Press Release:
Reston, VA October 29, 2015 - In January of this year, more
than 500 landowners and others concerned about the future of Reston
National Golf Course, a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program
golf course, rallied at the Board of Zoning Appeals hearing in support
of maintaining the 166-acre tract of land as open space. However, in
April the BZA returned a decision that may have eased the path to
redevelopment. That decision will be challenged in Fairfax County
Circuit Court on Friday, November 6, at 2 p.m.
The outcome of this hearing will affect all properties abutting or near
the golf course. Home and business owners stand to lose scenic views,
privacy and substantial value and will face years of construction
trucks, dirt and noise in their backyards, and worsening congestion on
local roads. Our community may lose 166 acres of wildlife habitat and
scenic beauty. All of Reston faces the loss of control over its future.
Lawyers for Fairfax County, Reston Association and individual homeowners
and clusters (together, the Home Team) have been preparing an appeal of
the BZA’s ruling. Homeowners and clusters that are part of the Home
Team are represented by Randy Greehan of Greehan, Taves, Pandak &
Stoner, PLLC, the land use law firm that has counseled Rescue Reston
since 2012.
The loophole that the original RN Golf land use attorney thought he had
found when the investor-owners undertook this battle in 2012 has been
closed: Fairfax County has certified all documents. Therefore, if the
Home Team wins in Circuit Court in November, the investor-owners of RNGC
will have a much harder time achieving their goal of transforming this
treasured open space into anything other than recreational open space.
The legal effort to challenge the BZA’s ruling has been substantial and costly.
Right now, the key support required to keep this tract of land green is
to help pay the legal bills! The most recent brief filed on behalf of
the petitioners can be read at http://www.rescuereston.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/10-26-15-Reply-Brief-of-Adjacent-Owners-in-Support-of-Summary-Judgment-Motion.pdf
Many homeowners and other concerned individuals and businesses have
already donated this calendar year, but a surge of donations this coming
week will send the message that we will not be outdone by the deep
pockets of the golf course’s investor-owners, Northwestern Mutual. The
end of the legal battle is in sight.
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