Category: Cafritz Page 1 of 2

Cafritz project attorney Chip Reed came to last Tuesday night’s Council meeting to announce that they failed to receive support from the American Center for Physics on a proposed overpass before today’s County Planning Board meeting. The development of the bridge is crucial for the approval of the Cafritz project.

The proposed bridge was to be built on a location that is owned by American Center of Physics. ACP sent a letter to the mayors of College Park, University Park and Riverdale Park stating that it needs more time to study the feasibility of the proposed bridge on its property. Please see a copy of that letter below. See more about the news here on the Washington Post and on the Patch.

American Center for Physics Letter

The county council voted 7-2 last night in favor of a rezoning request that would allow for the market to be built as part of a mixed-use development, including town houses, office space and retail, in Riverdale Park. Council member Eric Olson and Mary Lehman opposed the rezoning.

After six days of testimonies and cross examinations, Prince George’s County District Council finally adjourned the public hearing yesterday. It’s unclear when the Council will finally vote on the zoning application. Thanks to NCP resident Mathew Byrd for the 2 part videos on yesterday’s hearing.

Cafritz development at Riverdale Park

The Planning Board yesterday approved the Cafritz development in a 4-0 votes.

The decision was handed after 15 hours of deliberations from residents and elected officials.

The approval came with a number of conditions, that included a January 25 consensus conditions, plus a few new ones added yesterday.

Earlier, the towns of Riverdale Park and University Park approved the project. The City of College Park did not.

The case now goes to District council, whee the county council members will decide the final fate of the project.

The Patch ran a minute by minute accounts of yesterday’s hearing, which can be found here.

Cafritz Development

Tomorrow is the first regular council session of the year. Soon after the council completes the consent agenda items, it will go to work session to discuss two important development issues – Book Exchange and Cafriz development (see details below). After then it will reconvene to the regular session where it will vote on these two issues. We’re also expecting public comments during the discussion of these two agenda items. In anticipation of lengthy discussion, tomorrow night’s session will start at 7pm instead of 8pm.

I will write about my thoughts on Book Exchange development tomorrow, but here is what I’ve so far on Cafritz development.

The Planning Board will be having a hearing this Thursday on Cafritz Development in Riverdale Park, thus the Council will have to take a position on this. That may change if the developer asks for another continuance, which is extremely unlikely.

Though the development is in Riverdale Park, it affects three neighboring cities / towns – College Park, University Park and Hyattsville. All four cities have been meeting with the developer to resolve a few key important issues surrounding this development.

One major issue remains to be resolved is the building of the CSX track on the east side of the development. Everyone agrees this crossing will ease the traffic impact on Route 1. The traffic issue is the main one for residents in College Park. The developer is saying this will be built in the second phase of the development. The cities and towns are still negotiating to sort out the details about the schedule of this development.

There have also been concerns about the zoning tool to be used in this development. The developer has applied for MUTC zoning (Mixed Use Town Center) which would allow them to develop the area with a mix of residential, office complex and shopping center that the current R-55 residential zoning does not allow. Towns are also negotiating the provisions of residents’ input in the process, many think it’s somewhat limited compared to the traditional zoning tools, such as MUI / MXT.

In addition to the CSX track and the MUTC zoning tool, four cities and the developer are also negotiating on the LEED standard (Green building) of the development.

If the negotiations succeed, the Council will most likely consider a taking a position of support with conditions.

Please let me know what you think on this development and how the council should vote.

Cafritz Development

The Prince George’s County Planning Board continued the public hearing scheduled for the Cafritz property rezoning to January 12, 2012 at 12:30 pm. The City of College Park has not taken a position on this project and has been participating in a series of small group meetings with representatives of the applicant, Town of Riverdale Park and Town of University Park with the intent of reaching a consensus position on the project.

The Cafritz property working group has held five meetings since December 15, 2011 and has three remaining meetings (January 3, 4, and 5). Each meeting addresses a different topic with the goal of resolving outstanding issues.

Council member Stullich prepared a document that merged the three town’s positions and organized them by topic to facilitate the works group’s review and discussion. It excludes any language related to the CSX Crossing as additional information related to this issue is forthcoming and will be the last critical item to be discussed.

The applicant has revised the development plan to address many of the urban design issues raised by the towns. New sketch plans have been submitted that represent two acceptable alternatives The most recent draft of proposed consensus conditions recognizes these schemes and acknowledges that a certain amount of flexibility should be allowed during build out in order to accommodate specific conditions and the desire for a mix of uses to be built in each phase.

While all of the proposed consensus conditions are still under discussion, the major remaining issues are: 1) What type and level of LEED standard should be required; 2) Legal issues surrounding Detailed Site Plan review in the M-U-TC zone; and 3) Timing and payment for the CSX Crossing.