Reston, A Place But Not a Town

By Gene Powell, Staff Writer

"Bronze Bob" named for Reston's founder, sits at Lake Anne, Reston's first village center. Photo by Isadora Guerriero.

Reston is many things, but it’s not a town or a city. Often described simply as a planned community, some maps label a wide swath of land containing Reston as “Upper Potomac Planning District.”

Despite its 60-year plus history, urban design awards aplenty, and dedicated

zip codes, under Virginia law, Reston effectively is just a “wide spot in the road.”

Still, it’s a “spot” with one of the nation’s largest homeowners associations and a

booming center-city retail and housing development, crossed by a Metro subway

line, the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park, and a multi-lane

toll road connecting Washington, D.C., with Dulles International Airport and

other parts of Northern Virginia.

There have been multiple unsuccessful attempts to become a town in Reston’s history. State law now effectively prevents the formation of municipalities. Robert E. Simon, Reston’s namesake and founder, started with the town idea in 1964, but was turned down by Fairfax County. The idea resurfaced in the 1970s. In 1980, a proposed incorporation got all the way to a voter referendum; it failed by a 2-1 margin. Incorporation was raised again in 2005 and 2007, but did not advance.

In an email response to inquiries from The Letter about town status, Reston

Citizens Association (RCA) director Connie Hartke said, “Despite the laws

prohibiting formation of new cities or towns, Reston enjoys a strong sense of

community, and with Reston’s live, work, and play philosophy, residents enjoy

shorter commutes, access to local businesses, and a closer connection to nature.”

Hartke also said, “With RCA carrying the voice of the citizens to the Board of

Supervisors, Restonians are arguably some of the most civically engaged citizens

in Fairfax County; however, the Hunter Mill District is still the only one of nine

districts in Fairfax County with no REC Center.” (The eight county centers offer a

wide variety of recreation and fitness opportunities, with annual fees ranging

from $700 for an individual to $2,500 for four to eight people).

Reston is estimated to have about 68,000 residents today, and is expected to top

75,000 within three years. If it were to be incorporated today, it would be the

twelfth largest municipality in the state, behind Lynchburg. Neighboring cities and

towns include Leesburg (49,312), Fairfax (25,144), and Herndon (24,985).

Reston’s governance today revolves around three distinct areas and a special legal

entity called Small Tax District 5.

- The “Planned Residential Community” (PLC): Reston’s neighborhoods and

village centers, which some call “original Reston,” about 7,000 acres of

homes and commercial centers, with common spaces that include four

lakes, pools, recreation areas, and 56 miles of pedestrian trails.

- Reston Town Center (RTC): about 460 acres of medium- to high-rise

buildings and home to some 50 retailers, 35 restaurants, and a multi-screen

cinema. Effectively controlled by the owners of Town Center, Boston

Properties, with a focus on maintaining current development, new

property development and programming, and entertainment for residents

and visitors.

- Transit Station Areas (TSAs): Zones centered on the Silver Line Metro. The

areas–also not part of RA--were created in 2014 with a focus on future

growth around three Metrorail stations: Wiehle-Reston East, Reston Town

Center, and Herndon. The goal in creating the TSAs was to transform

“existing large, suburban business parks along the (transit) corridor into

walkable, mixed-use communities.”

- Small Tax District 5: Created in 1975 by the Fairfax County Board of

Supervisors, it supports Reston Community Center and its activities. It

collects tax revenue from most Reston residential and commercial

properties.

The 45-mile W&OD trail crosses through Reston, east-to-west. NOVA Parks

manages the 100-foot-wide regional park. It runs from Shirlington through Reston

to Purcellville.

For most residents, the closest thing to local “government” is Reston Association

(RA). It is a not-for-profit corporation, with about 22,000 households as deed-

mandated (must belong) members. RA’s online site says that it provides “parks

and recreation facilities and amenities like those of a city or town.” The RA site says it maintains “15 pools, 54 tennis courts, 55 miles of paved pathways, ballfields, playgrounds, multipurpose courts, picnic areas, garden plots, and a variety of rental facilities for public meetings and gatherings. In addition, it provides the membership with a wide variety of opportunities to participate in many educational and recreational leisure programs.”

Reston neighborhood residents pay an annual RA assessment that now includes pool use, and access to all tennis and pickleball courts, and they pay annual county and state taxes. In return for its portion of tax payments, Fairfax County provides Reston residents with police, fire, water and sewage services, and the county also supports other civic services such as roads, schools and the Reston Library.

Residents of the Town Center zone pay a fee that goes to the Reston Town Center

Association, which defines itself online as “a mixed-use, governing association”

with a “mission including support of transit-oriented development, a strong

commitment to the arts and community programming, and design review.”

The Reston Land Use map, included in the 2022 comprehensive plan for Reston’s

development, is a speckled collection of green, yellow, orange, pink and purple

areas – by design. Simon’s original vision was a community with various kinds of

commercial areas, office buildings, and varied housing with residents from a range

of income levels and all races. Design would be rooted in multi-family housing

surrounding village centers and office buildings, blending into single-family

housing neighborhoods.

Regardless of Reston’s legal status, the plan notes “we are at a new stage in our

community’s timeline. The plan recognizes that “the advent of the recent (transit

area) development demands that Reston’s commitment (to) equity be prioritized

again. … Reston has an opportunity to once again engage the radical thinking that

made it a model community at its founding.”

Town of Reston?

What advocates and critics of the idea believe:

Several serious efforts to be incorporated as a town have been organized since Reston was created in 1964. None were successful. State law now effectively prevents the formation of new cities and towns.

If any of those earlier attempts had been approved by voters and by Fairfax County–both approvals were needed–the new Town of Reston would have had to provide or contract for essential services and benefits now received from either Fairfax County or from private enterprises such as Reston Association and Reston Town Center Association.

Advocates for becoming a town said a major benefit would be more control over planning, zoning, development, and actions like placement of subsidized housing.

Critics of creating new municipalities say it would complicate delivery of essential services and civic benefits, and be an inefficient fracturing of tax revenues that pay for those services and benefits.

As of 2022, in Virginia there were 189 incorporated towns and 38 incorporated cities. Virginia’s constitution defines cities and towns in a way that is distinct from most of the rest of the United States. An incorporated town in Virginia is the equivalent of a city in most other states–part of the county that surrounds it. But a city in Virginia is independent and separate from the county in which it is situated.