To the Editor:
Bob Simon may cling to the notion of seven village centers each with multiple high-rise buildings, but nearly all the rest of us realize that this was, and is, a ludicrous idea on many counts. For one, the inadequate road system Simon created struggles to accommodate existing traffic.
Simon is correct in that the discussion of new construction raises fundamental questions about Reston and its future. First, even the most inattentive will now realize that the Reston community stands defenseless before developers eager to jam as many housing units into Reston as possible. The planning ordinance devised by Simon and Fairfax County for Reston is so badly crafted as to make a first year planning student blush. As the owners of the Reston National Golf Course have realized, there are few, if any, limits to what landowners can build.
Second, those responsible for protecting the community’s interests, in particular, successive county supervisors (Pennino, Dix and Hudgins) and the various advisory committees and task forces convened over the years, have failed. Eager to do the bidding of the developers and quick to take credit for Reston’s development, they have neglected to put in place a planning process that serves the community’s needs.
Third, decisions about new development lay beyond the control of Reston’s inhabitants. Fuss all you want about new development, under the current arrangement, the only opinion in Reston that matters is Cathy Hudgins’. Rather than democratic local government, we have an elected monarch.
James P. Hubbard
Reston