Results of Reston Land Use College: Session One (Virginia Beach, Centreville: neighborhoods, school)

[normie]

Originally Posted by jfields

I would also recommend saying something about the lack of streetlights as well the next time you're in one of those meetings.

Now that's an issue that seems a little more likely to go over well. Not that I think you'll get anywhere with it--they've been debating the streetlight issue for years. But one of these days they'll get around to it--IMO street lights are a good issue to cut your teeth on while you're learning your way around Reston and Fairfax County politics.

Scran, the other thing I'd recommend is volunteering for the Reston Historic Trust. Take a shift at the museum, you'll not only make some important connections but you can spend your time there looking through old newspapers and getting an understanding about the history behind certain decision, previous attempts to change things, and a general sense of why things are done the way they are.

[normie]

Originally Posted by car54

Well, you're not looking very hard, dude. I have a HERD of deer that visit my property in ANNANDALE almost daily.

My brother has given up on growing hosta because he has so many deer in his yard in McLean--less than a mile from Tysons. And they have problems with deer in the Smithsonian gardens.

[normie]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

I'm 22 and earn $42,000. I can barely afford a 1-BR rental, and you're encouraging me and my "friends" (who are generally 22-26 and similarly earn $40,000-$60,000) to pool our resources to purchase land to preserve it from shady developers?

That's right, that's exactly what I'm encouraging you to do. Put your money where your mouth is--if this is really important to you, of course. It's a big goal. It's not one you'll achieve immediately. But you could do it, especially if you think there are thousands of other people who feel the same way. (If there aren't thousands of other people who feel this is important... well, maybe you should think about that.)

But the bottom line is: if you want to ensure a piece of land remains unused, your odds are much, much better going this route than your odds are for getting any sort of regulation passed. Sorry if you find that frustrating, but that's reality.

BTW, I'm not just giving you a hard time--I really do believe you can accomplish a goal like this if it's genuinely important to you. You'll have to find a lot of people to participate, but you could do it. And going through the sacrifices involved in raising the money might give you an appreciation for the hard work and sacrifice that goes into owning land... and why property owners have the right to profit from their hard-earned land.

I'm a big fan of taking on big challenges, even if you do think you're poor. I was poorer than you when I started my business. Had to scrimp, save, get roommates, and I even had to give up my car at one point. Most of all I had to find people willing to pool resources to help me toward my goal. Out of sheer determination I was able to achieve it. In the same way, you can rally a group of people to buy a piece of land. If it's really important to you. And if it's not that important, then it's not worth getting a regulation passed, now is it?

[car54]

Originally Posted by normie

My brother has given up on growing hosta because he has so many deer in his yard in McLean--less than a mile from Tysons. And they have problems with deer in the Smithsonian gardens.

Yep, critters are amazingly adaptive!

You know the birds that you see "trapped" in a Lowe's or Home Depot? I used to feel sorry for the poor things....until I read an article that said that it's PARADISE for them in the store! They fly in there on purpose...think about it, there's no predators, it's climate controlled, there's water in the garden dept, and an aisle full of bird food. What's not to like?

Well, there is one drawback.....the crowds of strange two-legged critters in there during business hours....but heck, they're good for "target practice"!

[jfields]

Originally Posted by gnu

That's all well and good. If that's the case, then those rural landowners should not sell their plots of land to the "evil" developers; or if they do sell, sell with restrictive covenants preventing the land from becoming something they don't want.

.

There have been plenty of cases where eminent domain is misused in order to obtain land for large development projects.

[normie]

Originally Posted by jfields

There have been plenty of cases where eminent domain is misused in order to obtain land for large development projects.

Now this is interesting--I'd heard about the eminent domain used for the Fairfax County Parkway, Herndon Parkway, and Dulles Airport. Metro is going to have a few cases. They say that eminent domain will be necessary if we ever get serious about building another bridge across the Potomac. But the issues I've heard about are transportation related, I hadn't heard about eminent domain being used for other sorts of developments in Northern Virginia (although I have heard of a few down in Virginia Beach).

Please share the details, I'd love to hear more about these cases. Specifically, which developments?

[normie]

Originally Posted by car54

Yep, critters are amazingly adaptive!

No kidding. Many people don't know deer were considered "almost extinct" in Virginia by 1900 and actually had to be protected with a hunting ban. Until 1990, the official deer management objectives of our state were restoring and increasing the population. Then in 1990 it switched to controlling and stabilizing populations. The deer population is growing by leaps and bounds because they thrive near urban areas.

[lchoro]

People wanted street lights after the crime wave last fall. RA said that it would cost $500,000 to do all of Reston, and the talk went no further. They didn't even take the initiative to see what high risk areas might most benefit from a lighting upgrade and come up with a more cost-effective solution. For a 50 million dollar rec center that only a few people want, the RA is trying to ram it down our throats without consideration of the alternatives.

[car54]

Originally Posted by normie

Now this is interesting--I'd heard about the eminent domain used for the Fairfax County Parkway, Herndon Parkway, and Dulles Airport. Metro is going to have a few cases. They say that eminent domain will be necessary if we ever get serious about building another bridge across the Potomac. But the issues I've heard about are transportation related, I hadn't heard about eminent domain being used for other sorts of developments in Northern Virginia (although I have heard of a few down in Virginia Beach).

Please share the details, I'd love to hear more about these cases. Specifically, which developments?

Historically eminent domain was used for public projects like roads, etc.

There was a recent Supreme Court ruling on this...I believe a case in Connecticut precipitated it...a developer wanted to grab private homes for a commercial project....CRAZY!

And surprisingly, the dem justices went for it, and the repubs didn't...

[jfields]

Originally Posted by normie

Now this is interesting--I'd heard about the eminent domain used for the Fairfax County Parkway, Herndon Parkway, and Dulles Airport. Metro is going to have a few cases. They say that eminent domain will be necessary if we ever get serious about building another bridge across the Potomac. But the issues I've heard about are transportation related, I hadn't heard about eminent domain being used for other sorts of developments in Northern Virginia (although I have heard of a few down in Virginia Beach).

Please share the details, I'd love to hear more about these cases. Specifically, which developments?

I wasn't necessarely talking about NOVA; sorry if I didn't make that more clear. When I made that comment, I was actually thinking about California because I worked on 1 of 2 eminent domain reforms that were on the ballot during the presidential primaries. I've heard of land being expropriated to build Home Depots and Walmarts, one of which was in Long Beach and the other was somewhere in northern Orange County, sorry I don't remember which city it was. There have been many cases of the government tearing down houses in so-called blighted areas to build more expensive housing. Your right Normie that eminent domain is usually used for public works projects and even sometimes to restore or protect natural areas that are vulnurable; I personally think that it is ok to use eminent domain in some of these cases. However, sometimes eminent domain is used to take away people's property (usually homeowners and/or small businesses) in order to obtain land for a big development project. In California, the local government expropriating the land had to justify that they were doing it for the public good. This usually refered to blighted areas; however, if a large developer donates enough money to a politians campaign, you never know what these people will come up with to justify that something is for the public good. They could make an excuse that, for example, the county/city needs more tax revenue and that building a new subdivision or shopping mall will bring in that revenue.

Anyway, what I was saying originally is that, hypothetically speaking, if a bunch of rural Loudoun County landowners refused to sell their land to a big developer, it is possible that the developer would be able to force them to sell their land if they could make the case that it was for the public good. Not saying that this will happen, I'm just saying that it's a possibility.