Amended Reston Comprehensive Plan Approved By Board of Supervisors

RESTON, VA — After more than three years of meetings, rewrites and amendments, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to approve an update of the Reston Comprehensive Plan for the first time since 2015.

“Since my Board Matter almost four years ago, dedicated community members, Planning Commissioner John Carter and county staff have put in countless hours on creating a new draft Reston Comprehensive Plan," Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said, following the plan's approval. "After much deliberation by the Planning Commission and my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, I am proud to say that Reston has an updated comprehensive plan that is much more than a land use document. It is also a blueprint for the next phase of what Reston has always been — an inclusive community that values our green open spaces and a vibrant economy."

Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay called the updated plan a momentous achievement that would ensure Reston's continued success.

Read: Reston Comprehensive Plan Documents On County Website

"Crafted through an extensive process that included numerous meetings and community outreach, this updated Plan safeguards existing neighborhoods and improves transit," McKay said, in a release. "It also sets the stage for the future of Reston, that is both responsive to the core values of Reston’s founder, Bob Simon, and to the valuable position that Reston plays as a major economic development location in the County.”

The county shared the following list of highlights plan update:

• One Reston: encompasses both urban and suburban sections of Reston.
• Community Health: Introduces new language to encourage consideration for the health and well-being of the Reston community with land use and development decisions.
• Equity: Introduces new language to encourage consideration of equity with land use and development decisions.
• Neighborhoods: Preserves Reston’s existing neighborhoods and enhances the transit corridor.
• Affordable Housing: Maintains focus on providing affordable housing in new developments and preserves existing affordable housing in Reston.
• Open Space: Preserves Reston’s forests, lakes and stream valleys, and provides additional open and recreational spaces.

Alcorn's first action after being sworn in as Hunter Mill's new supervisor on Jan.14, 2020 was to introduce a motion to begin a review of the county's document that governs development in Reston.

During the pandemic, a task force made up of 31 community members participated in 58 virtual meetings to propose changes to the comprehensive plan.

At the beginning, Alcorn suggested nine topic areas for the task force to focus on. But when the final draft comprehensive plan was submitted for public review on Aug. 22, 2022, the task force had expanded the scope of its review to 14 topic areas: planning principles, heritage resources, transportation, public facilities, land use, affordable housing, parks, environmental stewardship, public art, economic development, community health and equity.

Since then, members of the public, county staff, and the supervisors themselves have suggested changes and honed the language of what would become the plan that was adopted on Tuesday.

Changes were still being made up until the final vote was taken. In the morning, Alcorn introduced an amendment to incorporate changes suggested by the Fairfax County Planning Commission. Most of these changes amounted to changing some wording or adding a paragraph or two to clarify language in the proposed plan.

Then, during the board's deliberation, Alcorn submitted five additional amendments to address concerns raised by the other supervisors at the Board's Land Use Policy Committee meeting. Those amendments can be found below.

Mr. Chairman, as discussed at the Board’s Land Use Policy Committee and as we have seen in some earlier comprehensive plan amendments, for this Reston Comprehensive Plan Amendment there are several issues that are more “implementation” rather than “planning,” or they involve issues that are outside the comprehensive planning process. Below are several follow-on motions.

1. First, in making their recommendations the Planning Commission made 2 follow-on motions, and I move that the Board concur with those motions to:

• Develop and implement design standards for improved pedestrian and bicycle access to Metrorail stations, new or improved lighting for pedestrian and bicycle facilities, design for on-street parking, prioritizing streets in areas designated for Transit Oriented Development, and
• Monitor residential/non-residential applications during SSPA process, focusing on keeping the jobs/housing balance, and avoid prioritization of residential over non-residential

2. Second, I move that representatives of the Fairfax County Park Authority and Reston Community Center meet with representatives of the Reston Association and Reston Town Center Association to develop a high-level strategy for the long-term maintenance and upkeep of community-level facilities across Reston, a strategy that is fair and equitable and that ensures that future residents and commercial property owners support the community infrastructure that is used by all who live, work, and play in Reston.
3. I move that during the design of any Sunrise Valley Drive/Fairfax County Parkway interchange, that staff work to reduce the long-term impacts on the Polo Fields neighborhood and implement a context sensitive design that minimizes the need to acquire residential property. In the near term, I move that staff host a public meeting on the design of the Sunrise Valley Drive cycle track to explore how that project can improve the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, and homeowners along that stretch of road, and coordinate with VDOT and FCPD on improvements for pedestrian safety and reducing vehicle speeds along Sunrise Valley.
4. I move that FCDOT review options for improving pedestrian and bicycle safety across and along Reston Parkway from the Dulles Toll Road to Sunrise Valley Drive. There should be a specific safety focus of the informal pedestrian crossing of Reston Parkway in the vicinity of Hopper Street where retail and the Reston Town Center Metrorail station create desirable destinations for walkers and bikers.
5. To support the monitoring requested by the Planning Commission, I move that county staff continue the Reston Data Visualization web pages to facilitate monitoring the balance of new development and critical infrastructure like transportation.