What is the Reston Comprehensive Plan?

The Reston Master Plan (RMP) is Fairfax County’s basic guide to future development in Reston. The RMP is part of the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan1 , a state-mandated planning document that guides development throughout the County. In general, Reston’s plan, like those for the rest of the County, describes the scope and nature of expected future development, including the required infrastructure needed to support it – transportation, schools, environmental impact, public safety, libraries and cultural facilities, among others. The County updates the RMP every nine years. The last study period occurred from 2009 to 2015. This last Reston Master Plan Special Study was a two-phase planning study:

• The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved Phase I of RMP in February 2014 after many years of planning effort by a specially appointed task force. As Figure 1 shows, Phase I covers the Dulles Corridor area and is geared to the development of an urban core around the three Silver Line Metrorail stations that will serve Reston. It calls for high-density, mixed-use (commercial and residential) development, generally within a half-mile of each station.
• Phase II of the RMP covered the rest of Reston – such as the suburban residential areas and Reston’s five village centers – that have been Reston for the last half-century.

Phase II explored the redevelopment of many of our neighborhoods, including potentially yours, so it is important for Restonians to get educated and become engaged with this process. Beyond that, the County has stated that another goal of Phase II is to include more specific language in RMP to protect Reston’s “stable” neighborhoods, although that term is not defined. According to County officials, the residential places that are most likely to see redevelopment in the near term are older “unstable” garden apartment complexes. Generally, the apartment complexes that meet that criterion are between Baron Cameron Avenue and Glade Drive, which are owned by a single landowner who may choose to convert them to high-rise apartments. A recent example of such a redevelopment is the Fairways Apartment complex (off of North Shore Drive), which received approval two years ago to tear down its existing buildings and double the density of residential units.

There are a number of other areas that have been outlined for Phase II that could have a long-term impact on how Reston would develop in the future. Some of them are technical (re-thinking Reston’s large-area zoning and community-wide density cap of 13 people per acre, for example), while others have more to do with protecting our existing neighborhoods while assuring the economic vitality of the total community as well as the planning principles of Reston.

There will definitely be something in this process for all Restonians to both support and challenge in the years ahead. The Reston portion of the Comprehensive Plan will be up for review again in 2020.

Download This Document 

View more FAQ’s related to the Reston Master Plan here