RESTON, VA – According to the latest Fairfax County’s data, the population of Reston in 2019 was 65,770. If development could take place at the maximum levels already approved by the county planners, Reston’s population would more than double.
“If you maximized the non-residential population and calculated the planned expansion, Reston’s population would be around 130,000,” Walter Alcorn, district director of Hunter Mill, said at a recent news conference. “If you’ve calculated the maximum residential development, it’s actually about 157,000 people.”
The maximum number of buildings was taken from a report prepared by Fairfax County and Reston Association staff.
“We did something that hadn’t been done before for the existing comprehensive plan for Reston,” said Alcorn. “What is the population estimate? In other words, if the current comprehensive plan that is being passed actually expanded, how many people would be in Reston? What would the estimated amount be?”
When Alcorn was sworn in as the Hunter Mill District supervisor in January 2020, his first board matter was to initiate a public participation process to update Fairfax County’s comprehensive plan for Reston.
Alcorn has had one since then Series of task force meetings to review the plan and discuss possible changes. Having an idea of what was already allowed under the current plan has proven to be a useful metric for those considering changes to the plan.
(Fairfax County)
“The task force is first looking at ways to ensure that the planned infrastructure is sufficient to handle this expansion in terms of both resident population and office workers, retail, etc.” Alcorn said.
The task force is also examining the effects of the expansion on its transport components. In addition, Fairfax County Public Schools will provide a briefing on what changes may need to be made to the Reston Comprehensive Plan to ensure there is adequate school capacity.
“We are also looking at areas where plan densities may need to be reduced,” said Alcorn. “For example, the village centers, at least three of them, Hunters Woods, South Lakes and North Point, are currently well-dense in the overall plan. That’s one of the things the task force is looking at. Which is a reasonable number for the foreseeable future for the planned density of these village centers? “
Much of the density in the existing comprehensive plan arises from the reallocation process, which assesses applications for compliance with the plan. In their discussions, the task force is considering a more precise process to get developers to earn density in order to bring them down to the maximum amount allowed in the plan.
“By earnings density, we’re talking about what commitments developers will make to offset their impact,” said Alcorn.
One of the possible obligations to consider is in the area of equity.
“Reston is just the right place to start this discussion in Fairfax County, given the history of Reston and the original principles of Bob Simon,” said Alcorn. “It’s a very interesting discussion about how the new development, the new economic activity that comes with this development, how to connect to underserved communities, communities in the Reston area that have not had the opportunity to take full advantage of it . ” the prosperity that comes with the new development. “
These commitments, which would be made during the construction process and beyond, could take the form of vocational training to alleviate bottlenecks in many technical areas and provide other forms of assistance in solving equity problems.
“It’s a nationwide discussion, but in Reston we are, if you will, really the guinea pigs we could do,” said Alcorn.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the process down a bit, the supervisor said the task force should have its recommendations ready by summer.
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