City Staff Takes Issue with Site Plan for Maryland Book Exchange Development

City council will likely come down against the current design proposal to redevelop the into 341 student apartments and a floor of retail space.

Council motioned to deny support for the construction company, following the recommendation of the planning staff, which criticized the applicant at Tuesday’s work session for not considering the nature of downtown College Park in the site plan.

“We find we can’t recommend approval or even approval with conditions,” Planning Director Terry Schum said.

While the staff views the development as part of downtown College Park, and should therefor complement the historic nature of the area, the design team said it’s a part of the University of Maryland suburb.

Senior Planner Elisa Vitale explained at the council meeting that staff would prefer a design that tapers the height on the east side of the building, called a step-back, as a way to transition from the six-story building into the rest of the neighborhood. It was one of several arguments Vitale made against the design, which she said were backed by the county’s Central U.S. 1 Corridor Sector Plan.

“The step-back is not required because we’re not across the street from residential detached single-family homes,” said Russell Warfel, attorney for the developer.

Immediately east of the proposed development, across York Avenue, is a police station, , and Episcopal Student Center, where some students live.

“I really don’t see how the applicant can argue this is not a residential area,” Schum said.

Representatives from both the church and the student center have written letters to the city, arguing for adjustments to the site plan to reflect the historic nature of the district.

Some residents of Old Town and Calvert Hills , fearful that more student housing will exacerbate an already noisy and occasionally crime-riddled downtown area.

The University of Maryland, however, expressed in a letter to the city council that it supports the site plan, and hopes the development will achieve its goal of a fall 2013 opening.

As it is, the design plans for a six-story building in the plot across the street from the university, centered between U.S. Route 1, College Avenue and York Avenue. North of the area is Fraternity Row, and south is the commercial area including and .

The city’s staff also criticized the design for only 329 structured parking spaces when there will be room enough for 1,010 graduate and undergraduate students.

There’s also room in the plan for more innovative sustainability tactics, Vitale said.

“The sustainability thing I don’t understand either,” Warfel said, noting the design team plans to achieve at least the silver standard in LEED certification, and possibly gold.

He argued the sector plan merely provides goals, not requirements.

“We aren’t required to meet every particular guideline of the sector plan,” he said.

Councilmembers agreed with the city staff.

“There was an absolute lack of an attempt to work with the community on this,” Councilman (Dist. 4) said before Councilwoman (Dist. 3) put forth the motion to deny the application.

The motion will be voted on at next Tuesday’s city council meeting.

“This doesn’t matter really,” said Peggy White, owner of Axiom Engineering Design, which created the plan. She said the application will moves on to the Prince George’s County Planning Department next month, no matter how the city council votes on it.

She and the landscape architect who presented the design at Tuesday’s meeting, Adam Morman, said the team has had several conversations with the county about the plan already.