Official Meeting Summary, Reston Task Force, February 23, 2010

Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force
Meeting Summary


February 23, 2010, 7:00 PM.
Reston Community Center at Lake Anne, 1609-A Washington Plaza, Reston

Patty Nicoson opened at 7:05pm

Public Comment Period (7:10)
Limited to 2 minutes/person.

• Marion Stillson, President of Reston Citizens Association, expressed concerns regarding citizen participation in the Reston Master Plan Special Study to date. She noted several specific actions and inactions that she feels have precluded Reston citizens from contributing to the Task Force process, including not publishing task force meeting agendas and related materials in a timely manner, and the lack of direct notice to residents in and around areas that will be discussed at informational meetings or community meetings. She also commented on the lack of an existing conditions report for the study area to date and that those who participated in the Land Use College have not had a role in the Task Force process. Her comments were distributed to the Task Force.
• Kathy Kaplan noted that she has compiled an email distribution list that includes most Task Force members and asked that those members not on her list send her their email addresses.

Administrative Items (7:15)
• Chairman Patty Nicoson announced that an email was circulated to the Task Force with her recommendation regarding sub-groups or working groups. In summary, she agreed with the majority of the Task Force that there may be a place for these groups as the study proceeds. However, there was not support for establishing an array of working groups at this time.
• Heidi Merkel reminded the Task Force that the meeting summaries were sent out with the agenda in an email on the previous Friday. She explained that time will not be set aside during Task Force meetings for discussion of the meeting summaries. She asked that Task Force members send corrections to Sandi. The summaries will be posted on the web.
• Task Force member Jerry Volloy asked when the guiding principles will be discussed. Heidi stated that staff is working on a document which will include a compilation of the results of the preference activity at the January 26th community meeting and a written summary regarding all the proposed guidelines.
• Chairman Patty Nicoson announced that Task Force member Robert Goudie would like to create a Task Force sub-committee for Reston Town Center. A draft position paper by the Working Alliance of Town Center Homeowners (WATCH) was circulated. A WATCH meeting to discuss the draft paper will be held Wednesday, 2/24. Contact Robert for more information.
• Jerry Volloy asked about the subject matter of the upcoming meetings and why the Task Force is not talking about the Wiehle area first, in light of the pending Comstock rezoning case in that area. Heidi Merkel explained that the County zoning staff reviewing that rezoning case is evaluating it under existing Comprehensive Plan recommendations. The rezoning case is not a part of the Task Force’s charge. Task Force members are welcome to attend the public hearings and offer their personal comments. The Task Force will be looking at the Wiehle area to identify what adjustments are appropriate to the current Plan recommendations. If the present application is still pending then the developer would have the opportunity to amend the application. That may be unsatisfactory for some people, but the state law requires that the zoning applications be acted upon in a timely manner. Staff decided to review the Herndon-Monroe area first because in some ways it is the simplest. Staff made the decision in part based on logistically concerns.
• Mark Looney pointed out that the pending Wiehle rezoning case can provide many lessons to be learned from the developer’s proposal. This can be seen as a “test case” as to how well the current Plan recommendations works. These lessons include:
o Problems with including height limitations in the Plan;
o Challenges presented by requiring specific mixes of uses;
o Issues related to consolidating property;
• Patty Nicoson noted her optimism that the changes may help create a project that the community may be more likely to support.
• Arthur Hill stated that the Reston Planning and Zoning Committee Meeting will be about the rezoning case at Wiehle Ave on Monday [3/1] and the committee will make a decision on the case soon.

Overview of Transportation Plan (7:25)
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/projects/reston/fairfax_cty_transportation_plan_overview.pdf
• Leonard Wolfenstein, Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning, gave a presentation about the Transportation Plan element of the Comprehensive Plan and the recommendations for the Reston area
• In response to a question, Leonard explained that Route 7 is an enhanced Public Transportation Corridor between Baileys and Tysons Corner but not west of Tysons Corner.

The Montgomery County experience (7:50)
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/projects/reston/planning_montgomery_tod.pdf
• Task Force member John Carter, who is Chief of Urban Design and Preservation Division of Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Division, gave a presentation on Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in Montgomery County, MD.

Arlington County experience (8:35)
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/projects/reston/arlington_experience_w_tod.pdf
• Robert Brosnan, Arlington County Planning Director, gave a presentation on TOD in Arlington County
• Questions for Bob Brosnan re: how Arlington handles parking, changes they’ve made to planning along the way (this was mid-course correction question), how other transit such as bus service, and affordable housing in transit corridors.

Presentation on the Reston Metro Access Group (RMAG) Report (9:10)
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/projects/reston/rmag_station_access_management_plans.pdf
• Keith Goodman, Fairfax County Department of Transportation, gave a presentation on the Reston Metro Access Study that was completed in 2007 for areas around the Reston Parkway and Wiehle Avenue transit station areas.

Overview of the Herndon-Monroe area (9:24)
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/projects/reston/herdon-monroe_existingconditions.pdf
• Faheem Darab, Department of Planning and Zoning gave a presentation about the planned, zoned and existing development in the Herndon-Monroe station area.
• Questions for Faheem re: the zoning map shown in the presentation and how it relates to the planned development in the area and how to deal with the significant number of office buildings in the corridor.


• Heidi reminded the audience of upcoming meetings. Community meeting will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at Langston Hughes Middle School beginning a 9am. The Task Force meeting scheduled on March 2, 21010 has been cancelled. The next Task Force meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at Lake Anne RCC.


Meeting adjourned (9:52)


Members Present

Bauer, Nicholas
Cooper, Michael
Cortelyou, Stephanie
Costello, Frederick
de la Fe, Frank
Foster, Van
Goudie, Robert
Hill, Arthur
Kennedy,Richard
Looney, Mark
Murphy, Arthur
Nicoson, Patricia
Pew, Judith
Riegle, Greg
Seidenstricker, Jay
Simon, Robert
Thomas, Paul
Tobey, Phil
Volloy, Gerald
Walker, Robert
Williams, Kohann
Bowman, John
Gilley Sr., Wade
Keefe, William
Matthews, Milton
Mills, Colin
Noritake, Rae
Penniman, William
Phillips, Terri
Stowers, Joe
Strange, Anne