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Design Review Board defers 11229 Leatherwood Drive landscaping; asks applicant to work with master gardeners and vendor
Summary
The board deferred action on a proposed 'green fence' at 11229 Leatherwood Drive, asking the applicant to revise the plan to restore native understory and to work with Reston Master Gardeners and Meadow Farms; vote was 5-0.
The Reston Design Review Board on March 18 deferred action on a proposed landscaping plan at 11229 Leatherwood Drive after neighbors and board members said the plan—largely a linear row of Arborvitae and Mahonia—did not sufficiently restore native understory on a disturbed slope.
The applicant (who identified himself as John) presented a revised planting plan that included Arborvitae ("green giants") and Mahonia 'Winter Sun' evergreen shrubs. An affected neighbor, Kathy, and board members urged a more varied, native planting scheme—suggesting camellias, native rhododendrons, hollies and azaleas in clusters rather than a continuous row—to better restore habitat and screen the yard while avoiding the monoculture look of a straight line of Arborvitae.
Board members also recommended groundcover plantings for slope stabilization; staff had previously suggested pachysandra for the roadway embankment and asked why that area was not yet addressed. Applicant said meadow/landscaping vendor Meadow Farms had been engaged and that swaps of planned plants would be possible under the vendor contract but that he had already paid a deposit. Margaret (an RA board member) and other board members offered to connect the applicant with Reston Master Gardeners to produce a legible, site-specific planting plan.
Board members said they appreciated the applicant’s willingness to revise but still found the submitted plan did not match the DRB guidance to restore native understory where natural habitat had been disturbed. The board voted to defer the application and requested the applicant work with staff, Meadow Farms and the Reston Master Gardeners to produce a revised plan showing plant species, spacing, and installation approach. The board’s motion to defer—amended to request direct coordination with a master gardener and Meadow Farms—passed 5-0.
The board indicated that small swaps of plant species (for example, replacing some Arborvitae with American holly or clustered native shrubs) could meet the intent of the DRB’s prior decision letter; staff and board members emphasized a clear, legible drawing and planting schedule would be necessary for the project to return in approvable form.
