Politics & Government

Golf Course Owners Ask For Zoning Specifics

Does inquiry mean Reston National might eventually be something other than open green space?

Are there plans for to be turned into something other than 166 acres of rolling greens, manicured turf and recreational space?

Maybe, but it will take some work to change the property's designation in Fairfax County and in Reston's Planned Residential Community (PRC).

Representatives for the investor-owners of Reston National will go before the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals on Oct. 24 to discuss the golf course's designation as major open space.

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The appeal stems from an April inquiry, in which the owners asked the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning exactly what designation the South Reston property holds.

Is it residential? Open space? And what would need to be in place to offer it up for redevelopment?

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"The owner is inquiring is to what is the current zoning of the property and what does that mean," said Mark Looney, the land use lawyer who wrote the letter of inquiry.

In a June response to Looney, an attorney in Reston office who is on the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force, the county said this:

* The property is zoned PRC and was approved under three rezoning applications in 1971.

* The Reston Master Plan is part of the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan and the golf course is classified as open space. Any alternative development of the property that cannot be construed as open space, golf course or nature center would require an amendment to the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan.

* Any redevelopment of the property to a use other than a golf course would require approval of a development plan amendment (DPA), as well as a PRC Plan approval.

* Even though a 1993 determination from county officals says that a commercial golf course is permitted in a PRC District otherwise zoned residential, it does not mean the golf course is considered a residential zone.

"No determination was made regarding whether conversion of the existing golf course to residential uses would be permitted on the property," Cathy Belgin, senior assistant to the Fairfax County zoning administrator, wrote in the June letter.

"In summary, it is clear based on previous approvals that redevelopment of the property from a golf course to residential uses would first require an amendment to the Reston Master Plan, which is part of the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan, as well as obtaining both a DPA approval and PRC plan approval from the Board of Supervisors," Belgin wrote.

President Ken Knueven says he only recently heard about the inquiry, but the Board of Directors will look into the matter.

"Any time we look at any redevelopment, we are also going to adhere to what we consider essiential Reston and protecting green space," he said.

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