Reston National Redevelopment Off The Table For Now

The saga of what will happen to Reston National Golf Course is over - or at least on hold for a long time - 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.

The zoning issue has been going on since the spring of 2012, when the course owners, RN Golf management (a subsidiary of Northerwestern Mutual Insurance) inquired with the county whether Reston National is zoned for open space or residential.

The county said it is open space, and then the owners filed an appeal and hired a top area land use attorney.

The zoning appeal hearing was originally supposed to be heard in September of 2012, but has been postponed five times since then.

The potential redevelopment of the 166-acre golf course, operating in Reston since the 1970s, to homes - perhaps hundreds of multi-family high rise buildings, has mobilized citizens in Reston.

Advocacy group Rescue Reston was formed last summer after the zoning appeal came to light. Rescue Reston has held rallies and a fundraiser to gain awareness of the issue and raise money for legal bills.

"This does not mean the threat  to our open space is over, just indefinitely delayed," Connie Hartke, a Rescue Reston vice president, told supporters in an email Friday.

Hartke says Rescue Reston will continue to gather signatures on its petition to keep the golf course as open space.

Groups such as Reston Association, Reston Citizens Association and the Sierra Club also have spoken out in favor of keeping the golf course open space.


More: Golf Course Owners Ask for Zoning Specifics