Let's Make a Deal: Reston Association Considering Swapping 'Vagrant Restroom' As Part of Lake Anne Redevelopment (Updated)

If you've ever stumbled across -- or over -- one of those shin-height concrete posts with the little "R" on it, you know that the Reston Association guards its common property as jealously as a Pantone book of pink color swatches. They even have a fancy brochure, complete with 14 helpful rules, each with multiple bullet points ("13a. Members interested in performing Geocaching must notify the Association of all cache sites.") But now, as part of the generally awesome proposal to redevelop Crescent Apartments, the RA is proposing swapping a wooded piece of its common property along North Shore Drive so that Republic Land Development, or "Lake Anne Development Partners," as the cool kids like to call it, can build a fancy public parking garage for Lake Anne Village Center. In return, the RA gets two teensy tiny strips of land along Baron Cameron Avenue that it will maintain as a buffer between the new mixed-use hawtness and the proles sitting in traffic on Baron Cameron.

Let's make a deal:

It is the intent of both [Lake Anne Development Partners] and RA that the use of the property be limited to the construction of a parking facility available to the general public to accommodate the needs of the current and future businesses at Lake Anne Village Center and include environmental enhancements as well as bicycle parking and storage. None of the parking on this property is being built to satisfy private residential uses anticipated as part of the proposed redevelopment. LADP is also exploring the option of providing a partially subsidized public or commercial bike-sharing facility within the RA property.

Well then. Are there any enticements to, as we land use experts and filthy "web loggers" like to say, "sweeten the deal?"

LADP would ensure the property is cleared of invasive plants and cleaned of its current debris and waste, as well as replanted to encourage reforestation of native species.

JACKPOT. Suck on that, invasive plants.

Actually, the overall proposal includes nearly a half-million dollars in proffers from the developer, including landscaping, connecting pathways, public art (hopefully not triffid-intensive), and footing the bill for a variety of capital projects, including parks, tennis court maintenance, a tot lot, and the dredging of Lake Anne (eeew). Which is great, but really the kind of proffer any big development should include as a matter of course.

Of course, this has become controversial. On Patch, people have called the RA property to be traded away everything from a magnificent collection of "old, high value trees" to a "a place where vagrants hang out and drink, sleep, and use as a restroom." Others question why RA is being put on the hook to maintain a buffer between the residential property and Baron Cameron into perpetuity. Our Facebook BFFs at Lake Anne Plaza are urging people to email their RA representative to tell them to support the project, calling the garage critical to the success of Lake Anne Plaza, which, yeah, it probably is.

RA will be holding a public hearing at 7pm this Thursday to consider the proposal. Ceding common space is rarely a good idea, but in this case, the sheer value of the overall project makes us wonder if the deal just might be worthwhile. After all, what exactly's behind Door Number 2?

Update: The RA Board postponed its decision on the land swap until Nov. 21. You can provide feedback by phone or email; see details at the link.