A controversial policy change that could allow thousands of new homes to sprout in Reston is set to come before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Monday.

Critics frame the proposition basically as a circuitous building density increasethat would needlessly open the doors to additional construction in the planned community. Fairfax County staff proposes to alter Reston’s population estimates by drawing down the number of people assumed to live in each home, town house and apartment, thereby allowing more room under the 80,000 person population cap that limits development.