ltr to supvr hudgins re rtcn open space with attached paper

8/20/2019 LTR to Supvr Hudgins Re RTCN Open Space With Attached Paper

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January 26, 2016

The Honorable Cathy Hudgins

Hunter Mill District Supervisor

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

Dear Supervisor Hudgins,

As the County’s effort to develop Reston Town Center North (RTCN) moves forward through a Public-

Private Partnership, we would like to express our appreciation for your extensive outreach with the

DPWES project office in considering how to proceed and ask you to address one issue in that effort we

do not believe has received sufficient consideration: the need for public open space.

The concept developed by the DPWES project team is in most regards consistent with the Reston Master

Plan and the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force’s recommendation. We appreciate the effort

the County and INOVA have obviously extended to reach an accommodation on the arrangement of

their now-interlocked properties in RTCN to fit the plan. The two community meetings you sponsored

last year generated a great deal of community interest and a variety of excellent feedback that we

certainly hope DPWES will not only consider, but will pursue, as the RTCN development effort proceeds.

As you know well, Restonians love their community and are passionate about sustaining their quality of

life and the well-deserved recognition Reston has a premier planned community.

A key element of the quality of life in Reston is our open space—virtually all of it private land maintained

by Reston Association. We now need your help in assuring that at least some of that quality of life may

be offered to our prospective neighbors and employers in Town Center North by the County. More

specifically, the 2.5 acres of open space “Town Green” identified in the County’s development proposal

is seriously deficient in meeting virtually every relevant Board-approved park standard and guideline

and, more importantly, does not even meet the legal requirement set forth in the 1974 deed

transferring Gulf-Reston property to the County that calls for ten acres of open space—natural andrecreational area—to be sustained in Town Center North through at least 2073. We ask that you to take

the lead in assuring that the requirements of the deed will be met—at least—as the project comes

together in the months ahead.

We have attached for your information a research paper we have prepared on the evolution of that 10-

acre open space requirement since 1974 and how it stacks up against current County county-wide and

urban area park guidance as well as the documented wishes of the community. In a nutshell, here are

the conclusions of that analysis:


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• The County concept would provide only one-quarter of the land now lawfully

deeded for that purpose.

• It is similarly less than one-quarter of the guideline laid out in the Board-approved

FCPA Urban Parks Framework that calls for eleven acres of park space in RTCN to

meet expected population and employment levels in 2040—and cited in the new

Reston Master Plan for that district.

• And it is about one-seventh of the 17 acres of land needed to meet the County’s

park facilities standards for the number of people conservatively expected to live

there.

• It is even one-half to one-third the size of the Reston Master Plan Special Study

Task Force’s recommendation that RTCN should have a centrally located 5-7 acre

Town Green as “a centerpiece around which the rest of TCN may be oriented and

creates the potential of a powerful north-south visual and physical connection

from the Town Center Metro Station.”

We are confident that, with your leadership, the County will be able to finalize its concept so that it at

least meets the legal requirement established by the 1974 deed to create 10 acres of open space in

RTCN. That would likely result in a 6-8 acre Town Green depending on how much of the current open

space on County property it intends to preserve in its current natural condition under its development

proposal.

We would note that even an 8-acre Town Green satisfying the 10-acre deed requirement would be only

16% of the total RTCN area, significantly below the 20% goal of the 1974 deed transfer and about half

the 30% open space that the Board approved for the redevelopment of the adjoining Spectrum Center—

mostly in two large plazas. Given the substantial projected shortfall of park space in Reston Town

Center core using the same forecasts and County policy guidelines, we would certainly be pleased with

any addition beyond the legally required ten acres of open space in RTCN you and DPWES could createas the plan for RTCN becomes finalized.

We look forward to your leadership in assuring that those who live, work, and play in RTCN will be able

to experience the quality of life that has become the cornerstone of our Reston planned community by

providing adequate open space in RTCN. Thank you for all your efforts in re-shaping RTCN and your

consideration of this request to expand the Town Green to meet the requirements laid out in the 1974

deed. Moreover, we would be pleased to work with you and DPWES in making that goal achievable.

Sincerely,

Terry Maynard

Co-Chairman

Reston 20/20 Committee

TDMaynar


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Attachment:

The Ongoing Evolution of the 10 Acres of Deeded Natural and Recreational Open Space in

Reston Town Center North, Reston 20/20 Committee, January 25, 2016

Distribution:

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

Fairfax County Planning Commission

Fairfax County DPWES RTCN Project Team

Ellen Graves, President, RA Board of Directors

Cate Fulkerson, CEO, Reston Association

John McBride, RA Land Use Counsel

Sridhar Ganesan, President, Reston Citizens Association

John Hanley, Vice President, Reston Citizens Association

Robert Goudie, President, Reston Town Center Association

Local Media


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The Ongoing Evolution of

The 10 Acres of Deeded Natural and Recreational Open Space in

Reston Town Center North

Terry Maynard, Reston 20/20 Committee

January 25, 2016

Summary: In 1974, Gulf-Reston deeded a ten-acre plot in Reston Town Center North

(RTCN) to the County for the expressed purpose of retaining it for recreational and

natural purposes for at least 99 years. This deed and a separate deed for the remaining

40 acres in Town Center North both included clauses that stating that the provisions of

the Reston Deed—its covenants, design processes and guidelines, assessment fees,

etc.—applied to the entire 50-acre area.

The County subsequently fragmented the original ten acres deeded for recreational and

natural purposes—which originally had a long “hockey stick” shape extending roughly

from Baron Cameron and Town Center Parkway to the site of Reston Regional Library—

and spread it around Town Center North. The County now faces the challenge of

restructuring most of the area’s 50 acres as part of its re-alignment of the RTCN area

property with INOVA, which now owns more than one-third of the property there.

Despite the deed’s directive, the County’s proposed development concept for calls for

only a 2.5 acre “Town Green”—one-quarter the space deeded to the County for the

expressed purpose of natural and recreational activities.

Last summer, RA entered into discussions with the County on RTCN. At an August 2015

Special Board of Directors meeting to discuss this and the other 1974 land transfer, the

Board resolved to have its counsel work with the County “in a manner which preservesand/or enhances natural open space within Reston.” RA officials assert that they intend

to insure that all the ten acres of RTCN are so preserved. They expect the County to

continue to own those 10 acres while RA programs its use.

Unfortunately, the County’s RTCN redevelopment concept proposal fails to meet

virtually every key County legal requirement, policy guideline, and community

recommendation for the sizing of natural/recreational space in RTCN.


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• The proposal provides about one-quarter of the land now lawfully deeded for that

purpose.

• It is similarly less than one-quarter of the guideline laid out in the Board-approved

FCPA Urban Parks Framework that calls for eleven acres of park space in RTCN—and

cited in the new Reston Master Plan for that district.

• And it is about one-seventh of the 17 acres of land needed to meet the County’s park

facilities standards for the number of people conservatively expected to live there.

• It is even one-half to one-third the size of the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task

Force’s recommendation that RTCN should have a centrally located 5-7 acre Town

Green as “a centerpiece around which the rest of TCN may be oriented and creates

the potential of a powerful north-south visual and physical connection from the

Town Center Metro Station.”

In the end, Reston may end up with 10 acres of natural and recreation space in RTCN,

but certainly not in one large Town Green. In fact, the Town Green is extremely unlikely

to be more than eight acres in size due to the fact that about two of the fragmented ten

acres of natural space will almost certainly remain as open space. Under any reasonable

circumstance, the Town Green should not be less than six acres in size. And the County

has the option to add public park space and facilities to its deeded obligation if it wishes

to give more reality to its park policy guidelines, especially so in light of the substantial

shortfall of park space in Reston Town Center. In light of the numerous steps in moving

forward toward implementing the RTCN plan, it is important that the specifics of the

size, location, and design of the Town Green be resolved now to insure protection of

property that is Reston’s legal responsibility to protect.

The community deserves a central park worthy of its late founder, Bob Simon.


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In the Beginning: The 1974 Deed and Natural/Recreational Space

In two transactions in October 1974, Reston-Gulf—then the owner/developers of Reston Town Center—

transferred 50 acres of land north of its “core” to Fairfax County in what has become known as Reston

Town Center North (RTCN). One deal was for 40 acres to be developed generally as a true North County

Government Center and the focal point for a medical center. The second deed transferred 10 acres of

RTCN land from Gulf-Reston to the County and specified:

(a) All of the provisions, including the protective covenants, restrictions, charges, liens and

easements contained in the Protective Covenants and Restrictions recorded with the Deed of

Dedication of Reston . . . .

and

(c) No building, structures or improvement shall be built or placed on the property conveyed

herein, except (a) structures which may be required for storm drainage or sanitary sewage

purposes, or (b) any building, structure or improvement which, in the aggregate, covers no more

than ten percent (10%) of the land area of this parcel and which is intended for recreational uses;

and the property shall otherwise be left in its natural state. This covenant shall run with the

land and be binding on the Grantee and its successors and assigns, for a period of ninety-nine (99)

years from the date hereof.

Moreover, the sales agreement between Gulf-Reston and the County shows on a map of the plat the

specific ten acres to be preserved for natural and recreational purposes. The agreement states, in part:

. . . the party of the first part (Gulf-Reston) shall convey to the party of the second part a parcel

containing 10 acres, more or less, for the consideration of $1.00, which property is designated on

the attached plat as “10 acres dedicated for permanent open space.”

The sales contract continues by reiterating the deed terms mentioned above.

The intent of the transferred deed seems clear: Ten acres of the RTCN land owned by the County should

be reserved for open space to be used for recreational uses or maintained in its natural state under the

framework established by the Reston Deed until at least 2073. The 1974 deed and contract actually

specify that the 10 acres would border the west side of what was then projected to be the County’s north

government center and a medical center. The property would extend southward and then, on a

diagonal through what is now primarily the Reston Regional Library site. At the time, there was no

development in this area, including streets.


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As we know, the Reston Hospital Center was built southwest of this area, but INOVA’s ACCESS medical

facility remains in the northeast corner of RTCN. The County’s buildings—the library, the shelter, the

police/district supervisor office, and the regional human services office building lie in or near much of

what was intended to be the deeded natural area.

Then Came the Open Space Fragmentation

The reason the County was able to build its various buildings where it did was that it subsequently broke

up the deeded ten acres and spread them around the 50 acres of RTCN it then owned as shown below.

• The largest parcel is the 5-acre parcel that the County transferred to the Fairfax County Park

Authority (FCPA) along Fountain Drive.

• The approximately two acres that is west of Town Center Parkway has become a pond and

remains a natural area.

• The extreme northwestern corner of RTCN has about a one acre natural area behind the County’s

personnel services building.

•Another acre (more or less) is on the north side of the police station across Cameron Glen Drive.

• The final acre or so is across Bowman Towne Drive from Reston Regional Library.


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Reston Citizens Association Expresses Concerns

Early in 2015, two significant developments shaped the ensuing discussion of the 10 acres of open space

in RTCN.

• The County noted it was working with INOVA to re-align their properties and develop a concept

plan for RTCN.

• FCPA transferred its five acres of parkland to the County to facilitate the County’s effort.

In light of these developments, Reston Citizens Association (RCA) wrote a letter to Supervisor Hudgins in

mid-April expressing its concern that the transfer of the FCPA property to the County would lead to

reduced park space in RTCN with a couple of acres of the FCPA land devoted to a new regional recreation

center. It also cited anticipated population and job growth in the area, the shortage of park spaceelsewhere in the Reston Town Center district and Reston’s longstanding leadership as a planned

community with extensive park and natural space. It concluded:

We strongly believe that the Board should acquire and develop a major central park of at least

15-20 acres in the middle of the West Fountain Drive area generally consistent with orientation

laid out in the Figure 31 concept in the Reston Master Plan. While less than half the total

acreage the TCN area deserves based on the County's current Urban Parks Framework, we believe

it is a realistic, worthy, and essential goal for park development in Town Center North. Other

FCPA

Parkland

https://www.scribd.com/doc/261243170/RCA-Board-Letter-to-Supervisor-Noting-Need-for-Major-Urban-Park-in-Town-Center-North-April-7-2015https://www.scribd.com/doc/261243170/RCA-Board-Letter-to-Supervisor-Noting-Need-for-Major-Urban-Park-in-Town-Center-North-April-7-2015


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smaller parks consistent with the Urban Parks Framework types should also be incorporated

throughout this area to further offset the shortfall in park space.

The County’s RTCN Development Proposal: A Micro-“Town Green”

A review of the County’s draft Request for Proposal (RFP) that is the centerpiece of its planned public-

private partnership (PPP) development of the approximately 30 acres the County still owns in RTCNreveals no acknowledgement of the 10-acre deed open space requirement although it was fully aware of

the deed requirement. Indeed, despite the natural area requirements of the existing deed of land to the

County and the County’s own standards for parks and their facilities, the County has proposed a mere 2.5

acre “Town Green” in RTCN extending up the spine of the area from the Reston Town Center core. The

concept did not change over the two community meetings held on RTCN’s development in September

and November 2015.

RA and “Working Around” the RTCN “Title Defect”

Reston Association (RA) was aware of its deeded rights in RTCN and entered the ongoing dialogue in

August 2015 with its Board of Directors call for RA to engage the County in working around the “title

defect” in the two 1974 deeds giving it RA Deed covenant authority over the entire RTCN, including the

County Concept for Town Center North Mixed Use Area

Town Green

(2.5 Acres)


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10-acre natural/recreational area. The discussion of the situation was held in executive session, so RA

members had no idea what was being discussed. What came out of the meeting is reflected in the

meeting minutes this way:

President Graves made the following statement:

Further, this Board has been made aware of a recorded Restrictive Covenant ona 10 acre portion of the land which is within the Fairfax County/INOVA Reston

Town Center North Redevelopment Project RFP.

While this restrictive covenant limits the use and development of this 10 acre

portion of land to natural open space, none of this land was ever deeded to

Reston Association or designated as Common Area of the Reston Association.

This restrictive covenant presents a title defect which may impede or hinder the

redevelopment anticipated in the Fairfax County/INOVA RFP.

President Graves, seconded by Vice President Sanio, moved that RA’s counsel be directed

to assist Fairfax County and INOVA in working around this restrictive covenant but only in a manner which preserves and/or enhances natural open space within Reston.

The inability of Reston residents to observe the discussion on this issue, which was conducted in

executive session, and the obtuse language in the resolution and background left Restonians wondering

what RA was saying. From a Reston perspective, the language in the deed and sales contract is more

accurately a “title bonus.” Most importantly from a Reston perspective, the last phrase of the resolution

signals RA intent to preserve or enhance Reston’s open space. When it was pointed out to RA that the

last phrase doesn’t say explicitly that RA intends to insure that all 10 acres of open space are to be

preserved, senior RA officials stated that RA’s intent is to make sure the full acreage is set aside for

County-owned recreational/natural space under RA programming management.

RA and its counsel have been in contact with County officials, including the County’s attorneys, to makeclear their position on the need for the County to meet the provisions of providing ten acres of

natural/recreational space in Town Center North. From discussions with RA leaders and counsel, they

have stated that RA does not need to own the 10 acres, but it expects to manage its programming when

it is completed. Moreover, it prefers a single, large public open space and, in their view, a widening of

the proposed Town Green to allow more play area appears to be the best option.

To date, the County has not responded to RA.

Where Is RTCN Development Now?

RA’s assertion of its claim under the two 1974 deeds has slowed the County’s effort to move forward

with its Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with a developer yet to be selected. The County may proceedwith its efforts to qualify developers to bid on the proposed partnership without resolving the deed

issues or having a final development plan, but that is about all. In particular, it cannot finalize its re-

alignment agreement with INOVA on their properties in RTCN nor can they issue an RFP to qualified

bidders until they have a final plan in place, which requires resolution of the 10-acre natural/recreational

space issue with RA. It is not clear when the 10-acre open space issue but, because it impacts the overall

process for a final County plan for RTCN and a contract with developers, it is hoped that this can be done

within the first-half of this year.


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Moreover, it is not clear whether this delay will also mean a delay in addressing the need to move the

Reston Regional Library or the Embry Rucker Homeless Shelter, the two major facilities in Blocks 7 & 8

that are planned to be re-developed first when the PPP is launched. An option to use the former Baron

Cameron nursing home as the temporary site for the homeless shelter is on the table, but no similar

arrangements are on the table for the library. Library advocates, in fact, are pushing to maintain the

current facility until a new permanent home for it has been constructed in Phase 1 (Blocks 7 & 8) of the

RTCN redevelopment, just as the new police/supervisor’s office building replaced the old one without a

temporary relocation.

What Should Happen with the Deeded 10-acre Natural/Recreational Area?

From Reston 20/20’s perspective, the stipulation that ten acres of land in RTCN be reserved as a

recreational and natural area reflects the amazing foresight of Bob Simon and Gulf-Reston to make sure

that Restonians well into the future had adequate space to “live, work, and play .“ Moreover, in our view,

it creates a legal obligation on the County to make sure that such a natural/recreational space exists until

at least 2073 under the deed’s terms.

Despite the deed requirement f or 10 acres of natural/recreational space in RTCN, the County’s

Comprehensive Plan for Reston—the Reston Master Plan—makes no reference such space in RTCN. Its

language is exceptionally weak on the matter:

Local-serving amenities including plazas, other urban parks, trails, and public art should be

provided throughout the subdistrict to serve local leisure and recreation needs. The exact number

of urban parks, their sizes and distribution will be determined by the amount and type of new

development, in accordance with the Urban Parks Framework in the Policy Plan. (p. 99)

This weak County language flies in the face of the recommendations in the Reston Master Plan Special

Study Task Force (RTF), comprising community representatives of every conceivable interest in Reston

and RTCN, that worked on the urbanization of RTCN and the three Metro station areas for more than

four years. That report stated that a “Town Green” should serve as a centerpiece for the redevelopmentof RTCN.

Open space within Town Center is at a premium. TCN presents an opportunity to help address that

issue and this should be an important goal. The current Fairfax County Park Authority five-acre

steeply sloped park abutting Fountain Drive should be replaced with a five to seven acre contiguous

open space (emphasis added) that is flatter and is both more centrally located and closer to the Town

Center urban core. This would serve multiple goals:

• Allows greater flexibility to accommodate both some active and passive uses; Provides a

centerpiece around which the rest of TCN may be oriented and creates the potential of a

powerful north-south visual and physical connection from the Town Center Metro Station;

and • Enhances the possibility of street-level retail at intersections along Fountain Drive to

complement the approved Spectrum concept plan. (p. 42)

Moreover, the RTF report continues, “The central park should be augmented with other pockets of open

space that should be visible and accessible for pedestrians.” In short, the community wants a substantial

central single open space for the new residents and employees who work there.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/comprehensiveplan/adoptedtext/2013-05.pdfhttp://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/comprehensiveplan/adoptedtext/2013-05.pdfhttp://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/projects/reston/task_force_documents/reston_task_force_report.pdfhttp://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/comprehensiveplan/adoptedtext/2013-05.pdfhttp://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/projects/reston/task_force_documents/reston_task_force_report.pdf


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The new Reston Master Plan states that RTCN is to become a “mixed-use area” permitting commercial

development at a FAR 0.9 density with at least 1,000 dwelling units. In addition, the Board of Supervisors

has already approved a 12-story mixed-use Spectrum Center redevelopment and the 23-story Akridge

office building for construction east across Fountain Drive from RTCN.

By our calculation, development associated with these plans and approvals should conservatively result

in about 10,000 jobs and 7,000 new residents in the Town Center North District a quarter century fromnow. That many workers and residents requires more than 11 acres of parkland according to the Board-

approved Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) Urban Parks Framework (see below). 1

Besides the County’s acreage requirement based on the number of jobs and residents in an urban area

under its Urban Parks Framework, the FCPA also has a Board-approved County-wide standard for park

facilities based on the number of people residing in an area. Applying that population-based standard to

RTCN calls for five athletic fields in Reston Town Center North—3 rectangular fields, a softball field, and a

baseball field—three multi-use courts, and two playgrounds (see table on next page). The actual acreage

required to provide each of these fields is more than 18 acres based on county guidelines for Tysons’

redevelopment—more than half-again as large as the overall urban park acreage requirement and the 10

acres set aside 40 years ago for recreational and natural uses in RTCN. In short, the County’s Board-

approved park policies and guidelines call for a substantial park presence in RTCN, larger even than the

10 acres deeded for that purpose.

1This acreage does not include the shortage of park space using the same County metrics in the rest of the Reston

Town Center area where there is an additional 18 acre park space shortfall for projected densities, counting all

FCPA, NVRPA, and privately-owned land, such as President’s Park, committed to park space.

Sub-Unit Closest Plan Title AcresNon-Res

FAR

Non-Res

Development

Jobs @300

GSF each**

Dwelling

Units

Residents @

2/DU

D-1 North Town Center North 97.5

West Fountain Dr.* 66 0.90 1,811,225 6,037 2,000 4,000

East Fountain--Spectrum/Akridge 31.5 0.93 1,270,471 4,235 1,422 2,844

Total TCN Jobs and Residents 3,081,696 10,272 3,422 6,844

1 acre per

10,000 Jobs1.0

1.5 acres per

1,000 Res.10.3

11.3

**The non-residential portion of TCN comprises a variety of office, governmental, hotel, and retail jobs. We believe thei r

overall space per worker requirement based on County GSF/worker guidelines wil l approximate 300 GSF as office space per

worker shrinks over time.

Park Requirement for Town Center North using FCPA Urban Parks Framework--2040

Urban Parks Framework Park Space Guideline--Acreage standard

Total County Park Space Requirement (Acres)

*Plan language calls for a minimum of 1,000 DUS. We anticipate twice as many new DUS over the next 25 years.


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In short, the County’s redevelopment concept proposal for RTCN fails to meet virtually every key

County legal requirement, policy guideline, and community recommendation for the sizing of natural

and recreational space.

• The proposal provides about one-

quarter of the land now deeded

for that purpose.

• It is similarly less than one-quarter

of the guideline laid out in the

Board-approved FCPA Urban Parks

Framework that calls for eleven

acres of park space in RTCN—and

cited in the new Reston Master

Plan for that district.

• And it is about one-seventh of the

17acres of land needed to meet

the County’s park facilities

standards for the number of people expected to live there.

• It is even one-half to one-third the

size of the Reston Master Plan

Special Study Task Force’s

recommendation that RTCN

should have a centrally located 5-

7 acre Town Green as “a

centerpiece around which the rest

of TCN may be oriented and

creates the potential of a

powerful north-south visual andphysical connection from the

Town Center Metro Station.”

The County proposal is substantially short of the deed’s requirements and its own policies and standards

resulting in a park space that is grossly inadequate for the immediate surrounding population, much less

the overall residential and working population of the Reston Town Center area. As one critic

commented, the County is proposing little more than a “dog poop” park. That will almost certainly be a

principal use of this small linear space, and Town Center North residents and workers will need to rely on

existing (and more crowded) RA parks, natural areas, and recreation facilities nearby instead. The

nearest County park—Reston North District Park—is about a half-mile away. Still, it is far from clear that

Restonians will end up with the 10 acres of natural/recreational space it should receive by law under the

1974 deed, especially in one large Town Green. The actual size of that open area will depend on the finalplans of the County.

What May Happen

Reston may well end up with 10 acres of natural and recreation space in RTCN, but certainly not in one

large Town Green. In fact, the Town Green is extremely unlikely to be more than eight acres in size due

to the fact that about two of the ten acres of natural space located at Baron Cameron and west of Town

Center Parkway will almost certainly remain as open space. Under any reasonable circumstance, the


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Town Green should not be less than six acres, and then only if the County continues to protect the two

roughly one-acre natural areas on RTCN’s west and northwest edges during the plan for RTCN’s

development. In any case, we anticipate that the County will end up providing a 6-8 acre Town Green

with a much enlarged oval at its core while maintaining the same narrower neck into the Reston Town

Center core. The space carved out for a larger Town Green would not preclude development of RTCN at

the FAR 0.9 level called for in the master plan because the planned density is for the entire area, not any

individual parcel. A Town Green of 8 acres, for example, could raise the density “ceiling” in the

surrounding areas by about FAR 0.2—roughly one-story of added building height in most cases. In any

event, Restonians would be looking at a park area that is 2-3 times what the County currently envisions

and is generally in line with the recommendation of the Reston Master Plan Task Force for a central 5-7

acre Town Green two years ago.

We certainly do not expect, but we can always wish for, the County to exceed its legal requirement under

the 1974 deed to provide 10 acres of recreational/natural space in RTCN.

• First, it could expand the area’s parks to approach the total 17-acre size that would be required

to meet its County policy for park facilities in RTCN.

• Second, it could begin to compensate for the expected 18-acre shortfall in park acreage in the

Reston Town Center as population and jobs grow there by applying the Urban Parks Framework

guidelines, a shortfall that counts all the existing and planned private park space and NVRPA

(W&OD Trail) park land there. There is no FCPA park space in Reston Town Center.


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Now is the time for the County to identify and set aside that substantial single parcel of land for

recreational and natural uses consistent with the deed requirement at least, including a fully developed

Town Green with both natural areas and recreational facilities, A resolution of the 10-acre open space

matter must be achieved before the County lays out its final plan for RTCN, finalizes its deal with INOVA

on re-aligning their property boundaries, and it issues an RFP to qualified bidders. After the County takes

those steps, it will be very difficult to garner the needed and required natural and recreational space for

the future residents and employees of RTCN.

The community deserves a central park in RTCN at least consistent with the property deed and preferably

one worthy of its late founder, Bob Simon.

ltr to supvr hudgins re rtcn open space with attached paper

Documents