Supervisor Alcorn Says Proposed Vision Plan Encompasses Lake Anne Revitalization Area

Updated (Jan. 22, 10:10 a.m.): This story was updated with a comment from the Lake Anne of Reston Condominium Association (LARCA) board.

RESTON, VA — Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will be considering a measure at its meeting on Tuesday to dedicate $250,000 in county funding to develop a long-term sustainable plan for the entire Lake Anne Revitalization Area in Reston.

"I think, and rightly so, there's been a lot of discussion in the weeds about infrastructure problems, other very specific issues relating to Lake Anne," Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said Thursday morning, during a virtual meeting with reporters. "This is consistent with what Fairfax County's done in other revitalization areas and other revitalization districts."

Alcorn announced the midterm adjustment to the county's fiscal 2022 budget on Jan 10, the day before the board's budget committee agreed to schedule the matter for a Jan. 25 public hearing before the full board.

At the time, the proposal was for $300,000, but Alcorn explained that because of a miscommunication with county staff, the number had been rounded up. The measure now calls for $250,000 to be transferred from the General Fund to Fund 30010: General Construction and Contributions.

Pending board approval, part of the money will pay for a structural engineer to survey Lake Anne Village Center and assess the condominium buildings there.

The county hired the architectural firm Samaha Associates in 2021 to conduct a cursory survey of the Lake Anne Village Center at the request of the Lake Anne of Reston Condominium Association (LARCA) board. The study identified an estimated $37 million in needed infrastructure repairs.

Related: $300K Lake Anne Visioning Plan Proposed For Fairfax County Budget

In November, a letter from the Fairfax County Architectural Review Board to Alcorn and newly elected LARCA President George Hadjikyriakou asked that any assessments take into account Lake Anne Village Center's status as a Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As such, any repairs or improvements would need to adhere to historic preservation guidelines.

"The ARB letter was really focused on what the county did last year, the existing conditions report," Alcorn said. "I think the ARB wanted to make sure that as an extension of that analysis, that there was also a review of what would be appropriate, what improvements to the infrastructure or fixes to the infrastructure could be done within the historic context of Lake Anne."

Alcorn went on to say the while the ARB letter was narrowly focused on the village center, the visioning plan would encompass the entire Lake Anne Revitalization area.

"That hopefully will help provide a common vision for what the future of Lake Anne should look like and also marry existing Lake Anne stakeholders, residents and businesses with potential for long-term economic sustainability," he said. "So, that could be focusing on maybe Lake Anne should be designated and moved towards being an arts center of some sort. Maybe there are some other things on either the historical or cultural lines that could help provide long-term economic sustainability for Lake Anne. That's the idea behind the item in the midterm budget."

Any changes to buildings or structures in the historic district would have to go through the county process and be approved by both the ARB and the Reston Association's Design Review Board. However, Alcorn was quick to point out that nothing like that is under consideration at this time.

Supervisors will be hosting a public hearing on the FY 2022 Mid-Year Review at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at the Fairfax County Government Center. The $250,000 funding for the Lake Anne visioning plan will be one of the items under consideration.

Patch reached out to the LARCA Board for a ccomment about Tuesday's public hearing and it responded with this statement:

"LARCA has a number of questions regarding the proposed increase to support studies into potential development to the extent such development would impact LARCA's private property and is currently examining the proposal. LARCA expects to be prepared by the January 25th meeting to raise its questions with the Board of Supervisors."