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Design Review Board denies Purple Sage appeal over cluster tree replacements
Summary
Reston Design Review Board on Jan. 21 denied an appeal from Purple Sage residents who asked the board to delay final tree-replacement approvals and conduct an on-site walk through; the board found no new information or misapplied guideline and left the panel decision intact.
The Reston Design Review Board denied an appeal from Purple Sage cluster residents on Jan. 21 seeking a delay in final decisions about tree removals and replacements.
Appellants Bob Sledzus and Jim Moran said they wanted a site visit “once the weather clears up” so the DRB could advise on species, placement and size of replacement trees, noting that many removed trees were large maples, oaks or pines and that several replacements appear “extremely small” and planted in locations that don’t restore the canopy. “Decisions regarding the replenishment of and additions to the overall canopy on Purple Sage Common Area as well as a proper placement of tree of any trees are decisions that really affect our cluster for decades to come,” Sledzus told the board.
The board said the original panel approval already set a schedule for replacements (some plantings in spring 2025 and others in 2026) and that the DRB’s single-family detached guidelines allow the reviewing panel to determine appropriate replacements and locations. Emily, a DRB landscape member, told appellants she was willing to visit the site as a volunteer, but that the presence or absence of a post‑decision site visit did not, in her view, constitute new information or a misapplied guideline.
After discussion the full board moved to deny the appeal, finding no new information had been presented and that guidelines had not been misapplied. The motion to deny passed with a majority and one abstention; staff confirmed the underlying decision came from a December 17 panel and remains in effect.
Residents and the DRB discussed enforcement options if replacements installed in spring do not meet the approval letter’s minimum (the decision letter specifies a 2-inch caliper minimum for replacements in this case). Board members noted that, if owners believe the contractor installed trees that fail to meet the approval requirements, they can contact Reston Association staff to request a verification inspection after plantings are in the ground.
The board did not reopen the panel decision and the applicant’s planting schedule as described in the decision letter remains the operative directive.
The meeting then moved on to other agenda items.
