The future look of the Crescent Apartments and Lake Anne area is coming into focus.

Lake Anne Development Partners has released dozens of new images in a revitalization plan document. The designs show an expanded plaza, a larger farmers market and a “pedestrian mew” strip of greenery between townhouses.

Fairfax County selected LADP to redevelop the 16-acre site after a yearlong request for proposals process. Overhauling the county-owned Crescent affordable housing complex, rebuilding the farmers market and creating additional office and retail space is slated to take 10 to 12 years, David Peter, president and CEO of LADP’s parent company, Republic Land Development, has said.

Historic designation prevents big changes to the retail and residential components of Lake Anne plaza.

The Reston Association approved a controversial land swap in late 2013, trading an acre of RA’s land at Lake Anne for a parcel along Baron Cameron Avenue, as well as financial incentives and improvements. A parking garage will be built on the site.

LADP will present the designs to the RA’s Design Review Board at 7 p.m. Oct. 21. For the full set of renderings, see LADP’s website.

The 343 Lake Anne homes that are bound by the Reston deed to use RELAC, the aging air-conditioning system, will get another chance at a member referendum early next year.

The Reston Association Board voted at its Thursday meeting to accept the petition of RELAC users who say they want a referendum on the issue and go forward with a referendum on the matter.

RELAC users are bound by the Reston deed to use the system, which was deemed as state-of-the-art and extra quiet when installed in the mid-1960s. RELAC uses water from Lake Anne to cool the air. However, these days it is viewed by many current users as outdated and inefficient.

The referendum would need two-thirds of RELAC townhouse users to vote in favor in order to pass. A 2008 referendum was defeated 130-100.

The petition was signed by 121 residents, many of whom have been working on getting a release from RELAC since last winter.

Current RELAC users are allowed to petition for a medical exemption (for example, if they have bad allergies). The medical exemption was the subject of its own debate among RA’s Board and RELAC users earlier this year.

Homeowners who have been granted the exemption say they have spent $4,000-6,000 on new HVAC systems — which must be disconnected when they sell the home.

The RA Board says it will formulate the referendum question this week. There will be a public hearing on Oct. 6, and the RA Board will have additional public hearings during their meetings on Oct. 23 and Nov. 20.

Ballots will be mailed in early January, with a Jan. 30 voting deadline.

Photo: Lake Anne/File photo

Now that Metro’s Silver Line is open, what else will open around it at Wiehle-Reston East? That will be the subject of a program at Reston Community Center Lake Anne Thursday at 7 p.m.

The Reston Museum and Historic Trust is sponsoring a panel discussion on the future of the Reston Station neighborhood. Panelists include Chuck Veatch (the Charles A. Veatch Co.); Maggie Parker (Comstock Partners); Matt Valentini (The JBG Companies); and Heidi Merkel (Fairfax County Planning & Zoning).

While there are several residential buildings in the works, no retail has yet opened at or close to Wiehle-Reston East.

Comstock is planning to eventually have about 1 million square feet of residential, office, hotel and retail space at Reston Station, which sits on top of the 3,000-space parking garage at Wiehle-Reston East.

So far, only the 10,000-square-foot retail space is completed at Reston Station. No tenants have yet signed to open there, Parker says. Eventually, that space will the lobby of the hotel.

The BLVD Apartments at Reston Station are under construction. The 22-story, 450-unit building is expected to be completed next year.

Later this year or early next year, construction will begin on Veatch’s project, a 421-unit residential building to be constructed on the site of Reston Mini-Storage.

Reston Mini-Storage, at 11405 Sunset Hills Rd., as well as an adjacent commercial strip will close this fall to make way for the new building.

The Reston Station neighborhood is essentially being built from scratch. Up until 2011, the corridor along the Dulles Toll Road was zoned for industrial and commercial use, so no people lived in the neighborhood.

Those restrictions were lifted in order to ensure future development along Sunset Hills Road near Wiehle-Reston East was mixed use, high density and transit oriented.

Photo: BLVD Apartments at Reston Station under construction

The 343 Lake Anne homes that are bound by the Reston deed to use RELAC, the aging air-conditioning system, may be closer to getting released from the mandate.

The Reston Association Board will make a decision this week on accepting the petition of RELAC users and going forward with a referendum on the issue.

The referendum would need two-thirds of RELAC townhouse users to vote in favor in order to pass.

The petition was signed by 121 residents, many of whom have been working on getting a release from RELAC since last winter.

RELAC — which stands for Reston Lake Anne Air Conditioning Corporation — was put in place in some of Reston’s first homes when they were built in the mid-1960s. The system uses Lake Anne water to provide cooling. Touted as state-of-the-art and quiet when it was installed, many homeowners have been complaining for years about its expense and inefficiency.

“Our goal is to make it so people have a choice,” John Hunter, the Washington Plaza Cluster resident who spearheaded the petition effort, said last winter. “If they are happy with RELAC, great. If not happy, then they can get off of it.”

Hunter, who has lived in his home about four years, said he has used the medical exemption to get off of RELAC. He said the system could not reach the third floor of his townhome, where it was routinely 80 degrees in summer. He said he installed an electric heat pump at a cost of more than $6,000, but has heard of others paying as little at $4,000 for a new HVAC. He will still have to put the RELAC ductwork back in place when he sells the house, he said.

Hunter previously said rates vary greatly from home to home. His bill, before he installed the heat pump, was $1,500 for the season. He said homeowners are paying more than 50 percent than they did a few years ago.

If the RA Board goes forward, it will formulate the referendum question early next month. There would be a public hearing on Oct. 6, and the RA Board would have public hearings during their meetings on Oct. 23 and Nov. 20.

Ballots would be mailed in early January, with a Jan. 30 voting deadline.

Reston Association on Thursday voted unanimously to amend the Use and Maintenance Standards Resolution 15 regarding air-conditioning service in Lake Anne neighborhoods that use RELAC.

The amendment allows for Lake Anne residents to apply for a medical exemption to the covenant that requires their property to use the lake water-cooled system. Click here to read the resolution.

About 300 homes are bound by deed to use the RELAC system. Residents of some of the homes that use RELAC users say the system, which was touted as quiet and state-of-the-art in the 1960s, is inefficient and produces mold. Many have added supplementary air conditioning systems to their homes, but the medical exemption for that home expires if the home is sold.

RA has allowed for medical exemptions in the past and had been discussing modifications to that policy since last year.

The board added new language about what constitutes a disability. One of the main changes includes adding a form that must be signed by a physician in order to get a temporary exemption. RA did soften the language on the form at the request of residents.

Meanwhile, the Fairfax County Planning Commission was scheduled to hold a public hearing Wednesday night on the transformation of Reston Town Center’s surface parking lot to a mixed-use development.

That hearing was deferred until June 25.

Developer Boston Properties’ plans for the surface lot at Reston Town Center include two high-rise residential buildings as well as a park with a yoga area, public art and picnic areas. The 6.35-acre site, called Block 4, is currently a 251-space surface parking lot, the only remaining surface lot at Reston Town Center. The lot is currently zoned for up for 250,000 square feet of office space.

According to the county planning staff report, which recommends approval of the project, the 250,000 square feet of office density represents the last remaining non-residential density available under the proffered maximum 3.465 million square feet of non-residential development approved within Reston’s urban core.

Boston Properties is seeking to move the office development to Block 5, where the current FedEx/Kinkos and Ann Taylor are now located, with additional office space above.

The plan calls for turning the three-story retail/office building, part of One Fountain Square, into a 17-story building with 276,788 square feet of office space and 7,800 square feet of ground-floor retail. The building would also have four levels of underground parking.

The Reston Association Board of Directors has called a special meeting for June 12 to revisit who can get an exemption from using RELAC.

RELAC is the much-maligned cooling system powered by lake water and used by about 300 homes in the Lake Anne area. When it was installed in the mid-1960s, it was touted as quiet and environmentally friendly.

But as time went on, the system was found by many customers to be inefficient and mold producing. Furthermore, prices have risen rapidly the last few years, users say.

Homes that have a RELAC system are bound by deed to use it unless owners can show a reason for a medical exemption.

The RA board has been discussing changes to the RELAC policy since last year. It was slated to be revisited by February.

The issue: who should be able to obtain an exemption? Should a person have to prove a medical issue, and should that issue be called a handicap? What documentation must they show? And should that exemption be updated annually or should it be in place, as it currently is now, as long as the homeowner is in the home?

Those ideas were not received well by many RELAC users, who attended the December RA meeting expressing privacy concerns and taking issue with being designated handicapped. That terminology is put in place because fair housing laws state that accommodations must be made for someone with a handicap, said RA attorney Ken Chadwick.

The RELAC issue has led some Lake Anne-area residents to organize a referendum to free them from RELAC. Washington Plaza Cluster resident John Hunter began the process over the winter.

A previous referendum, in 2005, was defeated 130-100.

“Our goal is to make it so people have a choice,” Hunter says. “If they are happy with RELAC, great. If not happy, then they can get off of it.”

Hunter, who has lived in his home about four years, used the medical exemption to get off of RELAC. He said the system could not reach the third floor of his townhome, where it was routinely 80 degrees in summer. He said he installed an electric heat pump at a cost of more than $6,000. He will still have to put the RELAC coil back in place when he sells the house, he said.

To get a change in the covenants, interested RELAC users would have to petition the RA Board of Directors. The board would then pay for a referendum of all RELAC customers. The vote would have to be a two-thirds majority in order for the board to consider the change.

A group of Reston residents who are customers of RELAC, the air conditioning system that is powered by recirculated water  from Lake Anne, are organizing to start a referendum process that would give them more freedom of choice in the matter.

About 300 Lake Anne-area homes are on the RELAC (Reston Lake Anne Air Conditioning Corporation)  system, which has been in place since the mid-1960s.

Reston Association has been discussing an amendment to the Reston covenants declaring that a person who is asking for an exemption from using the aging air conditioning system must show a doctor’s order advising of the “handicap,” information about the handicap (such as medical records), and that order must be updated annually. That rule tightens up the current exemption, in which a medical reason is good for as long as the homeowner lives in the house.

Currently, the RA covenant binds RELAC homes to using the system. Washington Plaza Cluster resident John Hunter says the time may be right for a referendum to alter the covenant.

A previous referendum, in 2008, was defeated 130-100.

“We’ve decided to get the process going again,” said Hunter. “Our goal is to make it so people have a choice. If they are happy with RELAC, great. If not happy, then they can get off of it.”

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Is the ice on Reston’s lakes thick enough for skating and walking?

It doesn’t seem like it, at least according to a spirited debate on the Reston Now Facebook page this weekend. But that’s not stopping some folks from trying.

“I live right on Lake Anne – NOT think enough for a cat to walk on much less a 50 lb. child,” Erin wrote.

Others said the lakes are strong enough to support a snowmobile right about now.

Officially, the Reston Association policy is “no skating,” said RA CEO Cate Fulkerson. But, like many parks policies, it is difficult to enforce.

Ice should be at least four-inches thick before it can support any human activity, according to a state agency that should know such things — the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. But many factors other than thickness can play a role in safety. Those factors may include the age of the ice, sun and wind. Newly-formed, clear ice is stronger and safer than white ice or “snow ice.”

“Old rule of thumb we used to use was at least four days with below freezing temps,” Virginia wrote on Facebook. “Depended on the size of the body of water though. That seldom occurs here in Virginia.”

But even that old rule of thumb may not be enough. For four inches of ice to form, the area would need more than a week of air temperatures consistently well below freezing. Around 9 a.m. Monday, the temperature in Reston was 37 degrees and had been above freezing for several hours. The air temperature also rose above freezing last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 19-21, according to weather reports from the National Weather Service.

Two weeks ago, a Gaithersburg boy died when he fell through the ice on a pond.

The Minnesota authorities have some advice for anyone who falls through ice and into water.

Place your forearms and hands on an unbroken ice surface and kick your legs to propel yourself up onto the ice. Try to keep your body weight as spread out as possible, so don’t use the palms of your hands to lift yourself out of the water like you would with a pool. When you’re out of the water, remain lying down and roll away toward safety instead of standing up and walking.

What are your thoughts on walking on ice on Reston’s lakes? Tell us in the comments. 

Photo of frozen Lake Anne courtesy of Dave King, via Facebook.

The Reston Association Board of Directors is not likely to discuss amending the rules of its RELAC air conditioning system this month as it needs more time to discuss potential changes and their place under federal fair housing laws, board members said.

Last month, the board introduced an amendment to the Reston covenants declaring that a person who is asking for an exemption from using the aging air conditioning system must show a doctor’s order advising of the “handicap,” information about the handicap (such as medical records), and that order must be updated annually. That rule tightens up the current exemption, in which a medical reason is good for as long as the homeowner lives in the house.

That idea was not received well by many RELAC users, who attended the December RA meeting expressing privacy concerns and taking issue with being designated handicapped. That terminology is put in place because fair housing laws state that accommodations must be made for someone with a handicap, said RA attorney Ken Chadwick.

RELAC (Reston Lake Anne Air Conditioning Corporation)  has been the cooling system for about 300 Lake Anne-area homes since the mid-1960s. The system is powered by recirculated lake water from Lake Anne. Touted as state-of-the-art when it was built, nearly 50 years later it is oft-criticized by users for being inefficient and mold-producing.

Eve Thompson, the RA Lake Anne/Tall Oaks Director, says she has recommended to the board that a medical professional be able to certify why the homeowner needs to opt-out, but that more invasive requirements be nixed.

“Let a doctor certify why someone is requesting a change,” she said. “But that should be without additional medical information and I have recommended they not have to recertify.”

Thompson also is wary of another item in the amendment — that residents must  provide a written statement from a HVAC technician familiar with RELAC saying the system is working and that inadequacies come from the water system and not the equipment .

“I’m suggesting we don’t want to be in the mindset of requiring members to have their systems evaluated by RELAC,” she said. “There are no certified RELAC specialists. We should get that item out of the amendment altogether. It is too slippery a slope. RELAC has a vested interest in keeping everyone on the system; a homeowner has the opposite interest. We have no way to objectively measure whether the system is working.”

To that end, the time may be right to discuss RELAC’s big-picture future, Thompson added. RELAC’s use is bound by the RA covenants, and a covenant is very hard to change. But if after 45 years the system isn’t working as performed, it is time to talk.

RA president Ken Knueven pointed out in a recent post on Reston Now that Lake Anne residents voted to keep the system in a 2005 referendum.

Thompson says RELAC’s future is a separate issue and not related to the current medical exemption debate.

“We should at least be facilitating a discussion about RELAC’s sustainability,” she said.

Who wants to jump in the lake for a good cause?

The 7th annual Freezin’ for a Reason Virginia Polar Dip returns to Lake Anne on Feb. 1. The event benefits Camp Sunshine, a summer camp for children (and their families) with life-threatening illnesses.

Last year, intrepid Reston-area participants — many of whom are in wacky costumes — raised more than $70,000 to aid the campers.

Here is what you need to know:

• Event start time is 1 p.m. Jumping begins at the dock at 2 p.m. Registered participants can take a full jump  or a “Chicken Dip” (feet only).
• $100 minimum donation to plunge.  Free to spectators.  Rain or Shine (will be rescheduled if major snow storm is forecast).
• The event is emceed by 97.1 WASH-FM morning show radio personality Chilli Amar.

The Virginia Polar Dip was started in 2008 by the Toth family of Oakton, whose daughter, Jennifer, had attended Camp Sunshine after a battle with cancer at age 3 (she is in her 20s now and doing great).

Since 2008, 682 people have participated in the Virginia Polar Dip — one of 11 Polar Dips held around the country — to raise more than $306,000 for the camp.  The camp organizes 11 polar dips on the East Coast each year.

This year’s goal is to raise $100,000, which will allow 50 families from the Mid-Atlantic area to attend Camp Sunshine in Maine.

For more information about the event or to register to participate, visit www.freezinforareason.com or become a Facebook Fan (Virginia Polar Dip) and view pictures from previous dips.

By Ken Knueven, Reston Association

Living on Lake Anne is all it is advertised to be; it is beautiful, serene and a reminder of what has made Reston special for 50 years.  And, as I sit on my deck and admire the snow-covered banks, I am thankful that sense of peace and tranquility lasts throughout the seasons.

Of course, as close as Lake Anne is to my version of Utopia, I do understand it comes with a few challenges.  And yes, RELAC is one of those challenges.

The Reston Association Board of Directors is currently reviewing changes to the Use & Maintenance Standards Resolution 15; Air-Conditioning Units/RELAC HVAC System and is still accepting public comment on these issues.  Amendments have been made to constitute what establishes a member has “worked with RELAC” to correct/address problems with the system.

As well, new language has been added to clarify the term and conditions under which temporary exemptions from the covenant are to be granted.  These changes are not designed to make it more difficult to be removed from the system, but instead are intended to decrease the ambiguity associated with how one does get an exemption.

While RELAC has its detractors and critics, the community did have a chance to remove it as the cooling system for Lake Anne through a referendum a few years ago.  The community spoke, however, and chose to keep RELAC.  Those who own and operate the system need to ensure it is efficient for all who use it.  And, those who use the system need to discuss coming together and possibly resurrecting the community committee which existed years ago to look at the sustainability and viability of the system.

In the meantime; as with all RA board activities, the board needs your input on the rules allowing for temporary exemptions to use alternate methods of air-conditioning when needed for medical reasons.  The public comment period is open and we look forward to hearing from you.  You can email [email protected]  or attend an RA board meeting.  Board agendas will be available on www.reston.org prior to the meetings.

Ken Knueven is a Lake Anne resident and the president of  Reston Association.

Many Lake Anne-area residents voiced their disapproval Thursday over potential new rules that would make it harder to opt out of the aging air conditioning system that serves their neighborhood.

RELAC (Reston Lake Anne Air Conditioning Corporation)  has been the cooling system for about 300 Lake Anne-area homes since the mid-1960s. The system is powered by recirculated lake water from Lake Anne. Touted as state-of-the-art when it was built, nearly 50 years later it is oft-criticized by users for being inefficient and mold-producing.

Reston Association was slated to discuss an updated amendment to the RELAC agreement at its meeting on Thursday. RA president Ken Knueven says the amendment “tightens up language” of an existing rule that residents showing a medical reason can opt to install a supplementary cooling system.

RELAC Amendment

The board heard testimony from about 10 RELAC customers. They expressed varying degrees of dissatisfaction — both with the system and with the amendments that would enforce them to be designated as “handicapped” in order to get a medical exemption from the system.

“I am strongly opposed to this amendment and the last one that was made [this year] with very little public consultation,” said Mike Pritchard, a member of the board of Washington Plaza Cluster.

One of Pritchard’s concerns: the medical waiver is temporary and must be reapplied for every year. Read More