| A
Long Journey to Town |
| There is a movement afoot to gather the many groups that
now function as Reston's government, bring them together with
the citizens of Reston, and turn the community from an unincorporated
area of Fairfax County into a town. |
| Excellent. |
| While Reston was developed 40 years ago under the principle
of creating a better community, I've always been surprised
the developers did not choose to incorporate the area as a
town, with an elected mayor and town council, and a constitutional
responsibility to the voters. |
| Over the years I've had many conversations about Reston
being a town with some of the people who were involved with
the creation of the community more than 40 years ago. Those
people have said they considered heavily whether to become
a town, but ultimately decided to create a large homeowners'
association and other groups in an attempt to do something
different, to try to be better at building a community. |
| Reston is home to 60,000 people. A town that size located
in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, or pretty much
anywhere outside of the Washington, D.C., area would be a
self-contained city. So the thought that Reston has little
control over its own land use has always been interesting
to me. |
| Becoming a town would be great for Reston. While the vagaries
of politicians can be hard to predict, having a town government
that has the final word on land use and other issues facing
the community will harbor a stronger sense of belonging and
pride among our neighbors. |
| When Reston was designed, land use was planned out to the
square foot. But today, Reston is built out, and the community
is beginning to evolve within its own borders. Land use over
the next 20 years will be of critical importance to the preservation
and evolution of Reston as a unique place to live that has
high ideals about providing the greatest living space for
its residence. |
| Take the ongoing and upcoming Metro rail development along
the Dulles Toll Road corridor. Current plans call for the
end-of-the-line station to be located at Wiehle Avenue for
years until the line is extended into Loudoun County. |
| That will bring tens of thousands of vehicles and people
into the heart of Reston each day, as they park their cars
and move onto the rail platform to continue their commute. |
| How will Reston handle this new flow of traffic, which was
not foreseen 40 years ago? How will Reston take advantage
of this flow of traffic by establishing the right kinds of
business development in the right areas around the station? |
| As time goes on, Reston will be faced with the same, age-old
development issues that all communities face: A homeowner
with a house within a mile from the Metro station is going
to want to sell his property to a developer who wants to build
a high-rise. What is Reston going to do? |
| Currently, Reston has one strong representative in Supervisor
Cathy Hudgins. But she is only one voice on the Fairfax County
Board of Supervisors, which brings representatives from all
over the county to decide what's right for Reston. |
| A town council will consist of Reston residents all elected
by Reston residents for the express purpose of making decisions
on behalf of the citizens. It's a direct democracy, and it's
great. |
| Making Reston an incorporated town could also help poor
and disenfranchised people in society gain a stronger voice,
because they would have a local government to which to air
their grievances, and local votes at the polls to participate
in the guiding of the community forward. Voting for Reston
Association representatives, on the other hand, is only open
to property owners within the association. |
| But, creating a town out of Reston is a long road to travel,
and it's one that's been walked before and sent home in defeat.
In order to become a town, Reston has to convince the state
legislature, which knows little about us, that this is a good
idea. Then we've got to bring together the groups that govern
the homeowners, the Reston Town Center district, the commercial
areas, the community center and who knows what other organizations,
and get everybody to agree. |
| It's daunting. It's tough. |
| But I'm glad the movement has begun. I'll support it every
step of the way. |
