Zoning the Good Life: The Proposed Reston National Golf Course Redevelopment, PoshSeven,

Since the 1970s, the Reston National Golf Course has been a Mecca for locals who want to get a little closer to the natural world.

When the weather’s nice (and sometimes when it’s not), golf enthusiasts tee off on the well-manicured green or take practice swings on the driving range. Other visitors to the 166-acre course – the open grounds of which are a certified Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary – jog down winding walkways, hike through briar patches, or relax by a pond and look out for birds and other local wildlife. Now, the golf course’s fate may hinge on a zoning technicality. . .

RN Golf Management LLC (a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual)first proposed its plan to build residences on the site of the course in 2012. They met powerful opposition from residents and community groups, including the Reston Association. The grassroots activist group Rescue Reston was founded specifically to oppose the redevelopment. The Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) ruled that any residential development would require changes to the Fairfax County Comprehensive plan. This ruling did not outright forbid the development, but it would make development a whole lot harder. RN Gold Management LLC appealed the ruling and asked for more time to prepare their appeal.

If the ruling is not overturned, RN Golf Management LLC would have to rezone the property in order to build. . . .

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Reston National Golf Course BZA Appeal Materials

UPDATE:  We have added the Rescue Reston attorney's April 1, 2015, follow-up letter to this compendium.  It's conclusion, provided below provides an excellent overview for rejecting Northwestern Mutual's application.  To simplify posting, we have not added links to the exhibits in the earlier Rescue Reston attorney's letter, but they are available by clicking on this link to their original letter to the BZA. 

We have also posted a link to the County Zoning Administrator's April 7 follow-up letter to its April 1 letter as the second bullet link in this series. 

The several parties striving to retain Reston National Golf Course in its current use as opposed to Northwestern Mutual's attorneys perverse interpretation of its current zoning to allow redevelopment as a 166 acres of medium density residential development have submitted their materials to the County.  These materials include:

•  A letter from the County Zoning Administrator provides a 20-page memorandum supporting her determination that RNGC needed to be preserved as open space and that nothing in the County's planning and zoning suggests that it could be come a residential development.  She concludes:

Staff has provided substantial evidence, including staff reports, Planning Commission public hearing meeting minutes, Board hearing legal notices, and Board hearing meeting  minutes to support the conclusion that the development plans found in the County Archive  files are in fact the development plans that were reviewed and approved by the Board in  1971 for rezoning applications RZ C-135, RZ C-203, and RZ C-281. These approved  development plans show the appeal property clearly designated as a golf course and/or  open space, only, as distinguished from the surrounding properties that have residential designations including low, medium, or high density designations, as is required for residential development approvals in the PRC District. . . The appellant has not
provided any evidence that demonstrates that the approved development plans are not valid.

Staff has also clearly demonstrated that the appeal property is designated on the Reston Master Plan's Land Use Plan map as "Open Space," and on the Reston Master Plan's Community Facilities Plan map as "Major Open Space, Parks, Golf Course, Nature Center." This designation has remained consistent since first approved in conjunction with the original rezonings on the property in 1971, as discussed above. . . .

Staff has also demonstrated through legal precedent and analysis of the Zoning Ordinance text in effect at the time of the rezoning approvals that neither incomplete or  vague compliance letters nor mistakes on subdivision plat density tabulation charts can  override zoning approvals and impart a use designation that was not granted by the  Board. 

• The Zoning Administrator provided additional follow-up on April 7, 2015, in a letter here.  

•  A letter from RA by its attorney, John McBride, that takes note of the incompleteness of Country records (in particular, missing files from the County and the Reston Museum), but notes the relevant law (including the Krisnavethin decision posted here) and refutes arguments by Reston National (Northwestern Mutual's stalking horse subsidiary), concluding:  "Should the County's on-site zoning files have been more complete? Absolutely. Can the fact that they were not complete be used to amend or change a Development Plan that the Board legislatively approved? Absolutely not. Only the Board of Supervisors can do that, after due notice and public hearings."  The six-page letter has 15 pages of supporting documentation.

• An April 1, 2015, letter from Rescue Reston's attorneys following up on their January 2015 letter to the BZA.  It's conclusion sums up many aspects of the Northwestern Mutual play nicely:

For the reasons stated above, those set forth in Rescue Reston's January 5, 2015, submission, and those argued by Rescue Reston and the County  Zoning staff, Ms. Belgin's June 20, 2012, determination should be affirmed  by the BZA. The golf course property has always been intended to be used  and approved for golf course and open space uses, not residential uses.
This is borne out by the development plans; the Reston Master Plan and the County's Comprehensive Plan; legal advertisements, zoning applications and statements of justification for C-135, C-203 and C-281; zoning  compliance letters for the golf course property; and other documents. It was also borne out in the letters, emails and testimony before the BZA on
January 21, 2015, of members of the Reston community, including many among the 5,900 supporters of Rescue Reston, who voiced their opinions and concerns regarding the protection of their property rights and the values of their homes, as well as the importance and integrity of the Reston Master Plan and its intended impact upon development in Reston.

Before residential use can be authorized on the golf course property, it is clear that amendments by the Board of Supervisors to the Comprehensive Plan and to the approved development plans, along with the approval of a new PRC plan, are required. Therefore, RN Golf's Appeal Application A 2012-HM-020 should denied by the BZA.

And, oh yeah, Northwestern Mutual's attorneys, Frank McDermott and Mark Looney, have provided their own appeal to the BZA to reverse the Zoning Administrator's decision to keep RNGC as open space.  Here's their summary claim:

. . . Yet all conclusions drawn by the Opposition (Comment:  the Zoning Administrator) flow from the assumption that the Alleged Development Plans are "approved".

Also flowing from that underlying assumption are several confused, conflicting arguments posited, variously, by the Opposition. . . Thus, the Catch 22, the mousetrap offered by the Opposition.

We would submit that trying to confuse the issue (as McDermott and Looney go to great lengths to do in their 9-page memo) is not a rational argument for a decision to reverse the Zoning Administrator's determination (or anything else), but rather an attempt to hide the weakness of one's own case.

Rescue Reston reports on "what's next" in the RNGC Board of Zoning Appeals case.

Board of Zoning Appeals Decision April 15
What Will Happen Next?

 

We will win a major victory in the battle if the BZA rules in favor of our County Zoning Administrator. Ideally, Northwestern Mutual, RN Golf Management and their attorneys will accept “3 strikes and you’re out.” The April 15 BZA meeting will start at 9 am and can be viewed live on the TV Channel 16.

The losing side has 30 days after the decision to petition for appeal to the Circuit Court. This would not be a jury trial, although there may be oral arguments before the judge by the attorneys. The Circuit Court judge usually takes 6-8 months to release his or her ruling. Whichever side loses at the Circuit Court level may appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court, which may choose to either hear the appeal or not (meaning the Circuit Court ruling would stand). It may be a year or more until we have a final resolution.

This means additional months of litigation and legal fees. Those who watched the January 21, 2015 BZA hearing know how often the filing made by our legal counsel, Randy Greehan of Greehan, Taves, Pandak & Stoner, PLLC was referenced during the 6 hour long hearing.

Rescue Reston needs to continue to be involved in the legal process to provide the voice of all who support the open space that makes Reston unique. If you own property adjacent to the golf course and wish to be a party in the appeals process, contact us.

We have until April 1 to submit more documentation for the BZA to consider. Randy Greehan will be present on April 15 to represent us. Whichever side wins, we fully expect the process to continue through appeals.

Rescue Reston is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization. Please click on the donation link at RescueReston.org to contribute to protecting open space in Reston.

Connie Hartke & the Rescue Reston Team

Rescue Reston: Army of Supporters Overflows Auditorium, January 22, 2015

A grassroots organization dedicated to preserving Reston's open space S.O.S. (Save Open Space)

BZA Decision Deferred until April 15 - Official Rescue Reston Statement to the Press

Army of Supporters Overflows Auditorium Estimates of 475-500 supporters THANK YOU for Answering the Call !!     The yellow/green sea of support yesterday was beyond our expectations! Close to 500 Rescue Reston supporters arrived at the beginning of the hearing, with about 150 staying until the end, 5 hours later. A smaller but key piece of the audience was news reporters. Why were they there? Because so many of YOU were there. They "got it" that this IS a big story, and that it's of interest to far more than just the land owners who surround the golf course itself.   What should we do now? Stay tuned. Additional battle plans being drawn . . . All of our speakers made great points, and the BZA does record their meetings. We'll let you know when it becomes available. In the meantime, enjoy Rescue Reston's co-founder John Pinkman's message: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCP8MXmybpo. And how about our (Rescue Reston's) attorney, Randy Greehan of Greehan,Taves, Pandak & Stoner? He was instrumental in helping find "the missing files" and his documentation was often referred to throughout the hearing. YOUR financial contributions made this possible. Rescue Reston is a 501(c)(4).   I will end with a list of news coverage. If you see others, please alert me or post on www.facebook.com/RescueReston.   Washington Post reporter Antonio Olivo will have a story in Friday morning's print edition. Previous story at  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/reston-golf-course-owners-renew-efforts-to-build-homes/2015/01/20/87c0d98c-9cfb-11e4-bcfb-059ec7a93ddc_story.html   WUSA9 - aired live last night: http://www.wusa9.com/videos/news/local/virginia/2015/01/21/reston-golf-course-at-risk-of-redevelopment/22132569/   NBC4 - aired a segment but I cannot find online. They also covered our press conference & showed a clip on TV but no response to my request for an online source!   RestonNow - http://www.restonnow.com/2015/01/21/lots-of-testimony-but-no-golf-course-zoning-decision/   Reston Connection - article coming next week   FairfaxTimes - http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20150121/NEWS/150129701/1117/decision-on-reston-golf-course-delayed&template=fairfaxTimes   Reston Patch - http://patch.com/virginia/reston/rescue-reston-supporters-swarm-government-hearing-0   Washington Business Journal - http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/morning_call/2015/01/golf-course-owners-take-another-swing-at-building.html Again, job well done and let's keep the signs out and the pressure on! Connie Hartke & the Rescue Reston Board of Directors John Pinkman, David Burns, Lisa White, Robin Hogan, Ray Wedell, Joe Deninger

Key Upcoming Dates Wednesday, April 1, 2015 County additional documents & filings due to BZA Wednesday, April 15, 2015  Board of Zoning Appeals announces its ruling no public comments - announcement only Support our County Zoning Administrator The online petition (http://bit.ly/RescueReston) continues. Share with someone who hasn't signed yet. This documentation is important now and in the future. We have the support of today's Board of Supervisors, but what about the next election, or the one after that?

Rescue Reston Statement Regarding the Outcome of Today’s Board of Zoning Appeals Hearing

Statement Regarding the Outcome of Today’s Board of Zoning Appeals Hearing 

RE: RN GOLF MANAGEMENT, LLC, application #A 2012-HM-020 under sect(s). 18-301 of the Zoning Ordinance.

David Burns, Board Member & VP Legal Affairs: “Rescue Reston is optimistic that after the BZA has fully considered the record presented at today’s hearing it will uphold the decision of the Zoning Administrator to maintain the Reston National Golf Course as open space. We thank the supporters who attended the hearing to help present the community’s views as well as over 5,300 petitioners. We also thank the Reston Association for fighting on behalf of its members for open space. Our members look forward to a positive outcome, and to being able to continue to enjoy the golf course as an integral part of our community.”

For Interviews CONTACT:

• Connie Hartke, President, Rescue Reston 571-205-8874, conniehartke@gmail.com
• David Burns, VP – Legal Affairs, Rescue Reston 703-581-5280, david@rescuereston.org

VIDEO: Connie Hartke & John Pinkman, Rescue Reston, discuss the brazen Northwestern Mutual redevelopment play for Reston National Golf Course on Reston Impact, December 2014

Reston Impact December 2014 from Comcast Channel 28 on Vimeo.

Golf Course Zoning Appeal Moved to May 22, Reston Patch, January 4, 2012

Hearing was scheduled for Jan. 30. Owners of Reston National Golf Course will have to wait until spring before getting answer.

By Karen Goff

The Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals hearings for the owners of Reston National Golf Course has been moved from Jan. 30 to May 22.

This is the second time the hearing has been postponed. It originally was scheduled for Oct. 30. The Board of Zoning Appeals did reveal which side asked for this most recent postponement.

Click here for the rest of this article.

Rescue Reston Arouses Grassroots Support to Save Green Spaces, November 29, 2012

Kimber Hartke begins the titled post on her blog, "Hartke is On-Line," about the environmental threat posed from re-development of the Reston National Golf Course into high-density housing as follows:

Idyllic Scene on Reston’s Lake Audubon

I live in a magical place. The planned community of Reston was designed nearly 50 years ago, and is a model city. Many have been attracted to live here by the eco-friendly master plan, that preserves green space and provides good habitat for many flora and fauna. Out our back windows, we see many species of birds, great blue heron, green heron, wood ducks, mallards, geese, kingfisher, hawks and eagles, including the rare great bald eagle. Our lakes are home to many species of fish, turtles and snakes.

Hiking paths and bike trails, community docks and boat launch areas enable all Reston residents and their friends to commune with nature in a way that is very health promoting. Being surrounded by natural beauty and abundant wildlife, is as pleasurable, as it is educational.

A grassroots effort is underway to protect our special community from aggressive over-development due to the Metro Rail (the D.C. subway) being built through our neighborhoods. Northwestern Mutual, an investor in one of our two golf courses is looking to sell the golf greens and clubhouse to residential developers. This could mean an additional 1100 homes putting a wrecking ball to the Reston Master Plan. . . .

For the rest of her excellent post, click here.