A plan to provide extra lighting on the Reston Association paths near Hunters Woods Village Center is going to cost much more than originally anticipated, RA CEO Cate Fulkerson says.

RA has been talking about adding additional lighting on the paths for more than a year in the hopes that it would deter loitering, graffiti and crime. The association budgeted about $125,000 for the project.

However, the lighting has not been installed after new estimates show RA’s portion would be closer to $190,000, according to RA’s carryover budget for 2015.

Fulkerson said that RA is hoping Edens, the owners of the village center, would help share the new and hefty cost.

“The actual total cost is closer to $300,000,” Fulkerson said in an email. “We have not installed pathway lighting in many years, and the original estimate used in building the 2014/2015 Capital Budgets did not account for expenses related to Dominion Power’s engineering and equipment costs, which have increased considerably since the last time the Association installed pathways lighting.”

Fulkerson said RA is working on several ways to offset the costs.

“We continue to work with Edens to obtain their support in covering the costs associated with the installation,” she said. “In addition, we are exploring available grant opportunities to assist with or offset the cost.”

The $124,916 set aside for the project will carry over into next year. In total, RA will carryover $961,830 for the Hunters Woods lighting project, as well as a Fannie Mae pathway extension, Twin Branches connector and the South Lakes pathway connector. RA says the latter are in varying stages of completion.

Other carryovers include:

• $184,962 for grading at Brown’s Chapel ball fields
• $500,000 for Lake Anne Dam upgrades (delayed until 2016)
• $135,000 for an outreach management project
• $26,710 for renovations or replacement of the Pony Barn

Chinito’s Burritos, a D.C.-based Chinese-Mexican fusion restaurant, says it won’t open at Reston’s Hunters Woods Village Center any time soon.

Store manager Rudy Warren says the company filed Fairfax County permits earlier this year to build out new space at 2304 Hunters Woods Plaza, but had to halt the plans when funding for the project fell through.

Warren also said the county permitting process was taking eight months, which hurt the business.

Chinito’s has an existing location on Florida Avenue NE in Washington, DC. It gets high marks on Yelp for its homemade egg rolls, signature hot sauce and fresh guacamole.

Also at Hunters Woods, Dairy Queen has abruptly closed its doors.

Photo: Chinito’s D.C. Location/Credit: Yelp

Dairy Queen at Hunters Woods Village Center has closed its doors.

The store at 2254 Hunters Woods Plaza first appeared closed on Friday. By Sunday, all products were swept from the store’s freezers and counter and the blinds were shut, so it appears the store is closed for good.

The owners could not be reached and the store’s phone is out of order. The franchise operation of the national chain had been located at Hunters Woods for many years.

The store’s departure leaves several vacancies in the same stretch at Hunters Woods. Two doors down, Solar Planet Tanning Studio went out of business last month. The space formerly housing At Play Cafe has been vacant since 2011.

Solar Planet Tanning Salon, located at Hunters Woods Village Center since 1999, will be closing on Tuesday.

Owner Karen Brutsche said in an email to customers that the shop will close Aug. 19 at 9 p.m. Customers who have purchased tanning packages and other deals will have their purchases and points honored at Palm Beach Tan, 625 Post Dr. in Herndon (703-668-0340).

She said she failed to reach a new lease deal with Edens, the company that owns the shopping center.

“We opened the Reston shop in the International Center in 1983 and have been in our current location since 1999,”Brutsche wrote. “After 32 years, I decided that I could not sign another five-year lease. As our lease was nearing an end, I talked to our landlord about the possibility of a month-to-month lease. They seemed agreeable and knowing there were other empty spaces, I thought that we would be able to remain for a while without a five-year commitment.

“Unfortunately, they found a new tenant. I have to be out by the end of August. This was much sooner than I had anticipated and I apologize to you that I’m not giving you more notice.”

Photo: Solar Planet’s front desk/Credit: Solar Planet

The small storefront that used to house Lady of America Fitness Center at Hunters Woods Village Center has been vacant since October.

The space, at 2254 Hunters Woods Plaza, is next to the Reston Conservatory Ballet and across from the Reston Community Center. It is somewhat hidden from the rest of the center’s retail since it does not face the parking lot.

The gym had been located at Hunters Woods for 13 years. It closed when it could not reach lease terms with Edens, which owns the village center.

What do you think should go into this spot? Tell us in the comments.

If you see something, say something.

That’s the message Fairfax County Police, Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, and officials from Cornerstones, Reston Association and Reston Community Center want to get across to residents who live near Hunters Woods Village Center.

Those organizations have been meeting with Hunters Woods businesses since last summer in an effort to make the neighborhood safer — or at least more appealing. On Wednesday, they met with citizens to hear their concerns and communicate plans to make the village center safer.

“What we found when we began addressing issues is it is a lot about perception,” said Katy DeFoe, crime prevention specialist for Fairfax County Police’s Reston District Station. “What we heard was a lot of things are happening, but there are not a lot of calls for service.

“We will come if you call us,” she told the citizens at a forum at Reston Community Center Hunters Woods on Wednesday. “Call the police non emergency number (703-691-2131). What should you report? Anything out of the ordinary. A group of people standing outside store? Call us. If someone approached you and asked for money, call us we will check it out. Think someone stole something? Call us.”

Fairfax County Police stats show that in the last 12 months, 36,114 major crimes have been reported countywide. In area 530, where Hunters Woods is located, there have been 129.

At Hunters Woods Village Center itself, 45 larcenies, four robberies, eight assaults and three drug violations were reported, DeFoe said. There are also dozens of “nuisance crimes” such as public intoxication, panhandling, and public urination, she said.

Police said they will be increasing their presence this spring with bike patrols and extra patrols on the Reston Association paths near the plaza. Safeway and Edens, the owner of the shopping center, will also maintain a “no trespassing” list of people who have caused trouble. RA is planning to install extra lighting on the paths by the end of the summer, says Larry Butler, Parks and Recreation Director.

“We know there is an issue, said Ken Bain, assistant commander of the Reston District Station.  “We were hammered here last summer. We won’t let that happen again this summer. We have a commitment to this area. We are not going to let it decline any further.”

Still, Hunters Woods residents — many of whom are elderly and live at the nearby Hunters Woods Fellowship House — are scared.

One Fellowship House resident said she witnessed a drug arrest on the plaza Wednesday morning.

“Four police cars were here,” she said. “The one person you did not get — the leader, the mule — was sitting in the lobby [of RCC] when we came in. They live in the trees over there. We have to get to Safeway somehow. When you have an entire building of senior citizens who do not have the strength to fight back, we are concerned how we are going to get around.”

DeFoe said the person committing the crime was charged and taken to jail. The others nearby were not committing a crime, she said.

“Truly, one person was causing a problem,” she said. “The other individuals were not doing anything of a similar nature. … Just because they were hanging out in the woods, they were not committing a crime.”

Another Fellowship House resident said she was concerned about the homeless allowed to camp out on the grounds of the Christ the Servant Lutheran Church on the plaza.

“Can they sleep inside?” the resident asked. “There would be less issues.”

DeFoe said the crimes are generally not committed by the homeless people. Carl said the three men who live in tents behind the church have lived on church property for more than a year without an issue. They were sleeping in the HVAC enclosure until about five weeks ago, when county fire officials said that was a hazard.

“Our goals for these three individuals is … to get them into homes,” Carl said. “If any are causing a threat to anyone we need to deal with that appropriately.”

There will be an additional community forum at 2 p.m. Saturday at Christ the Servant Church, 2320 Hunters Woods Plaza.

Mathnasium, a math tutoring franchise, has filed permits to open a location at Hunters Woods Village Center.

The chain has 13 other locations in Northern Virginia, including one in Herndon.

Mathnasium offers math help for students in elementary school through high school.

Permits for interior alterations at 2260 Hunters Woods Plaza were filed last week. In August, Reston Tailoring vacated its storefront at Hunters Woods after 30 years at that location when it could not reach lease terms with plaza management. Reston Tailoring moved to Lake Anne Plaza.

No opening date for Mathnasium has been set.

 

If you have visited Hunters Woods Village Center this week, you probably noticed machinery and other excavation tools, as well as overturned concrete and dirt, in the plaza area between Dairy Queen and the Reston Community Center.

It’s just concrete being re-worked as part of Hunters Woods renovation, says Reston Community Center Executive Director Leila Gordon. Nothing is being built there and the area will remain a parklike setting, she said.

The shopping center has been undergoing renovation for more than a year, with facade improvements and a parking lot reconfiguration.

When the one side of the plaza area is finished, the same will be done to the other side, between Ledo Pizza and RCC, said Gordon.

Noticed something in Reston and have a question? We can help you find the answer. Send it to [email protected] for a future “What’s Up With That?”