<b>2030 Plan</b>
The Town of Herndon planners are in the midst of an exercise to develop the comprehensive plan that will guide the community’s development through the year 2030. The plan will include components on the proposed metrorail extension to Dulles Airport and downtown redevelopment.
<b>Downtown Redevelopment</b>
What Herndon’s downtown will look like in the near future is of concern to most of the Town’s residents, not just the property owners in the area. While a developer pulled out of negotiations to redevelop a number of blocks downtown, a proposal for a downtown hotel is going through the land use process at the town government. Most people seem to want additional development in the area in order to provide support for its businesses, but voice concern about preserving Herndon’s small town feel.
<b>Metro Through Herndon?</b>
While the timeline for the metrorail extension to Dulles Airport continues to move further into the future, Herndon planners are considering the area’s future when that extension is built with a station at the Herndon-Monroe parking area. Metro’s anticipated arrival has already resulted in developments built near the proposed station, but more are sure to come as the project approaches fruition.
<b>School Boundaries</b>
Fairfax County Public Schools concluded a study during the past year on how to balance enrollment in the schools in the western portion of the county. The School Board voted to increase enrollment in Reston’s South Lakes High School by moving students from areas of Herndon that attend Westfield and Oakton high schools. The boundary study has been a subject of much controversy in the community and while the implementation of the decision is due to go ahead in September, a group of parents is taking the school system to the court.
<b>Day Laborers</b>
Day laborers are back on the streets of Herndon after the Town Council voted to close the hiring center that organized the temporary employment process. Groups of people gather at intersections along Alabama Drive in the Town of Herndon, hoping to find short-term work to support themselves and their families in the area and abroad.
<1b>— Mirza Kurspahic