What to do? Is it possible that Reston will suffer from too much Transit Oriented Development?
The Reston Planning & Zoning Committee recently heard a presentation on proposed redevelopment of the mini-storage facility located in the vicinity of the Wiehle Avenue transit station. This particular site is anticipated to feature a mid-rise apartment building with ground floor retail and underground garage parking for residents. The developer asserts that this proposal is wholly within county guidelines, and is not within the purview of the Reston Association.
Furthermore, developer sponsored traffic studies for this site show little or no impact on traffic congestion. What a surprise. Each newly proposed redevelopment site is considered separately, and this one does not include traffic generated by the Wiehle Station development, existing Kaiser Permanente and other existing office space. A number of committee members voiced concern that the two vehicular access points--one to Wiehle Avenue and one to Sunset Hills Road, will be insufficient to handle the traffic generated by the station and proposed residential, office, hotel and other commercial development.
What to do? We need more participation by our Reston Association and other citizen-oriented groups in concert with our supervisor to educate the developers and county planners to our concerns.
Bob Stein
Reston