Reston National Redevelopment Presentation Axed By RA Board

RESTON, VA — Reston residents will have to wait until later this spring to learn more about plans to add 300 homes as part of the proposed redevelopment of Reston National Golf Course.

On Monday, the Reston Association Board of Directors cancelled a presentation by Reston National's owners that had been scheduled for Tuesday night’s Land Use Advisory Committee meeting.

The RA Board held a special meeting on Monday night after concerns were raised that the committee included the presentation on its meeting agenda even though allowing such a presentation was counter to RA policy.

Virginia Investment Partners 2019 LLC and NVR, Inc. have submitted a proposal to redevelop 168 acres across three parcels in Reston, including the Reston National Golf Course, as part of Fairfax County’s Site Specific Plan Amendment process. The redevelopment would build 300 houses on the site and upgrade existing facilities.

RA's Land Use Resolution 6, Golf Course Policy, which was dated Dec. 15, 2016, states that Reston originated as a golf course community and the board of directors desired that Reston National and the Hidden Creek Golf Club would remain golf courses.

Related: Golf Course Proposal To Build 300 Houses Sparks Debate

The golf course owners also filed a proposal to amend the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan to change the golf course’s zoning designation, so the owners could build on the property by right. The golf course is located within the Reston Planned Residential Community District, which limits the density of development in Reston.

“PRC zoning imposes an overall cap of 13 persons per acre for Reston, on which the open space of the golf course has a material impact,” said Bob Petrine, RA treasurer and non-board member, during Monday’s meeting. “If the campus is pierced by this or other proposed developments, the unique protections afforded by PRC zoning could be lost.”

Reston National’s previous owners failed in their attempts to change the PRC designation in 2012 and 2016, according to Rescue Reston President Connie Hartke, whose organization works to protect the green spaces at Reston’s two golf courses.

“RA’s legal standing is only in regard to the Reston Association pathways, which create a right of way through the golf course,” she said during Monday’s meeting. “Reston Association has no legal standing to defend the homeowners or clusters adjacent to the course. This was a surprise to all of us back then, but it is fact, and that fact remains.”

As such, RA aligned itself with Fairfax County, which battled the golf course owners in court to protect the PRC zoning designation.

“This initial battle to rezone the Reston National Golf Course came to an end on Friday, March 4, 2016, after attorneys for the then owner of Reston National filed a letter with the Supreme Court of Virginia indicating they would not pursue an appeal,” Hartke said. “They had no winning case.”

RA's Land Use Resolution 6, Golf Course Policy came about after Wheelock gave a similar presentation in 2018 about its plans for Hidden Creek Golf Club. Rescue Reston was granted equal time to make their own presentation, but the RA Board later decided that it would not be appropriate in the future, according to Hartke.

Following an hour’s worth of testimony and debate, board member Irwin Flashman moved to suspend Resolution One of the Land Use Advisory Committee, and to instruct the committee to cancel the March 11 presentation on the Reston National Golf Course. The resolution passed 5-1 with two abstentions.

Fairfax County is scheduled to hold a public hearing later this spring on the SPPA nominations, which include the two proposals concerning Reston National Golf Course.