RA Board Decides on Lake Anne Land Swap

By Alex McVeigh

The Reston Association Board of Directors voted 6-2 to move forward with a land swap involving two parcels near Lake Anne Plaza. The vote came after more than four hours of public testimony over two meetings, along with dozens of submitted comments.

The swap will see the Reston Association hand over a parcel of land just northeast of Washington Plaza to Lake Anne Redevelopment Partners, and receiving a parcel at the southeast corner of Baron Cameron Avenue and Village Road.

LADP will use the parcel for part of a parking facility, which is part of their redevelopment of the entire Lake Anne area.

Directors Amanda Andere, Richard Chew, Ellen Graves, John Higgins, Ken Knueven and Andy Sigle voted affirmative, while Tim Cohn and Michael Sanio voted against. Director Eve Thompson abstained.

Several changes to the proposal were made since the Oct. 24 board meeting where the swap was discussed.

These include: $100,000 to be put in escrow for the addition of new trees, tree canopy enhancement or reforestation, as well as invasive plant removal and channel maintenance of the parcel the RA will receive.

The motion officially enters the RA into a “nonbinding letter of intent, in advance of a future definitive agreement, subject to Reston Association Board approval.”

The controversial proposal was the subject of several public hearings where members of the public spoke passionately on both sides of the issue.

Opponents claimed the swap would saddle the RA, and its members, with a useless piece of land, and would result in loss of the tree canopy that is said to be vital to Lake Anne’s atmosphere.

Its supporters, which include founder Robert Simon, said that while it was regrettable to lose some trees, the benefits to neighbors, merchants and businesses around Lake Anne are badly needed.

“It’s a difficult thing to do, it’s a painful thing to do, but I feel overall, all things in balance, it’s the right thing to do,” said Thompson, who abstained due to her roles serving the merchants and residents of Lake Anne. “I know, based on the merchants I represent at Lake Anne, that the adjacent parking is a cornerstone for them of this revitalization. They have to get through the transition. It's hard to get through a winter at Lake Anne, getting through construction is very, very frightening to them.”

Resident Diane Lewis lamented the loss of trees that will come with the construction on the parcel.

“Those trees belong to me and every other RA member. I did not agree to give them away for someone else's benefit,” she said. “What's happening here is we’re being told T-I-N-A: there is no alternative.”

David Peter, president and CEO of Republic Land Management, and managing member of Lake Anne Redevelopment Partners, said they examined 11 different sites around Lake Anne, and found none of them could meet their criteria to develop a parking area.

"It’s clearly the best location. It's in center of entire development,” he said. “It’s the most convenient for existing merchants, it keeps all of the parking clustered on one road, which allows easy visitor access and it keeps parking within 500 feet of the merchants. This is in line with industry parking standards, which is very important to attracting new customers."

Peter said that construction is unlikely to begin for another three to five years, during which LADP will consult with an arborist and take other measures designed to insure the well being of the trees on the property.

An arborist LADP consulted estimated 80 to 90 percent of the trees onsite will survive the construction. Approximately one-third of the parcel will be undisturbed by the construction of the 120-space garage.

In addition, construction will include stormwater runoff collection facilities, bio-retention and other efforts to clean the lake and fund 25 percent of the cost of dredging of the lake.