Letter: RA Land Use Committee Meeting Ill Advised

Sarah Selvaraj-D’Souza is a former member of the Reston Association Board of Directors and one of the founders of Restonstrong.

To The Reston Association Board President and Board Members,

My name is Sarah Selvaraj-D’Souza. I’m writing to you today not only as a dues paying member but also as a past board member and president who worked diligently with our neighbors to defend both Hidden Creek and Reston National Golf Courses.

As a concerned member, I would like to bring your attention to the scheduled presentation from representatives of the Reston National Golf Course on two development proposals. This presentation is being made to the RA Land Use Advisory Committee on Tuesday March 11th at 6.30pm and several other committee chairs have received the invitation and documents on the proposal from the Land Use Committee Chair - Ms. Michelle Kimmel. I fail to understand why the RA Land Use committee is offering the golf course owners a platform to share their development plans when the Reston Association Board has taken a very vocal stance against any redevelopment on either golf course.

Please see:

1. Attached RA Land Use Resolution 6: Golf Course Policy from 2016
2. View the Reston Today Video of Past President Julie Blitzer sharing the Boards vote reaffirming our commitment in 2020.
3. Attached Dec 2nd 2021 letter to Supervisor Walter Alcorn from representatives of all 9 clusters and condominiums surrounding the Reston National Golf Course (All dues paying RA members).

The Land Use committee’s ill-advised actions undermine the Reston Association Boards strong position on this issue. In addition, the developers are expected as part of their application to make outreach efforts to the community - by simply providing them a platform RA is facilitating their outreach effort to our 60,000+ members.

Past RA Leadership including past boards and CEO’s were made similar offers but they declined such advances given RA’s established position. It is truly disturbing that the actions of a recently established advisory committee is undermining this long-standing position of the board. If the newer board members would like a refresher on why it is critical to defend our open spaces, here is an Op-Ed by past board member and RA’s Environmental Advisory Committee Vice Chair Doug Britt.

As a community organizer and a vocal advocate who has dedicated the last 5 years of my life to housing insecurity in Reston - Let me assure you, there are several other redevelopment opportunities to address the needs of housing insecurity in Reston including repurposing vacant commercial buildings. Remember — open space lost is open space lost forever.

Lastly, I strongly support the long-standing RA Land Use Resolution 6 and ask that you use your influence to defend our open spaces. Thank you for considering my views.

Cheers,
Sarah Selvaraj-D'Souza