The town will be working on bringing new businesses to Herndon. Photo by Reena Singh.
Herndon will be undergoing changes in the next five years to stay on top of the progression around it.
As a town that will have a working metro station running through in the next four years, business growth, community cultural and diversity awareness and increasing the walkability and bikeability of the town will become focus for the Herndon Town Council to tackle.
But they want to keep Herndon’s small town appeal, as well.
“The biggest impact will be preparing for the station,” said Mayor Lisa Merkel. “We met with Metro last week, and they gave us an update.”
The site where the station will be will begin to clear in early 2016 to make way for the new structure, she said. In February, fencing will be installed around the construction site. A service crane will be seen at the site in May and a pedestrian bridge will be under construction by September, according to a Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project powerpoint provided by the town.
The area surrounding the future metro station will be changing as well.
“We rezoned the property, and now it’s owned by nine different landowners, so they’ll make a plan to redevelop the area.” she said.
In order to make the redeveloped area successful, however, there is a need to make sure everyone, whether or not they want to drive to the property, can access it.
THE TOWN is currently talking to the county about ensuring that the Fairfax Connector will be able to make additional stops in order to get people to the bus. Because of Herndon’s layout, many people, like Councilmember Grace Van Wolf, live far enough where they would have to take the bus to the station in order to go to work or head into Washington, D.C.
“For us, it’s about growing the population, keeping it walkable but also having that mass transit available,” Wolf said. “All of that takes money, and how do we do that without selling the soul of our town?”
Wolf had a solution to save Herndon’s small-town vibe: making sure the structures in downtown adhered to the current historic vibe while supporting current and future cultural events.
That, she said, is what gets people out of their cars as they pass through downtown.
“That’s what brings people here and allows people to enjoy our community,” she said.
She said Herndon is unique in that the population is younger than nearby Reston, which has a prominent senior community.
“Herndon’s vibrant, and we want to keep it that way,” she said. “We have to keep encouraging our interesting businesses and bring in some new businesses.”
Merkel said the town is attracting “niche high-tech businesses.”
“We’re exploring having an incubator,” she said. “We’re talking to a lot of people who have done it before.”
Bringing in a new Economic Developer to the town staff has made a positive impact, she said.
“We’re helping businesses relocate into the town, which we didn’t have the resources to do before.”
THE NETWORK OF TRAILS, including the Washington and Old Dominion Trail running through the town, are in a constant state of updates. The trail had new lights installed and banners announcing Herndon’s presence have been hung in the name of community spirit.
Future bike and pedestrian trails have been looked into by the Metrorail Station Access Management Study earlier this year during a series of community hearings. The 1-mile radius around the station is what it calls the walkability range while the 3-mile radius is known as the bikeability range. The study looks at both the Herndon Metro Rail station and Innovation Station - the last Fairfax County metro stop.
“We just want the trails to be interconnected, because people don’t want to drive to the Metro station,” said Merkel.
Possibly this fall, new town committees for sustainability and cultivating culture may be created. Merkel said town residents will be informed if and when they are approved.
“We hear a lot about sustainability within the town,” she said. “When I was knocking on doors during the campaign, a lot of people were talking about recycling, composting. People are growing their own food.”
She said the community can really reach out and celebrate its diverse culture better with a new committee. Wolf agreed.
“Herndon’s known as a center for culture,” she said. “You’ll see an emphasis on arts and entertainment and dining. Those are community enhancers.”
Once advertisements calling for volunteers are put out, the mayor had no doubt the committees would be filled by eager citizens.
“Herndon is really known for it’s volunteers,” she said. “We’re always looking for new ways to get people involved.”
New committees are not the only resolution Councilmember Wolf hopes is passed in the near future.
“I’m pushing for the town to create a new language policy,” she said.
The town council recently voted to abolish a language policy resolution stating that English is the town’s official language. For residents who did not speak English, this meant the town’s official policy was to not translate something to their native language unless it was a safety or health issue.
The town currently has a large Hispanic and Asian population.
However, not having a language policy in place leaves questions like what languages should be translated for public notices.
“Our policies should be forward thinking rather than playing catch-up,” she said.