What Reston Association asks of a three-season room
Reston Association's Design Review Board is an independent agency of the association that reviews exterior alterations and improvements to properties within it, and it interprets and administers the Design Covenants in the Reston Deed of Dedication. Most exterior alterations or additions, no matter how large or small and tree removal included, need approval from the board or from the association's Covenants staff before the work begins.
The association sorts the work by size. Screened porches, sunrooms, major additions and swimming pools go to a panel of the board or to the full board, while smaller items, an exterior color change, a fence or a light, can be handled by staff. A three-season room is a room with window panels where a screened porch has screens, so we plan it for a panel review and confirm the level with the covenants advisor assigned to the property.
A complete application holds a detailed written description of the room with the materials and colors specified, elevation drawings to scale, a site plan showing its size and location, photographs of the house as it stands, and the neighbors' signatures. Under the Reston Deed, a single-family house outside a sub-association notifies at least its three most affected neighbors; a house in a cluster or condominium notifies the two closest and an officer of the cluster board. Their signatures show they were told, not that they agree.
Aiming for a panel date?
Name the month you want the work to start, and we count back from the panel's scheduling deadline.
How the Design Review Board works
The board has nine volunteer members, all Class A members of Reston Association: six architects or design professionals and three lay members, appointed by the association's Board of Directors for three-year terms. Its panels of three meet at 5:30 pm on the first, second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, and the full board meets at 7 pm on the third Tuesday; for now the meetings are held online. A panel application has to be scheduled at least a week ahead, for one of nine appointment times, and the owner, perhaps with the contractor, is encouraged to come and present it.
A neighbor whose property is materially affected can register as an Affected Party, speak at the review and appeal the decision. Panel and full-board decisions are emailed or mailed a week after the meeting, and no work, tree removal included, may start before the written decision arrives. An approved project must begin within six months and be substantially complete within eighteen months, and staff inspect it for the conditions of the approval once the owner reports it complete, or eighteen months after the approval, whichever comes first.
Who issues the permit in Reston?
Fairfax County. Reston is not one of the county's three towns, so the county's Land Development Services issues the permit, and our Fairfax County page covers it.
How we plan a Reston three-season room
Reston lies about 12 miles from the shop on Gum Spring Road, measured on the map. We draw the room, its elevations and its place on the site plan for the association, collect the material and color specifications, and file the county permit once the board has approved it. How the room is framed, roofed and fitted with its window panels is on our three-season rooms page.
Reston projects we also take on
- Screened porches and composite decks
- Paver patios and walkways
- Basement remodeling and bathroom remodeling