In certain secluded wooded areas throughout Reston, officials have been finding an increasing amount of discarded alcohol containers, empty food wrappers, sleeping bags, and often the remnants of campfires.
That debris, Reston Association and police believe, is being left by a small number of homeless people and transients that sleep in Reston's wooded areas nearly every night.
"We've had some people sleeping overnight on the property," said Larry Butler, RA's director of parks and recreation. "It's really picked up over the last three or four years. Sometimes it's someone who's had a bit too much to drink. Other times it's someone who thinks they don't have anywhere else to go."
Next Thursday night, RA's Board of Directors is slated to overhaul its Natural Area Usage policy to give police the authority to kick the campers off its land by enforcing county and state laws prohibiting loitering and trespassing. RA owns more than 1,300 acres of open space in Reston.
Butler said it appears the most camping activity is occurring in the woods around Lake Anne and behind Hunters Woods Village Center. Camp sites have also been found near Lake Audubon and elsewhere.
The proposed new RA policy would also allow police to disperse people loitering in common areas late at night, such as picnic pavilions, pathways and recreational fields.
RA OFFICIALS do not want to make life harder for people facing such difficulties as homelessness, alcoholism or mental illness, but the organization is left with little choice, Butler said.
"It can become intimidating for people walking on pathways," he said. "So it's a perception issue, it's a cleanliness issue and it's a safety issue."
RA cannot allow the camping and loitering to continue because Reston might gain a reputation as a community tolerant of illegal and dangerous behavior, said RA Board vice chair Doug Bushée.
"There's people out there who are down on their luck," he said. "It's a difficult situation. And it's not like we want to just push them out of Reston. But there are places they can go."
Those places include Reston Interfaith's Embry Rucker Community Shelter, located next to Reston Regional Library.
Though it is difficult the gauge the number of people sleeping overnight in Reston's wooded areas, Fairfax County estimates there are nearly 2,000 homeless people throughout the county. A lack of affordable housing, unemployment, addiction and other troubles have left them without adequate shelter and, it appears, pushed more than a few people outdoors.
FAIRFAX COUNTY police officers will enforce county and state laws on privately-owned land after being formally asked by the owner. Police officers already enforce trespassing ordinances for other homeowners associations in the county, said Police Spokeswoman Sophia Grinnan.
"No Trespassing" or "No Loitering" signs would most likely be required for successful prosecution, Grinnan said.
Trespassing and loitering are misdemeanors that can carry small fines. Police are not likely to incarcerate someone for those offenses alone, opting instead to simply write a ticket, she said.
A serious concern for RA is that the proposed amend policy could be applied subjectively, said RA Board Member Barbara Aaron (Hunters Woods/Dogwood).
"That's the big question," Aaron said. "We have to continue allowing recreation in these areas, but at the same time limit illegal activity."
The RA board's scheduled action next Thursday night comes after the organization received several complaints from its members about people loitering and sleeping overnight in the woods, Butler said.
"Certainly it's unfortunate they don't have a place to go, but we're getting calls from our members," he said. "We probably have someone sleeping in the woods every night."