[RP TownTalk] MUTC Meeting Outcomes

[Dwight Holmes]

I see that some of the drawings have been posted to the website.  This is
great.

Can someone tell us how much more is available at Town Hall than what we
have here?  Thanks.

Let me also add that I hope we get more notice (both in terms of lead time
and quantity of announcments) on the next meeting than we got for the last
one.  Obviously, it's vital to get public input on this.

Here's the text from the website with the links:

Riverdale Corner Plans
(Posted December 10, 9:52 pm)

Plans for the proposed development in Town Center where Dumm's Corner,
Dumm's Pizza, the old Credit Union building, and the boarding house on
Lafayette south of Riverdale Road are available for public review. The
Mixed-Use Town Center Local Design Review Committee approved the plans,
under the condition that all mandatory requirements (including building
height, parking requirements, and setback from the railroad tracks) be met
or a an exemption granted under the special permit process. The next step
for this development is for the Town Council to vote to either recommend
approval or recommend denial of the requested exemptions.

Available plans include the layout at the ground floor (retail)
level<http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us/Misc/2006/12/RiverdaleCorner-02RetailPlan-11.13.06.pdf>from
above, a view from the
other side of the railroad tracks *at the
crossing*<http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us/Misc/2006/12/RiverdaleCorner-07Elevation3-11.13.06.pdf>,
a view from the other side of the railroad tracks *a little bit north of
Riverdale Road*<http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us/Misc/2006/12/RiverdaleCorner-08Elevation4-11.13.06.pdf>,
a view from the other side of the railroad tracks *a little bit south of
Riverdale Road*<http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us/Misc/2006/12/RiverdaleCorner-09Elevation5-11.13.06.pdf>,
and a set of numerical
tables<http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us/Misc/2006/12/RiverdaleCorner-01Summary-11.13.06.pdf>about
the development's square footage.



On 12/7/06, Alice Ewen Walker <alice.ewen.walker at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Town Talkers,
>
> Last night the M-UTC committee met with Pete and Sons (owners of
> Dumms) to review their new application for redevelopment of properties
> at Queensbury / Lafayette / Riverdale Rd. (the properties where the
> boarding house, convenience store/sub shop, and credit union building
> are now located.)
>
> As with the previous development proposed by Patriot Group, the
> redevelopment does not meet the M-UTC guidelines on a few very major
> points: building height, setback, and parking.  Those are standards
> that are mandatory, which the zoning committee has no legal ability to
> waive. The county, in consulatation with town council, does have that
> authority through the 'special exception' process.
>
> The M-UTC voted to approve the project subject to it securing permits
> from the county through the special exception process. In essence,
> this means the zoning committee approved everything that we have the
> authority to approve and now the proposal passes to the county to
> secure those big exceptions. The county will consult w/ the town in
> this review.
>
> It is really up to the town's elected body, reportable to voters, to
> determine major variations from the zoning -- such as building height.
>
> (In my view, building height is the only big issue on the table.  The
> variance needed for setbacks is reasonable - it allows them to build
> closer to the train tracks than current county codes now allow, but is
> consistent with our historic build to lines. The parking variance is
> minor.)
>
> About the project -
>
> The proposal we saw reflected effort by the applicant to incorporate
> many of the comments the committee and public provided during the
> Patriot Group's earlier application process. Several of the
> concessions/improvements that were made in this application are:
> - 4 stories rather than 5 on the building on the south side of Riverdale
> Rd.
> - use of quality materials and articulation on all faces of the
> building, including the courtyard/back sides
> - more surface level parking to serve retail businesses
> - no net loss of retail space. this version of the project provides
> about twice the retail area as what the Patriot Group had proposed.
> - effort made to minimize the roof profile
> - a two phase building process that will allow the owners to continue
> to operate their businesses with no shut down and no loss of these
> valued businesses to the town.
> - larger unit sizes to the residential units than what was previously
> proposed
>
> While there are some details that are still pending regarding interior
> amenities, landscaping and other features, these are things that the
> applicant has stated will be in compliance with the M-UTC guidelines.
>
> At this point, the applicant is going to move with all haste to submit
> for the special permit and get a decision about whether the project
> will be granted an exception or not.
>
> If you have opinions about the project (in favor or not), the most
> appropriate thing to do is to review the plans at town hall and get in
> touch with your council person. You may also want to talk to the folks
> at Dumm's Corner, who would like to keep the lines of communication
> open and would rather have a chance to answer/address concerns now
> than later.
>
> Many thanks to the Spiropoulos family and their architecture team for
> a thorough and straight forward presentation of the project last
> night.
>
> Alice Ewen Walker
> M-UTC Committee Chair
>
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