At tonight’s meeting, the Council will consider supporting Preliminary Plan for College Park Metro Apartments and associated variation requests.

At the Worksession on October 3rd, City Council discussed the Preliminary Plan of Subdivision for the College Park Metro Station site submitted by Gilbane Development Company. Gilbane has entered into a Joint Development Agreement with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to construct mixed-use buildings adjacent to the College Park Metro Station.

The site is located at 7201 River Road between River Road and the rail lines. It is zoned MUI/TDO and is currently improved with a surface parking lot used by College Park Metro Station commuters. After subdivision, the Gilbane property will be 5.58 acres. The proposed project has 432 multifamily dwelling units and 12,000 square feet of retail and is subject to approval of a Detailed Site Plan which has not yet been accepted for review.

A Traffic Impact Study and Bicycle and Pedestrian Impact Study have been submitted and reviewed. The purpose of the lot line adjustment is to create a legal parcel for the development.

As part of the application, the applicant is requesting two variation requests: 1. A variation to allow the Public Utility Easement (PUE) to be less than the required 10 feet wide and in a location other than along the street; and 2. A variation of five feet from the 300-foot lot depth required for residential development of a lot adjacent to a transit line. Minor impacts to the floodplain and stream buffer will also occur with this project.

The M-NCPPC Technical Staff Report may be released next week. The Planning Board is scheduled to hear the case on Thursday, October 19th.