Delegate Ken Plum's Virginia E-News 
October 3, 2007

COMMENTARY 
Local Governance Sought

A flyer stuck under my automobile windshield wiper last Sunday morning while I was at church asked that I "Sign the petition to have a referendum on Reston Town status." I knew that such a campaign was underway, but I had never read the wording of the petition. The signers ask the Virginia legislature to authorize a referendum among the voters of Small Tax District #5 "to vote on whether Reston should be incorporated as a town." While I always appreciate hearing from my constituents through a petition or otherwise, a petition in this instance is not needed as the Virginia Constitution in Article VII, Section 2 provides that a majority of voters in an area must approve a change in the form of local government.

Virginia does not provide for advisory referenda. A referendum question of whether Reston should become a town would require an explicit charter to be proposed in order for voters to determine their preference. I understand that a conceptual plan for a town has been talked about, but a significant number of major issues need resolution before a bill can be presented to the legislature or to local residents for a vote. Senator Janet Howell and I spelled out these requirements in a letter to the town proponents in November, 2005.

Several major hurdles must be overcome to incorporate Reston as a town. Virginia law prohibits the organization of towns in counties whose population density exceeds 200 persons per square mile (Section 15.2-3602) or that has the urban county executive form of government as in Fairfax County (Section 15.2-3605). Substantial arguments would need to be offered as to why these sections of the Code designed to prevent additional layers of government would need to be repealed or an exception be granted.

The General Assembly has provided guidance to the judiciary on criteria to use in approving new towns through a judicial process. Courts are required to find "proof" that "it will be in the interest of the inhabitants within the proposed town; the general good will be promoted; and the services required by the community cannot be provided by the establishment of a sanitary district, or under other arrangements provided by laws, or through extension of existing services provided by the county in which the community is located." Legislators will want the same kind of information on a proposed town charter for Reston as well as an explanation of what has changed that would make Reston want a new form of government since they rejected a proposed form of town governance in the early 1980's. I would not recommend using the argument before the General Assembly that having another layer of government would save people money because the potential for such savings in the future is dubious. Legislators spend much of their time looking for ways to curtail government because of its growth and expense. And be careful about using the argument that the town should be able to curtail growth. Counties, cities and towns have been trying unsuccessfully to get additional powers to control growth for decades. The Virginia legislature tilts in favor of developers and private landowners in these debates.

Counties are the basic unit of local government in Virginia. Historically when population centers developed at crossroads or seaports and needed services beyond the capacity of the counties to provide, towns were formed and as they grew they became cities. As counties have become more urbanized, their powers have been extended such as Fairfax County with the urban county executive form of government. Most of the 203 towns in Virginia trace their history to the nineteenth century. The half-dozen towns incorporated most recently in the mid-1900's have an average population of 485. Blacksburg with a population of nearly 40,000 is the largest town in Virginia, but towns generally have a couple of thousand residents. Reston with a population over 60,000 would dwarf all other towns in the Commonwealth and may actually find itself strapped by a form of government intended for much smaller jurisdictions. City status was designed for the most densely populated areas.

Once the proponents of a town have concurrence with Fairfax County, Reston Association, Reston Community Center, and community and business leaders on who will be doing what in the proposed town, a bill could be introduced in the legislature, and a referendum considering that new form of governance could be held. In the meantime, a more productive use of time might be spent clarifying what an additional layer of government would provide to the residents of Reston that are not currently provided by Fairfax County. A petition could then be circulated asking Fairfax County to bring those services to our community.