Reston Developer's Casino Plan Target Of Online Petition

RESTON, VA — Suzanne Zurn, whose home backs to the Hidden Creek Golf Course, has been an active resident of Reston for 18 years. When she heard about Comstock Holdings' plan to build a casino at or near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station, she was understandably concerned.

"Casinos are not part of this community's plan. That's my primary position," she said. "I don't welcome a casino in my neighborhood. That's not the neighborhood I bought into. But it's also not a reflection of what the Reston community is all about. A casino is kind of an antithesis to that."

Many of Zurn's neighbors appear to agree. Not only has the Reston Association Board of Directors said they'd oppose the plan and the Reston Citizens Association formed a special project to fight the proposal, all of Reston's current representatives in Richmond and some of their opponents in the upcoming election have spoken out against it.

In addition, the vast majority — 89 percent — of the 900 people who took Patch's unscientific online survey said a casino was a "terrible idea."

Zurn's response was to take action and start an online petition on Change.org.

"And as soon as I saw just the volume of comments from my friends and neighbors in this community about their opposition to having a casino in Reston, I dug deeper," she said.

As Zurn investigated further, she remembered that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors had just passed an amendment to the Reston Comprehensive Plan that had taken nearly four years to complete.

"There's no plan or mention of a casino in there. It all felt really out of sorts," she said. "So I thought, somebody needs to help collect the public sentiment in a petition, so that we can point to something to say, 'This community doesn't want this here.'"

As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the petition had about 2,350 signatures and was closing in on its goal of 2,500.

Related:

• Casino: Reston Station Fundraiser To Feature Warner As Special Guest
• 14 Comstock Employees Gave $29K To VA Delegate Who Backed Casino Bill
• Casino Developer Linked To Obscure Political Donation, Filings Show
• No Gambling Casino for Reston
• Casino In Reston, On Silver Line 'Terrible Idea': Patch Readers
• Reston Casino: Developer CEO's Relative Donates $1M To VA Candidates
• Reston Association Votes To Oppose Developer Plan To Build Casino
• Developer Brings Democratic Leaders To Site Of Planned Casino At Metro
• Casino Planned Near Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station By Comstock

This is not the first time Zurn has started a petition to focus the community's concerns. In 2016, her petition in opposition of a planned increase in parking garage fees garnered more than 10,000 signatures.

She also started the "IAmFCPS" petition in connection to a campaign to fully fund Fairfax County Public Schools and was the strategist behind saving Hidden Creek from redevelopment.

Before taking her current job working in public sector communications for a Defense Department contractor, Zurn spent more than 25 years doing grassroots advocacy for large public affairs firms on behalf of corporations.

"When I see things in my community that I and others are like, 'No, that's not what we want this place to be about,' I put my skills to bear to organize the resources, assets and skills that have to bring about change," she said.