Treepocalypse Now: Storms Do What Stream Restoration Couldn't, Plus A Scene of Horror at the Macaroni Grill

Reston loves it some trees, so it's with a heavy heart that we report that a part of Reston's largest tree, a tulip poplar in the Glade, fell during last week's heavy storms. John Clarke reports:

One of three trunks of Reston's largest tree fell over, probably initially in the thunderstorm on Friday, July 8, 2011. I observed it fallen half way to the ground on the evening of Saturday, July 9, 2011. It was slowly breaking up the trees that were holding up its immense weight, with occasional loud cracks as the wood broke. On Sunday evening, July 10, 2011, I found that the tree had broken through and fallen to the ground, taking the tops of three other trees with it. The attached photo was taken in the morning of July 11, 2011.

This Tulip Popular tree was the largest tree in Reston when the circumference was measured at the 4' height -- owing to the three trunks that grew out of a common base. The trunk that fell was the southwestern side of the tree.

The Save the Glade group worked to ensure that the tree would not be culled remediated during the 2009 stream deforestation restoration project at the Glade. "We were successful then, but gravity won in the end," Clarke writes.

Meanwhile, yesterday's torrential downpour led to another tragedy: nearly unthinkable flash flooding at the Macaroni Grill. A Restonian operative used the Twitter machine to "tweet" us this photo:

There are no words.

Oak Park, Michigan Gives Reston a Run for Its Money

Sure, we Restonians may face confusing and somewhat arbitrary rules involving such things as light fixtures, red mulch and white stone, but at least we don't run the risk of jail time for falling afoul of the rules.

That's what's happening in Oak Park, Michigan, where a woman is facing up to 93 days in prison for planting vegetables in her yard.

With organic produce prices on the rise, Julie Bass decided she'd take matters into her own hands and plant a vegetable garden in the front yard of her Oak Park home.

Unfortunately, her common-sense decision could cost her up to 93 days in jail.

Fox 2 reports that Oak Park officials warned Bass that her garden violated city code, gave her a ticket and eventually charged her with a misdemeanor, leading to a potential jury trial and possible jail time.

Now Bass and city officials are wrangling over the definition of "suitable," which sounds oddly familiar.

No one tell the DRB about the Victory Garden we're growing in our yard.

(Shout out to our favorite correspondent, The Peasant From Less Sought After South Reston, for the heads up.)

Ick: Reston Man Sentenced to Six Years in Upskirt Filming

A Reston man charged with "upskirt" videotaping at Dulles Airport has been sentenced to six years in prison by a Loudoun County court.

“Upskirting” is an innocuous-sounding word for a very serious crime. That’s what a Reston man learned July 8 when he was sentenced to six years in prison for two counts of unlawful filming of another.

The employee of the bookstore at Dulles International Airport was charged after a man noticed him following his fiancee through the airport in a manner described as “uncomfortably close.” The man later noticed that he was carrying a messenger bag with an open front flap and a protruding video lens.

A search of his home uncovered numerous photographs and videos, several of which were deemed child pornography by investigators. Two of his “upskirting” targets were identified from 2008 airport surveillance.

This was not his first legal troubles stemming from unlawful filming. He was convicted for three similar incidents in 2006 and 2007 while a student at the University of Virginia. He was also convicted of stalking a female student during this period.

He was sentenced to six years in prison and 10 years of supervised release when his term is completed. He will also be appearing in Fairfax County Circuit Court on Sept. 9 for sentencing on a possession of child pornography charge.

Can't wait to see what search terms bring people to this post.

For Three Minutes and Fifty-Six Seconds, Relive the Excitement of the Reston Festival (and some Ukuleles)

With more transitions than a preschool graduation, this fancy video captures the zeitgeist of this weekend's Reston Festival. SPOILER ALERT: Andy Sigle is back, with a rare walk-on cameo. There's also some fire breathing to an old Duran Duran song, plus a contortionist and a whip-wielding street performer that might have made Lenny Bruce blush.

The festival theme was "Reston through the Decades," so there's more character acting than in a 70s sitcom in this fancy video. We also get a look at the "Wheel of Reston," which festivalgoers could spin to win, wedunno, a vintage DRB citation from the 1960s or coupons for Memco or something.

Oh, and Lake Anne had its second annual Ukulele Festival. Our BFFs at Patch were far braver than us:


BTW, we tried to turn off the embed feature that automatically plays the twee uke music as soon as the page loads. YOU'RE WELCOME.

Fairway to Heaven: Fairfax Planners Defer Vote on Redevelopment After County Staff Recommends Approval

After a public hearing that ran past midnight, Fairfax County Planning Commission deferred a vote on approving JBG's awesome Fairway Apartments redevelopment proposal until July 20. Our BFFs at Reston 2020 seem to think they'll approve it then.

One big reason for the turn of fortunes: After recommending denial of JBG's original proposal in a strongly worded report, county planning staff is now recommending approval. In an addendum to their original report (PDF), planners said that "changes made to the PRC plan, along with the proposed development conditions, result in a development which is now in character and scale to the surrounding development. While the proposed density is higher than the medium density character of the area, the revised unit types and layout of those units does provide for a site design which is compatible with the character of the surrounding neighborhood."

That's not to say county staff love the revised plan, which reduces the number of housing units from 951 to 804, without reservations. Specifically, they want special development conditions to address a number of issues JBG still has not responded to.

In the initial report, county planners dinged JBG for not providing "sufficient architectural details" to make a decision about whether the development's architecture "would be in character with the surrounding existing development." You might think that JBG would have hired someone to do some fancy drawrings over the past year, but according to the latest county report, the developer still "has not provided the requested architectural details at this time." But no worries, they'll have to do it when they file building plans. What could possibly go wrong?

JBG also declined a request to conduct a traffic study of the intersection of Temporary and North Shore and install a traffic light if needed, because they claim that's the responsibility of the developers of Parc Reston, who are planning their own mauvescraper redevelopment of that garden apartment/condo complex. "Staff remains concerned that the proposed redevelopment of the Fairways site, which proposes significantly more density than currently" -- the planners actually wrote "correctly" in the report -- a Freudian slip? -- "exists could be completed... before the threshold is met for the developer of the Parc Reston development to install the traffic signal." Staff wants a development condition there, too.

On the bright side, county planners were satisfied by the 12 percent workforce dwelling units now proposed by JBG. Oh, and there will be a "tree preservation plan and narrative." The narrative, whatever that is, should make for lovely bedtime reading. ("Once upon a time, there was a mighty oak that towered over the ugly and dated garden apartments, which lacked a delicious Texas donut...")

During last night's planning commission meeting, speakers critical of the proposal pointed to the project's lack of conformity with the principles of transit-oriented development, given that it's not located near any present or future transit, as well as the precedent it may set as developers eye other chunks of aging Reston real estate.

"We welcome the arrival of rail in 2013 and the opportunity to develop a true Transit Oriented Development," said Diane Blust, president of the Fairfax Coalition for Smarter Growth. "Fairway is not a TOD development. This runs counter to the comprehensive plan. It will increase traffic, disrupt a stable neighborhood and create a loss of relatively affordable housing."

Tammi Petrine, co-chair of the Reston Citizen Association's Reston2020 group, also decried the reduction in affordable housing.

"Reston values its diversity," she said. "The loss of 348 affordable units would be devastating."

She urged JBG to rethink the development as one of the elderly and handicapped, as there "is a huge need for that."

The commission also heard from Barbara Byron, chair of the Reston Association's Design Review Board, which nearly voted to reject the proposal last month, and will get another crack at it before any dirt will be turned.

"We are universally opposed to components of design that do not respond well to surrounding buildings," said Byron.

Among the DRB's concerns: 50-foot townhouse heights; flat townhouse facades; little greenspace;five-story buildings that are really seven-stories in order to accommodate underground parking; the "Texas Donut" style that wraps a building around parking; and the increased density.

Reston Citizens Association president Marion Stillson pointed to the precedent that the project will set for future redevelopment in Reston:

"Why is Fairway so dangerous?" she said. "Because it breaks the rules at a time and in a manner that could spoil Reston. Fairway is the first residential neighborhood in Reston to seek development. If it gets the greenlight for this, what will stop the others?

Good question. Tree narratives maybe?

This and That: A Random Summer Stroll Through Reston News

• Please to be enjoying the "official video" of this weekend's Reston Festival. Accept no cheap promotional video substitutes.
  
  
• The writing is increasingly on the wall that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will be pressured to build an above-ground Metro station at Dulles Airport, which still strikes us as penny millions-wise and pound billions-foolish. Meanwhile, our BFFs at Reston 2020 point out that another key bug feature of the proposed cost-saving measures being hammered out by the feds -- shifting responsibility for developing parking garages and stations for Phase II of the Silver Line to Fairfax and Loudoun Counties -- will almost certainly lead to more "public-private partnerships," and more dense development around the future stations. And with all problems with the Silver Line apparently squared away, Metro is looking ahead to the creation of a Brown Line. Shouldn't they have saved the earth tones for us?
  
  
• Good news, People of Reston: If you're a man in Fairfax County, you can expect to live to be 81, the highest male life expectancy in the country. Women get an additional two years, which means some of us might live long enough to see the aforementioned Silver Line pull triumphantly into the developments clone farms of Loudoun County.
  
  
• Plans to redevelop the big-box splendor of the Spectrum Center go before the Reston Planning & Zoning Committee next week. The spring-loaded minute hand of the Macaroni Grill Doomsday Clock (tm) is twitching in anticipation of what happens next.
  
  
• Seven people are seeking election for seats on the Reston Citizens Association board, including Colin Mills, Tammi Petrine, C.J. Basik, John Hanley, Gary N. Walker, Debra Eastham, and Diane M. Lewis. Best way to vote is during the aforementioned Reston Festival this weekend, so you can simultaneously enjoy democracy and funnel cakes.
  
  
• Someone should probably check Reston's water supply, as there are currently a freakish number of twins -- 14 pairs, to be exact -- at Langston Hughes Middle School. It could be a world record!
  
  
• While they may or may not build their own shiny fake downtown, Loudoun County officials currently consider its future urban core to be... a shopping mall, where future Sweet 16 parties will presumably be hosted. Maybe the Metro should stop at the Fairfax County line after all.
  
  
• Among Reston's "a-list" guests of late: Hank Aaron and Indian spiritual leader Amma, better known as the "hugging saint."
  
  
• Speaking of baseball, a Reston resident was excused as a potential juror from Roger Clemens' trial for lying to Congress about using performance-enhancing drugs. That's what those of us in the news web logging business call a "local angle."
  
  
• Yay, new theater owner Bowtie Cinemas is planning extensive renovations of the movie theater in the fake downtown gritty urban core. They've already undertaken an "extensive cleaning," which, um, ick.
  
  
• A petition to ban smoking in Reston common areas got attention from the usual suspects.
  
  
• Fairfax County plans to blow up the Massey Building, its own mauvescraper, real good.
  
  
• Just two decades after the Berlin Wall came down, a bridge linking Lake Fairfax Park and Reston has been opened, saving freedom seekers hikers from having to wade through a creek.
  
  
• Hans Olsen of Clyde's of Reston won the best restaurant manager award at this year's RAMMYs, an award ceremony for DC-area eateries. And yes, he wore his kilt.
  
  
• Finally, please to be enjoying this fancy public-access video interview with Frank Bensigner, who retired as principal of Forest Edge Elementary at the end of the school year. New principal Kim Price certainly has big shoes to fill.

This Fortnight in Crime: A Burglar With a Conscience, and Don't Count on a Getaway Bus

It's been a busy couple of weeks in Reston crime, though it's nice to know our liquor-stealing burglars are having pangs of conscience:

A 29-year-old homeowner awoke around 4:50 a.m. on Tuesday, June 21 and smelled cigarette smoke coming from his garage. He opened the unlocked door and heard someone running out of his garage. The victim closed the door to the home. Several minutes later he heard noises in the garage and again opened the door. He found a man returning liquor bottles. The suspect then fled. Officers determined the garage door had been left open all night and the door to the home was unlocked. The suspect was described as white, in his 20s. He was about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 160 pounds with a goatee. He was wearing a gray, sleeveless shirt and jeans.

Maybe he wanted to make sure the bottles got recycled. Our favorite correspondent, the Peasant from Less Sought After South Reston, wonders if the perpetrator had a getaway canoe, the conveyance of choice for past fans of forbidden liquor.

Memo to would-be-robbers: While a getaway canoe may not be the best plan, neither is a getaway bus:

Police were called to the 1800 block of Presidents Street for a fight around 3:58 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21. An investigation determined the victim, a 35-year-old man, had an exchange of words with the suspects. The suspects reportedly assaulted the victim and took his property, then tried to leave on a bus. Officers apprehended the two suspects at the bus stop. The victim did not require medical treatment.

Less funny were a series of honest-to-goodness robberies over the past few weeks, including a drug deal gone bad:

A 25-year-old man was robbed during an apparent narcotics transaction on Saturday, June 18, around 8:40 p.m. in the 2200 block of Colts Neck Road. The victim met the suspect to purchase marijuana. The suspect displayed a knife and demanded the victim’s money. The suspect fled on foot; the victim was not injured. The suspect was described as black, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 225 pounds. He was wearing a white T-shirt and blue pants. His hair was pulled back in a pony tail.

A 20-year-old man reported he was robbed by two other men on Thursday, June 16. Around 9:30 p.m. the victim was grabbed and assaulted by the two suspects on a pathway between Southgate Square and Stonewheel Drive. They took property from the victim and fled. Police responded to Access of Reston to take the report; the victim was receiving medical treatment for non life-threatening injuries. The first suspect was described as black, 16 to 20 years old. He was about 6 feet tall with a light complexion. He was wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants. The second suspect was described as black, 16 to 20 years old. He was about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 150 pounds. He had short dreadlocks and was wearing a white T-shirt and red pajama pants.

Just in case you think we've got it bad, police reported the following horrific crime in the 13500 block of Martha Jefferson Place in Herndon:

Water stolen from vehicle.

There are no words, etc., etc.