Wiehle Avenue Metro: First Major Redevelopment Goes Before Reston P&Z Next Week

We love a good artist's rendering of tall bland office buildings as much as the next guy or gal, so here are some lovely drawrings of Comstock's proposed mixed-use development on the site of the current Wiehle Avenue kiss and ride. Note the large above-ground parking garage -- which is largely underground but at least partially visible from most angles --- and the tiny bit of open space -- supposedly the size of Lake Anne Plaza, minus the tubercular fountain.

Also, it's tall! Someone used one of those fancy 3-D modeling programs (MS Paint) to give a sense of how tall the proposed buildings would be:

Those tiny specs are people. At the same time, the only thing that's guaranteed to be built as a result of the $90 million $110 million deal between Comstock and Fairfax County is the garage itself; the rest of the project, including even more stuff to the west of this block, will be developed as "market conditions dictate." Frankly, we'd rather have bland tall buildings than a free-standing parking garage surrounded by mud and construction tranches, but that's just us.

Reston 2020's Terry Maynard was so moved by these stirring images that he wrote a fancy 12-page document criticizing the Whiele Avenue development. The highlights:

• The design is conventional and bland, like many other such commercial development blocks in the Washington area. It is not innovative or world-class.

• The TOD mixed-use development of the site is entirely appropriate, but it appears to exceed its authorized FAR 2.5 density, probably in the range of FAR 4 to FAR 5 , when the nearly million square feet of above ground parking is counted.

• In no serious sense does the proposal meet the county’s requirement of 20% open space—much less Restonians’ demands for 25% or higher—other than pavement and parking lots along with an undeveloped ravine. It does not meet Restonians’ needs for open space and natural areas.

• The transportation impact analysis shows that, even with full implementation of the required improvements and Comstock’s additional offers and traffic demand management (TDM) program, traffic will worsen at the corner of Wiehle and Sunset Hills. This is inconsistent with Restonians’ needs for the concurrent or prior development of infrastructure to maintain or improve public services.

• Comstock limits its commitment to environmental sensitivity to meeting only LEED Silver or LEED Certified environmental standards in its development, and offers a financial arrangement as an alternative to meeting those requirements. Restonians demand a minimum LEED Silver standard, and prefer going for the Gold.

• The proposal covers only the two blocks owned by Comstock. The dozen other property owners in this quadrant near the Metro station could each propose their own isolated, incompatible development plan in the absence of a comprehensive approach to Reston planning. As a planned community, Reston’s development and re-development planning should reflect a holistic approach to its impact on Reston’s quality of life.

We can hope the Reston Association P&Z Committee—which has limited authority in the approval process—and the County considers these shortcomings as the application moves through the review process. Moreover, we can hope that the lessons from this development proposal will temper the drive for increasing density (FAR, DUAs, etc.) in Reston development; strengthen standards for infrastructure, open space, and sustainable development; and lead to a more thoughtful community-wide approach to development planning and implementation. That hope rests in the hands of the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force.

Reston’s citizens must work to see that their clear and consistent principles are established and implemented. Otherwise, the quality of life reflected in Reston’s innovative architecture, integration of extensive open space and natural areas, provision of park and recreational amenities, sensitivity to environmental impact, and other unique and attractive characteristics will erode block by block, development by development, neighborhood by neighborhood over the next generation.

You had us at "conventional and bland."

Reston P&Z will review this fancy plan during a meeting next week. As the proposal wends its way through the Reston and county planning process, it, along with the Fairway redevelopment proposal submitted by JBG, represent the first serious tests of what high-density, mixed-use development will look like in Reston going forward. Both have the ugly above-ground parking garages in common. At least Comstock's proposal is in the right spot--adjacent to the Metro station and in an area nowhere near existing residential neighborhoods. Even so, issues with pedestrian and vehicular traffic need to be examined closely.

Also, we recommend spicing up the design a bit. Maybe Comstock can borrow some cues from the rad '80s art planned for the Metro station next door.