Eva Desrosiers had the best seat in the house in front of Lake Anne next to Bob Simon, the bronze version, with her daughter Michelle and granddog Rusty. Photo by Ken Moore.
Bob Simon, 101, reminded the Board of Supervisors of the excitement of Reston at the beginning.
“The opening in 1965 of Reston to the public involved 227 townhouses and 60 high rise units and a smattering of retail. Not a big deal,” he said before the Board of Supervisors on June 2. “However, to our amazement, it turned out to be an international phenomenon. Nationally front page in newspapers, the Times, the Post. Feature articles in Life, Look, Fortune. A Japanese reporter was sent over with a translator to interview me.
“Over the years I’ve tried to analyze what happened to that little development. I think what happened was that it was reintroducing into the United States a gathering place called a plaza,” he said.
“I felt very disheartened, having been fired in ‘67,” he said. “My successors didn’t appreciate what the plaza was and the consequential result of the Village Centers were not plazas, gathering places, important social venues but [instead they were] strip centers, shopping centers,” Simon said before the Board of Supervisors. The Board adopted the second phase of the Reston Master Plan on June 2.
“My hope is that during the next 50 years, all of those village centers will be destroyed and replaced by plazas surrounded by density,” he said. “For the plazas to work they need the density to support the individual stores.The plazas are not in competition with other plazas let alone with the town center.”
The Board of Supervisors approved the second phase of the Master Plan, which pledges to concentrate growth around transit station areas and village centers.
Simon wants his vision of a plaza, like Lake Anne, to be prominent for all the Village Centers.
“It is very important for Tall Oaks to become a real village center and as a precedent to the other village centers, all of which are shopping centers.
So the concept of plaza is of a hard surface area where people can gather surrounded by local stores and by relatively dense residential units,” said Simon. “I hope that’s what we get for Tall Oaks and for thereafter for the other village centers.”
The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Plan.
“The focus on Tall Oaks is exceptional because it is a center that is not functioning today and it has an opportunity to be a true village center,” said Supervisor Cathy Hudgins. “That conversation has begun with the community and the owner has been present for that and we look forward to that continuing.”
RESTON ASSOCIATION praised the plan and the process, while asking for one key addition.
“The plan better protects the stable neighborhoods in Reston where growth is focused within the TSAs and the village centers,” said Cate Fulkerson, of the Reston Association. “This plan better incorporates the essential elements of the planned community of Reston, those characteristics that make Reston unique, giving it its sense of place.”
She successfully urged the Board of Supervisors to add one sentence to the Reston Master Plan.
“Reston has always been a place where nature is valued and protected,” she said. “That is the most important characteristic of Reston and it needs to be clearly stated and adopted into the plan.”
Supervisor Cathy Hudgins expressed her excitement for the plan’s details.
“Phase II gave us the opportunity to reaffirm the principles of Reston ... that is about mixed use, affordability, walkability and transportation that connects people.”
Hudgins also noted the importance of “the roles plazas play. ... The proposed amendment envisions transformation of village centers into true community gathering places with a vibrant mix of uses that frame a public plaza and focus on high quality design and architecture.”
Highlights of the new master plan according to Hudgins:
“New residential development throughout Reston should address housing diversity and affordability through the provision of different types styles and prices of housing including senior and universally designed housing. The transportation recommendations emphasize, multi-modal transportation system featuring a robust bicycle and pedestrian network. The proposed plan fosters environmental stewardship and provides urban parks within the transit station areas and village centers.”