Monday, May 20, 2013
After a nearly three hour Sunday meeting, the Riverdale Park Town Council voted 3-0 to send a letter of support to the county planning board.
After nearly three hours of review and discussion on Sunday, the Riverdale Park Town Council voted unanimously to send a letter to the Prince George's County Planning Board supporting approval with conditions of the Detailed Site Plan for the Cafritz property. The DSP will got before the planning board on Thursday, just one week after it unanimously approved preliminary plans for the development over the objections of both University Park and College Park. "The Riverdale Park Mayor and Town Council felt confident that after an exhaustive review of the DSP, staff comments/referrals, expert and legal testimony, that the applicant has met the requirements necessary to receive our support," wrote Riverdale Park Councilman Jonathan Ebbeler (…
Sunday, May 19, 2013
The Riverdale Park Town Council will discuss the Cafritz development detailed site plan.
Weekend meetings are becoming a regular occurrence for the Riverdale Park Town Council, who are meeting on Sunday at to discuss, you guessed it, the Cafritz development. The Cafritz property is back on the Prince George's County Planning Board agenda on Thursday for a hearing on the Detailed Site Plan (DSP) just one week after preliminary plans were unanimously approved. The council and mayor will convene at 1:30 p.m. in the town hall in a special legislative session to review the Cafritz DSP, make recommendations on the plan and vote to send a letter of either approval or disapproval of the plan to the planning board. The planning board staff has recommened approval of the DSP with conditions.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
After more than 9 hours of testimony, the plan passed unanimously.
Welcome to the live blog of the Prince George's County Planning Board hearing on the preliminary plans of the Cafritz property. 10:49: p.m.: The preliminary plan for the Cafritz property passes the planning board unanimously, 4-0. 10:44 p.m.: Hewlett say she thinks the historic preservation review requirement has been met, as ERCO is intended to be torn town and the J-crossing of the bridge will have even less of an effect on the historic ice house than the previous version of the bridge. She has asked these to be entered into the record as findings. 10:24 p.m.: Hewlett calls for a motion. Council Memeber Manuel Geraldo calls for a motion to approve the Cafritz preliminary plan. Motion is seconded. The planning board will now review …
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The measure passed by the council creates boundaries for a new tax district to fund infrastructure improvements.
Prince George's County Council voted 6-2 on Tuesday to approve the boundaries for what will become a special taxing district to fund infrastructure improvements on the proposed Cafritz development in Riverdale Park. The measure was passed over the objections of the University Park Town Council, which voted against supporting the preliminary plan of subdivision for the new Cafritz development on Monday evening. At the Prince George's County Council meeting on Tuesday, University Park Town Councilwoman Arlene Christiansen (Ward 3), raised concerns that the development could cause property tax assessments to rise for nearby properties in her town. Her University Park Town Council colleague, Councilman James Gekas (Ward 2), urged the county…
Members recommended, 5-2-1, that county officials reject the developer's preliminary plan of subdivision.
The College Park City Council voted 5-2-1 Tuesday night to oppose the preliminary plan of subdivision put forward by the Cafritz development team. By doing so, the council joined the University Park Town Council in asking the Prince George's County Planning Board to reject the plan—the next major hurdle in the proposed development of the Cafritz property. In Riverdale Park, where the 37-acre mixed-used project would be located, council members voted 3-0 Saturday to recommend passage of the preliminary plan. Councilmember Stephanie Stullich (Dist. 3), who introduced Tuesday's motion calling for disapproval, cited a range of reasons for her opposition, including: "Critical information was not provided to us or others in this process in the …
Monday, May 13, 2013
Council says several conditions have not been met, though its conclusions are in direct opposition to the county's planning board staff and the Riverdale Park Town Council.
The University Park Town Council Monday unanimously disapproved the Cafritz development preliminary plan, saying several conditions had not been met. The council reviewed its position at a special session Monday night and made more specific its concerns about the development. "Vague objections don't cut it," Mayor John Tabori said. "To simply say we don't like the bridge is not a meaningful objection." The specific conditions the council feels have not been met include: Tabori said several times during the meeting that the council needed to lay out clearly why the council believes the conditions had not been met. The council made clearer its position that the developers hadn't established a funding mechanism for the development even though…
The preliminary plan goes before the Prince George's County Planning Board on Thursday.
Prince George's County has moved once step closer to possibly getting its first Whole Foods last week when—in a report dated May 9—the Prince George's County planning staff recommended approval with conditions of the preliminary plan of the Cafritz property. The approval comes after a recent agreement between UMD and Calvert Tract LLC, in which the University of Maryland granted developers right-of-way to build a CSX bridge, now referred to as the J-crossing, across its property. In January, the planning board staff recommended disapproval of the Cafritz property preliminary plan after developers failed to meet several conditions. Among those was the condition requiring them to secure right-of-way to build across the CSX tracks. …
The Riverdale Park Town Council discussing their approval of the Cafritz development preliminary plan.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Developers have received the required right-of-way to satisfy one of the conditions of the Cafritz property's rezoning.
After several missteps, proposal rejections, and reconfigurations Calvert Tract, LLC has received the required right-of-way to construct a CSX crossing as required by one of the property's conditions of rezoning. In a letter sent to the planning board on Tuesday, UMD agreed to convey property to Calvert Tract LLC that would allow for a reconfigured CSX bridge, referred to as a J-crossing, subject to several conditions. The letter reads: The University believes the Cafritz development will bring an economic benefit to the region and a much-needed amenity to the community. We are pleased to support this important project with an appropriately located right-of-way connection that respects the affected University property. With this letter, …
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Oral arguments in the case were set to be heard Thursday but have been rescheduled to a later date.
Oral arguments in a court case challenging the rezoning of the Cafritz property have been postponed from Thursday to a later date, according to multiple petitioners in the case. The District Council of Prince George's County approved the rezoning of the Cafritz property, owned by Calvert Tract LLC, from Residential-55 to Mixed-Use Town Center by a 7-2 vote on July 9, 2012. In August of 2012, a group of petitioners filed a court challenge of the zoning change. The case, Amster vs. County Council of Prince George's County, has been assigned to Circuit Court Judge Krystal Alves. According to University Park resident Tassie Hanna—one of the petitioners—oral arguments have been pushed back to a later point, likely a few weeks from now. Other …
Jenni Pompi
8:43 am on Saturday, May 18, 2013
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