A proposal that would carve down population estimates in Reston and allow about 3,000 new dwellings to be built there is up for public hearing next month.
The controversial change would alter how the county calculates how many people live in the planned community, which in turn would alter the number of homes that can be constructed under the population cap.
Fairfax County staff assume that fewer people live in the average home than when Reston was first conceived in the late 1960s, and suggest pulling the current estimate of 72,700 residents down to 64,277, according to a staff report.
Critics, however, argue the move is effectively a density increase that would overtax the infrastructure of the western Fairfax County community, which calculates its population by the number of homes it contains.
Reston Citizens Association President Mike Corrigan said more people are driving more often than when Reston was created. Adding more homes, he said, would stress the existing road network.
“The fact that you can make an argument that there are fewer people doesn’t make the argument that there is less traffic,” Corrigan said Wednesday.
The change, which would also apply to smaller communities governed by the county’s Planned Residential Community ordinance, will be heard by the Planning Commission on Feb. 22 and the Board of Supervisors on March 26 in the government center.
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, who represents a district encompassing Reston on the Board of Supervisors, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. In November, she said the proposal is not “upping the density” of Reston.
“The question is should the [population] factors be changed to project more [the] reality of what is here,” she said.
Under existing regulations, Reston can accommodate 2,346 single-family homes, according to the staff report. Under the proposed regulations, the area could hold 5,545 single-family homes.
