MEETING PREVIEW: Maryland Book Exchange and Cafritz

The holidays are over (sigh), and the College Park City Council is back in action with a 7 p.m. Tuesday worksession. A few brand new faces will sit on the riser in the Council Chambers of , as the .

And the new members will start off with a busy first night. Two major development issues will be discussed: the Maryland Book Exchange and the Cafritz re-zoning. Below is a summary of what to expect. The full agenda accompanies this post.

Remember, if you're attending the council meeting, you can pick up a parking pass at the customer service windows just inside , 4500 Knox Road.

Maryland Book Exchange

Developers have scaled down the proposed height of the , according to a memo from College Park Planning Director Terry Schum to the city. The side of the building facing Yale Avenue now includes four stories instead of six, but the city’s planning staff said it must step down to two or three stories, according to the memo. The planning staff suggests that the College Park City Council . The developers are scheduled to go before the Prince George’s County Planning Board again on Thursday, Jan. 19, .

Cafritz

The Cafritz development team, which hopes to build a Whole Foods Market, almost 1,000 residential units, a fitness center, hotel and additional retail and office space in Riverdale Park, south of College Park, has been meeting with involved municipalities to resolve several concerns. Remaining concerns, including the , will be discussed in meetings this week, and the College Park City Council will take its first official stance on the project at its Jan. 10 meeting. The Cafritz developers will go before the on Thursday, Jan. 12, requesting a zoning change for the property, required for the development to proceed.