Reston National Golf Course In Talks With Hunters Green Cluster For Pilot Program

Updated (March 21, 9:20 a.m.): Nandini Rao, president of the Hunters Green Cluster Association, submitted a letter to Reston Patch saying the cluster board agreed unanimously that the Reston National Neighborhood Study Group's proposal was not a good idea for their community. On Monday, Gregg Hamm of the submitted a response to Rao's letter on behalf of the study group.

RESTON, VA — Reston National Golf Course plans to spend $140,000 on a three-year project targeting invasive plant species affecting an area that includes the Hunters Green Cluster in Reston.

This proposal is different from the one introduced by the Reston National Neighborhood Study Group in February, which called for the establishment of a pilot program to protect the tree canopies of all the properties adjacent to the golf course.

That proposal was met with substantial backlash within the Reston community. It was seen as an effort by the golf course owners to start a conversation about redevelopment of Reston National.

Related: Alcorn: No Golf Course Redevelopment Without Public Support

The new pilot program would focus on removing invasive plant species, such as Japanese barberry, oriental bittersweet, English Ivy and hibiscus, from the a portion of the Hunters Green Cluster. This would include the townhouses on Indian Ridge Road, which are located in an island entirely surrounded by golf course property.

The project would also target invasive species on a piece of Reston National property, which includes a Reston Association easement.

Greg Hamm, president of New City Enterprises, which represents golf course owners Weller Development Co. and War Horse Cities, presented the new proposal to community members at a March 4 town hall meeting.

"We're offering to pay for all of this," he said. "We've budgeted $140,000. That's for about a three-year remediation process, and then a replanting of native plants and materials."

Hamm told Patch during an interview earlier in the day that the study group was in talks with the Hunters Green Homeowners Association, which he said had agreed in principle to the proposal.

Reed Skaggs, a former president of the Hunters Green HOA, said that he had suggested the idea for a demonstration project during a meeting last August between the study group and homeowners. He said that the golf course should do a pilot program around the 16th hole, which is close Hunters Green.

"They sent us a letter to sign and the current board sent it to the cluster attorney for review," Skaggs said, adding that the deal was still in-process.

As long as the work is confined to Hunters Green property, RA's approval is not needed, according to RA spokesman Mike Leone. However, the Reston National would need RA's permission regarding any work done on the path that connects the golf course to the cluster.

"Obviously, we want to be sure that the proper approvals have been given so that if there's damage to the pathway, the appropriate party will have to take care of that," he said. "Our only interest will be as it relates to the use of the pathway that connects the properties."

The Reston National Study Group was first established in May 2021 to address issues that affected the golf course and the surrounding community.

"The idea of the study group was to kind of understand the past, the present and think about the future, and it has to be done just because there's change happening all around us," Hamm said, in his interview with Patch. "Metro is going to open less than a mile away and other Metros are going to open."

The study group will next be assessing how well the surrounding communities have been at meeting Reston founder Robert E. Simon's seven principles.

"Many of those have to do with making the place livable for people throughout the course of their lives," he said. "That means having a lot of different things and making it relevant at all times. And I think when we really take a careful look at that, some of its not going to stand up as well."

Just as it did with the invasive species problem, the study group will start its assessment by going around and meeting with neighboring property owners.

"We don't have a plan yet," Hamm said. "We want to come up with a vision soon that will emerge from these conversations we're having. These are our priorities, the amenities, open space, values and the environment."