Floor of Commercial Building Draws Two Alarms
- New Lighting on Helmut Jahn Building at Reston Station Part of Architect’s Signature Design
- More Than 140 Trees To Be Removed To Comply with Dam Safety Code
- Wedell: Hook Road Park Should Be for Community, Not ‘Just Another Recreation Area’
Also receiving a lot of clicks this week is the short article we published in July announcing the four candidates in the special election for a Fairfax County School Board seat. That election is Tuesday; the last day for in-person absentee voting at the Fairfax County Government Center is Saturday.
And of course, lest we forget, we all watched with craned necks earlier this week as the moon passed in front of the sun.
Feel free to discuss these topics and anything else that happened locally this week. Have a great weekend!
This is a commentary from Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
Recent years have seen a growing number of yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and license plates with the coiled rattlesnake on them. Popular with the Tea Party, the license plates are requested by the car owner as are other vanity plates. The message they are intended to convey has never been entirely clear to me, and I suspect with the recent activities of some alt-right groups there may be some who will roll up their flags and change their license plates.
Certainly, no one would want to be confused with the white supremacists or neo-Nazis when they may have a simple annoyance or personal issue with the government. It is safe to say that the symbols involved are an expression of displeasure with the government. For some time, I have been reviewing the role of government and ways in which the resulting activity might be interpreted as “treading” on citizens. For each, I have made my own judgment as to whether I lose any freedoms as a result of what the government is doing and whether I object to being tread upon.
- I want all children to have access to educational programs that will ensure that they realize their fullest potential. I say to government leaders, tread on me to make that happen.
- I want to live in a community, state and world that are environmentally safe and clean. For the actions that the government must take to accomplish clean air and water and a sustainable environment, I say tread on me. To keep our communities safe from criminals, tread on me to make that happen. To ensure that our constitutional rights and our liberties are protected, tread on me to make sure I can continue to live free.
- To be sure governments at all levels are held accountable to operate within the Constitution; tread on me to accomplish an effective judicial system to keep us protected. There are some inconveniences that may affect me and I will feel tread upon personally, but in an organized society we sometimes make small sacrifices for the greater good. We all need help sometimes in recognizing that we are not the only person in the world and that our moments of feeling tread upon must be looked at in perspective of our shared humanity.
- Tread on me to pay for the rights and privileges and infrastructure of our world through the taxes and fees I pay. They are the price for living in a free and comfortable world. I do want those taxes to be based on income level and shared by those who can afford to pay more. Tread on me to support help for the disabled and for the disadvantaged to become productive members of our society and rise to a level where they can share more of the tax burden.
Maybe it would be nice to live in a world alone with no worry of anyone else, but that is not reality. There are real and reasonable times when we may feel tread upon for the good of society.
The end of another week has arrived. Before we head off into the weekend, though, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.
The following articles were the five most-clicked links on Reston Now this past week.
- Police Say Woman Was Dragged Into Woods Near Tall Oaks, Man Tried To Remove Her Clothes
- Multiple Reports of Credit Card Skimmers Hitting Local Residents; Police Offer Advice
- 25 Years Ago Today: Lollapalooza at Lake Fairfax Park
- Congratulations to the Winners of the 2017 Best Reston Business Awards
- Big Turnout, Big Fun at First Cardboard Boat Regatta at Lake Anne
The suspect in the attempted sexual assault this week is still on the loose. Police released a sketch of him later in the week.
The article about the 25-year anniversary of Lollapalooza’s last show — Aug. 14, 1992 — in Reston prompted numerous readers to post their memories both on our website and our Facebook page, where it was our most-shared story of the week. Here are just a few of those comments:
Feel free to discuss these topics and anything else that happened locally this week. Have a great weekend!
Image of Lake Anne Cardboard Boat Regatta via NovaLabs/Facebook
This is a commentary from Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
The “Unite the Right” event that happened in Charlottesville this past weekend could have happened in any community in America, but apparently it was the discussion about removing a statue of Robert E. Lee from a city park that led to the white supremacists, Nazi sympathizers, and hate mongers to converge on the city. To bring their message of hate from distant places to Charlottesville, where its University has a world-class law school that teaches the rule of law and where its most famous resident who penned the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom lived, created a startling contrast.
The photograph widely circulated on social media of the Tiki torch carrying thugs marching on the lawn of the University of Virginia with the Rotunda of the University in the background heightened that contrast of the ignorance of those involved in the march of our history and the rule of law and their shouts of “Heil Trump,” “white power,” and other racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, homophobic and misogynistic language. They demanded their rights to assemble and speak while waving Nazi flags. They wanted their rights as white persons with no recognition of the rights of anyone who might not look like them. They wanted to use their liberties as Americans to tear at the very fabric of what makes America great.
As the President of the University of Virginia Teresa Sullivan expressed in a letter to alumni, “The University supports the First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceable assembly. Acts of violence, however, are not protected by the First Amendment. Violence and bigotry are not political positions. We strongly condemn intimidating and abhorrent behavior intended to strike fear and sow division in our community.” Too bad the President of the United States did not speak so clearly about the event.
One Nazi sympathizer who seemingly could not control his hate for society as he knows it rammed the only weapon he had available, his car, into a crowd of people, killing one and injuring more than a dozen. Fortunately, none of the agitators fired the guns they were carrying, for certainly a bloodbath would have followed.
Where did these people come from? Apparently, from all over the country. It was a rally to unite right wing causes of white supremacists, alt-right and Nazi sympathizers. They apparently felt safe crawling out from the figurative rocks under which they live and parade in public with torches to spread their revolting messages of hatred. They did not just happen. When leadership at all levels of government support openly and forcefully the rule of law under which we live and there is a general understanding of our history, these people do not have many public displays of their beliefs. But when leaders from the highest levels of government give them a wink and a nod, they move out into the sunlight. They do not represent any of what makes America great. In contrast, their disgusting and vile behavior makes us appreciate the real meaning of freedom for all and should motivate us to fight against those who would seek to take our country down a road of bigotry and exclusion.
The results of the 2017 Best Reston Business Awards are in, and congratulations are in order to all of our winners and runners-up.
After the nomination process in June and the preliminary vote in July, we narrowed each category down to two finalists. More than 800 of our email subscribers voted over the past week on those finalists in each of the 18 categories, determining who our most regular readers have deemed the best of the best in 2017. And every vote counted — in the closest competition, only six votes separated the candidates.
Without further adieu, the results of the final voting for the awards. Both the winner and the runner-up in each category is listed, with the winner first and in bold.
- Best Apartment Building: The Avant at Reston Town Center (50.76 percent), BLVD | Reston Station (49.24 percent)
- Best Architect or Designer: Cindy Beyer Design (56.50 percent), AKG Design Studio (43.50 percent)
- Best Arts/Entertainment Venue: Lake Anne Plaza (57.88 percent), Reston Community Center (42.12 percent)
- Best Bar/Happy Hour: Lake Anne Brew House (58.87 percent), Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge (41.13 percent)
- Best Builder, Remodeler or Contractor: My Kitchen & Bath (52.35 percent), HandyMensch Home Remodeling (47.65 percent)
- Best Child Care or Preschool: Lake Anne Nursery Kindergarten (64.41 percent), Reston Children’s Center (35.59 percent)
- Best Dentist or Orthodontist: Reston Serenity Smiles (62.93 percent), Smilezone Family & Cosmetic Dentistry (37.07 percent)
- Best Fast-Casual Restaurant: Cafesano (75.80 percent), Chick-fil-A Village Commons (24.20 percent)
- Best Financial Business: Baird (65.42 percent), CST Group CPAs PC (34.58 percent)
- Best Fitness Business: Potomac River Running Store (65.18 percent), Fusion 360 Inc. (34.82 percent)
- Best Legal Practice: Berry & Berry LLC (74.58 percent), Khanna Law PLLC (25.42 percent)
- Best Local Shop: Reston’s Used Book Shop (59.23 percent); Chesapeake Chocolates, Wine, Gifts and More (40.77 percent)
- Best Medical Practice: Colleen Neumann Psychology LLC (55.58 percent), Generations Medical Aesthetics (46.42 percent)
- Best New Business: Lake Anne Coffee House & Wine Bar (54.20 percent), Lake Anne Brew House (45.80 percent)
- Best Pet Care: Just Cats Clinic (52.94 percent), Villaridge Pet Sitters (47.06 percent)
- Best Private School: Reston Montessori School (78.32 percent), Berthold Academy (21.68 percent)
- Best Real Estate Agent: Eve Thompson (54.50 percent), Susannah Palik (45.50 percent)
- Best Sit-Down Restaurant: PassionFish (52.80 percent), Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge (47.20 percent)
Again, congratulations to all the winners and runners-up!
The end of another week has arrived. Before we head off into the weekend, though, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.
The following articles were the five most-clicked links on Reston Now this past week.
- Now Open: PokeHub at Reston Town Center
- RA Urges County to Support Dog Park Study as Baron Cameron Concerns Continue
- Weird Brothers Coffee Co-Owner Kenny Olsen Dies Unexpectedly
- Police Say Three Assaulted by ‘Group of Men’ Wednesday on South Lakes Drive
- Fairfax County Public Schools 2017-18 Calendar — Dates to Remember
In addition to these stories, we also learned this week that the opening of Founding Farmers will be delayed into 2018, that SNAP usage is stronger than ever at the Reston Farmers Market, and much more.
Feel free to discuss these topics and anything else that happened locally this week. Have a great weekend!
This is a commentary from Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
Never in my years in politics have I gotten as many questions from people as to what they can do to be more active in political affairs.
While the circumstances at the federal level that have given rise to this question are deplorable, there is a need to take advantage of this new or renewed interest on the part of citizens to get involved with their government. For folks who have been involved as volunteers in political campaigns or as advocates in issue-oriented organizations the lack of awareness and knowledge of the governmental processes on the part of their new helpers and associates is astonishing.
Even so, it is absolutely essential that the new interests be acknowledged and respected and activities and mentoring take place to ensure that the maximum number of people participate in civic affairs and upcoming elections. I was pleased that a civic engagement fair that I sponsored on a Saturday morning earlier this year attracted more than 300 attendees. The goal of the event was to match up organizations with potential volunteers and members. New movements like Indivisible have sprung up around the country, with the local Herndon-Reston Indivisible attracting as many as 400 attendees at one of its early meetings. The group has formed several very active interest groups.
Strong interest in more involvement in civic affairs is of course not limited to this region or state; it is national in scope. The most recent issue of the Council of State Governments publication, Capitol Ideas, has civic engagement as its theme. It looks at such concerns as “the key to repair trust in government” and “how technology reshaped civic engagement.” If one word was used to summarize the articles in this edition of the journal read by state government officials nationwide, it would be education. An article entitled “Civic Education: A Key to Trust” includes a harsh review of the way civics is taught in the public schools: “Unfortunately, the nation’s schools have been generally unhelpful in providing the kind of information that can teach their students how their governments actually work.” The result is that only 23 percent of eighth-graders scored at or above proficiency in civics, according to research by the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2014.
Improving civic education in our schools is critical to expanding engagement in the future, but action needs to be taken to involve more adults right now. The most obvious place to start is with voter participation in elections. Among the 35 nations involved in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United States ranked a shameful 31st in voter turnout. Laws need to be changed and increased emphasis needs to be given to removing barriers to voting and to getting people to the polls.
The recent influx of citizens interested in working for civic engagement can do a great deal to improve our political system — starting by encouraging others to vote on Election Day.
The winners of the 2017 Best Reston Business awards will be determined in a week of online voting, starting Tuesday.
Subscribers to Reston Now’s email list will receive a link Tuesday to access the ballot to make their choices in the 18 categories. The ballots will be available for one week, and winners will be announced Wednesday, Aug. 16.
Below are the finalists in each category.
- Best Apartment Building: The Avant at Reston Town Center, BLVD at Reston Station
- Best Architect or Designer: AKG Design Studio, Cindy Beyer Design
- Best Arts/Entertainment Venue: Lake Anne Plaza, Reston Community Center
- Best Bar/Happy Hour: Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge, Lake Anne Brew House
- Best Builder, Remodeler or Contractor: HandyMensch Home Remodeling, My Kitchen & Bath
- Best Child Care or Preschool: Lake Anne Nursery Kindergarten, Reston Children’s Center
- Best Dentist or Orthodontist: Reston Serenity Smiles, Smilezone Family & Cosmetic Dentistry
- Best Fast-Casual Restaurant: Cafesano, Chick-fil-A Village Commons
- Best Financial Business: Baird, CST Group CPAs PC
- Best Fitness Business: Fusion 360 Inc., Potomac River Running Store
- Best Legal Practice: Berry & Berry LLC, Khanna Law PLLC
- Best Local Shop: Chesapeake Chocolates, Wine, Gifts and More; Reston’s Used Book Shop
- Best Medical Practice: Colleen Neumann Psychology LLC, Generations Medical Aesthetics
- Best New Business: Lake Anne Brew House, Lake Anne Coffee House & Wine Bar
- Best Pet Care: Just Cats Clinic, Villaridge Pet Sitters
- Best Private School: Berthold Academy, Reston Montessori School
- Best Real Estate Agent: Eve Thompson, Susannah Palik
- Best Sit-Down Restaurant: Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge, PassionFish
To make sure you get a ballot, make sure to register for Reston Now’s email subscription.
It’s hard to believe that August has already arrived.
Students will be returning to school later this month, much to their chagrin but maybe not so much for their parents. With that will come the shortening of pool hours, the ends of summer concert series and outdoor movies, and all other summer staples. The weather will become cooler, the leaves will turn and we’ll enter our next season.
But there’s still a long time before that! Make sure to enjoy the long days and the beautiful weather while you can and keep building memories.
Speaking of memories, you’ll likely remember these posts that have received the most clicks on Reston Now since last Friday:
- ‘Hate Has No Home Here’ Sign Causes Controversy at Orchard Green
- Crime: A Look at the July Incident Reports from FCPD’s Reston District Station
- Reston Association Leaders To Initiate Talks with Boston Properts About Town Center Parking
- Hundreds Take Advantage of Free Lunch Offer as Cava Opens in Reston
- Op-Ed: County’s Doomed High-Density Residential Development Strategy
Feel free to discuss these topics and anything else that happened locally this week.
Enjoy the weekend!
File photo via Flickr
This is a commentary from Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
Taking a break can be good for one’s mental and physical health. If time and resource limitations stand in the way of a traditional vacation, I heartily recommend a staycation or, better yet, several of them over a period of time. These short breaks from routine activities of life and work can be energizing and invigorating. You save the money of a hotel by sleeping at home with short trips away during the day. And you save time by not traveling a long distance.
Virginia is one of the best places I know for a staycation. I offer several examples here and will in future columns, but I in no way will exhaust the list of things to see and do. I’ll leave out amusement parks, for they are well known. Keep an open mind and approach your day away from your responsibilities — with or without others — with a positive attitude and let yourself be entertained and educated by what is around you.
No reservations are needed and on the day of your staycation do not schedule anything in the evening so you won’t be concerned as to what time you return. If you can pay for a night or two away, consider a bed and breakfast or a small cabin or camp, if you are up to it. I have yet to try Airbnb, but it seems like a fine option.
One great example of a staycation is to head south to Jefferson’s home, Monticello. It will take about two and half hours, or longer depending on your stops along the way, to get to this wonderful historic site. Leaving a little early in the morning will allow time for periodic stops and a more relaxing trip.
If you’re heading out early you may not be ready on the way down to stop at Smokin Billy’s Bar-B-Q, but note the location of his trailer alongside Route 29 (5282 Lee Highway) before you get to Warrenton for your stop on the way back. If it’s smoking, stop! Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday through Saturday. (www.smokinbillysbbq.com).
Further on down Route 29 past Warrenton is Moo-Thru — “real ice cream from real dairy farmers.” You will recognize it by the lines of people outside. It will make you forget your worries. (www.moothru.com)
Follow the signs in Charlottesville to get to Monticello, Italian for “little mountain,” Jefferson’s home that he spent about 40 years building. Even if you do not like history, you will come to respect even more the genius of Thomas Jefferson: architect, builder, philosopher, scientist, farmer and, as he asked to be remembered, “Author of the Declaration of Independence, Statute of Virginia Religious Freedom, and Founder of the University of Virginia.” Learn the critical role of slaves in building and running his estate. Discuss on the way home the contradictions in his statement that “all men are created equal” and his ownership of slaves.
Head home and get some ice cream or barbecue or stop at Yoder’s Market on Route 29 for some interesting shopping or eating. It will be a full but restful day. I look forward to going on another staycation with you in the near future.
This is an op/ed submitted by Terry Maynard, co-chair of the Reston 20/20 committee. It does not reflect the opinions of Reston Now.
Fairfax County’s development strategy of pursuing high-density residential development around Metro stations and other commercial centers (e.g. — Seven Corners, Lake Anne Village Center) will fail in its fundamental goal of generating large new tax revenues. This is due to the demonstrated fact that the cost of community services for residential services substantially exceeds the revenue it generates.
The need for massive new County tax revenues is driven primarily by the deteriorating fiduciary position of its four pension funds (civilian, police, uniformed, and education). At the beginning of the century, all four funds were essentially fully funded (97 percent to 102 percent), but they have deteriorated almost continuously since then. The FY2016 County annual financial report shows a $4.7 billion funding shortfall despite the quadrupling of County (and additional employee) contributions since 2000. That represents about a one-quarter shortfall in required funding across the four funds. This growing shortfall is why Moody’s issued a warning on the County’s AAA bond rating several years ago and the County made a commitment then to reach 90 percent funding by 2025. One obvious approach to addressing such a shortfall is to dramatically increase development that creates new taxable value. From Reston’s perspective, this has taken the form of two County zoning initiatives linked to the revised Reston Master Plan:
- The passage last year of an amendment to the PDC/PRM (Planned Development Commercial/Planned Residential Mixed-Use) zoning ordinances to increase the allowable density from FAR 3.5 to FAR 5.0. From a Reston perspective, this primarily affects the Herndon-Monroe and Wiehle station areas as well as the southern half of Reston Town Center. The zoning ordinance also covers Commercial Revitalization Areas (CRAs), including Lake Anne Village Center. The two ordinances focus on commercial and residential mixed-use development respectively, and the residential-focused PRM would allow up to as many as 200 dwelling units per acre (DU/AC) at FAR 5.0. No place in the Washington metropolitan area has that much density.
- The recently proposed amendment to the Reston PRC (Planned Residential Community) which would increase the community-wide population density from 13 to 16 people per acre, about 21,000 people. More importantly, it places no limits (except Board discretion) on the number of DU/AC in “high density” development areas. This includes the Town Center north of the toll road and Ridge Heights to the south. Making the matter worse, the Reston plan was amended behind closed doors (not by the Reston planning task force) to eliminate any limits on high density multi-family development. Currently, the limit is 50 DU/AC.
Aside from the many reasons Restonians do not want the intensity of residential development allowed in Reston, there is one vital reason for the County not to want to pursue this ultra high-density residential development strategy: The cost of community services (COCS) for residential development — especially high-density development — exceeds the tax revenues it generates. Residents require schools, streets and other transportation, parks and recreation, libraries, and much more. This is especially important in the ongoing dialogue about increasing residential density in Reston’s PRC zoned area.
Research on this issue by the US Government, private sector, and academia is extensive and it virtually all comes to this same conclusion. All these studies highlight the importance of methodology, assumptions, other values than tax revenue in development decisions, etc., but none we have discovered suggest that residential development will ever generate a net gain in tax revenues for the County.
Probably the benchmark study on COCS is an overview by the Farmland Information Center (FIC) of the American Farmland Trust in a public private partnership with the US Department of Agriculture last September. The overview records the results of analysis of the COCS by type of development in more than 150 communities, counties, etc., across dozens of states over more than two decades. The results of FIC’s studies show that, on average, for every dollar in tax revenues generated by tax revenues, the median residential development is a cost $1.16 in community services, a 16 percent loss. By contrast, commercial and industrial development costs $.30 in community services for every $1 generated in tax revenues, a better than three-fold tax revenue return for the County.
A new restaurant, a new grocery store and a new tasting room for a popular brewery.
New, new, new.
There has been lots of excitement in the news in recent days, as we’ve been getting some good things to look forward to. Before we look forward too far, though, let’s look back at the week that was.
Here are the stories that have received the most clicks on Reston Now since last Friday:
- Cava Mezze Grill To Open Its Reston Location in First Days of August
- Lotte Plaza Market Coming to Herndon Center Next Spring
- RA Board to Discuss Reston Town Center Parking at Meeting This Week (follow-up story here)
- Silver Line Phase 2 Construction Over 60 Percent Complete
- Aslin Beer Will Stay in Herndon, Open New Tasting Room on Elden Street
Feel free to discuss these topics and anything else that happened locally this week.
Stay dry, and enjoy the weekend!
This is a commentary from Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
Any report by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is met with skepticism in some quarters, because these were the same people whose findings found that climate is changing and that human behavior is one of the causes.
The so-called “climate change deniers” continue to insist, regardless of the scientific evidence to the contrary, that humans are not to blame if there is any change in the climate. We can deny the latest report of the UCS, “When Rising Seas Hit Home,” at our own peril, especially in Virginia.
The scientists found that “important consequences of climate change are more subtle and slower moving than disasters. One such consequence is sea level rise. Unlike the catastrophic flooding that can accompany hurricanes, sea level rise impacts can take time to manifest. The final result, late this century and beyond, may be neighborhoods underwater.”
In a state like Virginia, with a major region named “Tidewater,” the impact can be especially great. UCS has identified three Virginia communities that will face chronic inundation by 2035, and 21 more by 2100. In the highest level scenario considered by the scientists, 38 communities would be exposed to chronic inundation by the end of the century. Visit the website to see a list of communities that will be hardest hit. Of little surprise is the finding that in the highest scenario, by 2080, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Hampton and the Naval Air Station would have up to a quarter of their land chronically flooded.
These findings should come as no surprise to Virginians. In 2015, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) completed a study on this issue at the request of the General Assembly. Its report, “Recurrent Flooding Study for Tidewater Virginia,” found that “recurrent flooding already impacts all localities in Virginia’s coastal zone and is predicted to worsen over reasonable planning horizons of 20 to 50 years due to sea level rise, land subsidence, and other factors.” The scientists wisely did not use the term “climate change,” which continues to be politically charged among some of Virginia’s political leaders.
Earlier this month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a grant to VIMS that, along with its match, will total $1.25 million to support “nature-based infrastructure” to help coastal Virginia counter and recover from flood events. Nature-based infrastructure includes tidal wetlands and living shorelines that can help to blunt and even absorb the effects of rising seas and recurrent flooding.
These efforts are important, but the UCS found even bolder policy changes and enhanced coordination among all levels of government must happen to protect our coastal areas. UCS concluded its report, “And even as the Trump administration seeks to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, we must work at state and local levels and with other nations to cut global warming emissions aggressively in order to help slow the pace of sea level rise.” Maybe then we can keep our heads above water!
