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Reston Association reviews design‑guideline updates; debate centers on lighting, string lights and enforcement
Summary
The Reston Association presented updated design‑guidelines and a new general overview of DRB procedures. Board members and residents debated proposed lighting rules — particularly limits on string lights, measurements (lumens vs. color temperature) and enforcement — and asked staff to bring detailed options back to the Design Review Board.
The Reston Association’s Community Standards office presented a package of updated design guidelines and a new general overview of the Design Review Board (DRB) process on June 24. The packet included changes ranging from mechanical‑equipment and gutter rules to rules for sheds and temporary signage; the most contested section at the meeting focused on exterior lighting and string lights.
Lashonda Graham, Community Standards manager and DRB secretary, explained that the “general overview” document was added to clarify the DRB process, review levels and application requirements. Several guidelines were changed to allow staff‑level review in cases where prior precedent exists; other red‑line changes addressed technical details such as downspout extensions and permitted materials for sheds.
The meeting’s most substantive exchange concerned lighting. Homeowner Michael Poss had raised concerns earlier about excessively bright entry lighting and the transcript‑recorded packet had inconsistent references to lumens, wattage and color temperature. At the board meeting members discussed whether rules should set a numeric brightness limit (lumens or foot‑candles), specify color temperature (Kelvin), or use other approaches that are both enforceable and accessible to homeowners. The DRB’s draft uses color temperature in several places and provides different no‑application/low‑level review allowances for temporary decorative string lights versus permanent installations.
Board members asked staff to return with clearer, enforceable options. Several directors said they wanted measurable, court‑defensible standards (for instance foot‑candles for brightness) so RA could enforce violations if necessary; others worried that highly technical limits would be difficult for homeowners to use when purchasing fixtures. The board asked staff to take the full range of member feedback on lighting back to the DRB and to provide options that balance homeowner simplicity and enforceability.
Other DRB updates adopted during the meeting included: restoring DRB authority to require screening around freestanding mechanical equipment while adding language to protect equipment access and operation; clarifying rules for shed materials and colors; and adding staff/DRB consult review levels for certain repeatable replacement projects. The board approved a bundle of guideline changes that had produced no objections and directed staff to return with revised lighting language and other comments the board flagged.
Ending: The DRB will take the board’s comments into account and return with clearer language on string lights, brightness measurement and enforcement options; staff will also provide the board a list of proposed changes that remove ambiguities in the packet.
