Reston Comprehensive Plan Proposal Continues 'Long Slog' Toward Sept. 12 Public Hearing

RESTON, VA — Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn hosted a town hall meeting Thursday night at the North County Governmental Center to solicit public input and answer questions about the Reston Comprehensive Plan Amendment.

The meeting was the last chance for the public to provide in-person feedback before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors consider the plan amendment during a public hearing scheduled for Sept. 12, at 3:30 p.m., at the county government center.

"This has been a really a long, long slog to get to this point," Alcorn said, to the approximately 20 people who showed up for the meeting. "I think we're getting pretty close to having something that that makes sense for everybody."

Alcorn kicked off the process to update the county's planning guidance that covers development in Reston at his first board meeting on Jan. 24, 2020.

What followed was more than three years of discussion and debate between residents and county staff, including 58 official meetings of a 31-member task force that delivered a 162-page draft amendment for public review.

The document covered a number of topic areas, including planning principles, heritage resources, transportation, public facilities, land use, affordable housing, parks, environmental stewardship, public art and economic development. In addition, the task force added chapters about community health and equity, which are not currently included in the Fairfax County plan.

"If it weren't for the Reston Comprehensive Plan Task Force, I don't think the county would be actively exploring countywide policy plan amendments on equity and community health, but we are," Alcorn told Patch after Thursday's meeting.

In May, the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development released the staff report for the proposed Reston Comprehensive Plan. The report called for extending the existing residential densities at Reston's three Village Centers — Hunters Woods, South Lakes, and North Point — while keeping higher, mixed-use density around the Reston Transit Station Areas.

Thursday's town hall came a week after the Fairfax County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the plan amendment, with the following additions to the latest version of the plan submitted by county staff on July 13:

• Delete the street connection from American Dream Way to North Shore Drive, as shown on the maps on pages 82 and 83 of the staff report;
• Delete American Dream Way as a grid street, as shown on the maps on pages 82 and 83 of the staff report, and retain the street as a local street;
• Update the note shown in the staff report Figures 21 & 22, Wiehle Local Street Grid for the Association Drive Area, to refer to the “Land Use and Heritage Resources Chapters for recommendations”;
• Delete the first bullet under "Residential" on page 5 of the Draft Plan, as indicated in the staff report addendum dated June 13, 2023;
• Replace "to the extent practical" with "to the extent practicable" in the Stormwater Management section found on page 96 of the staff report; and
• Replace "to the extent feasible" with "to the extent practicable" in the latest staff recommended proposed changes to the Stormwater Management section in the additional staff proposal dated July 12, 2023.

Speakers on Thursday offered a number of suggestions for the comprehensive plan, including:

• Toll road crossings for bicycles, to make it easier to reach North Point and Reston Town Center from the South Lakes and Hunters Woods village centers;
• Pedestrian access after hours at the Metro stations, so people can walk from one side to the other;
• Better lighting along Reston's many trails;
• Requiring developers to follow a market-rate wages, ensuring that local construction workers could afford to work on projects in Reston;
• Requiring a 50-foot setback for development on Sunrise Valley Drive.

Alcorn told attendees on Thursday night that anyone who wished to provide additional feedback before the Sept. 12 public hearing should do so as soon as possible. He expects county staff to put together a "fresh" plan proposal, incorporating public feedback and the planning commission's recommendations.

"What I want to do is then identify any additional changes at that point and then publish that on the Hunter Mill District webpage, so that folks can look at it and you can see exactly what is up for proposal at the public hearing on Sept. 12," he said.

Members of the public can submit written testimony by emailing: ClerktotheBOS@fairfaxcounty.gov. More information about other ways to submit comments, including how to sign up to speak on Sept. 12, can be found online.

In addition to the Reston Comprehensive Plan Amendment proposal, the Hunter Mill District also has 10 amendments up for consideration as part of the county's Site-Specific Plan Amendment process. Some of the nominations concern proposed development in the Reston Transit Station Areas, which include the Herndon, Reston Town Center, and Wiehle-Reston East Metro Stations.

At the July 25 board of supervisors meeting, the board approved Alcorn's proposal to move Reston's SSPA nominations from Tier 3 to Tier 1 of the board's work program.

"While the ultimate outcome of each of these SSPA nominations is still to be determined, there are common themes across the nominations in Reston that would greatly benefit from staff research and analysis that has not yet started," Alcorn said in his proposal.

This change in status allows county staff to examine the nominations and prepare them for the public review process, which will begin after the board votes on the proposed plan amendment.

"This way, the overall plan will be in place, and then there'll be a process to consider those 10 nominations," Alcorn said Thursday.