Flashbacks:
The RNGC Caddyshackpocalypse
Bollards!
V. v. exciting news from our BFFs at Patch over the weekend: The oft-postponed attempts to redevelop the Reston National Golf Course have been taken "off the table," at least for now:
The Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning says the Board of Zoning Appeals hearing scheduled for Sept. 25 has been postponed by the golf course owners indefinitely.It's good news in that the golf course stays a golf course for at least a while longer. It's not-so-good news in that the question of whether a developer can flat-out ignore both Reston and Fairfax County's master plans remains unanswered.
Also, in county planning parlance, "postponed indefinitely" merely means that a proposal that was scheduled for deliberation by one of the county's planning/zoning boards has been taken off the schedule at the developer's request. It could be re-added at any time.
As a helpful visual aid to illustrate this point, below are some lovely renderings of just a few of the other proposed Reston development projects that were, at one time or another, indefinitely postponed by developers -- which then won approval from various county boards at a later date:
The Reston Heights redevelopment.
The RPB&M development adjacent to Reston Station.
And, of course, everyone's favorite mauvescraper:
Our BFFs at Rescue Reston are still urging people to sign their online petition. Presumably they will keep their eyes and ears open in the months (or years) to come. That's good, because as with the classic cinematic tour de force we've been using as a comedic crutch, the sequel will likely be much worse:
"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life..."
ReplyDeleteI wish I lived in an architectural rendering. Everything is always so clean, shiny and new. Always a lot of open space with beautiful landscaping -- and there is never any traffic!
ReplyDeleteWhat’s not to like?
Insurance companies have precedent in taking the long view. Stall until Rescue Reston is a quaint memory on Reston Remembered.
ReplyDeleteThen cross a few palms with silver. Rezoning comes as a rider to an amendment to a modification to an allocation. All on the QT.
Then, Bulldozin' Time!
So, the developers have been beaten back for the moment. No doubt, though, they've just fallen back to regroup and will stage another assault on the golf course from another direction. They have the war chests and only need to get a favorable board and vote one time.
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion to all of your golf course property owners is to get out now while you can still market your properties as "golf course views". There's more market for that than there is for "apartment construction views".
They just need to change the sentence from "golf course views" to "walking distance to Metro".
ReplyDeleteStay alert, Restonians, stay very alert. To quote verbatim from our esteemed County Supervior's latest newsletter,
ReplyDelete"In a built-out county, I don’t need to tell you that every space has a value too great to allow it to lie fallow."
Wait--there was a Caddyshack II?
ReplyDelete