Updated: Alcorn: Hidden Creek Redevelopment Not Happening

Updated (Oct. 23, 2:45 p.m.): This story was updated with comments from Rescue Reston.

RESTON, VA — Hunter Mill Supervisor Walter Alcorn made it clear Friday the Hidden Creek Country Club in Reston would remain a golf course for the foreseeable future.

"I've been saying since I've been supervisor, and even before I was supervisor, that when communities surrounding the golf course said that the Comprehensive Plan should change, that's when I would support initiating a change, at least to consider a change, to the Comprehensive Plan," Alcorn said, during a Friday morning virtual press briefing.

Wheelock Communities, the owner of the golf course, has proposed redeveloping the site to include 1,000 housing units and a 100-acre park. In recent months, Wheelock has been conducting phone interviews and hosting focus groups to convince residents in the surrounding neighborhood to support their plans.

"The results are overwhelming," Alcorn said. "By a 5 to 1 margin, community members have told me that they do not want to see the Comprehensive Plan changed. From my point of view, the matter is now closed and I will not be supporting a change to the Comprehensive Plan for that property."

Rescue Reston, a grassroots advocacy organization that led the fight against Wheelock's plans to redevelop Hidden Creek, thanked Alcorn for his decision. Lynne Mulston, the chair of the group's North Course Committee, also acknowledged the thousands of people in the community who supported their cause.

“Rescue Reston's long-time supporters know that though today's announcement is a major victory, the threat to Reston's planned open space is not over," said Connie Hartke, president of Rescue Reston. “We certainly welcome the relief from the pressure of those who wish to rip out the fabric of Reston's planning. The Rescue Reston team will remain vigilant and we encourage posting of our open space yard signs as the exclamation point to our Supervisor's message."

In January, Alcorn opened the Reston Master Plan for review and a task force has been meeting regularly since then to examine possible changes to the plan. Alcorn's message to the community in January about Reston's two country clubs, Hidden Creek and Reston National, was the same. He would not consider redevelopment unless there was overwhelming community support.

"I've made clear with the task force and the Comprehensive Plan review process that we're doing, that the golf courses are not in the scope of that," Alcorn said. "This is a separate announcement from that. Basically, what the owner asked me to do was to initiate a change, so the golf courses were never in play for the task force process."

Alcorn decided to release his statement on Friday to avoid any confusion that the golf courses were part of the task force review process.

Here is the full text of Alcorn's Statement:

Since assuming office this year, one of the more contentious land use questions in Reston is whether the designation of the Hidden Creek Country Club property as a golf course in the adopted Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan should be changed. On this question I have long stated that any proposal to change the comprehensive plan for this property to allow additional development would need support from the surrounding communities.

The current owners of Hidden Creek have spent much of 2020, and for some time prior to my assuming office, exploring community interest in other uses for their property. While this outreach effort has given them the time and opportunity to make their pitch, it has also generated a good deal of uncertainty and even anxiety among neighbors. Earlier this fall I let the Hidden Creek owners know that I did not want the community to bear this uncertainty indefinitely.

Based on a review this week of all direct communications with my office via emails, phone calls and letters, there is not support from surrounding communities for changing the comprehensive plan. In fact it is not even close – there are more than five residents against for every supporter of possibly changing the plan. Therefore, I do not support changing the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan’s current designation of this property as a golf course and consider the matter closed.

Although I do not play golf (just once in the past 33 years) I do recognize that the long-term use of this property as a golf course depends on people willing to pay to play golf. I encourage members of the community who wish to see this property remain a golf course to pick up the game and go play!

Also see:

Opinion: Wheelock's Mythical Grand Park

Alcorn: Reston Master Plan Review Delayed; Budget Talks Continue

Alcorn Elaborates On Reston Plan Review, 2020 Priorities