Join Councilmember Jolene Ivey and guest speaker Prince George’s County Sheriff, John Carr, for a free foreclosure and eviction prevention workshop on Saturday, March 4, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.First Baptist Church of Highland Park6801 Sheriff RoadLandover, Maryland 20785Are you facing foreclosure? Struggling to pay your rent? Attendees will receive helpful information on foreclosure and eviction prevention, as well as their rights and obligations as renters and homeowners. Please bring your documents to receive help on site.Masks will be required. Register for the Foreclosure and Eviction Prevention Workshop TODAY: https://bit.ly/40TxOCy.
Category: Announcements Page 2 of 157
College Park, MD, March 2, 2023 – Today has been a very difficult day for the residents, staff and elected officials in College Park. Like our community, we are shocked and disturbed by the arrest and charges filed against the former mayor. As this is an on-going and active investigation, the City will respect the judicial process and cooperate fully with the investigation.
While we continue to process everything that has happened today, City services and work cannot and will not stop. It is vital for our community and our residents to know that City services will continue to operate, uninterrupted.
The City’s Board of Election Supervisors will meet tomorrow to discuss the Special Election that will need to be held to fill the vacant Mayor’s seat, and we will update our community with this information next week. In the meantime, I encourage all residents to stay tuned to the City’s website and to like, follow and subscribe to City emails and official social media channels.
I thank our community for their support, and our staff for maintaining excellent City services today and every day. Thank you.
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The upcoming commission meeting regarding the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s (BEP) facility at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) is scheduled for tomorrow, March 2, 2023, at 1 pm. The appointment is to take place online and will be live-streamed for public viewing.
The stream link will be found here at the start of the meeting.
The final plan can be found on pages 23 to 86 of the “Executive Director’s Recommendation.”
Attached is the final agenda and recommendation from the National Capital Planning Commission’s executive director.
The City is looking for volunteers to make College Park an even better place to live!
The City is constantly organizing events for our residents to participate in, get to know one another, experience a new activity, or clean up our beautiful city. We could use your help to make these events successful. Be a part of making College Park warm and welcoming by volunteering for city events. The City has a new volunteer app that will inform you when we post the need for volunteer support.
Visit www.collegeparkmd.gov/Volunteers to sign up to be a volunteer! You’ll be notified when we need your help, and you can sign up from your phone. Middle and high school or college students must sign up for student service learning hours.
At tomorrow’s meeting, we have a short agenda. We’ll consider approving the FY24 concrete maintenance and asphalt resurfacing contract award. We’ll also consider awarding the College Park Woods Clubhouse architecture and engineering services contract. Finally, we’ll discuss the amendments to the City zoning code to conform to the recent county ordinance changes.
[City of College Park]
The City’s annual summer camp scholarship applications are now open!
Youth (rising K-12) who reside in the City of College Park are eligible to apply. Scholarships are granted up to a maximum of $400 per student. Students are eligible to receive a scholarship for one camp session only. Priority is given to youth who did not receive a City of College Park scholarship in previous years. In the past two years, the City extended the use of the scholarship to include camps hosted by Prince George’s County Department of Parks & Recreation and Prince George’s Community College. The option is available again for summer 2023.
Scholarship applications are due by Friday, April 14, 2023 at 5:00pm.
Click here for more information and to apply.
Yesterday, the Maryland Park and Planning Commission held a hearing on a request to add “right-in” access to the proposed RST development from Baltimore Avenue. This was a reconsideration request to make a change to the Preliminary Plan of Subdivision(PPS), which was approved by the Planning Board before. Following the PPS approval, the Planning Board and the County Council have already approved the project’s Detailed Site Plan (DSP).
The College Park City Council and the neighborhood asked the RSP developers to apply for the “right-in” reconsideration request when they discussed the project’s DSP a few week’s ago. During the discussion, the City Council and neighborhood residents have raised concerns about the increased traffic on Cherokee Street. The Level of Service at the Route 1 and Cherokee Street intersection is now and will remain a D in the AM peak and an E in the PM peak. These levels are close to the failing levels. The situation will worsen when the Metropolitan development is completed at the opposite side of the intersection.
A right-in access from the Route 1 would have definitely decreased the traffic capacity of the intersection. This solution is supported by the Applicant, our City Council, and community residents and is conceptually acceptable by the State Highway Administration SHA.
There are currently eight right-in, right a=out access points to the site between Cherokee street and Delaware street. Adding just one right-in access to this very long stretch of Route 1 will not cause any adverse effect on pedestrian safety. Also, there will not be any retail, no storefront along the 600-foot-long property frontage. This is a long block, and having mid-block access to a garage is very usual.
There has been a well-established 70+ years old neighborhood surrounding this development. The residents and the City Council are extremely concerned about the change in the traffic situation that will negatively impact these long-time residents. So there is definitely a public interest issue that can make in this case.
The applicant provides that the reconsideration request is in substantial public interest and supported by good cause. However, the Planning staff said they do not believe that there is good cause for reconsideration, so does not believe there was an error made in reaching the original decision on the PPS. The Planning Board members, in the end, turned down the applicant’s request.
Several months ago, I submitted a request to discuss creating a bicycle/pedestrian committee in College Park. Many other towns have similar committees. Thanks to the residents who brought up this idea to me.
Creating a Bike/Walk Committee is to improve ease of travel, encourage green modes of transportation, and reduce unnecessary car use. It also makes the case that a committee would facilitate sustained municipal and community engagement in bicycle and pedestrian issues and help to focus the discussion on infrastructure planning and improvements to achieve results.
Staff agrees that the creation of a Bike/Walk Committee would be a positive step in raising the profile of alternative transportation issues in the City and that it should also address micro-mobility vehicles. Possible work plan items or charges for the committee could be:
• Development of City-specific bicycle and pedestrian policies
• Assist with the preparation of a City Bikeway Master Plan
• Review and comment on proposed Capital Improvement Projects to ensure that bike/ped needs are prioritized
• Help to evaluate and assess bikeability and walkability equity in the City
• Promote bike/ped safety in the City
• Provide letters of support for grant funding for bike/ped infrastructure
• Review opportunities under new federal infrastructure funding
• Recommend projects associated with new development through Bicycle, Pedestrian Impact Studies
• Participate in bicycle planning with other jurisdictions and agencies (M-NCPPC, UMD, ATHA, other municipalities)
• Participate in bike/ped events such as Bike to Work Day, Walktober, Walk Maryland Day, and Bike Safety Month
• Obtain membership in bike/ped advocacy groups such as the American Pedestrian Bicycle Association (APBA)
• Attend local and regional bike/ped conferences
• Advise on micro-mobility issues such as Veoride
By creating a Bike-Walk committee, College Park will join similar regional committees. The City of Rockville, Frederick, and Hagerstown, Maryland have each established committees as well as other cities (Costa Mesa, CA , South Hadley, MA ) across the United States.
Thanks to the Hollywood Streetscape project team, who has recently completed building these safe paths from Rhode Island/Muskogee to the Hollywood Shopping Center.
They will definitely help our residents with safe access to the center and the farmers market. Additionally, residents with disabilities and parents with young children in strollers will appreciate this improvement.
Although envisioned in the Hollywood Streetscape project, the goat paths were not part of the original bid or permitted as the City did not own or control the property. An agreement between the City and the shopping center owner, Carrollton Enterprises, has since been executed, enabling this work to proceed.
Here is the original “goat path” between Rhode Island Ave and the shopping center.
A new report has ranked College Park #1 ast the healthiest college town in the US. The City of Fairfax takes 2nd place.
According to the report, College Park has the highest density of fitness centers of all the nation’s college towns combined with the second-lowest binge drinking score. It’s also #1 in yoga studios and #2 in meditation centers, helping catapult this Washington, D.C. suburb to the top overall for mental health.
Please read more here on the WUSA9
Produce pick up: Thurs.1:30 – Sun. 4 pm
Lighted after dark.
4611 Drexel Road, College Park
First light north of Whole Foods
To make a reservation (optional) and to stay on the reminder list (good idea), please reply to this link:
Form for clients to fill out: https://forms.gle/VrCKvDEoj1Ka6D3F6
Use zero if you do not think you are coming but want it on the reminder list.
But if you change your mind, still come.
Volunteering Opportunity:
Drive to pick up from our sources.
Write for the local Here & Now paper.
Visit Spanish-speaking areas to advertise.
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(301) 864-5267