Sycamore Trees Spark Concerns in Reston — ‘Two Reston sycamore trees at Lake Anne Village Center appear to be a concern to certain people, but for three different reasons. Their unease involves Reston’s flagship characteristics, its tree canopy, lakes, and public art. Apparent consternation for some residents at Heron House is that the sycamores block lake views.’ [The Connection]

Local Couple Helps Families Virtually Monitor Babies — A Northern Virginia couple is helping families see newborns who are in intensive care at local hospitals. The couple has offered to install cameras on incubators or cribs of infants. [WJLA]

Local Exhibition Reviewed — ‘Thoughtfully selected by former Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) curator Lily Siegel, the two concurrent presentations jointly amounted to Dryer’s first comprehensive survey in nearly twenty years, uniting thirty-four artworks in all: twenty-two paintings and sculptures at the Phillips Collection, twelve paintings and works on paper at GRACE.’ [Artforum]

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr

The county is considering a plan to establish an economic incentive program for Lake Anne Village Center and other areas with limited development activity and dipping competitiveness.

The Economic Incentive Program, if approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, would incentivize parcel consolidation by reducing site plan fees by 10 percent and offering real estate tax abatement for up to 10 years.

It is designed to target areas with limited development activity, declining competitiveness and outdated land development and architectural designs, according to county documents. Projects must be limited to commercial, industrial, multi-family or mind use development. Additionally, up to 20 percent of existing development can be retained or repurposed.

Preliminarily, the board has identified several areas for revitalization for the following locations:

• Annandale
• Seven Corners
• Lincoln
• McLean
• Richmond Highway, Huntington
• Springfield

Lake Anne Village Center’s 41-acre Community Revitalization Area (CRA) is primarily focused on the plaza, which was the first area developed in Reston. Efforts to revitalize the plaza have been on the table for several years. The county designated the village center as a CRA in 1998 in order to stimulate reinvestment and development. Currently, roughly 22 percent of the village center is covered by surface parking, which needs repairs.

A public hearing is tentatively set for Sept. 15. If approved, the county will begin meeting with applicants to discuss potential projects. An executive outreach and education campaign about the program is also planned.

The board’s Economic Initiatives Committee is set to discuss the plan at a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11 a.m.

File photo

Update: Kunicki has been found and is safe, according to police.

Local police are searching for a woman who was last seen in the 14000 block of North Point Village Center.

Maggie Kunicki, 49, was last seen on Saturday,  Feb. 22. The Fairfax County Police Department issued the following description for Kunicki:

“She is 5’7″, 145lbs, green eyes, bro hair, white long sleeve shirt and dark pants. Endangered due to mental and/or physical health conditions,” police said.

Anyone with information should call 703-691-2131.

Photo via Fairfax County Police Department

Reston will participate in an upcoming statewide survey to identify the community’s cultural and historic resources.

The program — which is called the Virginia Department of Historic Resources’ Survey —  is intended to identify the cultural and historical traits of local buildings built from 1961 to 1978 in order to add them to the National Register of Historic Places and Inventory of Historic Sites, according to Fairfax County.

The process will begin with a meeting on Dec. 17 at the Reston Community Center Lake Anne (1609-N Washington Plaza) around 7 p.m. Anyone is welcome to attend this public meeting.

The survey will exclude the Lake Anne Village Center since it was already listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2017.

When the project is completed, findings are expected to include a map and photos of all the buildings surveyed.

Photo via Fairfax County

Readers of Virginia Living magazine named the Reston Farmers Market the best farmers market in Northern Virginia.

The selection was made from the magazine’s annual readers’ survey in January and also covered categories like best in arts, culture and entertainment; living and recreation; shopping; services; and food and drink.

The market, which is operated by the Fairfax County Park Authority, is open from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays through Dec. 7 at Lake Anne Village Center. It is one of 10 producer-only farmers markets run by FCPA.

The magazine wrote the following about the market:

 “Market managers John and Fran Lovaas and Keith Strange manage the volunteers who keep the Fairfax County farmers’ market going. All products are strictly producer-only; vendors may only sell what they raise or make from scratch. These truly local vendors travel an average of just 50 miles to the market.”

Photo by John Lovaas

Now that spring has finally arrived, warmer weather will invite locals outside to mill around Reston’s many shopping areas.

While Reston has an abundance of stores at Plaza America, Reston Town Center and the Spectrum, one of Reston’s unique design elements lies in its mix of residential and retail at its five village centers.

The first one — the Lake Anne Village Center — looks almost the same today as it did in 1976.

Many of the other village centers, though, are undergoing transformations, including South Lakes and Tall Oaks.

The Hunters Woods Village Center, which saw most of its original buildings demolished and replaced with more modern retail in the 1990s, is on a 2017 list of potential spots for new residential development put together by the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning.

Meanwhile, North Point Village Center has seen retailers and businesses leave and open. Most recently, a Thai restaurant opened at the village center.

Reston Now wants to know if there is a certain village center you frequently visit or really love going to.

Photo via Courtlyn McHale/Flickr

Updated at 4:45 p.m. — Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins is expected to “indefinitely defer” the decision tomorrow, according to emails obtained by Reston Now. A reason was not given.

Updated at 4:30 p.m. — A public hearing on a Reston PRC zoning ordinance that was slated for tomorrow will not be held, a Fairfax County staffer told Reston Now. 

Earlier: The agenda for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ meeting tomorrow (March 5) just got lighter now that it doesn’t plan to hold a public hearing on a hotly debated issue among Restonians.

The public hearing, which was scheduled to take place after 4:30 p.m. and be the last item on the agenda, will not be happening, a Fairfax County staffer told Reston Now. The staffer was not aware of the reason.

Back in February, Fairfax County’s Planning Commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors deny the specific proposal, which would have increased the maximum allowed population per acre in the Planned Residential Community (PRC) district — Reston’s primary zoning district — in certain areas.

The board is set to authorize advertisements of a public hearing for an ordinance that would establish Economic Revitalization and Redevelopment Zones (ERRZs) throughout the county.

The zones stem from a bill passed by the General Assembly in 2017 that “provides for regulatory flexibility and financial incentives to encourage the private sector to assemble property for economic development purposes,” according to county documents.

The proposed amendment would offer expedited processing of development applications and other regulatory and economic incentives to private sector developers.

The commercial revitalization area of the Lake Anne Village Center would be one of the zones established, along with others including McLean and Springfield, Baileys Crossroads and more.

Photo via Fairfax County Government/Facebook

An architect behind Reston’s design died on Nov. 22 — William J. Conklin, who died at the age of 95, helped design the core of Lake Anne Village Center. He also worked on projects in New York, D.C. and Baltimore. [The New York Times]

Nose to toes yoga — Young kids can try out yoga poses movement while enjoying book and songs with a children’s yoga instructor from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. at the Reston Regional Library. The event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Reston Regional Library. [Reston Regional Library]

Town of Herndon employees honored last week — The town’s annual employee luncheon on Thursday (Dec. 13) honored John Johnson and Dave Higgins from the Department of Public Works, Jessica Bynaker from Information Technology and Erika Rodriguez from the Herndon Police Department, along with the Department of Finance. [Town of Herndon]

Reston resident sentenced to 30 years for rape — Joseph Coffinberger, a 33-year-old from Reston, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping a 13-year-old boy, according to the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office. [WBFF Fox45]

A farmers market is coming to Reston Town Center starting tomorrow (September 11) through September October 23. Every week, the market will be located at the pavilion, with the exception of October 9, when it will be located at Town Square Park.

Items available for purchase include produce, kettle corn, pastries, meats, salsa, honey, and smoothies. The hours of the market are between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Other area farmers markets will remain open through early December. The market at Lake Anne is open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon through December 1 at Lake Anne Plaza.

The Reston Farm Market (10800 Baron Cameron Avenue) is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. A fall festival, which will include face painting, a petting zoo, a train raid, balloons and a petting zoo, is set for Saturday, September 22 to celebrate the market’s anniversary.

Photo via Reston Town Center

Mark your calendars: Chalk on the Water, the fifth annual street-art festival, returns to Lake Anne Village Center in early June.

Hosted by Public Art Reston, the two-day festival challenges artists to create chalk drawings on Lake Anne’s Washington Plaza. This year’s event will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 9 and 10.

Artists can register in three categories, including professional artists, amateur artists, and families and kids. Participants have a chance to earn a prize. Face painter Becky Nelson will be on-site to paint faces and snow cones and popcorn will be available for purchase by Reston Association.

Last year’s festival sold-out for the first time. Organizers expect a high turnout this year as well.

“It’s a challenge to come up with a compelling drawing for the event, and a little intimidating to draw in public, but it’s always worth the effort. It’s also fun watching the reactions of people walking by, especially kids, and hearing their comments about the drawings,” said Bruce Wright, last year’s winner in the amateur category.

Online registration is open and closes on June 8 at 5 p.m. Participants can also register on-site on the day of the event. Fees range from $10 to $20 depending on the category.

Volunteers are needed for a variety of tasks. For more information, contact [email protected].

Sponsors include Lake Anne Coffee House & Wine Bar and Reston Association Camps.

Photo via Facebook

The county has formally accepted redevelopment plans for Lake Anne Fellowship House, an affordable housing senior community on North Shore Drive.

Fellowship Square Foundation and the Community Preservation and Development Corporation envision the proposal will enhance senior housing residential opportunities, diversity housing types and revitalize Lake Anne Village Center.

“All existing affordable housing units will be replaced in a new, more efficient modern building with better amenities to serve its senior population. This proposal remains true to Robert E. Simon’s vision to provide communities comprised of a diverse residential population in a sustainable environment,” according to a proposal filed with the county last month.

The new plans call for replacing all 240 apartment units in the existing 1970s-era facility. Amenities include a social hall, crafts room, fitness room, wellness center, a game room, two plazas and community gardens.

The remainder of the property will include up to 74 townhouses, diversifying the types of housing and serving as a transition to the established townhouse community to the west, the proposal said.  Townhouses will have garages and surface parking for visitors.

New residents will access the buildings through North Shore Drive. Surface parking and an underground parking garage will offer 92 parking spaces.

Residents would remain in their current living space until the new facility is complete, and after they are transferred the old buildings would be destroyed. The portion of the property left unused would be sold for residential development, and the proceeds from the sale would help support the cost of the project.

The collaboration between Fellowship Square and CPDC comes after several years of on-again, off-again plans for redevelopment of the property. Most recently, in 2013, the foundation had an agreement with Cafritz Interests and Novus Development for new housing on the site. That effort fell through by September 2014, which the foundation said was “due to our inability to advance our land use proposal in a manner that will produce the best possible outcome for our residents.”

For more information, visit www.fellowshipsquare.org or www.cpdc.org.

Renderings via Handout/Grimm and Parker

Restonians know how historic Lake Anne Plaza is.

Now, that historic significance has been made official by the National Park Service, as the Lake Anne Village Center Historic District has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Lake Anne Village Center, the first village of the planned community of Reston, was constructed between 1963 and 1967. According to a press release from the Reston Historic Trust and Museum:

[Lake Anne Village Center] is considered to be nationally significant in the areas of both social history and architecture.

As the first village of the planned community of Reston, Virginia, it is part of the nation’s first zoned planned unit community. Additionally, it is socially significant because it articulates its founder’s seven goals, as well as Mr. [Bob] Simon’s insistence on an integrated community in the Commonwealth of Virginia prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Lake Anne Village Center’s influences derive from the English Garden City movement, as well as European plazas and the townhouses of urban areas of the northeastern United States. The complex, designed by the New York architectural firm of Conklin Rossant, features Brutalist-influenced architecture tempered by its human scale and medieval elements. For its era, the complex presented a shockingly modern design in a Northern Virginia dominated by single-family Colonial Revival homes.

Lake Anne Village Center showcased the new town movement, with social, architectural and land-use development innovations — elements internationally recognized today for influencing subsequent planned developments in the U.S. and around the world.

Lake Anne Village Center was named a Fairfax County Historic District in 1983. In March, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources included the Lake Anne Village Center Historic District in the Virginia Landmarks Register.

The American Institute of Certified Planners celebrated Lake Anne Village Center’s status as the nation’s first Planned Unit Community zone in 2002, when it designated Simon a “Planning Pioneer.”

[Simon] introduced urban living to the American suburban countryside at Lake Anne Village Center, created the nation’s first Planned Unit Community zone, and founded a community of international renown dedicated to social openness, citizen participation, and the dignity of the individual.

Elizabeth Didiano, executive director of the Reston Historic Trust and Museum, said the new federal designation will “bring awareness to the property’s significance and encourage property owners to preserve their property through historically sensitive improvements.”

“Property owners within the historic district may also qualify for Federal or Virginia Rehabilitation Tax Credits (RTC) through the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for substantial improvements to the exterior of their buildings,” Didiano said.

She said the federal listing will not provide any further restrictions on property owners to use private funds for development.

Images courtesy Reston Historic Trust and Museum

(This article was edited on Jan. 31 at 1:45 p.m. to better contextualize a statement made by CEO Cate Fulkerson.)

No public hearing on the proposed Lake Anne dock project was agreed upon by Reston Association Board of Directors at its meeting last week, following spirited discussion about the plan.

Bridget Hill of the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization addressed the board with a number of ideas for the future of the Lake Anne Village Center, which were the results of a 2015 community charrette. Ideas ranged from enhanced lighting and concrete pavers to the addition of kiosks or even a floating restaurant.

Garrett Skinner, RA’s new director for capital improvements, made his suggestion to the board — to proceed with a direct replacement of the dock and set a public hearing for community input on the future phase of the project.

Multiple board members took umbrage with the second part of that recommendation. Director Lucinda Shannon said she could not understand why discussion of another potential capital improvement plan would be scheduled while others have already been placed on hold.

“Let’s take care of what we already have, and not keep adding more,” Shannon said.

Shannon was referring to the Pony Barn and Central Services projects, which are both on hold until the review of the Lake House project is complete.

CEO Cate Fulkerson said the board was approached by representatives of the Lake Anne Merchants Association and Lake Anne of Reston Condominium Association regarding the project.

“We wanted to make sure the board had an opportunity to learn about the charrette and have a public input session before you decided what you wanted to do,” she said. “We’re going to move ahead with the other piece, because it’s really important to maintain what we have, but this was a community request.”

Direct replacement of the existing dock, which RA Parks and Recreation Director Larry Butler said has had no major refurbishment in about 20 years, is scheduled to cost about $400,000. Those funds have already been allocated. Additional changes would require review by RA’s Design Review Board and Fairfax County’s Architectural Review Board, which considers changes to Historic Overlay Districts such as Lake Anne Plaza.

When Eve Thompson, the board’s secretary, joined the conversation, Shannon cut her off by saying she has a “serious conflict of interests” regarding the project. Thompson and her husband are Lake Anne residents and own the Lake Anne Coffee House. Board President Ellen Graves asked Shannon to “be respectful” of her fellow directors.

“The fact that I own a coffee house and an apartment, I don’t believe is a conflict,” Thompson said. “I’m a community member who has an opinion about the dock.”

Thompson asked the board why they would not consider the opportunity of improving a facility when it arises, as they would with a baseball park.

“[Do we replace an amenity] exactly as it is, or do you look at it and say, ‘Let’s improve it?'” she said.

Fulkerson said the issue was being brought to the board’s attention only so they could learn about the ideas on the table and determine what they want to do going forward.

“I want to be respectful of the fact that you’ve had a member request,” Fulkerson said. “We just need to know what to do next. That’s why we’re here.”

Director Ray Wedell said it was “crazy” that the board was spending so much time talking about the project at its January meeting. He said with as many as four new directors arriving in this year’s election, it would make more sense to allow the new board to make such a decision.

“This is an important project, and I’m not going to rush in and say, ‘This is going to look cool,’ and ‘Wow, wouldn’t Lake Anne look neat?'” he said. “I don’t know why we’re spending time putting an agenda together that goes till midnight on stuff we don’t have to deal with right now.”

No motion was made on advancing the project.

Timeline chart via Reston Association

Has your pet joined the raw food movement?

PetMAC at Lake Anne Plaza is inviting you to try — and possibly win a year’s supply of raw pet food.

The pet store is participating in the National Raw Pet Food Challenge.The challenge asks contestants who have never fed their pet raw food before to feed them raw food for 30 days as their main source of nutrition.

That means no grains, no kibble, nothing with any chemical preservatives or that is highly processed. At the end of the 30 day period, contestants will submit a video detailing how Raw Food affected the health of their pet during the challenge, says PetMAC owner Cindy Williams.

The winner will be chosen at random from all the videos to receive a FREE year’s supply of Answers Pet Food, up to a $2,000 value.

All contestants will receive a 25 percent discount off Answers Pet Food, Raw Goat’s Milk and Fish Stock at PetMAC Lake Anne for the duration of the contest, said Williams.

The goal of this contest is to educate pet owners about the health benefits of a natural pet diet and to increase the lifespan and health of our pets, she said.

“Processed foods have created an obesity crisis for our pets,” said Williams. “By getting our pets back to basics and feeding them what they are naturally designed to eat, we hope to reverse the damage caused by highly-processed, inferior-quality foods that permeate the pet food industry.”

Williams said that benefits to a raw diet include improved digestion, healthier skin and coat with less shedding, reduced allergy symptoms, and better weight control, among others.

Want to enter? Sign no later than Aug. 7 at the store at 11412 Washington Plaza West or contact [email protected].

Classic Reston is a biweekly feature sponsored by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce that highlights businesses, places and people with deep roots in Reston.

As Fairfax County planners begin to re-evaluate — and possibly re-imagine Reston’s village centers — they may look to what did and did not work with the original plans for the new town.

Reston founder Robert E. Simon envisioned Reston with seven European-style village centers where residents could gather, kids could play and shops could do business. In the mid-1960s, as America’s suburban car culture was building and strip malls and indoor malls were flourishing, Simon’s idea of a central plaza was unique.

And so in the mid-1960s, Lake Anne Village Center was born, followed by Hunters Woods Village Center in 1972. Later village centers in Reston followed a more traditional strip-mall footprint, but they may be rearranged in the future depending on the outcome of this latest comprehensive plan amendment.

Simon, who at age 100 lives in Heron House overlooking Lake Anne Plaza, still believes that village centers should be the hallmark of Reston. He says that the Reston Master Plan Phase II is a crucial time for Reston’s future and he would like to see

“The village centers are my chief passion, of course,” says Simon. “The reason for the incredible reception (of Reston) when it was built was because of the plazas. I would like to see all the village centers look like Lake Anne, with plazas surrounded by density. Density IS coming to Lake Anne now.”

Simon is referring to Lake Anne Development Partners’ revitalization plan, chosen by the county in 2013, that will bring 60,000 square feet of new retail space, up to 82,500 square feet of office space, and 1,037 residential units near the plaza. The plaza itself will not be altered as it has a historic preservation designation. However, it is expected that the interior of the plaza will see a boost (and some cosmetic work) as more retail and residential is built around it.

The redevelopment is expected to get underway in mid-2015. It will take about 10 years to phase in all developments, Republic officials said.

Republic’s plan was selected by the county after years of studies, discussions and charrettes on ways to revitalize Lake Anne. Lake Anne was once home to a supermarket, a library, a child care center, a coffee house and other retail necessities. But though the lakefront setting was attractive, as the years went on, it proved difficult to get many Restonians out of their cars and running errands by foot.

It was a similar story at Hunters Woods, minus the lake views. The original Hunters Woods Village Center was designed “oriented towards people not automobiles,” according to an early marketing brochure. Some of the more stable tenants over the first 10 years: Drug Fair, Safeway and Baskin-Robbins. Others that came and went: Bangkok West, Big Daddy’s restaurant, La Gazelle, Ryder’s, Pizza Inn, the Seafood Emporium and the Alpenhaus Cafe. Fritzbe’s was a popular restaurant there for 14 years, from 1980 to 1994.

But it did not become the village gathering spot once envisioned. By 1979,  Martha Pennino, Reston’s rep on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said the way the center was built was “simply not conducive to good business. People go to the liquor store and the Safeway, and then leave,” the Washington Post reported.

By 1997, the center had been sold several times and a new plan was submitted to the county. The plan called for tearing down the entire 114,000-square-foot center and building a new one in its place.

The “new” Hunters Woods, now 16 years old, now faces the parking lot. Just like Simon was trying to avoid.

Photo of original Hunters Woods Village Center/Credit: Northern Virginia Digital Archives