Three important meetings will be held this week on Bozzuto Development’s proposal to raze the St. John’s Wood apartments in North Reston (northeast corner of Reston Parkway and Center Harbor Road) and build new medium or high-density residential on the site:
The Reston
Planning & Zoning Committee (Reston
P&Z), a local advisory group, will receive a presentation on the St. John’s
Wood redevelopment proposal during its monthly meeting on Monday,
April 20, 2015. The Reston P&Z
meeting (agenda not yet posted) begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Room
at the new North County Government Center, 1801 Cameron Glen Drive,
Reston VA.
The full Reston Association Design
Review Board (Reston DRB)
also will receive a presentation at its monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 21,
2015. The DRB meeting
begins at 7 p.m. in the Conference Center at Reston Association headquarters,
12001 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston VA. According to the agenda, the presentation
to the DRB is informational only; no decisions will be made.
The Fairfax County Planning
Commission will conduct a public hearing on draft revised Comprehensive Plan
text for Reston’s Phase 2 areas (all areas outside the transit corridor and
Reston Town Center), including the St. John’s Wood site, at a meeting
on Wednesday, April 22, 2015 beginning at 8:15 p.m. in the Board
Auditorium of the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center
Parkway, Fairfax VA. (Planning Commission
meetings are televised on local Channel 16 and streamed live and on‑demand
on the Planning Commission’s web site.)
Last summer, Bozzuto filed applications
with Fairfax County government to replace the existing nine garden apartment
buildings (250 units) with three new midrise buildings (625 units total) and
34 townhouses. Occupancy would nearly
triple on the site.
In December, Bozzuto made an informational presentation
to a joint meeting of Reston P&Z, Reston DRB, and Reston
Association senior leaders, where conceptual drawings of the St. John’s
Wood project were shared. At that meeting,
the Bozzuto proposal was heavily criticized as too urban and totally inappropriate
for a suburban area outside the corridor and village centers, and Bozzuto representatives
suggested they might make changes. Bozzuto’s
changes, if any, have not yet been made public, and the meetings on Monday and
Tuesday evenings (Reston P&Z and Reston DRB) will be the first opportunity
for the public to learn the current status of Bozzuto’s proposal.
In addition, the current Reston Master Plan specifies
high density for the St. John’s Wood site, but the county’s draft comprehensive
plan text (to be considered by the Planning Commission on Wednesday) recommends
medium or perhaps even low-density for the site. (There are differing interpretations of the
symbology on the county’s draft land use maps.)
The St. John’s Wood property owner did not submit a
redevelopment proposal during the Reston Master Plan review process, but its
counsel recently submitted a letter
requesting the right to develop at higher density as permitted under the
current Reston Master Plan or a site-specific exception for the property. This letter likely will be discussed at
Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, and may provide insights regarding
the St. John’s Wood project’s prospects at the county level when the
Bozzuto proposals are considered by the Planning Commission this summer.
Status information regarding the pending
redevelopment applications is available on the Fairfax County Department of
Planning and Zoning site (under Tax Map Number, enter Grid 011, Quad 4,
Double Circle 01, and Lot 0012).
Attached below are (a) the proffered redevelopment plan amendment for redeveloping St. Johns Woods and (b) some renderings on what the redeveloped site might look like.
Attached below are (a) the proffered redevelopment plan amendment for redeveloping St. Johns Woods and (b) some renderings on what the redeveloped site might look like.
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