Residents gave Herndon’s Town Council feedback on the redevelopment of historic downtown on Wednesday, June 8 and Tuesday, June 14, at Council Chambers.
Herndon Festival: 2 Million Strong
The Annual Herndon Festival attracts more than 80,000 people each year.
This year’s event is scheduled for June 2-5 in historic downtown Herndon.
During the four-day outdoor festival, there will be: three entertainment stages, two fireworks displays, amusement rides, a kids’ alley and children’s hands-on art area, food vendors, a business expo and a 10K/5K race and fitness expo.
Festival hours are scheduled on Thursday, June 2, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday, June 3 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Sat. June 4, from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday, June 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The first festival was organized in 1981 by the Herndon Department of Parks and Recreation and the Greater Herndon Jaycees “to bring together Herndon’s newer and older communities, promote the town and its business community and enhance Herndon’s quality of life and community spirit.”
More than 2 million people have attended the festival the last 35 years. For context: the first festivals were one-and-a-half days long and attracted about 8,000 people, according to the Town of Herndon.
Get Involved: Herndon’s Future Downtown
The Herndon Town Council wants the public’s feedback on two potential proposals for Town’s downtown.
At Herndon Council Chambers at 7 p.m. on both Wednesday, June 8 and Tuesday, June 14, Comstock Development Services and The Stout and Teague Company will present their proposals for the redevelopment of 4.675 acres in historic downtown.
Herndon’s Council voted in May, 2015, to purchase 1.67 acres of land in Herndon’s historic downtown from Ashwell, LLC for $3.519 million that added to the three acres of downtown land it already owns.
The purchase clears the way for a comprehensive development project in the downtown, in accordance with the Downtown Master Plan adopted by the Town Council in 2011.
“The Town of Herndon has been envisioning a comprehensive redevelopment in our downtown for decades,” said Mayor Lisa Merkel, around the time of the purchase. “We made significant strides toward that vision by adopting our Downtown Master Plan.
“Until this purchase, however, we have been limited in our ability to effectively position downtown Herndon for comprehensive redevelopment, as much of the necessary land was under private ownership,” she said.
The Town of Herndon’s adopted master plan for the downtown envisions a mix of retail, office and residential development, to include four-story, mixed-use/residential structures; three-story mixed-use/commercial structures; a jointly-funded public/private parking structure; an arts center and more. The land is generally described as between Station Street to the east, Center Street to the west, south of the W&OD Trail, and north of Elden Street.
See the two proposals on the Town’s website at at www.herndon-va.gov/downtownrfp.
The community will also have the opportunity to ask questions the community meeting at 765 Lynn St.
No More Vehicle Decals
Effective immediately, according to Town documents, decals on vehicle windshields are no longer required.
The Herndon Town Council adopted an ordinance on May 10, 2016, that eliminates the decal requirement for vehicles registered and garaged within the Town.
Herndon police will not ticket for failure to display a decal, according to Town documents.
To allow for one payment, the Town’s registration fee will be now be billed to residents via the county’s personal property tax bills, issued annually in August and due by October 5.
See www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dta/pay-car-taxes/
The town and county entered into the agreement due to a change in the Virginia Code in 2015, according to Town’s spokesperson Anne Curtis. By eliminating the physical decal requirement, the town estimates a savings of approximately $14,000 each year.
Registration fees for vehicles located in the town are as follows:
$25 for passenger cars and trucks 4,000 pounds or less and $32 for cars and trucks more than 4,000 pounds; $12 for motorcycles.
The fee was eliminated for trailers and boat trailers, and active military members with current identification aren’t required to pay a vehicle registration fee.
See www.herndon-va.gov/vehicledecals, which includes answers to frequently asked questions.
Herndon Garden Tour
The 2016 Herndon Garden Tour, a self-directed tour, will showcase five distinct gardens in the Town of Herndon on Saturday, June 18, from noon to 4 p.m.
Tickets are $15; kids 12 and under are free. Tickets may be purchased at the Herndon Community Center, 814 Ferndale Avenue, and Herndon Florist, 716 Lynn St.
Plein Air Painters Lorrie Herman and Vicki Vidal Blum will have their easels on display at two of the five gardent on the tour; live music will be offered at another; and Under The Olive Tree purveyors will offer olive oil and vinegars at an additional garden.
Gardeners will be on site to discuss their gardens, and the efforts they took to remove invasive plants, replacing them with “native shrubs, trees, flowering forbs, vines, winterberry sweet bay magnolia, wild strawberry and wisteria flourish,” according to Garden Tour ticket displays.
For example, Robin Ward wrote about her garden, “We found veggies were not our calling. The next season we turned the plot into a flower garden to be seen from our upstairs bedroom window.”
“Phil and I ventured out to nurseries and pored over magazines. We took classes. Many classes, and we learned. As you wander through the gardens, you will notice we used reclaimed materials or stone for the hardscape. They blend seamlessly among the plantings, allowing the flora to take center stage,” according to Ward.
According to George and Sarah Beebe, “We have fun watching the hummingbirds drink the nectar in the coral-bells and the butterflies and bees flit from the Echinacea plants to the black-eyed susans. Our little garden is something that brings our family together. It gets even better year after year.”
The Herndon Garden Tour is produced by the town's Cultivating Community Initiative, a group of volunteers dedicated to neighborhood beautification and community spirit.
Memorial Day Schedule
The American Legion, Post 184, will sponsor the Memorial Day Observance at Chestnut Grove Cemetery at 10 a.m. with the Herndon Naval Junior ROTC Color Guard.
Town of Herndon government offices and services will be closed Monday, May 30.
Trash pick up normally collected on Monday will be collected Tuesday, May 31.
The community center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., although no classes will be held. The Herndon Centennial Golf course will be open from 6 a.m. to dark.