[RP TownTalk] Patriot Group Condominiums

[The Curries]

FYI, being a contributing resource in a County or National Register historic
district does not at all protect a structure from demolition.  Only
properties individually listed on the National or County Registers have some
protection (although not absolute protection - witness the destruction of
Rhodes Tavern during the Ikea construction project).  

Another commonly held myth about properties in historic districts is that
they are subject to design standards or review.  Although a few
jurisdictions have enacted design review ordinances, they are either
voluntary (such as Mt. Rainier's) or enforced with the cooperation of
M-NCPPC (such as Takoma Park's).  At this time, M-NCPPC in Prince George's
does not allow for special design standards or design review for historic
district properties.  MUTC, of course, is a different ball of wax; I'm only
referring to protections conferred by virtue of being part of a historic
district.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming about the Patriot condos
proposal ...

Chris Currie
Hyattsville


-----Original Message-----
From: towntalk-bounces at riverdale-park.org
[mailto:towntalk-bounces at riverdale-park.org] On Behalf Of Gerald King
Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2006 9:26 PM
To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Patriot Group Condominiums

(Roland Walker writes)
> Sorry, no.  A condo is a condo.  The town can set conditions that keep
> the development from becoming apartments.

The question is, will it? and for how long? The track record for Riverdale
Park administrations for protecting the community from outside and inside
speculators, opportunists and brutal land developers has been less than
spectacular for a number of years. Riverdale Park is wonderful place
to live and raise a family. Its low density housing, plentiful parks and
open spaces and its designation as a Historic District adjacent to the
capital of the USA, make it worthy of protection against selfish regional
investors, political profiteers, and naive citizens blind to the callousness
of those who see our town as a easy mark.
>We can force the developer
> to meet these requirements as a condition of a variance.

The question again is will you? Will our elected representatives take on the
county, the state, and wealthy land developer with their hordes of lawyers
when they(those bent on changing the rules) chose to get a variance on the
variance?
We have one developer now who owns most of the buildings and properties in
what has been designated as the Town Center. Obviously the town has no
control over what happens in this area and we can only assume the
"conditions of variance" or conditions of sale and development, or covenant
made between our town and the developer of this property omitted something,
and now we have a ghost-town-center with Historic trappings.

The "conditions" you would suggest to assure the properties remain as condos
are less than reassuring.

>   1. direct agreements with the builder that prevent the builder from
>      renting prior to sale

What about, after the sale?

>  2. condo association rules that limit renting to some percentage of
>      the building (or something like that)

I'm not acquainted with the "Condo Association" (County? State? Private
Owners) or rules limiting rentals, but again, who will fight for maintaining
these rules? I am a single(married) person. My power is limited to my fists
and my words. My words are really the only defense I have to help protect my
community. They are poor defense against glib lawyers and politicians. That
is why I support my local government and implore them to use the power of
their office to fight and protect our community.
There are many things about this development that I question.
The first question is 'How does this better the community?  Are we short of
citizens? How does this project justify tearing down an historic building 
(Dumm' s
Corner Market) (I assume all of the edifices in the Historic District of
Riverdale have some protections from destruction. What is the difference
between this project and the destruction and blight we experience on the
corner of EW Highway and Route 1? How can and will this project impact on
the development of the Town Center? Would it not be prudent for this town
council to cool-it on "new development" until they solve some of real
problems that are thwarting small business development and attracting
hucksters and land speculators to our quiet community of Riverdale Park?
Riverdale Park should be for the families and folks who live here.
Gerald King



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roland Walker" <walker at pobox.com>
To: <towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2006 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Patriot Group Condominiums


> [bruce wernek writes]
>> I noticed in the last series of emails that the units in this building 
>> are
>> referred to as condos.  The developer has openly admitted that they will
>> rent the units if they can't be sold.
>
> Sorry, no.  A condo is a condo.  The town can set conditions that keep
> the development from becoming apartments.  We can force the developer
> to meet these requirements as a condition of a variance.
>
> Those conditions can come in the form of
>
>   1 direct agreements with the builder that prevent the builder from
>      renting prior to sale
>
>   2 condo association rules that limit renting to some percentage of
>      the building (or something like that)
>
> The developer has been made aware of the town's desire to set such 
> conditions.
>
> This issue is an easy one to solve.  The height is the tough one.
>
> R
>

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