Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn presented his first board matter today, Jan. 14, initiating a public participation process and authorizing an amendment to the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan for Reston. The motion was approved by the Board of Supervisors.

“It has been five years since the current Comprehensive Plan for Reston was adopted,” said Alcorn. “And the time is right to review key elements of that plan, including the balance of existing and planned development, infrastructure and the environment across all of Reston.”

Alcorn estimates that the plan review and community engagement process will be approximately 12 to 18 months. A timeline for establishment of a community task force, public meetings and opportunities for community input are forthcoming.

Supervisor Alcorn’s Plan Amendment:

On February 11, 2014, the Board adopted an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan for the Transit Station Areas in Reston. This act was the culmination of a multi-year effort that included a Task Force and other forms of citizen outreach and engagement.

Following that, on June 2, 2015, the Reston Phase II Plan amendment (for Village Centers and Residential areas) was adopted by the Board. That second Plan Amendment sought to align the recommendations in the Comprehensive Plan with the existing development in Reston.

Since that time, more than 30 rezonings have been approved including millions of square feet of development in Reston’s transit station areas. And there has been a lot of discussion in the community about how Reston is changing, and how Reston should and should not change in the future. In reviewing the existing Comprehensive Plan, I believe that there are a few areas that would benefit from additional study and community input.

As such, I move that the Board authorize a Plan amendment for Reston that focuses on the following areas:

• Projected population thresholds for Reston, and how to ensure that population, infrastructure and the environment are all in balance
• Land use in the village centers (Hunters Woods, South Lakes and North Point) – including clarification of what type of future redevelopment proposals might require an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan
• The adequacy of existing plan language to generate additional affordable housing, and improvements to plan language to encourage preservation and enhancement of existing communities that now provide affordable housing
• The adequacy of existing and planned pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure for accessing Silver Line stations
• The adequacy of existing Comprehensive Plan guidance to facilitate urban-scale mobility and development design in the TSAs while protecting the stability of nearby neighborhoods
• Existing Comprehensive Plan transportation improvements to ensure that they are aligned with planned development
• How the Comprehensive Plan could better facilitate enhancement of Reston’s natural environment, encourage energy efficiency and support sustainable green neighborhoods
• How the Comprehensive Plan could address concerns about monopolization of ownership in Reston, and ways to encourage diverse ownership and/or management over the long term
• Whether the historic practice of promoting privately-owned and managed open space sufficiently addresses public needs during the next 50 years of Reston

I further move that staff work closely with me to develop an approach and timeline for the Plan Amendment.