White Paper: Reston Town Center Redevelopment, Reston Citizens Association, September 8, 2015

   Reston Town Center North Redevelopment, RCA White Paper, Sept. 8, 2015 by Terry Maynard

Without changes, the WMATA budget may grow increasingly unsustainable, GreaterGreaterWashington, September 8, 2015

Dave Alpert's GGW gives an excellent overview and a link to a briefing by WMATA on the poor state of its financial health and dim prospects for the future.  Here is how the article begins:

Metro's costs are growing faster than revenues, and the agency may find itself in increasingly difficult financial shape unless something changes.

If current trends continue, WMATA's costs will grow 6% a year while revenues only grow 1% a year, creating a larger and larger need for local governments to pay more, according to a presentation the WMATA Board will discuss Thursday.

While transit is a vital service in our region and one that's worth paying for, it's not realistic for local governments to keep paying a larger and larger share of their own budgets into this one service when cost growth exceeds inflation or the level of growth in local GDP. . . .

For the rest of this excellent post, please click here.

The . . . Most . . . Dysfunctional . . . Transit . . . Board . . . EVER!

Yes, that will be the WMATA Board of Directors.

Just as we were all headed out the door for a nice Labor Day weekend away from the lunacies of our daily routines, Dr. Gridlock writes a telling article entitled, "Why Metro wants to kill the Dulles 5A bus route."  This route provides service from Washington's L'Enfant Plaza via Rosslyn and the Herndon-Reston P&R before going on to Dulles airport.  Your alternatives from DC are Silver Line to Wiehle and transfer to an IAD-bound bus (being pushed by some WMATA Board members) or the Washington Flyer. 

• From a Metro perspective, operating a direct bus route is less expensive than a combination subway-bus route for both itself and its riders.
• Being a direct route, the 5A bus is much less of a hassle for employees and travelers than the on/off in Reston.
• The transfer alone at Wiehle makes the trip longer and less certain.

So why would the WMATA Board even consider such an action?

Well, it seems that a Maryland member of the Board, Michael Goldman by name, doesn't think the taxpayers of Maryland should be subsidizing a bus route that serves only DC and Virginia.  I'm just wondering how many Marylanders take a train or bus to L'Enfant Plaza to catch the 5A to IAD.   Does Mr. Goldman know?  Does Metro know?  I doubt it.

Deputy Chairman (and Reston-area member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors) Cathy Hudgins countered:

Stunned by Goldman’s proposal, Fairfax representative Catherine Hudgins said that if Maryland wasn’t paying for the route, why should Fairfax County pay? After all, she said, the Fairfax residents are likely taking Fairfax Connector buses to Dulles.

“This is a regional system and I will put my money on the fact that there are Marylanders that are using it as well,” Hudgins said.

She offered a solution: If it’s serving D.C., let D.C. pay for it. Then the board agreed to put the route back on the docket for public hearing.

She made her point about the regional nature of Metro by out-parochializing Maryland's Goldman!  Good on her!  No doubt her point was to make Goldman and other Board members think about how stupid Goldman's proposal is.  This kind of thinking taken to its illogical conclusion would mean each jurisdiction (maybe even at the county or community level) would pay just enough to cover the stations in its jurisdiction or even just the number of passengers who entered or exited at a station in their jurisdiction.   

Metro is a regional transit system.  It is not--or, more accurately, should not be--a kluged-together set of County or smaller jurisdiction transit agencies.  If its Board can not act like a regional transit agency Board of Directors, all of them should resign or be summarily replaced by those who can.  Otherwise, we will continue to have the same poor decisions--and even lack of decisions--on critical matters affecting the future and operations of Metro.

And while the WMATA Board is dealing with this really stupid proposal, it is not selecting a new General Manager, making Metrorail safer, making it more reliable, less expensive, etc.  It is wasting time, money, and whatever remaining confidence and goodwill the transit-riding public has in its judgment. 

Nonetheless, the WMATA Board will be wasting its time to hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Sept. 17, at the Jackson Graham Building, 600 5th St. NW, in the District.  If you have any interest at all in this matter, you had better trek to DC and testify because we have no confidence that the Board will even come close to making a wise decision. 

Meeting Concerning the Future of Reston Regional Library, September 19, 2015, 9AM, RCC-Lake Anne

The following posting is a re-posting of an item on the Fairfax County Library Advocates blog.  We would highlight the fact that this will be the ONLY scheduled opportunity for public input, in large part because the Town Center North redevelopment is a public-private partnership that allows virtually no public input or transparency to decisions made by the County and the developer.  Your attendance and participation will be vital to the future of our library.

The following message was included in Supervisor Cathy Hudgins' September Newsletter.  What is not mentioned in this article is that the Reston Regional Library is one of the "key services" being considered for redevelopment and/or relocation.   As this is the only county meeting scheduled to allow public input for the redevelopment of Town Center North, please attend.  Numerous questions arise about Reston Regional:  How many square feet will be included in the new library, how many print and ebooks will be accommodated, and will there be adequate dedicated parking for library patrons.
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Reston Town Center North Redevelopment and Human Services Delivery:  Join the Dialogue
On Saturday, September 19, 2015, Supervisor Hudgins will host a Community Dialogue meeting to discuss evolving needs in Reston and the North County area, including regional delivery of human services and the redevelopment of Reston Town Center North (RTNC).
Fairfax County Deputy County Executive Patricia Harrison and staff will highlight the proposed health, housing and human services community input process.  Fairfax County Deputy Executive Rob Stalzer and Project Coordinator, Public-Public Private Partnership Branch, Andrew Miller, will discuss the County and Inova's efforts to fulfill the Comprehension Plan vision for the Town Center North-Mixed Use area, including the most recent Request for Proposal (RFP) process and potential development scenarios that may be considered for RTCN.  The goal is to have the community identify key services, and vision for delivery of services in the region and within the RTCN footprint.
The meeting will be held from 9 am to 1 pm at the Reston Community Center at Lake Anne - Rose Gallery Room, 1609-A Washington Plaza, Reston.  To RSVP, please send us a message to huntermillRSVP@fairfaxcounty.gov

The Silver Line has been bringing Metro’s performance numbers down, GreaterGreaterWashington.org, August 26, 2015

While the title is misleading, this is an excellent post by blogger Stephen Repetski on the deteriorating operating performance of Metrorail.  Here is Repetski's key reason for the deterioration:

In order to open the Silver Line last year, Metro has had to run more train cars longer, and the extra mileage put onto them has meant their breakdowns may affect your service more often.

That's probably true, but we believe the fact that three of the four lines with the greatest deterioration (SL, OR, BL) run through Rosslyn station on the two-track tunnel downtown is a, if not "the", key driver in this phenomenon.   As Repetsky notes, extremely cold weather last winter was also a contributor to performance deterioration--just exactly the time when potential users are seeking good rail transit service.

These graphics capture the major deterioration in performance, especially "did not operate" (DNO):

 

 

It is important to highlight that the deterioration in DNO performance and volatility in on-time performance shown above began in late 2013 or early 2014, many months before the Silver Line began operations and before extra rail cars were needed.  That speaks to extremely poor maintenance, not too much demand for cars.

In fact, if it were not for the Silver Line, total usage of the system would have declined over the last year.  And even among the limited number of SL stations open in Reston and Tysons, only Reston has exceeded usage forecasts for the first year.  We do not expect SL usage to increase until service improves and the new Phase 2 stations to Loudoun are added. 

One cannot also help but notice that, in 2011, WMATA lowered the target on-time performance from 95% to 90% (black line, top graph).  Lowering the bar is not the answer to providing reliable Metrorail service.   It is merely a justification for poorer service.

Most importantly, it shows a continuing systemic deterioration in Metrorail performance for more than 18 months.  And we still don't know the true causes and potential solutions for this increasingly dangerous situation.

For the full post, please click here.

Cloud of sequestration looms over D.C. region, Washington Post, August 23, 2015

Jonathan O'Connell, WaPo, wrote an excellent article this weekend on the Congressional federal budget axe that hangs over our region, including Fairfax County and Reston, in the name of "sequestration"--most of which will hit Defense Department spending, a major driver of local economic growth via federal employment and contracts for our county and community. 

Here are a couple of key passages from that article:

No state is more reliant on defense spending than Virginia, where it affects nearly 13 percent of the commonwealth’s economic output, tops nationwide, and provides the basis for 11 percent of jobs, third in the nation. . .

. . . office parks in Northern Virginia have emptied while defense contractors consolidated or closed locations, and developers of some new buildings have had trouble finding companies willing to sign deals.

According to the Defense Department research, things are likely to worsen over the next four years. From 2010 to 2012, Virginia experienced $9.8 billion in defense cuts, with the vast majority of losses in Northern Virginia. Direct defense spending in the state is projected to drop from $64 billion this year to under $62 billion in 2019.

Virginia’s elected leaders are sounding the alarm, with Senators Timothy M. Kaine (D) and Mark R. Warner (D) repeatedly calling for budget legislation to replace the sequester. . . .

Further sequestration is likely in the Republican-led Congress, although these Senators and Congressmen may also be looking at the 2016 election. 

Click here to read the full article.

Bentana Woods e-mail to RA regarding redevelopment of Tall Oaks Village Center

From: Sherri Hebert
Date: Aug 16, 2015 11:25:09 AM
Subject: Fwd: Tall Oaks Village Center
To: Director Graves , Director Thomas , Director LaRosa , Director Bitzer , Ken Knueven , Lucinda Shannon , "Michael R. Sanio" , Ray Wedell , Cate Fulkerson

Dear Community Leaders,

As the president of the Bentana Woods Cluster Association and a neighbor of the Tall Oaks Village Center, I’ve been to all of the community meetings regarding the redevelopment, and conducted two surveys of the Tall Oaks community.  Because of my involvement, I have been asked by many of my neighbors to summarize for you the Tall Oaks residents’ views regarding the redevelopment project for the Tall Oaks Village Center and to ask for your continued support and leadership.

As you are well aware, decisions made regarding Tall Oaks Village Center will have a long-term impact on all future development of village centers which will either preserve the life style of Restonians or turn Reston into the next Tysons. Having a healthy mix of commercial office, retail, housing and other amenities only in the RestonTransit Station areas will leave much to be desired for the founding neighborhoods of Reston and will not make Reston a sustainable transit oriented community.

The residents of Tall Oaks and the Reston community at large has, on multiple occasions, expressed their views and desires for the seven plus acres of prime real estate at the corner of North Shore Rd and Wiehle Ave. This mostly vacant lot is in walking distance of the Wiehle-Reston metro (albeit a lengthy walk) but not walkable to Lake Anne or any othercommunity services or retail establishments (with the exception of McDonalds or Taco Bell).

In April 2015, community residents responded loudly in both numbers of attendees and views expressed at theJefferson Apartment Group (JAG) presentations. The themes at both sessionswhere:

• More community space
• More enough retail and community services
• More green/open space
• Incorporating the Assisted Living Facility
• Too much housing (are we creating anothercluster?)
• Parking and traffic concerns (mixed uses will allow for parking to be used at different times of the day)
• Several of the current business owners in Tall Oaks took issue with the premise that commercial establishment would not succeed.  Many of these businesses have been successfully operating in Tall Oaks for years, even during the downturn of the village center.

Concerned residents took action bystarting a petition to ask both Fairfax County and Reston Association to listen to the residents of Tall Oaks regarding this valuable land. Shortly after these community meetings, the cluster presidents of the Tall Oaks community reached out the JAG hoping to dialogue about the proposal and to create a partnership in the design. JAG did not respond until they were confronted during a presentation to the Reston Planning and Zoning committee (P&Z) in May. Even with the strong opposition to the JAG proposal, on May 18^th, JAG presented the same plan to the P&Z. In that meeting, they stated that they had spoken to the business owners currently operating in Tall Oaks about their future intentions, but the fact is they had not. I actually spoke to the someof the owners that day, and they had not been contacted by JAG. I am bringing up this point, because JAG demonstrated to me, that they will misrepresent the truth for their gain. This is a dangerous game to play especially if decisions are made without facts.

The following evening, May 19^th,JAG made the same presentation to the Reston Design Review Board (DRB) with the same misrepresentations of truth they gave the P&Z.  Both groups, based on the words of the developer (completely one-sided) gave a nod that JAG was  heading in the right direction. This was extremely frustrating for the residents in attendance.

The Bentana Woods Cluster Association, as a sample population, participated in a survey regarding the retail service needs of the village center. With a 49% response rate, the  desire for eating establishments was priority one. The survey results were provided to JAG, at a June 16^th meeting and are attached for your review.

On June 22^nd, Fairfax County hosted an interactive community meeting to again hear the views and opinions of residents. Again, the residents filled the room to capacity to express their concerns. The sheer number of attendees indicated the seriousness of the development project. JAG presented the same proposal that many had heard in April. The same issues were surfaced.

Concerned Citizens of Tall Oaks launched another survey to get reaction to two other fictitious options. The consensus was that neither option was good because they did not have enough community space, a plaza feel, parking, or retail. The options offered forced respondent to choose between additional green/open space and additional parking. Respondents, 54% to 29%, wanted the open space. The real value of the survey was in the comments where people expressed their concerns about losing the village center, traffic, and future of the community. The survey resultsare attached.

On August 6^th, RestonAssociation’s Board of Directors issued a letter opposing the current redevelopment plans of JAG and the need to appreciate this land as valuable resource. Developing this land into a gem of Reston and a model for other village centers is critically important to Reston’s future. To create another housing cluster would set the wheels in motion to dissolve the uniqueness of Reston andits village centers, increase traffic and decrease the character of theneighborhood and lower the quality of life of the resident.  All of these factors would ultimately lead to a city without personality or distinction and lower property values. I am available to meet to discuss these issues or to give you greater insight to theresidents’ perspective.  I look forward to your feedback.

Regards,

Sherri Hebert

1607 Park Overlook Drive, Reston, 20190

sherri1210@gmail.com

703-501-7009

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Attachment #1:

   Tall Oaks Options Survey

Attachment #2:

   Tall Oaks Village Center Redevelopment - Retail by Terry Maynard