Calvert Hills Residents Have Mixed Reactions to Cafritz Development

Although the Cafritz property, where developers hope to build a Whole Foods Market, residential units and additional retail and office space rests mainly in Riverdale Park, College Park residents have strong opinions about the proposed project.

In the Calvert Hills neighborhood, which lines the Cafritz property and even includes a small portion of it, citizens both for and against the development are rallying through letters to the Prince George’s County Planning Board. While some raise concerns about the traffic it could create, others tout its potential to create jobs and attract new residents.

"Our neighborhood is really lacking this type of retail," said resident Cynthia Finley, referring to the proposed Whole Foods and other retailers suggested by the developers. She believes such a development would bring more families to live in the area, and fewer University of Maryland students.

Finley voiced support of the project in a December letter to the county planning board. It included the signatures of 114 residents from College Park, University Park, Riverdale Park and neighboring municipalities.

Other residents are not so sure the proposed development would help grow the community, especially if the development includes a vehicular access to the northeastern end of the property via Rhode Island Avenue. Although , in December the Prince George’s County Planning Board staff suggested the route be explored.

"We were assured that that wasn't even an option," resident Adele Ellis said, referring to early community meetings with the Cafritz developers. "It feels like it is coming out of left field.”

The planning staff suggested the hiker/biker trail, which parallels Rhode Island Avenue, might also be extended through the property. Ellis has no problem with that proposal, but she fears cut-through traffic on Rhode Island Avenue would create safety issues for pedestrians and bikers, and alter the residential feel of the neighborhood.

Robert Ramsey, another Calvert Hills resident, said he’s in favor of having a Whole Foods Market in the area, but he does not support extending Rhode Island Avenue into the property, either.

"I don't want people driving through the community to get to the Metro,” he said.

Finley said she is neither in support nor in opposition to a vehicular route through Calvert Hills.

"I don't have strong feelings about it, but I see the asset to having interconnected communities," she said.

Both Ramsey and Ellis said they’d support a crossing over the CSX tracks that border the eastern side of the Cafritz property — an idea that several elected officials also back. Though Cafritz attorney Chip Reed has said developers would also like a crossing, he said of construction. Elected officials are pushing to have it constructed in the first phase.

The College Park City Council will discuss the Cafritz development at its 7 p.m. worksession Tuesday at City Hall, 4500 Knox Road. The Prince George’s County Planning Board will hear the re-zoning case on Jan. 12.