RESTON COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT CORPORATION

Board Meeting

November 8, 2007
Lake Anne Office Building
11484 Washington Plaza West
Reston, VA 20190

MINUTES

Board Members Present:
Howard Green
Walt Peter
Van Foster
Rick Thompson
Phil Tobey
Anne Strange

Invited Guests:
Bridget Hill, FC OCRR
Goldie Harrison, Hunter Mill Supervisor's Office
Lee Rau, FC RHA

Observers:
None Present

MINUTES                         

Van Foster called the meeting to order at 7:35PM. He asked if the minutes from the October 11th meeting were correct. Mr. Green moved that the minutes be accepted, Mr. Tobey seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Comprehensive Plan Amendment Status

Ms. Hill reported that the County staff is continuing to write draft plan language and that, when completed, the results of the parking and transportation consulting work will be melded into the draft report which could be completed by the end of January. The RFP for the task order for the consultant support will be issued in the next month.

In response to questions from the group, Ms. Hill stated that the consultant reports will not be briefed to the public. She also stated that the consultant work would be based on the BBPA recommendations report although the staff intends to include input based on RCRC comments. Ms. Hill agreed to a request from Ms. Strange that notification be made when the consultant task order is released.

Other Issues Discussed

Mr. Green raised the question of the County’s involvement to assist in next steps of revitalization efforts by funding a consultant study to address issues of the present property owners--in particular the Condominium--that must be understood and resolved as redevelopment proceeds. Mr. Thompson agreed that this effort would facilitate the necessary changes associated with the present commercial ownership and management structure as well as the shared residential/commercial makeup of the Condo and the other commercial entities operating on the Plaza. Mr. Rau said that he thought such assistance might be possible. Ms. Hill and Ms. Harrison said they would look into it.

The discussion turned to other general changes that will be necessary as redevelopment proceeds. Ms Hill noted that the County’s recently formed Community Revitalization and Reinvestment Advisory Group (CRRAG) is evaluating what other revitalization districts have and are doing to accomplish revitalization goals and is beginning to “drill down” on their mission of making tangible objectives. She cited that activities for the revitalization districts include re-zoning, streetscapes, as well as other community issues such as types of commercial redevelopment and affordable housing. She also noted that the CRRAG conducts a public meeting monthly at the Government Center.

The discussion then cited issues for Lake Anne revitalization that the RCRC could address and what activities the group should conduct – in general, the ongoing role of the RCRC. A free form discussion ensued that included the following topics:

Communications – It was noted by Mr. Foster and Ms. Hill that communication of revitalization activities is essential in order to avoid rumors and mis-communication of current and future activities associated with the Plan Amendment and future changes. It was noted that the RCRC could play a role in the communications effort and that an outreach to the Lake Anne community might include clusters adjacent to the district. As a related topic, a potential website for RCRC activities, separate from the County’s Revitalization site was noted as consideration for the future.

Affordable Housing – The importance of affordable housing to the Baptist Church as a part of revitalization goals for the Lake Anne district was stated by Ms. Strange. She noted the importance of education about affordable housing and that the RCRC might play a role in facilitating education and information exchange on the topic for the community.

The meeting ended with a discussion of the overall revitalization timeline and activities and what the RCRC’s role could be in articulating redevelopment vision, goals, and timelines and proactively advancing efforts to those ends. Mr. Green stated that ultimately interested developers would determine what and how fast the redevelopment will occur but that the community should have its own vision and goals as the process proceeds. Mr. Thompson noted that he had interaction with the some prior TAP members about the possibility of creating, based on the draft amendment guidelines and with property owner and community input, a draft rendering that represented a consensus of what redevelopment might look like, but to date no activity had been undertaken on the idea.

Next Meeting Schedule and Adjournment

The next meeting will be Thursday, December 13th.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:45PM.