Politics & Government

What's Up With That?

Fairway redevelopment gets the green light from Reston Association - but can they kick in to build community facilities?

JBG moved one step closer to its  approved its concept, turning the 40-year-old complex into a modern development with nearly three times as many residents.

In the plans - which were approved last week after more than two years of back-and-forth between RA and JBG - are amenity decks, parking, a central park and 804 units. Missing is what JBG can do to aid all RA members, says one candidate for the RA Board of Directors.

"They have dropped the ball - badly," says John Farrell, a land-use attorney and  member of RA's Parks and Planning Committee. "This is a breach of fiduciary responsibility."

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Farrell says RA should have asked for proffers. Proffers are "written conditions offered by the developers that when accepted by the Board of Supervisors become a legally binding condition which is in addition to the zoning district regulations applicable to a specific property," according to the Fairfax County Planning Commission.

The planning commission says proffers are submitted and signed by an owner/developer prior to the Board of Supervisors public hearing. Generally, proffers are about $1,700 per unit.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

By Farrell's math, with 804 units replacing 348 existing units, proffers could result in between $467,000 and $775,000 (depending on the number of affordable and workforce housing units in the mix) for RA.

That's a lot of money that could go for potential projects such as lights at Brown's Chapel's ballfields, a 50-meter indoor pool or the oft-debated indoor tennis facility.

RA CEO Milton Matthews says the association did not want proffers to get in the way of reaching an agreement with JBG as the redevelopment was being discussed since 2009.

"RA is very much aware of the potential proffers for us," Matthews said. "It is all about timing. We did not want to send a mixed signal. Now that we have concept approval, we are much more comfortable reaching out to JBG."

Matthews says it is RA's intention to make sure there is a proffer discussion for all new development in Reston. So far, there are no proffers in place for though Matthews says RA intends to ask for them.

Comstock has said in documents for Reston Station that it will give about $1 million in proffers. However, only $300,000 of that can go to RA. The rest will go to the Fairfax County Park Authority.

RA sent a letter to Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins in November

Matthews says proffers do not have to be in place by March 20, when the Fairway proposal goes before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

However, Farrell says the conditions should have been put in place years ago. He is skeptical that an agreement can be reached by the March 20 hearing.

"They should have been in place as soon as they became aware of Fairway's rezoning and every rezoning going forward," he said. "If I am elected to the board, we are goning to get this provision into the county's comprehensive plan so that when a developer thinks about developing in Reston, they know there is an expectation that there will be a contribution to RA recreational facilities."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here