Lake Anne Village Center may see construction begin this year. Photo by Alex McVeigh.
After an eventful year, Reston may see their ideas become resolutions on paper.
Community leaders are looking forward to new village center plans, the beginnings of a new Lake Anne Village Center and a new district government center this year.
For Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins - and the Reston unit of the Fairfax County Police force - this means a newly renovated office.
“The building, built during the time of my predecessor, Martha Pennino, has outlived its capacity for our police, the supervisor's office and the community,” she said.
She said the North County Government Center at 1801 Cameron Glen Drive will be done soon. While she did not mention a completion date, she hinted that it will be ready “early” in the year.
“Soon as we unpack the boxes, we look forward to inviting you to that Open House. Until then, we will keep packing,” she said.
A LOT OF community meetings took place last year between county Planning and Zoning representatives and Reston residents to determine how Phase II of Reston’s Master Plan - which focuses on all the village centers except Lake Anne - will look in the future. This month, the community will meet with the county representatives again - this time to be presented a working draft of the plan. A date for this meeting has not been announced as of Jan. 5.
That draft, released in December, can be found at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/reston/documents.htm.
All other updates on community meetings concerning the master plan can be found at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/huntermill/.
Some have spoken out against how quickly the county hopes to bring Phase II of the master plan to life. However, Reston founder Robert Simon - the man who the community is named after - felt the opposite.
“The major factor in all of this is speed,” said Robert Simon at the last community meeting in November. “Everything takes much longer than it used to. What you get now is an eight to 10 year gap, like with Lake Anne, for example.”
Lake Anne is going through its own changes with Lake Anne Redevelopment Partners, LLC to breathe life into the community’s original village center. According to the developer’s website, Phase I of construction, which includes the redevelopment of Crescent Apartments and creation of affordable housing, is scheduled to begin this summer.
THE FIVE PHASES of the village center’s construction are expected to last up to 12 years.
Ken Knueven, Reston Association president, said the organization, which represents the community’s citizens, plans to fight for the best interest for the residents. This includes sustainability in neighborhoods and the new village centers.
“We want to make sure any new developments are aligned to our sustainability principles,” he said.
However, he noted that any changes, whether a hinderance of growth, can be met with hesitance from the community.
“There’s a lot of trepidation in our community that sees this growth,” he said.
Another area of growth he hopes to see is with transportation. 2014 brought the Silver Line Metro to the community, but he wants to see public transportation better serve Reston residents - not just those coming in from D.C.
More specifically, he wants to make sure residents have better access to the Metro and the village centers.
“We’re going to have to make sure any redevelopment that takes place is in alignment with our guiding principles,” he said.