See more Lake Anne maps

Big Crowd Turns Out on Revitalization
From the Times Community Newspapers
By Lise Hausrath Simmons
Sept. 1, 2004

Economic consultants hired to conduct a study of Lake Anne Village Center's revitalization needs briefed a capacity crowd of about 100 Reston citizens at a meeting Aug. 24, answering questions from residents concerned about high-rises being built and Lake Anne's special character being destroyed.

Jim Prost of Basile, Baumann, Prost & Associates (BB&P), of Annapolis, Md., explained how BB&P will proceed now that it has been awarded a $50,000 contract by the county to look at Lake Anne's economic and other needs.

He was joined at the meeting by officials from Reston-based Architecture Inc., a civil engineering firm called RDA and S3E Klingemann, an infrastructure and building engineering firm based in Fairfax, which will all serve as subcontractors on the study.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Catherine Hudgins (D), who organized the meeting, was joined by Reston resident Kurt Pronkse, president of the Reston Community Reinvestment Corp. (RCRC), and Harry Swanson, deputy director of revitalization for the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development.

After Prost gave a brief overview of his company's plans, the meeting was thrown open to questions, and many residents expressed concerns about what the goals were of the people pushing to revitalize Lake Anne.

Chief concerns were that developers would end up adding greater population density by building high-rises there and the charming, village-like character of Lake Anne would somehow be lost.

Others were concerned that large retail outlets would be brought in. Fran Lovaas, a longtime resident, worried that the beautiful green space in the area would be lost.

Several people said public safety would need to be considered since Lake Anne is a relatively high-crime area, especially when compared to Reston Town Center.

William Drury, president of Architecture Inc., agreed this was an issue that needs to be addressed.

"I'm real concerned about the safety issue because that's huge," he said in a brief interview.

Some residents complained that officials running the meeting had not handed out maps of the proposed revitalization area or a listing of the perceived problems that need to be addressed.

Swanson replied that the area map is posted on the Web at www.fcrevit.org, along with many other documents related to the Lake Anne project. He urged the community to keep itself up to date by visiting the Web site frequently.

Robert Webb, whose home is in Waterview Cluster and who has lived in the area for 36 years, asked officials about the ultimate goals of the project.

Prost responded that a key goal is to find out what the problems are at Lake Anne and what the opportunities might be.

Some economic problems that have been identified include the continuing viability of some retail establishments and the "extremely high" fees being paid by Lake Anne Condominium residents, he said.

Potential results could involve adding more population density, more retail outlets, additional parking and making a change in the roadway circulation system, he said, while acknowledging that a recommended option might be no major changes to Lake Anne.

Donna Shaffer, a Realtor who lives on Chimney House Road, admitted that the high condo fees were "killing" many Lake Anne residents. But, adding more density is not the answer, Shaffer said, with tears welling in her eyes.

There already is "density" at Lake Anne, she said. "We just have to let them know we're here."

Pronske, who said officials have been anticipating this study for more than a year, said "the only thing that we have that's really attracting people here is the restaurants."

Kimberly Dillard, a mother of two young children, agreed that many people come for the restaurants. But, she also stressed that, during the day, Washington Plaza is filled with mothers and their children who come because it is such a pleasant place to be.

"It's just a beautiful, beautiful place to bring your families," she said.

Dillard, who said she would love to see a mid-sized market brought into the area, told officials they have a wonderful opportunity to make Lake Anne an "architectural example," just like it was in the 1960s when it was built.

When someone else expressed concern that a large supermarket or other retail outlet may be brought in, Prost responded that "it's not necessarily more" that the company is looking at as options to propose. "It's better or different that seems to work these days," he said.

Prost was asked whether the plaza's designation as a historic district was a constraining factor when it comes to revitalization. He conceded it was, along with the high condo fees and the fact that the Reston Association owns part of the Lake Anne property.

The ownership situation is "very complicated," he explained. Hudgins and Prost were asked point-blank whether there was a plan to build high-rises at Lake Anne. "I'm not aware of them," Prost said.

One resident said he heard rumors that a developer was trying to reach a separate agreement to buy some of the Fellowship Square Foundation's property.

Conceding that "there are people that are talking to property owners," Hudgins said "there are no applications that we're dealing with" concerning individual properties. Prost stressed that he was at the meeting to hear all these comments from residents.

"This is an opportunity for us to quickly get smart," he said. "What is your vision of Lake Anne?" he asked the crowd.

His firm has quite a bit of experience with revitalization, Prost said, adding that he uses that term rather than "redevelopment" because the latter term implies that buildings will be torn down.

As work moves forward on the study, BB&P will be sharing preliminary findings with the county, Prost said. He also said his company may recommend that the county-designated revitalization area be enlarged.

"Right now, it's an open book. We don't have any preconceived notions," he said about the study.

Resident and longtime citizen activist John Lovaas was concerned that the high Lake Anne condo fees were driving the study and that they would lead automatically to more population density. He also recommended that more resident representatives be added to the RCRC board.

Joe Stowers, another longtime Restonian who chaired the Reston Planning & Zoning Committee for many years, warned officials that the community needs to be "really seriously involved in the project" for it to succeed.

Before BB&P goes too far in developing options for revitalization, the community should have a chance to critique them, Stowers said.

Lee Rau, who also has been intimately involved in revitalization discussions over the years, tried to assure residents that there are no developer concepts driving the project. "There's been no prejudgment in this process," he said.

Rich Dart, who lives on Chimney House Road, closed the meeting with a comment, not a question.

"Let's just let the process go forward and see how it develops," he said.

© Times Community Newspapers 2004