The Fairfax County Planning Commission on Thursday recommended for approval the 40,000-square-foot addition that will ease overcrowding at South Lakes High School.

The addition now moves on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for final approval at the Supervisors’ Oct. 20 meeting.

However, several residents of housing clusters directly across the street and downhill from the high school have concerns about how additional construction and square footage at the school will affect stormwater management. Residents say runoff his causing erosion, affecting the hillside behind their homes as well as Lake Audubon.

Reston 2020’s Terry Maynard wrote a recent letter to Hunter Mill School Board rep Pat Hynes outlining his concerns about stormwater standards at the addition site.

According to the Fairfax County Planning staff report on the addition, FCPS has received approval of a general permit through the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which allows for the applicant’s proposal to be
grandfathered under the old stormwater management requirements prior to the Board’s adoption of the new stormwater ordinance in 2014.

Maynard lives on Wakerobin, located across the street and downhill from the school. Stormwater erosion from SLHS and Langston Hughes Middle School collects in basin to the east of the high school, then flows downhill towards Lake Audubon, Maynard said in his letter to Hynes.

Residents of Wakerobin and Cedar Cove met this week with representatives from Fairfax County and Reston Association to talk about the issue and plans to remedy it.

Said Maynard:

“Most of the stormwater from both SLHS and Langston Hughes Intermediate School collects in a basin to the east of the high school and then flows through a stormwater tunnel under South Lakes Drive. The resulting stream then plunges about 30′ in its 1,000′ flow to Lake Audubon.”

“During storms, the creek experiences massive erosion and the generation of huge quantities of silt that is spewed into Lake Audubon as the force of the flow cuts the stream wider and deeper. The decades-long problem has exposed both the County sewer in several places as well as several residents’ lateral connections.”

He said he is disappointed in the county’s plans to meet outdated stormwater regulations.

“So, in a Reston community that focuses on sustainability and environmental excellence, FCPS is proposing to meet old, much less stringent stormwater management requirements than is the current standard, presumably so it can save a few dollars,” wrote Maynard. “The proposed addition of some open joint parking surfaces (one of which is on the wrong side of the high school) and filterra structures is grossly inadequate to meet the additional flow caused by the addition, much less the current unacceptable stormwater management conditions.”

Maynard said each new addition to LHMS and SLHS over the years has made stormwater management worse for the neighborhoods. He said this summer’s sewer pipe leak in the area was a result of continued stress on the pipes on the erosion area.

Dave Thomas, representing Cedar Cove Cluster, has also expressed his concerns to RA and the county.

Graphic: Proposed addition for SLHS/Fairfax County

Fairfax County has been examining for years how best to build a Soapstone Drive connection between Sunset Hills Road and Sunrise Valley Drive.

A connector would provide an additional car and pedestrian crossing over the Dulles Toll Road, alleviating some of the traffic on Reston Parkway and Wiehle Avenues. It would also offer an additional way for pedestrians to access the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.

Fairfax County’s Department of Transportation (FCDOT) will host a public information meeting to give an update on the project on Monday, Oct. 26, at South Lakes High School, 11400 South Lakes Dr.

The meeting takes place from 6-8 p.m., with a short presentation at 7 p.m. Staff will be on hand to discuss the project and answer questions.

Authorities agree that Reston needs the additional crossing. At issue is how to pay for it.

The Soapstone Connector Project was included in the Reston Comprehensive Plan Amendment, which was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in February 2014. After studying several options and obtaining community feedback for a crossing, the Supervisors in April of 2014 approved a hybrid design combining elements of two of the options.

Also in 2014, the Board of Supervisors included $2.5 million for the preliminary design of this project as part of its Six Year Transportation Project Priorities. At that time, they also put the project — estimated to cost $91.75 million — on the county’s list of high-priority projects for 2015-20.

An exact price tag won’t be known until the connector is farther along. What could be coming soon are updates estimates, an environmental impact study and preliminary engineering.

Additionally, there would be a four-way intersection with traffic signal at Sunrise Valley, as well as another four-way intersection with no signal, or perhaps a traffic roundabout, on the Sunset Hills side, planners said. Several properties would be affected, as the road will run right though buildings on Association Drive south of the toll road, as well as several buildings on the north side.

Graphic: Routes studied for Soapstone extension/Credit: Fairfax County

The future of the Reston Town Center North area took a step forward last week when the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a land swap between the county and Inova.

The 49-acre site is currently a jumble of parcels owned by both the county and Inova. By authorizing the swap, the two will now be able to more uniformly align the parcels and begin redevelopment.

The approval includes the county’s acquisition of a the Reston Towne Green, a five-acre parcel from the Fairfax County Park Authority. In exchange, the park authority has rights to build a 90,000-square-foot recreation center in the area. It also ensures that Reston Town Center North will have a 2.6-acre public park in the center of the development.

The park authority agreed to the land swap in April.

According to the terms of the contract, if the Town Center North area remains undeveloped, the supervisors would reconvey the Reston Towne Green parcel back to the park authority.

The proposed redevelopment to the area, which runs from New Dominion Parkway to Bowman Town Drive and Town Center Parkway to Fountain Drive, includes replacing the Reston Regional Library and Embry Rucker Community Shelter, as well as building mixed-use (residential, a performing arts center, offices, retail, among other amenities).

The county recently held a Request for Proposals for developers on the first phase of redevelopment, on the blocks including the library and shelter.

Andrew Miller, Project Coordinator of the Public-Private Partnerships Branch of the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, said at a community meeting two weeks ago that development will likely take more than 10 years.

The goal now is to realign the land — some owned by the county (eventual blocks 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 in the graphic above) and the rest (eventual blocks 2, 4, and 6) by Inova, Miller said. Then there will be rezoning for the individual parcels when it is decided what to do with the land.

Phase 2 of redevelopment would include county-owned blocks 1, 3, 5 and 9. The county would like to see a new Health and Human Services building on that land, as well as housing and retail. Other ideas put forth at the meeting: a performing arts center, a fire station and transitional housing.

Inova owns the parcels with Sunrise Assisted Living and the Emergency Care Center. Inova has no immediate plans for redevelopment, a representative said.

Years from now, the 49-acre area from Baron Cameron Avenue to Reston Town Center could be a vibrant mix of residences, community spaces and services, including a new public library and recreation center.

But first, the parcel needs to be reorganized, rezoned and re-imagined.

Fairfax County on Saturday held the second of what will likely be many community engagement and information sessions about Reston Town Center North.

A land swap between the county and Inova is in its final stages of approval and a Request for Proposals (RFP) has been put out to developers for the first phase of redevelopment, which would include the Reston Regional Library and the Embry Rucker Community Shelter.

County officials said the first round of RFP was mainly a call for developers to see who had the finances to take on redevelopment. An RFP later this year will call for specific plans.

Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins said the goal right now is to get community input about what the needs will be for Reston in the decades to come.

“How can we keep that vision alive in Reston?” she said. “I look at that swath of land as an asset that has been given to us. We have been able to acquire it and put it to use. What our are needs in the future? If we look at it as an extension of Reston Town Center, what do we do there?”

Saturday’s presentation included information from the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, which offered a look at Reston’s number of people living in poverty (5 percent); in need of affordable housing (35 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of monthly income on rent); and in need of county services.

They underscored the need to include a new human services facility to replace the current one in the Town Center North area.

Andrew Miller, Project Coordinator of the Public-Private Partnerships Branch of the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, said development will likely take more than 10 years.

The goal now is to realign the land — some owned by the county (eventual blocks 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 in the graphic above) and the rest (eventual blocks 2, 4, and 6) by Inova. Then there will be rezoning for the individual parcels when it is decided what to do with the land.

“We need to hear from the citizens what services are needed,” he said.

Citizens attending the meeting spoke up about adding a nursing home to replace Cameron Glen, which closed in 2014 and ensuring the library gets proper attention. They also met in small groups to offer feedback on what the area needs.

Some key points made by Miller:

Density will stay about the same (FAR .9), with higher density allowed in the parcels closest to the Reston Town Center. Read More

This is an op-ed by Reston 2020’s Terry Maynard. It does not represent the opinion of Reston Now.

(Updated, 12:30 p.m. Friday) Correction:  Maynard has reported the that area affected by the change in the size of the Transit Station areas, allowable square footage of development, and other related numbers late in his op-ed are actually about one-third of those reported. In particular, the expanded area and high densities would allow about 438 million square feet of total development, not 1.4 billion square feet as stated.  

A few days ago, I wrote an op-ed published here on the County’s efforts to increase the allowed population density in Reston and double the permitted zoning density in Transit Station Areas (from FAR 2.5 to FAR 5.0, plus a 0.5 FAR bonus for affordable housing), including Reston’s three stations.

Aside from allowing major density increases here, these proposed changes affect other types of County “districts”, such Community Business Districts, Commercial Revitalization Districts, and Commercial Revitalization Areas elsewhere in the County. These include Baileys Crossroads, Seven Corners, McLean, Merrifield, Lake Anne (yes!), Annandale, Springfield, and most of the Richmond Highway area. And, of course, all the areas surrounding the County’s Metrorail stations. And we already have reliable commentary that developers intend to maximize density in at least one of these “districts” once the zoning law is changed.

All these areas would now be incorporated into the zoning code as either Planned Development Commercial Districts (PDCs) or Planned Residential Mixed-Use Districts (PRMs), the difference being the predominance of commercial or residential uses. The density caps may be approved if the County “is implementing the density/intensity and other recommendations of the comprehensive plan or any other design guidelines endorsed by the Board.” “Any other guidelines;” that’s a hole as large as a skyscraper.

The adding of these “districts” to the PDC or PRM categorizations and upping the allowable density is all part of the Board of Supervisors’ strategy to allow massive urbanization of Fairfax County over the next several decades.   Not just the Reston you know, but the County you know would be completely different if market conditions permit.

In fact, early this year the Board approved a new County “Strategic Plan to Facilitate the Economic Success of Fairfax County” that calls for this urbanization of Fairfax County.   The plan was developed by the County’s Economic Advisory Commission and its panel represented just about every County “sector” except residents, the people who pay more than half of the County’s taxes and elect its Board. As you might expect, however, the strategic plan cynically states that the County’s vision is “To protect and enrich the quality of life for the people, neighborhoods and diverse communities of Fairfax County….” But who needs them in preparing the plan? What value could they possibly add? Read More

This is an op-ed by Terry Maynard of Reston 2020. It does not represent the opinion of Reston Now.

As you were enjoying your summer, probably including a family vacation, our County leaders were — and are — planning to increase the allowable density in Reston’s transit station areas (TSAs) again through amendments to the zoning ordinance.

The reason: Fairfax County is running out of ways to generate taxes to cover its expenses as job growth and development falter. At this point, so close to another local election, they are neither ready to increase our taxes nor cut well-liked programs (other than parks and libraries, of course).

They have to add more taxable property — residential and commercial — to drive up revenues. And Reston and Tysons are the places they intend to do it.

The County’s Zoning Staff is preparing to allow increased Reston density in two ways.

In Reston alone, the County staff is planning to increase (or eliminate) the maximum allowable population per acre in the Reston Planned Residential Community (PRC) — a zoning category.

According to the Fairfax County’s demographer’s count, Reston now has a population of less than 62,000, about 10 people per acre. Reston’s current limit is 13 persons per acre for a total population of about 81,000 according to a county briefing. Using absolutely absurd “household population factor” values (ostensibly the typical number of people in a household by type of household), the zoning staff has put Reston’s population at more than 73,000 people or 11.7 people per acre (10 percent available capacity).

We are, in fact, more than 30 percent short of that capacity. Yet, if the “cap” is increased or deleted, it creates more “flexibility” for developers, which as the next paragraph will show, is the goal. Read More

Monday, Sept. 7 is Labor Day. Here is a look at some of the area closings for the holiday:

Most Fairfax County Parks are open. Frying Pan Park is open but the visitors center is closed.

Reston Community Centers at Hunters Woods and Lake Anne are closed.

Fairfax County Public Libraries are closed Sunday and Monday

Fairfax County courts are closed.

To see more county services, visit Fairfax County’s holiday schedule page.

Banks and the U.S. Post Office are closed.

Reston Association offices are closed.

Reston Association pools are on a holiday schedule (and it is the last day for all but Ridge Heights and North Shore Pools. See pool hours on RA’s website.

Bike trails. Safe Routes to School. Turning rails to trails. Better sidewalks in Reston. Even reducing vegetation to make trails and sidewalks more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly.

Fairfax County wants your comments and ideas  on potential transportation alternative projects, which could get primarily funded by the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Fairfax County will hold a public meeting on Sept. 17 (7 p.m. at Fairfax County Department of Transportation, 4050 Legato Road, Suite 400, Fairfax) to solicit comments on the proposed FY 2016 Transportation Alternative Program projects

After approval by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the program’s projects will be eligible for submission to VDOT funding under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, also known as MAP-21.

This program provides 80 percent of the funds for each eligible project. A 20 percent local match is required. Any project presented to the board for endorsement must have an identified source of funding for this match.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has established criteria for activities or improvements eligible under the MAP-21 Transportation Alternatives provision. The alternatives are activities or improvements that increase the value of a transportation project or make it more aesthetically pleasing.

Eligible activities under the Transportation Alternatives Program:

Transportation Alternatives: Construction, planning, and design of on-road and off-road trail facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other non-motorized forms of transportation, including sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle signals, traffic calming techniques, lighting and other safety-related infrastructure, and transportation projects to achieve compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Construction, planning, and design of infrastructure-related projects and systems that will provide safe routes for non-drivers, including children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities to access daily needs.

Conversion and use of abandoned railroad corridors for trails for pedestrians, bicyclists, or other non-motorized transportation users.

Construction of turnouts, overlooks, and viewing areas.

Community improvement activities, including-inventory, control, or removal of outdoor advertising; historic preservation and rehabilitation of historic transportation facilities; vegetation management practices in transportation rights-of-way to improve roadway safety, prevent against invasive species, and provide erosion control; and
archaeological activities.

Any environmental mitigation activity, including pollution prevention and pollution abatement activities and mitigation to-address stormwater management, control, and water pollution prevention or abatement related to highway construction or due to highway runoff; or reduce vehicle-caused wildlife mortality or to restore and maintain connectivity among terrestrial or aquatic habitats.

The Recreational Trails program under section 206 of title 23.

The Safe Routes to School program under section 1404 of the SAFETEA-LU.

Infrastructure-related projects-planning, design, and construction of infrastructure-related projects on any public road or any bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail in the vicinity of schools that will substantially improve the ability of students to walk and bicycle to school, including sidewalk improvements, traffic calming and speed reduction improvements, pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street bicycle and pedestrian facilities, secure bicycle parking facilities, and traffic diversion improvements in the vicinity of schools.

Non-infrastructure-related activities to encourage walking and bicycling to school, including public awareness campaigns and outreach to press and community leaders, traffic education and enforcement in the vicinity of schools, student sessions on bicycle and pedestrian safety, health, and environment, and funding for training, volunteers, and managers of safe routes to school programs.

Safe Routes to School coordinator.

Planning, designing, or constructing boulevards and other roadways largely in the right-of-way of former Interstate System routes or other divided highways.

Demolition crews were hard at work Friday collapsing the former North County Government Center and Fairfax County Police Station into a pile of rubble.

Police and county personnel moved next door into a new, $18 million building in February. The demolition of the old building, constructed in 1985, had been long planned. The space will become a parking lot for the new headquarters at 1801 Cameron Glen Dr.

The new, 35,000-square-foot building is the first for the Town Center North area. Longterm plans nearby including housing, hotels, a town green, a recreation center, along with a new public library and Embry Rucker Community Shelter.

Fairfax County Executive Ed Long says there will be a $49.1 million carryover from the 2015 county budget.

Carryover is the process by which certain unspent or unencumbered funds for commitments to pay for goods and services at the end of one fiscal year are re-appropriated to the next fiscal year, the county says. FY 2015 ended on June 30.

Long is recommending that $13 million of the funds be given to the Fairfax County Public Schools for infrastructure needs and building turf fields. FCPS superintendent Karen Garza has warned that the school system’s budget gap for 2016-17 may be as large as $100 million.

Long has recommended that the total carryover be allocated this way:

$6.16 million to be held in reserve to address critical county one-time requirements and funding needs.

$40.75 million to be allocated in the carryover package as follows: $19.28 million for critical requirements, including a $13.1 million transfer to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) for infrastructure needs (per the Board of Supervisors budget guidance approved on April 21) and $1.5 million transfer for turf field installation at FCPS high schools.

$17.81 million for funding county reserves and infrastructure needs.

$3.66 million for funding other requirements such as addressing critical mental health issues and waiting lists for the School Age Child Care (SACC) program.

To see a full breakdown of budget numbers, expenditures and the carryover, see this document on the Fairfax County website.

There will be upcoming committee meetings and public hearings on the carryover.

Sept. 11  — the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee meeting will discuss recommended allocations, as well as the process and schedule for the lines of business review to be conducted by every county agency in preparation for the FY 2017 Budget.

Sept. 22 — Next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Supervisors will include public hearings on the carryover recommendations and a vote on the FY 2015 Carryover Budget Package.

November – Annual budget forecast (FY 2017) presentation by the county executive and FCPS superintendent to a joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors and the School Board.

Fairfax County will once again use an archery program to control the deer population in county parks. The program will run from Sept. 12 to Feb. 20.

Want to know more? Attend a meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Fairfax Government Center, 12000 Government Center Pkwy., Conference Rooms 4 & 5.

The Fairfax County Police Department, Fairfax County Park Authority and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, all oversee the program. Archery groups are permitted to conduct deer management at their assigned site Monday through Saturday during the Archery Program Season. Legal hunting hours in Virginia are 30 minutes prior to sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset. Sunday hunting is not allowed in the parks.

The archery program began in 2010 and is part of an integrated Deer Management Program to reduce and stabilize the white-tailed deer population in Fairfax County, the county said. Reducing the population is part of an effort to minimize safety and health hazards related an overabundance of deer, county officials say.

Some of the hazards: thousands of deer-vehicle collisions, potential spread of diseases, and environmental damage attributed to deer that can impact the entire ecosystem. The program was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2000 and is recognized as a safe and efficient method of deer population control by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Reston Association has also allowed deer hunting on homeowners’ property in a case-by-case basis.

More details from the county:

• Archery participants are required to meet state safety requirements and must pass qualifications to demonstrate skill and marksmanship, in addition to carrying program identification.
• All archers participating in the program must pass a criminal background check.
• Florescent orange and yellow signs are posted wherever managed hunting activity takes place. Archers must stay 100 feet from property lines and 50 feet from established park trails.

County authorities say there have been no injuries since the program began five years ago.

To see areas in and near Reston where deer hunting will occur, see this Fairfax County Archery Program information page.

Fairfax County officials said the recent 2015 World Police & Fire Games brought more than $83.85 million in economic benefits to the area.

The estimate exceeds the $50 million economic benefit the organizers predicted just before the Games. The biennial event ran here from June 26 to July 5.

Barry Biggar, president of the Fairfax County Convention and Visitors Corporation, told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at a meeting Tuesday the figures are conservative and do not include spending by 3,500 volunteers, who received 17,000 complimentary meals but likely spent some of their own money, or overnight stays by from participants Virginia, Maryland and D.C.

Figures are based on Fairfax County’s 6-percent hotel-occupancy and sales-tax rates, he said.

Figures are not available yet on a location-by-location basis and will be tough to calculate, officials said. Reston likely saw a good portion of spending because the Athletes Village was headquartered at Reston Town Center, drawing athletes and their families to visit Reston and spend money here. There were also several athletic events in Reston.

There were 10,000 participants in the Games and about 2,000 of those athletes were local, organizers said. The Games featured competition at 52 venues, most of which were in Fairfax County. The Games were marred by a sad incident, when a Brazilian police inspector was fatally injured in a bike race.

Biggar said that based on the police games success, Fairfax will now pursue the 2019 National Senior Games. The 2017 Police Games will be held in Montreal.

The Supervisors said they were pleased with Fairfax being shown in a positive light at the event.

Photo: Canadian soccer players at Reston Town Center

Reston organizations appealing a recent decision about the future of Reston National Golf Course will have a day in court this fall.

Reston Association, Fairfax County and advocacy group Rescue Reston, all of whom are appealing the 2015 Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) ruling on Reston National, will have a hearing on motions for summary judgment to reverse the decision in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County on Oct. 23.

The BZA ruled in April (following a January hearing) that golf course owner RN Golf Management would not need a zoning change in order to redevelop the 166-acre golf course from open and recreational space to residential.

That leaves open the possibility that residential development could occur at the course at Sunrise Valley Drive and Colts Neck Road. That would affect golfers, of course, but also hundreds of homeowners who purchased nearby because of golf course views and nearby open space.

“We’re very pleased that our evidence will be heard at the Circuit Court level,” said Rescue Reston’s Connie Hartke. “A few weeks ago, RN Golf’s attorney tried to get this dismissed, saying that Reston Association and the petitioners who live around the golf course had no standing.”

“It is time to step up and help financially so that we can send our strongest message ever to the investor-owner, Northwestern Mutual (NWM), that it is time to STOP.”

The future of the golf course has been a matter of community and legal discussion since summer 2012. That’s when Fairfax County’s Zoning, responding to an inquiry from RN Golf, told the golf course owners that the space is recreational and developing it would require a comprehensive plan amendment.

After several years of delays and continuances by RN Golf Management, the company’s appeal was finally heard in a six-hour hearing in January. There has never been a redevelopment plan filed or made public by the golf course owners.

In the BZA’a April decision, board member Paul Hammack’s motion that “we overrule the zoning administrator to the extent she says a comprehensive plan amendment is a precondition [to development]” was unanimously approved.

Rescue Reston board member David Burns said at that time that the BZA ignored the law and rights of thousands of people in Reston.

“We believe the BZA has ignored not only the law and the property rights of the thousands who own property adjacent to the golf course, ” he said. “But also the will of the more than 6,000 supporters of Rescue Reston, and the thousands more members of the Reston Association, who respect the Reston Master Plan and oppose development of the golf course.”

A January county staff report also upheld the 2012 ruling.

Reston Association’s Board voted in May to also appeal the BZA ruling.

“The decision reflects RA’s position that any redevelopment of PRC zoned land within Reston, including the Reston National Golf Course, must be reviewed and compared to the existing zoning development plans, and any proffers or conditions attached to the development plans,” RA said in a statement at the time. Read More

Fairfax County Animal Control officials are urging area residents to take extra care if leaving their pets out unattended after a dog was attacked by wildlife — possibly a bear — in the Great Falls area this week.

A veterinarian who was treating the dog for its wounds called Fairfax County personnel on Tuesday to report that the dog sustained injury while he was in the the 100 block of River Park Lane near the Potomac River as a result of an encounter with wildlife at some point on Sunday evening, Fairfax County Animal Control said.

“Without a witness, it is hard to say exactly what happened to cause the dog’s injury, but in an abundance of caution, animal control and wildlife management personnel remind residents to keep their pets contained to their property and monitor their time outdoors,” Katherine Edwards, Certified Wildlife Biologist for Fairfax County, said in a statement.

Trail cameras are being set up Thursday in wooded areas near the River Park Lane incident. Footage will be monitored for any unusual wildlife activity taking place in the area, officials said.

“Fairfax County does not have record of any similar incidents but there are cases where injuries resulted from dogs attacking other dogs and those were erroneously attributed to wildlife,” Edwards said.

Black bears are not typically aggressive and will retreat when encountered, animal control says. There have been a handful of local sightings in the Great Falls/McLean area this spring and summer.

Overall, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has received 12 bear sighting reports this spring. The most recent was Wednesday in the Chantilly area.

Most bears are attracted to property because of an available food source.

Tips to minimize interactions with bears and other wildlife include:

• Keep a respectful distance
• Making sure to secure your trash or contain it in an animal-proof dumpster
• Do not leave pet food outside
• Take down your birdfeeder for 3-4 weeks after a bear visits
• Leash walk pets and do not leave them unattended outsideIf you see a bear or have any questions, contact the Virginia Wildlife Conflict Hotline at (855) 571-9003.

Photo: Dog injured by wildlife/Credit: Fairfax County

Get a taste of Fairfax County’s former agricultural spirit when the 67th Annual Fairfax County 4H Fair and Carnival opens at Herndon’s Frying Pan Park July 30.

The fair celebrates traditional farm skills and tradition with events like a cow milking contest, a tractor pull, and competitions on everything from rabbit raising to vegetable growing.

Here is what you need to know:

Admission is free. Carnival rides require tickets.

Thursday, July 30

Carnival and fair open at 10 a.m. Gonzo’s Nose plays a concert at 7:30 p.m. Free parking.

Friday, July 31

Carnival and fair open at 10 a.m. Highlight: Big Truck Night at 6:30 p.m. Free parking.

Saturday, Aug. 1

4H Exhibits open at 9 a.m. Carnival begins at 11 a.m. Highlights: Robotics Showcase; Dog Shows; Tractor Pull at 4 p.m. Parking is $7.

Sunday, Aug. 2

4H Exhibits open at 9 a.m. Carnival begins at 11 a.m. Highlights: Sheep, Beef Cattle, Dairy Cattle, and Dairy Goat Shows; Stage Entertainment; Robotics Showcase; Dog Demonstrations. Parking is $7.

To see full lineup of activities or to enter a competition, visit the Fairfax County website.

Photo: Riding competition at 4H Fair/Courtesy Fairfax County