After 11 months, Phase I of the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force shows the first glimmer of results. We can see parts of plans in the rail corridor taking shape. And, as we head into winter, we are learning that Phase II will likely slip to some time in the spring. The actual work in Phase I is done by three - now four - Task Force committees: Reston Parkway; Wiehle Avenue; Herndon-Monroe; and the recently created Vision Committee. While a vision framework should have been put forth at the beginning of the Master Plan study, the Vision Committee is now in gear and offers perhaps the only hope for injecting coherence into the product of study Phase I.
The Vision outfit has exceptional leadership, the most experienced professional community planner on the Task Force. It also has strong community participation and a clear course of action for examining plans of the three station area committees, vital matters they've not addressed, and the impacts of what they propose.
I've been glued to the Task Force since day one in December 2009, attending over 100 meetings. Its work is not easy. Nor is it quantum physics. The process wandered at times, lacking clear direction. To date, we have but one complete committee report -- that of the Reston Parkway/Town Center group, and drafts from the other two station-area committees. The Wiehle report, of course, is key since that station will be the first to open—in 2013. Their draft looks promising. Herndon-Monroe's is far behind.
But, let's talk about the known — the Reston Town Center Committee's recommendations for a new Master Plan. Their task was complex, dealing with a large, already partially urban area. Their report reflects compromises on some thorny issues while ignoring others, such as infrastructure. It also reflects strong commercial developer influence. For example, it stresses the need "to incent" developers, including, for example, offering huge density bonuses while waiving a requirement to contribute to infrastructure to support massive new density—up to 2.5 times that of the existing urban core.
The great new density will continue to favor commercial vs. residential construction, resulting in more profit AND more congestion piled on Reston's already failing intersections. And, they propose less open space relief than other station areas, favoring grassy areas more suitable for pet potties than creative, attractive parks suggested by residents. They leave providing athletic fields for thousands of new residents to other parts of Reston to pony up.
However, there is encouraging news. First, Reston 2020, the community coalition following and supporting the Task Force, is putting the finishing touches on a terrific alternative plan for Town Center. Unlike the Committee's version, the 2020 alternative sizes growth in density to fit public infrastructure and community needs, consistent with Reston's goal of being a world class planned community. The 2020 plan for Town Center will:
* permit doubling the current level of development - more than what the County recently approved for Tysons Corner - while slashing development above the carrying capacity;
* emphasize residential/commercial development balance, reducing the traffic generation of the Committee plan;
* require additional and more varied open space;
* call for new school construction, not included in the Committee plan, to accommodate the additional demand created by growth;
* call for the addition of a major fine arts center, possibly on the south side of the station, at least partially funded by developer proffers; and,
* provide positive incentives for developer actions to benefit the community—e.g., FAR increments for LEED Gold standard for construction as well as providing affordable housing and open space above county minimum requirements.
More good news: At the strong urging of community groups — led by the Reston Citizens Association and Reston Association — Hunter Mill Supervisor Catherine Hudgins has agreed to change the composition of the Task Force for Phase II of the Master Plan Special Study. Hudgins has the exclusive power to appoint or remove Task Force members.
Since Phase II will focus on the areas in and around Reston's to-be-expanded Village Centers, it would seem appropriate to add residents and small business owners from these areas as well as a residential developer. She could make room for such genuine representation of the areas under study by reducing the ranks of commercial developers and friends, and Town Center reps now serving on the Task Force. Just a thought.
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