NVHomes, a unit of NVR Inc., is proposing to develop 306 stacked townhomes on about 10% of the 166-acre Reston National Golf Course, sparking vocal opposition from local groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One area of concern is that there isn\u2019t proper oversight over these proposed developments, promoted as \u201cEvolution18\u201d by the golf course.<\/p>\n
\u201c306 dwelling units and a commercial recreation complex would be decided without the studies that ordinarily attach to a project this size. That isn’t an oversight,\u201d said Michele Hudnall, a Reston resident and president of a local homeowners\u2019 association.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Regarding plans beyond the housing, Hudnall added that there\u2019s no photometric study for a proposed lighted multi-story driving range, no defined boundary for night play, and no noise analysis. And, she said that the current applications for residential property aren\u2019t being filed properly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn June 2012, the Zoning Administration Division advised the owner’s counsel that redeveloping this property to residential would first require a Comprehensive Plan amendment, then a development plan amendment, then a PRC [Planned Residential Community] Plan. That determination has never been reversed. The current applications are the third step, filed without the first two,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Reston National didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hudnall suggested that the long-time success of Reston could be undermined by this proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cReston will continue to be studied in textbooks as the country’s first planned community \u2014 either as a continued success evolving through governed growth, or for its demise in setting precedent across the county. Governed growth is what’s at stake for Fairfax County. Not saving a single golf course,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hudnall said the plan undermines the vision of Robert E. Simon, founder of Reston, and a system of \u201cgoverned growth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBob Simon needed something the county’s zoning couldn’t do at the time, and the county created the PRC district in 1962 to make Reston possible as the country’s first planned community. Fifty-five years later, the community that produced the governing growth instruments and process is the test case for whether they still mean anything in this county,\u201d Hudnall explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the end, Hudnall said she isn\u2019t against development, but she fiercely questions the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not opposed to development. Reston has approved many rezonings and millions of square feet through this process since 2014. What I’m advocating is governed growth \u2014 the county decides where density goes, what open space is protected, what infrastructure comes with it, and then holds everyone to it. Including itself,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n
Rescue Reston, a volunteer-led grassroots organization, advocates for the preservation of Reston\u2019s green spaces. Its comments to the\u00a0Fairfax County Times\u00a0were developed with input from the\u00a0<\/a>Rescue Reston Board of Directors<\/a>, South Course Committee Chair Jessie Williams, and other community volunteers involved in Reston development issues.<\/p>\n \u201cOur group of Reston citizens and volunteers appreciates Reston’s growth in the right places,\u201d they said. But they object to Reston National\u2019s residential development plans, arguing that the zoning basis for the proposal is outdated.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe owners of Reston National Golf Course claim a right to build based on 1966 zoning \u2014 but Rescue Reston’s analysis shows that zoning was superseded in 1971,\u201d they said, with a cap of 13 people per acre on the land. They said any development will require an amendment to move forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNotably, in the mid-2000s, the County’s then-planning administrator informed the very lawyers who now represent the owners that no development can occur on Reston National Golf Course unless the Reston Comprehensive Plan is amended,\u201d they explained.<\/p>\n Rescue Reston said the proposal conflicts with founder Robert E. Simon Jr.\u2019s vision of a \u201clive, work, and play\u201d community built around \u201cconcentrated development and concentrated open space,\u201d a principle embedded in Reston\u2019s\u00a0<\/a>Planned Residential Community (PRC) zoning district<\/a>.<\/p>\n The group added that preserving open space remains central to Reston\u2019s character and appeal, arguing that \u201cremoving planned open space is not necessary to meet housing goals\u201d and that the proposal \u201cstrikes directly at the character of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n Rescue Reston expects leaders to abide by Reston covenants and refuse redevelopment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect our county officials on the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors to respect the Comprehensive Plan for Reston and Reston\u2019s PRC zoning, and to say no to the application to develop housing on Reston National Golf Course,\u201d they concluded.\u00a0<\/p>\n