Wednesday, April 25, 2012
After reviewing petitions calling for charter amendments, the Board of Election Supervisors and city attorney both report that the petitions are legally insufficient.
Two proposed charter amendments by the Prince George’s County Property Owners’ Association, Inc. might not make it to a referendum because the petitions calling for a citywide vote to adopt the amendments do not include the signers’ voting districts. As part of its campaign against rent stabilization in College Park, the Prince George’s Property Owners’ Association (PGPOA) circulated the petitions to garner support for two proposed charter amendments. One, titled “Property Tax Limitations” would limit the amount of real property tax that the city can collect to the amount collected in 2011. The other, titled “Non-Discrimination in Housing and Rental Laws” would prevent the city from distinguishing between different types of housing. But …
Students and tutors involved in the academic enrichment program got certificates at Tuesday evening's Mayor and Council meeting.
The College Park Mayor and Council acknowledged some of the 54 students enrolled in the academic enrichment program Lakeland STARs, as well as some of the tutors, at Tuesday evening's council meeting. The program matches first through sixth grade students from Paint Branch Elementary School with a volunteer tutor, whom they meet with each week throughout the semester. During every session, the tutors help the children with homework and then they participate in an academic enrichment activity. Lakeland STARs has been part of the College Park Scholars at the University of Maryland since February 1996.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Part two of Patch's interview with Maryland's SGA student liaison, who discusses relations with permanent local residents.
Like most other college towns, the relationship between students and residents in College Park can sometimes be tense. It’s a tall order, perhaps even an art form, to help foster a healthy relationship between students and permanent residents, but that's just the role of John Natalizio. He's the current student liaison for the University of Maryland Student Government Association. He says there's no reason for the sour relations between the two groups in College Park, even though they inhabit the city for two very different reasons. Patch sent Natalizio a few questions to learn how he thinks the current relationship can be bettered. This is the second of a two-part series. Part One ran Monday on Patch. College Park Patch: [You] mentioned…
Monday, April 9, 2012
The University of Maryland Student Government Association student liaison shares how he hopes to better the relationship with permanent residents.
We tend to many relationships in our lives—those with our significant other, family, friends and so on—but in College Park, there is another relationship to consider: the one between students and permanent residents. It can be a disruptive partnership; other times, a cooperative, positive one. All harmonious relationships require communication, and Patch interviewed one of the individuals charged with bridging communication between students and permanent residents. John Natalizio is the student liaison for the University of Maryland Student Government Association. John Natalizio: I would first like to preface my responses with a few comments. I do not believe my thoughts on student-resident relations to be the only or correct one. Every …
Monday, April 2, 2012
Residents, students cleaned the area around the lake Saturday as part of university-sponsored Good Neighbor Day.
More then 100 volunteers from the campus and College Park neighborhoods gathered Saturday to clean Lake Artemesia, mulch the playground at Paint Branch Elementary School and paint over graffiti at a nearby bridge. It was part of the first Good Neighbor Day organized by the University of Maryland. Local dignitaries like College Park Mayor Andrew Fellows, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-District 21), as well as Student Government Association President Kaiyi Xie were at the event. Flip through the photos and captions to read what they had to say about the event, and check out some of the work the volunteers completed. Were you at Good Neighbor Day? Add your photos to the gallery above!
Monday, March 19, 2012
University and city officials strive to make College Park a top college town by 2020, ranking among the likes of Lawrence, KS and Ames, IA.
In 2010, the American Institute for Economic Research compiled a list of the top 10 college towns in the United States. Factors included location, quality of life and research opportunities, all things the organization says lead to the picture-perfect feel of a traditional college town. College Park didn’t make the cut. Not only excluded by AIER, College Park didn’t make recent lists of top college towns by two other influential rankings, the Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. Critics of College Park say the city simply does not cater to the more than 30,000 students at the University of Maryland, who make up a sizable portion of College Park’s population. “College Park just seems sort of run-down outside the campus boundaries…
University students and College Park residents share their views on living in the city.
While the city and the University of Maryland work together through the College Park City-University Partnership to create a vibrant college community, many say they're looking forward to seeing the results. The partnership strives to align the initiatives of the city and the university, Mayor Andrew Fellows said. “Most great college towns have things that appeal to students—bookshops, coffee shops, things like that," he added. Read the full article, What it Takes to Be a Top College Park, here. Patch took to U.S. Route 1 on a beautiful Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning to see how close the city's residents and students think College Park is to becoming a top college town.
38.97993
-76.9405
University of Maryland, College Park
4321 Hartwick Rd, College Park, MD
/articles/video-how-does-college-park-fare-as-a-top-college-town
276010
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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 …
The campus community and residents are invited to work together for the first Good Neighbor Day.
The campus community and residents are invited to join forces later this month to clean up Lake Artemesia, for the first Good Neighbor Day. The University of Maryland's Division of Administrative Affairs is organizing the event, when residents are invited to work with UMd. faculty, staff and students to clean up Lake Artemesia and other parts of the Paint Branch Trail. Some think the first-time event should be bigger, said Gloria Aparicio Blackwell, associate director for community relations at UMd. She spoke at Tuesday's mayor and council meeting. "But I think it's better to start from something little and make it grow," she said, noting that she hopes Good Neighbor Day will become an annual event. Volunteers will pick up litter …
38.99365
-76.9209
Lake Artemesia
Berwyn Rd & 55th Ave, College Park, MD
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38.980323
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Jason's Deli
7356 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD
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276227
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38.991435
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Looney's Pub
8150 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD
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2061106
/locations/6593566
38.987783
-76.927932
College Park Community Center
5051 Pierce Ave, College Park, MD
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1265221
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Thursday, March 8, 2012
While initially supporting the student housing at the "front door of the campus," Clay Gump has a change of heart.
The approval process for a proposal to construct a high-density apartment and retail complex at the Maryland Book Exchange 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 awarded last fall by the state 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. (Some students, including the president of the University of Maryland Student Government Association, agree that the location is prime.) The…
38.98212
-76.937829
Maryland Book Exchange
4500 College Ave, College Park, MD
/articles/rethink-college-park-writer-rethinks-book-exchange-project
276036
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Kari
2:11 pm on Saturday, April 28, 2012
Imagine professors or other professionals who may want to live in College Park but fear if a sudden relocation, year abroad, or other sudden change in employment. If the home could not immediatley sell, the rent control law could cause them to be unable to pay for their home and not cover its costs with rent because of how much they could charge under the rent control law. How dangerous can that … more ›