When the Board of Supervisors approved a 40,000 square foot addition to South Lakes in October 2015, Terry Maynard of Reston 20/20 emphasized a failing stormwater management plan for the adjoining neighborhoods of Wakerobin Lane and Cedar Cove.
“There is absolutely no doubt that the classroom space that the School Board seeks is needed,” said Maynard at the hearing before the Board of Supervisors. “What is not needed is the added destruction of neighboring private properties from the increased stormwater runoff that the project will create and, ultimately, the added pollution to the Chesapeake Bay.”
Last Thursday, Jan. 28, the Reston Association Board of Directors approved up to $20,000 for an independent study of stormwater flows and possible mitigation measures upstream between Cedar Cove Cluster and Wakerobin Lane, according to Reston Association documents.
Last summer, erosion led to a sewer pipe rupture, spilling sewage into Lake Audubon. Reston Association and Fairfax County officials have been exploring potential solutions to prevent pipes from becoming exposed by erosion, making them more vulnerable to breakage.
RA also wants its land use attorney, John McBride, to “use the results of the study to research the validity of the Fairfax County Public School’s waiver of stormwater management/best management practices on the South Lakes High School and Langston Hughes Intermediate properties when the facility was last renovated.”
In October, Maynard asked the Board of Supervisors to press FCPS “to be a responsible Reston community partner and environmental steward in addressing the problem it created.”
Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins gave legitimacy to neighborhood description of the stormwater problem.
“The conditions described are very much real,” she said.
Everybody agreed that there are storm water issues that impact the Wakerobin and Cedar Cove cluster.
But the issue then turned to responsibility, whose it was, how it would be tackled, and when. The school system attempted to absolve itself from responsibility.
“We can’t restore this stream, I believe that is a project that should be done, but that’s a decision for another day,” said John McGranahan Jr., attorney for the school system.
Reston Association hopes its motions last Thursday will create a more collaborative process.