At its regular monthly meeting last night (October 28, 2013), the Reston Citizens Association (RCA) Board of Directors received a report card from its community planning entity, the Reston 2020 Committee, that gave the final draft Reston Master Plan an overall grade of “D.” The report card examined each section of the draft Plan in terms of its impact on Reston’s quality of life and the community’s vision and values. The full report provided an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the draft Plan’s sections.
The overall grade was based on the compilation of grades for each of the draft Plan’s sections. The highest grade given, a “B”, was awarded to the Overview, which covers Reston’s Vision and Planning Principles, and to the Environmental Stewardship section. Grades of “F”—which meant the section met virtually none of Reston’s expectations—were earned by the Urban Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Facilities section and the Implementation section.
“We’ve worked as hard on this as anyone over the last 4 years,” said RCA President Colin Mills. “I’d hoped that by now, we’d have something we could all be proud of. But we’ve got to call it like we see it, and there are major issues that haven’t been addressed yet. We need a plan that meets our community’s expectations for the future.”
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Reston 2020 Committee Co-Chairman Terry Maynard added, “Restonians deserve a draft Plan that is much more responsive to their needs now and in the future. This draft Plan generally focuses on the needs of developers and the County although we appreciate its relative strength in environmental stewardship, an important concern to Restonians.”
“There is little in this draft Plan that Restonians should be enthusiastic about,” commented Reston 2020’s other Co-Chair Tammi Petrine. “The draft Plan guarantees massive gridlock for Restonians using Reston Parkway and Wiehle most of the day and the parks and recreation portion promises overcrowded athletic fields that will force Reston to absorb the costs, space, and facilities to meet the needs of the 49,000 people who will live in its station areas.”
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As a result of this report card, the RCA Board voted unanimously to direct Terry Maynard, RCA’s representative to the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force, to vote “No” on the draft Plan in its current form if a vote is taken as planned at the task force’s meeting tonight, Tuesday, October 29, 2013.
