An Open Letter Concerning the St. Johns Wood Proposed Re-Development

An Open Letter Concerning the St. Johns Wood Proposed Re-Development

To: The Reston Planning & Zoning Committee, Reston Design Review Board, Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning, Fairfax County Supervisors, and all affected community members-

A plea for adequate time for public review and comment on the next round of developer changes to its St. Johns Wood re-development proposal.

The undersigned residents of the North Point area of Reston seek your attention and assistance regarding anticipated changes to plans for redevelopment of the St. Johns Wood apartment complex.  The property is located at the intersection of Reston Parkway and Center Harbor Road. Please assure that Bozzuto Development Company, Inc. (Bozzuto) provides all affected reviewing authorities and the public-at-large sufficient time and information to review the revised plans that the developer has indicated will be made.

The numerous submissions by Bozzuto for redevelopment of the property, seeking to convert 250 multi-family garden apartments in nine-three story buildings to 467 new apartments and forty-four townhomes, have undergone many changes over several years.  County Supervisor Hudgins currently advises on her website, “Bozzuto is in the process of revising their plan; therefore, the public hearing was deferred until May 25, 2017.”  This postponement by County Planning follows deferral of review by the Reston Design Review Board in October 2016 and a statement of non-support for the Bozzuto application by the Reston Association in September 2016.

More recently, the Reston Planning & Zoning Committee calendared the review of a yet-to-be publically released revision of the developer’s redevelopment plans for St. Johns Wood. That meeting is scheduled for March 27.

Despite the rapidly approaching dates for Reston Planning & Zoning Committee review and the County Planning public hearing, to date Bozzuto has not provided the public with any information about changes to its application.

If the changes are not significant, it is unconscionable to withhold public scrutiny of this potentially neighborhood-altering project. If as is suspected the changes to the application are significant, it is even more imperative that the public be provided meaningful opportunity to examine and comment.  This is particularly important given the troubling deficiencies cited by the Reston Design Review Board and the Reston Association.

The St. Johns Wood project will so greatly affect the quality of life, environment, safety, and property values of the North Point area of Reston that the project must be reviewed in the most transparent manner possible. Please help!

Susan Barse

Stephen Canner

Mark Clyman

Arlene Krieger

Patricia Lentz

John Mooney

Dabney Narvaez

Linda Platt

Jeanne Vasterling

RPZ and DRB plan to hear key development/redevelopment proposals next week.

The following is an e-mail from RA's Larry Butler to key community groups about the agenda of the RPZ and DRB next week. 


From: Larry Butler <Larry@reston.org>
Date: Thursday, November 12, 2015
Subject: Upcoming Meetings
To:  (Deleted)

Greetings everyone.  I wanted to let you know about two meetings next week of importance to the community.  On Monday November 16 at 7:30 at Supervisor Hudgins’ office conference room at the North County Government Center the Planning and Zoning Committee will be meeting.  Included on their agenda are the Reston Town Center Rail Station, North Entrance Update, Tall Oaks Village Center redevelopment proposal (informational), and the Sekas Homes application for 11690 Sunrise Valley Drive off Roland Clarke Place to rezone from industrial to the PDH-12 District (residential) in order to construct 37 urban-style single family attached dwelling units with associated parking and recreational amenities.

On Tuesday November 17 at 7 pm in the RA conference center the Full Design Review Board meeting will include a Tall Oaks Village Center redevelopment informational presentation (likely same as P&Z), 1760 Reston Parkway final development plan (23-story tower), an informational presentation on a parking garage at Reston International Center, and changes to the architectural plans and landscaping for the former United Christian Parish Church at 2222 Colt’s Neck Road that has been approved for redevelopment into 55+ housing, and is now seeking changes to provide some assisted living units as well.

These are important meetings and please let your committee members know.

Larry T. Butler

Senior Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Resources

Reston Association

12001 Sunrise Valley Drive

Reston, VA 20191

Direct: 703-435-6501

Live, Work, Play and Get Involved

www.reston.org

Op-Ed: DRB Would Likely Keep Tetra From Development, RestonNow, April 29, 2015

This is an op-ed by Reston resident Ed Abbott. The opinions expressed here do not represent the views of Reston Now.

I am a lay member of the Design Review Board (DRB). I have been a member for about five and a half years. My views presented here are my own. My term was up last month and I am not seeking another term. . .

I think one reason is that the Design Review Board is very unlikely to approve of the property’s commercial use, especially as a restaurant. Such development would significantly change the residential nature and aesthetics of the neighborhood. . . .

For any future owner of the property, including RA, threading Reston’s design guideline needle in the application process would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, given the property’s location.

It makes no sense to spend $2.65 million to prevent development that is very unlikely to happen. . . .

Click here to read the rest of the op-ed.

Three meetings this week on St. John’s Wood redevelopment proposal

Update:  We've appended to this post the full redevelopment engineering plan and various renderings, drawings, photos, etc., prepared by the developer.

Three important meetings will be held this week on Bozzuto Development’s proposal to raze the St. John’s Wood apartments in North Reston (northeast corner of Reston Parkway and Center Harbor Road) and build new medium or high-density residential on the site:

The Reston Planning & Zoning Committee (Reston P&Z), a local advisory group, will receive a presentation on the St. John’s Wood redevelopment proposal during its monthly meeting on Monday, April 20, 2015.  The Reston P&Z meeting (agenda not yet posted) begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Room at the new North County Government Center, 1801 Cameron Glen Drive, Reston VA.

The full Reston Association Design Review Board (Reston DRB) also will receive a presentation at its monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 21, 2015.  The DRB meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Conference Center at Reston Association headquarters, 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston VA.  According to the agenda, the presentation to the DRB is informational only; no decisions will be made.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing on draft revised Comprehensive Plan text for Reston’s Phase 2 areas (all areas outside the transit corridor and Reston Town Center), including the St. John’s Wood site, at a meeting on Wednesday, April 22, 2015 beginning at 8:15 p.m. in the Board Auditorium of the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax VA.  (Planning Commission meetings are televised on local Channel 16 and streamed live and on‑demand on the Planning Commission’s web site.)

Last summer, Bozzuto filed applications with Fairfax County government to replace the existing nine garden apartment buildings (250 units) with three new midrise buildings (625 units total) and 34 townhouses.  Occupancy would nearly triple on the site.

In December, Bozzuto made an informational presentation to a joint meeting of Reston P&Z, Reston DRB, and Reston Association senior leaders, where conceptual drawings of the St. John’s Wood project were shared.  At that meeting, the Bozzuto proposal was heavily criticized as too urban and totally inappropriate for a suburban area outside the corridor and village centers, and Bozzuto representatives suggested they might make changes.  Bozzuto’s changes, if any, have not yet been made public, and the meetings on Monday and Tuesday evenings (Reston P&Z and Reston DRB) will be the first opportunity for the public to learn the current status of Bozzuto’s proposal.

In addition, the current Reston Master Plan specifies high density for the St. John’s Wood site, but the county’s draft comprehensive plan text (to be considered by the Planning Commission on Wednesday) recommends medium or perhaps even low-density for the site.  (There are differing interpretations of the symbology on the county’s draft land use maps.)  The St. John’s Wood property owner did not submit a redevelopment proposal during the Reston Master Plan review process, but its counsel recently submitted a letter requesting the right to develop at higher density as permitted under the current Reston Master Plan or a site-specific exception for the property.  This letter likely will be discussed at Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, and may provide insights regarding the St. John’s Wood project’s prospects at the county level when the Bozzuto proposals are considered by the Planning Commission this summer.

Status information regarding the pending redevelopment applications is available on the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning site (under Tax Map Number, enter Grid 011, Quad 4, Double Circle 01, and Lot 0012).

Attached below are (a) the proffered redevelopment plan amendment for redeveloping St. Johns Woods and (b) some renderings on what the redeveloped site might look like.  

 

   St. Johns Woods Proferred Redevelopment Plan, October 2014

   Renderings of Proposed Redeveloped St. Johns Woods Site, December 2014

On the Docket: SVES, Office Tower, Reston Patch, June 28, 2012

Sunrise Valley renovations and 23-story office building slated for decision at Fairfax County Planning Commission on Thursday.

• By Karen Goff

The Fairfax County Planning Commission is scheduled to make a decision on two Reston projects at Thursday's regular meeting.

The 23-story tower planned for 1760 Reston Parkway is on the docket. Read more about the project here.

The RTC Partnership is seeking to demolish the existing five-story "Reston Times" office building and construct a 23-story, 418,900 square foot mixed-use office building, to include office (413,700 SF), retail uses (2,600 SF) and/or an eating establishment (2,600 SF). . . .

Although RA's DRB and the Reston P&Z Committee have endorsed the huge tower to be built where the old Reston Times or Town Center Office Building is, the Reston Task Force's Town Center Sub-committee chair, the Association of Reston Clusters & Homeowners, and RCA's Reston 2020 Committee have all objected to the proposal on grounds that it is inconsistent with Reston's planning principles, undermines the residential-focused mixed use proposed for the North Town Center area around the Spectrum Center, and is massively too dense for the setting.  

Click here for the rest of this article. 

RA Design Review Board Approves Fairway Plan, Reston Patch, February 22, 2012

Modern look, no "Texas Donut" mean developers can move ahead with redevelopment of aging complex.

By Karen Goff 

. . .  When JBG last presented to the DRB in June, it was criticized for townhouses that were too tall, a "Texas Donut" (big buildings centered around a parking lot) look for the multifamily buildings, and a look that did not fit in with the Lake Anne area of Reston.

The DRB was not going to approve it, but JBG asked for a last-minute deferral.
Now, the Texas Donut is gone and townhouses will be 3.5 stories. Parking for the multifamily buildings will be in a podium position that will blend in with the surroundings.

JBG architects also used nearby buildings, such as the Charles Goodman-designed Hickory Cluster, as inspiration for the exteriors of the townhouses, which now have a Cubist look to them. 

"The board should congratulate itself for sticking to its guns and getting to this point," said DRB member Ed Abbott. "And I congratulate JBG for sticking with us.". . .

Click here for the rest of Patch's good coverage of last night's DRB discussion of Fairway Apartments.  

Opinion: High Density at Lake Anne--A Mixed Bag, John Lovaas, Reston Connection, February 22-28, 2012