Reston National Golf Course Redevelopment Seen As Goal Of Invasive Species Effort

RESTON, VA — A recent proposal to establish a pilot program to remove invasive plant species around Reston National Golf Course is seen by some as a first step to garner support for redeveloping the land.

Reston National Neighborhood Study Group, which is financed by golf course owners Weller Development Co. and War Horse Cities, began meeting last May with adjacent property owners and homeowner associations to discuss the invasive species problem. The study group was established so Reston National had a forum to discuss issues about the future of the golf course with local officials and neighboring residents.

"The first topic that we're bringing up in this study group is our property lines and vegetated buffers or trees," said Greg Hamm, president of New City Enterprises, which represents the golf course owners. "We spent a very significant amount of time and effort, working with Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. to assist us in understanding the condition of these areas."

Earlier this month, Patch published an opinion piece written by Hamm, Dillon Connor of WSSI, and Kevin Nunnery of Biohabitats laying out their concerns about invasive species in the area.

Of the 331 acres affected, only 30 percent of the tree canopy was on golf course land, according to the study. The remaining 70 percent is on adjacent single-family homes, townhouse cluster land, and Reston Association land.

Saving and restoring the tree canopy for the entire area would require all stakeholders be involved so that a consensus could be reached on a mitigation plan, according to the study group. More assessments would be required, a remediation and management plan developed, and a multi-year effort to remove, replant, and maintain ecosystem implemented.

The study group estimated the multi-year mediation effort would cost up to $6 million. The editorial ended with an offer from the study group to fund the pilot program.

Related: Opinion: Tree Canopy Restoration Needed Around Reston National

"We have invasive species all over our property in Reston," said Larry Butler, acting director of the Reston Association. "It doesn't matter which parcel you go on, and we have over 300 parcels of common area. You could probably say the same about every cluster, not those just around the golf course. They probably do have an invasive species problem. They're not alone."

RA's natural resources staff is already focused on mitigating the invasive plant species on its 1,300 acres of common property, according to Butler.

"Stormwater runoff is as big an issue, at least for RA, because our Lake Thoreau is downstream of a large portion of the golf course," he said. "That one, at least for me personally, is as much a concern as invasive species."

Connie Hartke is the president of Rescue Reston, one of the groups that has consistently fought redevelopment at Reston's two golf courses. She sees the invasive species issue as a pretext by the study group for advancing redevelopment of the golf course.

Related: Invasive Species Growing Concern For Reston National Golf Course

"This study group was formed and is paid for by the developer-owners of RNGC, whose ultimate goal is to develop all they can of the Reston National Golf Course," she said. "And the 'environmental experts' studying the tree canopy and invasive species issues also have been hired and are paid by the developers."

Hartke's concerns about development are not necessarily unfounded.

Weller Development Co. and War Horse Cities purchased Reston National in 2019, after the golf course's previous owners had failed to redevelop the property.

As recently as October 2020, Wheelock Communities, owners of Reston's other golf course, Hidden Creek Country Club, tried to push forward a plan to redevelop the site to include 1,000 housing units and a 100-acre park.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn scuttled the plan, saying it wouldn't happen unless there was buy-in from the surrounding communities. He went so far as to exclude Reston's two golf courses from consideration as part of the Reston Comprehensive Plan Review.

"If those developers genuinely want to act as responsible land and business owners and to promote restoration and remediation on private properties such as their own golf course, RA land, cluster land, or homeowner’s land, the community should welcome that," Hartke said. "What Reston should not welcome is restoration or remediation that is considered a quid pro quo entitling the developers to develop land that has always been intended to be open space."

Reed Skaggs, the former president of the Hunters Green Cluster Association, has attended a number of the study group's meetings on behalf of his neighborhood.

"I think what they're going to try to say, in my opinion, is that invasive species are causing the trees to go down and because the trees are going down, it's going to hurt the environment," Skaggs said. "And the cost of that is going to end up being too much."

In December, Skaggs and elected representatives from the nine clusters and condominiums adjacent to Reston National met with Supervisor Alcorn. They brought with them the results of a survey in which the majority of residents in those nine communities said they did not support redevelopment at Reston National.

The representatives asked Alcorn to reaffirm publicly, as he did for Hidden Creek in 2020, that the designation for Reston National would be maintained as open space for commercial/residential use as a public golf course. The supervisor repeated his stance that no development would occur without overwhelming support from the surrounding communities.

In 2015, the RA Board passed a resolution saying that the two golf courses should remain as golf courses, according to Butler. The board reaffirmed that stance aa recently as last year.

"We should not be duped by an alleged concern for the environment which turns into a discussion of why development is necessary to address environmental, safety or other issues," Hartke said. "Replacing land designated as permanent open space with housing, sidewalks and parking lots is not a choice that our community should make."

Reston Association is hosting a special meeting at 7 p.m., on March 2 to discuss draft amendments to the Reston section of the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan. Supervisor Walter Alcorn will be present to provide an update on the amendments. Information on how to join the virtual town hall are available online.