Reston Master Plan: Community Group Looking for a Few Good Strawmen

What, with the snow and the snow and the snow and the digging out from the snow, it's been a while since we've touched on the Reston Master Plan. As long speculated, the official and succinctly named Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force has opted not to formally incorporate the community work groups proposed by Reston 2020. So it will trudge onward, as will the RA Board, which will provide support of its own:

Dick Stillson, Reston 2020 co-chair, started by noting that it appears that the community will have to move forward on its own to support the task force because the task force has not further considered the Reston 2020 Community Work Group (CWG) proposal per a conversation with is chair, Patty Nicoson. She offered a deficient alternative of task force member-led special topic groups on matters peripheral to the task force’s primary agenda. In a conversation with Stillson Feb. 3rd, Paul Thomas, the Reston Association Board’s member of the Task Force, said that the RA Board had charged its key committees to support the task force through the RA Board. He suggested that Reston 2020 proceed with its specific studies and write papers to the task force, preferably endorsed by all three key Reston civic groups (RA, RCA, & ARCH).

Confused? Us too. But Reston 2020 is seeking people to participate in its own working groups, and has sent this message out to the people of Reston on the Internets:

Reston Residents: 
The Reston 2020 Committee is a committee of the Reston Citizens Association which monitors land use planning in Reston.  Currently, we are most involved with monitoring and helping the Task Force of the Reston Master Plan Special Study.  As a way to better educate ourselves and provide a way for many people to participate in the planning process, we are forming working groups concerning several important areas that the Task Force will be considering.  These are: 

•          Transportation;
•          Environment;
•          Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities;
•          Residential and Urban Design, and Livability;          


We hope the groups will read studies concerning their topics that have been done on other areas, beginning with the Tyson’s Corner Planning Task Force, invite outside experts to obtain their views, and organize field trips to inspect and better understand the areas affected by the planning.  They will work closely with the advisory committees of the Reston Association who are working on similar topics.  They will prepare brief written reports and presentations on what they learn and provide the Task Force with their views.             

We hope that you may be interested in participating in one of the groups.  They will meet at least once per month and will be chaired by a member of the 2020 Committee. It will require some commitment of time and effort over the next several months but it will be well worth it to be able to contribute to the planning process.  Please e-mail me by February 19 if you are interested and state which of the groups you would like to join. Thank you. 

Dick Stillson
Co-Chair, RCA’s Reston 2020 Committee
rts@point0.net

For what it's worth. Maybe you too can come up with your own strawman!