Rethink College Park Writer Rethinks Book Exchange Project

The approval process for a  at the  site has been a long one for sure; long enough for residents to flip flop on the contentious project.

One of those residents, Clay Gump, wrote about his change of heart on Rethink College Park, a website run by area development activists and journalists. The site was  for its role in smart growth in College Park.

Gump writes that when he first learned about the project, he thought it was the "sweet spot" for student housing, right near campus. (, including the , agree that the location is prime.) The complex, if approved as the proposal is now, would provide rooms for about 950 tenants, most of them students.

He initially shrugged off the opposition from Old Town residents, many of it would bring to their neighborhood. He also dismissed the opposition from city councilmembers, who said the project didn't fit in with the 2010 Approved Central US 1 Corridor Sector Plan and Sectional Map Amendment, which guides development along Baltimore Avenue in most of College Park. City council and staff were particularly concerned about the lack of a stepback facing Yale Avenue, tapering the height of the six-story building to two or three stories on the east side.

But after taking a hard look at the Sector Plan, Gump had a change of heart, he writes:

"This building does not fit within the guidelines of that plan, especially when it comes to the stepback transition requirements for development adjacent to residential neighborhoods."

Read the full post, It's Time to Rethink the Book Exchange Proposal, on Rethink College Park.