Residents had the opportunity to talk about the Reston Master Plan Phase II draft and the plans for neighborhoods and convenience centers at a meeting Saturday. Photo by Reena Singh.
Reston residents met with Fairfax County officials Saturday morning to discuss the future of their neighborhoods.
“I’m glad there was such a great turnout on a Saturday morning,” said Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins. “It’s not a plan yet. It’s a draft of language. Our objective here is to get comments, get guidance.”
The series of meetings on Reston Master Plan Phase II will inform residents and collect comments on the draft.
“We plan to get it before the Board of Supervisors in June,” said Richard Lambert, Fairfax County Planning and Zoning representative.
Saturday’s meeting was specifically on neighborhoods and convenience centers, which are planned to remain stable as density increases due to the Silver Line Metro station recently opened.
“I think they were very engaging and talked about what is a stable neighborhood - what that means,” said Hudgins. “Most people in Reston really respect their own neighborhoods.”
Residents had the opportunity to comment on the plans in the draft during a breakout session. Comments will also be collected on the county website.
“I think this is a reasonably decent draft,” said Terry Maynard, Reston Citizens Association member.
He said, however, that the words “stable neighborhoods” mean nothing, and could be interpreted by developers in any way.
Another RCA member, Hank Schonzeit, commented on the lack of mention about pedestrian safety at crosswalks. He and several others noted that many of the buttons at the crossings do not work.
Also, he said that it is obvious that too many people worked on the draft and that the text was repetitive.
“I think the document should be cut, at least, by half,” he said.
While repetitive, many of the residents felt the text lacked specificity.
“There has to be something to hold the developer’s feet to the fire,” said RCA member Connie Hartke.
Many of the people at his table wanted to discuss the village centers, which is next month’s topic.
Convenience centers were another topic at the meeting.
“I want to think about what’s going to happen 10 to 20 years from now,” said Schonzeit. “What are these convenience centers going to look like?”
He said he did not see any specific goals that stated how they should look.
“We should have design guidelines for those areas,” he said.
The next Master Plan II community meeting will be held from on Oct. 18 at a location to be determined. For information about the meetings and the plan as it is updated, visit http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/huntermill.