East Link Project Aims To Transform Herndon Transit Station Area

RESTON, VA — Stanley Martin Homes, LLC recently submitted two rezoning applications to Fairfax County for the East Link redevelopment project, which aims to transform approximately 36.22 acres of an underutilized office park in the Herndon Transit Station Area into a transit-oriented residential community.

The project area is located south of the Dulles Toll Road and west of the Fairfax County Parkway off of Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston.

While both applications are identical in their project details, they represent a formal request to rezone the property from I-4 (Medium Intensity Industrial) to PDH-30 (Planned Development Housing).

The application includes a Proffered Condition Amendment to remove the land from a prior 1980 approval and a combined Conceptual/Final Development Plan (CDP/FDP).

As of Tuesday, the Fairfax County Planning Commission has not scheduled a public hearing on Stanley Martin's two East Link applications.

Proposed Development Options

The applicant has submitted two distinct scenarios for the site's redevelopment:

• Option 1 (Proposed Development): Focuses on a mix of residential types, including multi-family units, townhomes, and stacked townhomes. It specifically includes a multi-family affordable housing building with 174 units.
• Option 2 (Proposed Alternate Development): Maintains the residential mix of multi-family, townhomes, and stacked townhomes but introduces office uses into the redevelopment plan.
• Common Element: Both options involve repurposing an existing one-story non-residential building into a community center and providing Workforce Dwelling Units (WDUs) per county policy.

Waivers and Modifications

Stanley Martin is requesting five specific departures from standard zoning and ordinance requirements to facilitate the design:

• Private Street Length: A waiver of the 600-foot limitation for private streets to improve internal connectivity.
• Privacy Yards: A waiver of the 200-square-foot minimum privacy yard requirement for townhomes, citing the abundance of distributed community park spaces instead.
• Dulles Toll Road Proximity: A modification to allow residential structures within 200 feet of the Toll Road, contingent on implementing recommended noise mitigation measures.
• Off-Street Loading: For Option 2, a modification to reduce the loading requirement for the "Office A" building to a single space.
• Height Limit Projections: A modification to allow parapets or cornices to exceed height limits by more than three feet to conceal roof pitches.

Residential Development Criteria

The proposal is designed to align with the Fairfax County Land Use Policy Plan through the following areas:

• Site Design: Integrates an urban park system with passive and active spaces, landscaped trails, and underground stormwater detention vaults.
• Neighborhood Context: Uses landscaping and building scale to provide a transition between the transit station and existing single-family neighborhoods.
• Environment & Canopy: While no sensitive features like wetlands were identified, the plan commits to a 10-year tree canopy requirement and utilizes permeable pavers for stormwater management.
• Transportation: Includes multi-modal improvements and right-of-way dedications along Sunrise Valley Drive and Fairfax County Parkway.
• Affordable Housing: Leverages Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects to provide equitable access to the nearby Metro station.

The density recommendations for the East Link project are governed by the Herndon TSA guidelines within the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan. Specifically, the property is located in the Herndon TSA Residential Mixed-Use TOD Sub-District.

Below is a comparison of how the proposed development options align with these density and land-use standards:

Density and Land Use Comparison

Strategic Alignment with Plan Objectives

In its applications, Stanley Martin asserts that the proposal meets the specific goals of the Reston and Herndon TSA through the following commitments:

• Transit Proximity: The western portion of the 36.22-acre property sits within one-quarter mile of the Herndon Metro Station, with the rest within a half-mile.
• Affordable Housing Intensity: By focusing on Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects, the applicant aims to meet County goals for increasing affordable units near transit hubs.
• Stormwater Management: Because the proposed FAR is less than 1.0, the project meets specific Reston Comprehensive Plan goals by reducing the peak runoff rate for a 2-year, 24-hour storm by at least 20 percent from existing conditions.
• Scale and Character: The proposed building heights and high-quality architecture are intended to complement the surrounding development while maintaining neighborhood compatibility.