Wholefoods Battle Continues: Councils Disapprove Plans

Don’t pull out your tofu recipes or recyclable bags just yet.  University Park Town Council (3-0 vote)  AND the College Park City Council (5-2-1 vote)have voted to disapprove the Cafritz development preliminary plan.  I’m not sure how impactful this will be for the County’s Council consideration of the matter or the Prince George’s Planning Board.  I’ll have to research and find out.  The county’s planning board is expected to vote on the Cafritz preliminary plan at its Thursday, May 16 9am meeting.

Both Councils and some residents of the surrounding area are calling the approval process rushed.

From the Patch, College Park Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich (Dist. 3), who introduced Tuesday’s motion calling for disapproval, cited a range of reasons for her opposition, including:

•  That several aspects of the proposal had not undergone adequate review by the Historic Preservation Commission, due in part to late-hour revisions by the developer.
• That the University of Maryland’s support for the proposed bridge placement—which will impact UMD property—is not yet final, as it has yet to come before the Board of Regents or Maryland Public Works Board.
• That the developer had submitted and revised materials too late in the process, making it difficult or impossible for public officials to review them before making decisions.

University Park Town Coucil cited the following as conditions not met by the developer:

• Demonstrating which CSX crossing option was specified in a Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning report
• Establishing a funding mechanism for the CSX crossing
• Securing right-of-way to construct the crossing, as the council feels the UMD letter is not sufficient to comply with the bridge crossing, and there is no reliable cost estimate for land acquisition.

Although a letter was sent to the Prince George’s County Planning Board from the University of Maryland’s Robert M. Spector, vice president for administration and finance, approving the CSX reconfiguration, FINAL APPROVAL must come from the University of Maryland’s Board of Regents and the Maryland Board of Public Works.  So I’m starting to get this; the process is being sped along with documents that look official but the real real has not been finalized yet. Ok, ok.

I’ll keep you updated on what the County Council has to say.