News and notes from Reston (tm).

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Let's Make a Deal: Reston Association Considering Swapping 'Vagrant Restroom' As Part of Lake Anne Redevelopment (Updated)

Deal Number 2.jpg

If you've ever stumbled across -- or over -- one of those shin-height concrete posts with the little "R" on it, you know that the Reston Association guards its common property as jealously as a Pantone book of pink color swatches. They even have a fancy brochure, complete with 14 helpful rules, each with multiple bullet points ("13a. Members interested in performing Geocaching must notify the Association of all cache sites.") But now, as part of the generally awesome proposal to redevelop Crescent Apartments, the RA is proposing swapping a wooded piece of its common property along North Shore Drive so that Republic Land Development, or "Lake Anne Development Partners," as the cool kids like to call it, can build a fancy public parking garage for Lake Anne Village Center. In return, the RA gets two teensy tiny strips of land along Baron Cameron Avenue that it will maintain as a buffer between the new mixed-use hawtness and the proles sitting in traffic on Baron Cameron.

Let's make a deal:

It is the intent of both [Lake Anne Development Partners] and RA that the use of the property be limited to the construction of a parking facility available to the general public to accommodate the needs of the current and future businesses at Lake Anne Village Center and include environmental enhancements as well as bicycle parking and storage. None of the parking on this property is being built to satisfy private residential uses anticipated as part of the proposed redevelopment. LADP is also exploring the option of providing a partially subsidized public or commercial bike-sharing facility within the RA property.
Well then. Are there any enticements to, as we land use experts and filthy "web loggers" like to say, "sweeten the deal?"
LADP would ensure the property is cleared of invasive plants and cleaned of its current debris and waste, as well as replanted to encourage reforestation of native species.
JACKPOT. Suck on that, invasive plants.

Actually, the overall proposal includes nearly a half-million dollars in proffers from the developer, including landscaping, connecting pathways, public art (hopefully not triffid-intensive), and footing the bill for a variety of capital projects, including parks, tennis court maintenance, a tot lot, and the dredging of Lake Anne (eeew). Which is great, but really the kind of proffer any big development should include as a matter of course.

Of course, this has become controversial. On Patch, people have called the RA property to be traded away everything from a magnificent collection of "old, high value trees" to a "a place where vagrants hang out and drink, sleep, and use as a restroom." Others question why RA is being put on the hook to maintain a buffer between the residential property and Baron Cameron into perpetuity. Our Facebook BFFs at Lake Anne Plaza are urging people to email their RA representative to tell them to support the project, calling the garage critical to the success of Lake Anne Plaza, which, yeah, it probably is.

RA will be holding a public hearing at 7pm this Thursday to consider the proposal. Ceding common space is rarely a good idea, but in this case, the sheer value of the overall project makes us wonder if the deal just might be worthwhile. After all, what exactly's behind Door Number 2?

Update: The RA Board postponed its decision on the land swap until Nov. 21. You can provide feedback by phone or email; see details at the link.

12 comments:

  1. Only if the parking garage is equipped with charging stations for electric vehicles and has solar panels to offset the electricity use for lighting the garage and for charging.

    Otherwise the trees are more valuable. No touchy!

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  2. Surely the Restonian doesn't believe there are no options on this huge site with space to park the 124 cars LADP told P & Z it needs?!
    Or that there is no more equivalent 1 acre plot to be traded than the Baron Cameron swamp home to most of Reston's invasives?? Where is the caped crusader when he is needed?

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  3. Wow- to listen to everyone you'd think this was an old growth forest of mighty redwoods. The deal is a solid deal- it accomplishes work that has been going on for 10 or more years. Come on Reston are you going to take these trees over the revival of an entire community?! Explain that to the folks who would have been moving into the affordable housing units- or wait maybe we'll just force them to ruin a beautiful design so we can save some trees. I say DO THE DEAL!

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, Anon. If I have to chose between trees or low-income housing, well, just call me an Ent.

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  4. Hey Convict- how about "Affordable Housing" Places that Police, Fire, Teachers and others can purchase is that ok?

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    Replies
    1. Instead of undermining our existing properties with euphemistically called "Affordable Housing", why not provide a subsidy so that our Police, Fire Fighters and Teachers can afford market rate housing?

      And, if not, I don't see a good reason why these professionals should be exempt from the same joys of commuting an hour or more to/from work just like I experience everyday.

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    2. Yes Convict- just what we need is more people as miserable as you.

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    3. Their misery is their choice, is it not?

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  5. At least RA is holding meetings at 7 PM so (the few) people interested can show up. I heard that at Shadowood now, after getting rid of the "incumbents", new board members and 2 presidents (now in their 3rd) in year they do board meetings at 9 AM on a Thursday. What does that tell you?

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  6. Reston needs this deal to revitalize the Lake Anne area. It's very important because that area is in trouble.

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    Replies
    1. It may be useful to make a deal, but probably not this one on either a financial or an environmental basis.

      RA can do better--much better. It would actually not get very much in money/services and would certainly lose on the land/environmental front in the present deal.

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  7. This is a terrible deal. RA should sell the land to the developers and not take a ridiculous "in-kind" swap of marginal land (literally, it is a margin of land a strip adjacent to 606) for a slice of prime real estate.

    Sure this land could be better off sold to the developer to facilitate the garage. But don't take this crap "deal" that calls for RA to be on the hook in perpetuity for same said marginal strip of land that will only serve to enhance the development's view by screening it from 606.

    Let the developer pay fair market value for the Lake Anne parcel and keep its vagrant bathroom full of invasive kudzu.

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