Sunday, August 19, 2012
NAACP calls for removal of officer seen striking handcuffed man; principal of new TAG school shares vision; lawyers ask judge not to dismiss sexual harassment case against police, and more.
Upper Marlboro Man Gets 25 Years for Fast Food Robbery The assailant pistol whipped a fast food manager and then stuck him in the freezer. NAACP Calls For Removal of Laurel Police Officer Leaders of the Prince George’s County Branch of the NAACP and community members in Laurel are calling for the removal of a Laurel police officer who was filmed last week striking a handcuffed man at a local bar. Lawyers Ask Judge to Reject Motion to Dismiss Sex Harassment Case Lawyers for Marsha Lessard, the former city police officer who has brought a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against the Hyattsville City Police Department, have asked the judge to reject a motion filed by city attorneys to dismiss Lessard's lawsuit. Principal of …
Sunday, May 13, 2012
This week's top Prince George's County news.
Speed, Buzzard Contributing Factors in Sunday's Motorcycle Fatality David Christopher Norris, of Upper Marlboro, died Sunday after his motorcycle struck a buzzard causing him to veer off the road. Engine Overheats in NASA Goddard Building Containing Radioactive Material An engine at NASA Goddard overheated and smoked in a building containing radioactive material Thursday. Cafritz Hearing is Adjourned After six days, the Prince George's County District Council ended the evidentiary hearing for the Cafritz rezoning request. The developers want to rezone about 37 acres just south of College Park, in Riverdale Park, to Mixed-Use Town Center so that they can construct a Whole Foods Market, almost 1,000 residential units, and both retail and …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The Diamondback interviews residents and students who reflect on the positives and negatives that the mixed-use development in Riverdale Park could bring to the area, if rezoning is finally approved.
Days before what could be the final Prince George’s County District Council hearing devoted to the rezoning of the Cafritz property, students and residents of College Park reflect on the potential positives and negatives of the project, in The Diamondback. The Cafritz family seeks to have its approximately 37-acre parcel on the north end of Riverdale Park rezoned from single-family detached residential (R-55) to mixed-use town center (M-UTC), easing the way for the construction of more than 900 units of housing, a 35,000-square foot Whole Foods, a 120-room hotel, and additional office and retail space. The location of the property is just south of the Calvert Hills neighborhood in College Park. “Traffic is just going to be overwhelming,” …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Several neighbors grew concerned this week when heavy machinery was deployed at the site.
A team of workers boring soil on the Cafritz property raised alarm early this week among nearby residents, some of whom were concerned that the developer had jumped the gun on its mixed-use blueprint for the site. Shortly before noon on Tuesday, several workmen could be seen clearing brush with a chainsaw and maneuvering a large piece of drilling equipment around the densely-wooded section of Riverdale Park. Cafritz attorney Chip Reed first said he was unaware of any heavy machinery on the scene, but after looking into the matter, Reed called back to report that the developer's geotechnical team was indeed conducting soil borings. "It's mainly to understand the consistency of the soil," Reed said. Read the full story on Riverdale Park-…
Sunday, April 15, 2012
This week's top Prince George's County news.
Hearing Postponed for Student Charged in Shooting Rampage Threat A district court hearing for Alexander Song, a University of Maryland student who police say threatened to go a campus shooting rampage, has been postponed until next week. Over the weekend of March 10 and 11, Alexander Song allegedly posted comments on reddit.com and Omegle.com, that he planned to conduct a campus shooting. Sierra Leoneans Take Action After Greenbelt Man Murdered In the wake of the murder of Aiah Nyanga Tongu, people from Sierra Leone are organizing a local town hall meeting to stop violence in their community. With Casino in Doubt, Prince George’s Deals with Budget Woes County Executive Rushern L. Baker said this week he was preparing for a "doomsday" …
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The granite pillar had stood on the grounds of the old McAlpine Mansion since the mid-19th century.
For over 150 years, the half-ton boundary marker sat lodged in the earth of what is now known as the Cafritz property, situated on the north end of present-day Riverdale Park. Hewn out of granite and inscribed with an "R," the weathered monolith once marked a 203-acre subdivision of the Riversdale Estate. As the site was transformed over the decades—from the private grounds of McAlpine Mansion to the Longfellow School for Boys to housing for ERCO factory workers during World War II and returning GIs in the postwar era—the marker stood fast, dutifully marking a long-forgotten line. On Friday, six men, a metal sled, and a Ford F-350 pickup finally uprooted the stone and transported it to its new—or rather, old—home: Riversdale House Museum…
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Calvert Hills resident Joseph Grikis calls on the District Council to reject the developer's rezoning proposal.
The proposed rezoning of the Cafritz property would cause "immense and wide-ranging" harm to the surrounding community and should be rejected by county lawmakers, Calvert Hills resident Joseph Grikis writes in Thursday's issue of The Gazette. Calling the development "highly debatable," Grikis argues that the Cafritz project lacks the attention to smart growth and economic development seen in the University of Maryland's nearby East Campus development. Under the Cafritz plan, the developer's 37-acre parcel on the north end of Riverdale Park would be rezoned from single-family detached residential (R-55) to mixed-use town center (M-UTC), easing the way for the construction of more than 900 units of housing, a 35,000-square foot Whole Foods, …
Thursday, March 15, 2012
University expects that ground will be broken for the mixed-use project by this time next year.
When Robert Specter first joined the faculty at the University of Maryland six months ago and searched the files of his predecessor, he found documents detailing visions for the East Campus mixed-use development from as long ago as 1999. More than a decade later, he expects ground to be broken for the mixed-use development by this time next year, he told a room full of developers, property owners and brokers, officials and residents at a real estate roundtable Thursday morning. “There’s been a lot of talk and a lot of energy and a lot of money put into East Campus already,” said the university’s vice president for administrative affairs and chief financial officer. Despite selecting a developer, Foulger-Pratt Companies and Argo Investment …
Monday, March 12, 2012
Residents will have another opportunity to deliver written or in-person testimony.
The proposed rezoning of the Cafritz tract will take the next step in the county's review process when it comes before the District Council just under a month from today. Officials have scheduled a public hearing on the plan for 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 11 in the County Administration Building (14741 Governor Oden Bowie Dr., Upper Marlboro). A carryover hearing, if needed, has been scheduled for Friday, April 13 at the same hour. The District Council, composed of the members of the Prince George's County Council, will weigh the Cafritz application and recommended conditions before holding a final vote. The proposal was conditionally endorsed by the Planning Board in February after 15 hours of hearings. The Cafritz plan calls for the …
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Here's a wrap up last week's news in College Park.
Big news today for many: It's Super Bowl Sunday. Where is the best place in College Park and the surroudning area to watch the game? Take the Patch Poll to let us know. Remember the University of Maryland's entry in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon? The students won first place with their solar-powered home, "WaterShed." Pepco bought the entry for $200,000 to use it as a living classroom. Mom Columnist Gretchen Schock shared her struggles as a divorced parent who decided to stay at home with her kids. Do you share the struggle? Do you have advice to share? Let us know in the comments section here. Cafritz The Prince George's County Planning Board voted 4-0 on Thursday to approve the rezoning application for the Cafritz …
Neighbor
1:42 am on Saturday, May 12, 2012
I would argue that while there are far better locations to put this development, if it were to be built it would be a nice shopping center, which is more than I can say for 70% of the strip malls rotting in College Park. The problem with a market in downtown CP, is that there is no free parking. I think the best use for the space would be a public park, but this is private property, and if I had … more ›