The Unfolding Abandonment of Tall Oaks as a Village Center

Terry Maynard, Reston 20/20 Committee

December 17, 2015
For what must be the umpteenth time, Jefferson Apartments Group (JAG) presented their proposal to
redevelop Tall Oaks (unchanged from other recent meetings) to RAs advisory committees last evening
for comment and discussion of an RA position on the topic.
The meeting didnt get off to a very good start when the first slide presented JAGs Duncan Jones, called
the current setting there Tall Oaks Shopping Center. Jones rightly pointing out that the property does
not include the neighboring Tall Oaks Assisted Living Center.
Never mind, JAG, which only builds housing, is fixated on a residential cluster on its property with 156
dwelling units in mid-rise condos, 2 over 2 townhouse-like condos, and real townhouses sitting cheek
by jowl around the perimeter and in nearly arms reach rows across from each other internally. The
planned retail has dwindled to about 7,000 square feet (SF), enough for maybe half a dozen small
businesses and less retail space than is currently active there, Jones said. There is no central public
plaza, just two walkways separated by a green (at least!) open space passing between rows of those 2
over 2s. And, oh yes, a playground and dog park off to the side.
Sorry, Duncan, according to the Reston Master Plan, the area is still a Village Center, including
expectations that the specific JAG property become the mixed use area of the Tall Oaks Village Center.
That Plan has a fairly concrete vision, planning objectives, and urban design principles.
Lets see how JAGs proposal stacks up. And for those readers who have something else to do, the short
answer is that JAG is proposing a housing cluster, not a mixed-use village center area. A change of this
magnitude requires a well-researched and community-focused decision by the RA Board and the Board
of Supervisors that, in fact, justifies the change of the area from a Village Center to a cluster under the
just completed Reston Master Plan. Moreover, County planning staff should meet with the community
in public meetings to gather and consider their views on the merits and weaknesses of JAGs proposal.
That hasnt even started.
Now lets dig in . . . .
The Reston Master Plans general vision for village center includes:

Enhance Village Centers as vibrant neighborhood gathering places. Nothing in the JAG plan
suggests that anyone except the residents would go thereand then they wouldnt have any
place to gather.
Advance excellence in site design and architecture. There is certainly nothing unique, creative,
or really even particularly attractive about the overall design or architecture of this proposed
redevelopment. In fact, the progressive versions of this design have merely seen the blocks of

townhouses moved about on the platplus adding 7,000SF of retail where none was proposed
initially.
Strengthen connectivity and mobility. Some of that appears in this by adding bike and
pedestrian trails, but it is hardly earthshattering. There is no proposal to create a right on, right
off northbound Wiehle to actually improve auto mobility to and from the center.
Protect and respect the surrounding residential neighborhoods. There seems, in fact, to be some
parking space grabbing from the neighboring assisted living center, but Mr. Jones didnt seem to
want to acknowledge that. Visitors to the assisted living center may have trouble finding
parking.

The Plans objectives for village centers are:

Land Use

The mix of uses should include neighborhood-serving retail and service uses for neighborhood
convenience and activation of the area after work hours. Absolutely nothing going on here
after work hours, and the space allocated to retail is less than currently is operating there. The
mix of uses is missing virtually all together, certainly anything that would serve the
neighborhood.
The mix of uses may also include accessory office use and community uses. There is a small
office building on the adjoining property that JAG is trying to buy, but it is unclear if it intends to
retain or redevelop it. There are no community uses on the property at all.
The mix of uses should include residential uses to support the retail and service uses, offer
additional housing options, as well as enliven the area. Well, there is certainly plenty of
residential space on the property, but note that the residential uses are intended to support
the retail and service uses, not the other way around. This may be the mistake that was made
at Lake Anne where huge residential expansion was proposed, but it would have been followed
by much less retail and service space. In fact, we are of the view that if you build a sufficiently
robust retail environment, theythe neighborhood in this casewill come.
Public plazas are a key element. These spaces should be programmable for community events.
Sorry, not here.

Urban Design and Placemaking

The dignity and importance of the individual were at the forefront in the design of Reston from
the beginning . . . The village centers were conceived of as the place that would draw people
together, with a public plaza for gatherings of all types, formal and informal, as well as a
grocery store, churches, or other community uses, restaurants and local services . . . None of
this, which captures the essence of a model Reston village center, is in JAGs design.
In the future, the village centers should be encouraged to be redesigned around a public plaza,
framed by a horizontal and vertical mix of uses, anchored by civic uses and ground floor retail,
and some traditional main street elements such as wide sidewalks and shade trees. OK, they
have proposed some sidewalks and will plant some trees that may provide shade someday.
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The Reston Master Plan urban design principles call for the following:

Focus on a Central Public Plaza that highlights the village center as a gathering place, organizes
active uses (e.g.--retail) adjacent to and facing the plaza, and provides a space that is flexible
and adaptable to different uses in different seasons. There is no central plaza, so the rest of this
is moot.
Transform the parking lots so that it allows the parking area to be a multi-use space for public
events, capitalize on the parking areas as key areas in a sustainability plan, and emphasize
pedestrian safety. In this case, the JAG proposal may be one step better: Virtually all the
parking is in garages requiring less impermeable surface and limiting pedestrian risk. On the
other hand, there is no multi-use space for public events.
Acknowledge the adjacent roadways by assuring visibility and accessibility, using natural
screening, and highlighting pedestrian access. The JAG proposal includes some visibility,
screening, and bike and pedestrian access improvements. It does not, however, propose adding
a right on, right off access to northbound Wiehle Avenue which would be critical in improving
access.
Transition to existing uses by using shifts in scale and massing within the village center and with
neighboring residential areas, planning for phased redevelopment to allow continuing operation
of existing businesses, and maintain the boundaries of the village center. There is very little
change in scale or massing planned, basically townhome structures at 45 and the two larger
mid-rise condos at about 65, that will give the village center a fortress-like look to people
approaching from North Shore and Wiehle. And there is no shift in scale within the village
center; just a bunch of townhouses and two large condo buildings. The two small retail
buildings JAG proposes will not be large enough to house the existing businesses at Tall Oaks,
and it is unclear if they will be built first to allow selected businesses to remain in operation.

So thats the Reston Master Plans guidance for redevelopment of Village Centers and how it stacks up
against the latest proposal offered by JAG. Without a doubt, JAG intends to eliminate the Tall Oaks
Village Center to build 156 residences with less than a McTacoHut equivalent retail space on the side. It
is doing this despite what the Reston Master Plan states should be done in redevelopment. That Plan
was developed within the community, reviewed by the RA Design Review Board and endorsed by the
Board of Directors, vetted by the County planning staff, endorsed by the County Planning Commission,
and approved by the County Board of Supervisors this year. But JAG doesnt care what the community
or the county wants; it wants to build a middling stick-built cluster at Tall Oaks because that is all it can
do.
The key argument that JAG makes to drive this redevelopment scheme is that retail cannot be successful
there. The shrinkage, Jones said, is because of the failure of the prior retail center and the prospective
competition from other nearby retail centers. Nonetheless, as was pointed out last night, the previous
owners basically drove out businesses from the center in its effort to sell the land. Moreover, neither
JAG nor anyone else has done a market study to determine that veracity of JAGs claim that retail cannot

succeed there or what the neighborhood needs. (A neighborhood poll conducted by those trying to
save the village center indicated they would use the retail there.)
Two major steps need to be taken before a final approval of such a dramatic change in the direction of
Tall Oaks Village Center:

The RA Board of Directors needs to sponsor a professional independent third-party market

study to assess the viability of a retail center at Tall Oaks Village Center. The third party
should have no business links with RA or its Board and be as disinterested in the nature of the
results as possible. The market study results should guide the Boards endorsement or
disapproval of JAGs proposal before it is further considered by the County at any level.
The County planning staff should directly engage the Reston community in public meetings,
specifically eliciting strengths and weaknesses of the JAG proposal and suggested changes, to
guide it in its recommendations to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. While
the community has been actively engaged in meeting with JAG in RA and Reston Planning &
Zoning Committee forums, the County staff has not had the direct benefit of a highly concerned
communitys views on the proposal.

Neither the community nor the county should ignore the Reston Master Plans guidance for
redeveloping village centers simply on the say-so of a developer who has never built anything other than
mid-density housing. To do so would render the Master Plan meaningless and be an abandonment of
due diligence and responsibility by both community and county leaders.