[RP TownTalk] can't wait til Thursday's final Cafritz community workshop

Dwight Holmes dwightrholmes at gmail.com
Mon Jun 11 17:23:37 UTC 2007 

awesome! thanks, Regina!

if i read this thing right, the USPS facility is indeed owned by the
USPS... and some
interesting numbers, if you divide the current assessment amount by the acreage:

PROPERTY - CURRENT ASSESSMENT (LAND) PER ACRE - TOTAL ACREAGE

   Cafritz    $30,861/acre  (36.1 acres)
   USPS    $484,389/acre  (6.2 acres)
   WMATA    $50,000/acre (11.9 acres)
   Nat'l Guard    $677,119/acre (6.6 acres)

I wonder why the great differences???

On 6/11/07, regina at kreger.net <regina at kreger.net> wrote:
> Dwight and others, a very good place to see who owns specific plots of
> land -- and a WHOLE LOT more info -- is at PGATLAS.COM .  It only works
> in Internet Explorer, or at least, it does NOT work in Mozilla. Spend
> some time browsing through the options. You can overlay satellite
> images, like in Google and Mapquest (dating back to as recent as 2000
> or as far back as 1938, or even overlay an 1861 map!).
>
> ----Original Message----
> From: dwightrholmes at gmail.com
> Date: Jun 11, 2007 6:44
> To: "TownTalk"<towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
> Subj: [RP TownTalk] can&#39;t wait til Thursday&#39;s final Cafritz
> community       workshop
>
> Am I the only one who can't wait til Thursday to hear what the Cafritz
> development team tells us they gleaned of the two community workshops
> they held?  And how they see themselves proceeding from here? (I only
> wish I could be there on time, but a conflict will prevent that)
>
> I would love to hear what other people are thinking, and what they
> foresee as obstacles...  Does this seem like just one more proposal
> that will likely disappoint or even just peter out in the end? Or is
> it really something refreshingly different?  Other than save some of
> us a bunch on gas money and driving time, how would it change our
> community to have something like a Whole Foods store in town?  What
> are the plusses? and minuses? And do we need a reality check before we
> start planning our errand list around having a local Whole Foods!?!?
> And what about Councilman Olsen's proposal that the residential aspect
> of the project be an Over-55 community to prevent any negative impact
> on our area's schools?
>
> A bit of my reaction and links to some writeups elsewhere as well
> (from http://rpcoffeehouse.blogspot.com/ ):
>
> There's been little (no?) discussion of or reaction to the Cafritz
> meetings on TownTalk. Perhaps we're all waiting to hear what the
> Cafritz team has to say at the third and final meeting on Thursday,
> June 14. My own reaction continues to be conflicted: While I'm
> sincerely enthusiastic about the promise, I don't want to let myself
> get carried away -- so I remain cautious. For one, as we all know,
> there are a bazillion hoops to go through before the first shovel can
> be pushed into the ground. Moreover, it's usually healthy to be at
> least a bit skeptical; after all, doesn't this sound too good to be
> true? The Cafritz family have brought in -- along with themselves --
> *seven* different professional firms or agencies (along with donuts,
> lunch, and a violinist) - what do they want from me? Surely, it's more
> than my opinion?!? (And is it more than my support for a zoning
> variance?)
>
> Of course, this is a classic case of damned-if-you-do,
> damned-if-you-don't. Had they proceeded headstrong with a proposal,
> they'd be criticized for not soliciting community input -- and
> deservedly so. Instead, they've gone to great lengths to approach our
> elected officials, and then to arrange this series of meetings to find
> out what our interests and concerns are. For this they should receive
> credit -- and I believe they are. I certainly applaud them for their
> approach thus far. Nonetheless, some degree of skepticism (or
> cynicism) seems unavoidable, if not advisable: I guess I'll just fall
> back on the famous words of Ronald Reagan: "Trust, but verify." :)
>
> One thing I've started to wonder: Why don't the Cafritz family buy up
> the Riverdale Park Industrial Park and merge that in with their
> current holdings? Or even the USPS parcel (ahem... no pun...)?
> (anybody know who owns that property?) When you look at the overhead
> views or maps, the USPS and Industrial Park properties really stand
> out as vestiges of the old, and obstacles to the new (at least to what
> appears to be the future direction of the area).
>
> Meanwhile, there are at least three writeups of the Cafritz
> development and/or the workshop from last Saturday (June 2nd),
> published on the following blogs, Rethinking College Park, Route 1
> Growth, and Life in Riverdale Park:
>
> from Rethinking College Park:
>
>     "The Business and Retail arm of the resource team stated that
> Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic President Ken Meyer has seen the Cafritz
> Property and said he would like to put a store there. The company is
> waiting on plans for the development in order to move forward. Fall is
> a reasonable time to expect a more definitive position from Whole
> Foods as to whether or not it will place a grocery store on the
> Cafritz Property."
>
> http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2007/409/
>
> from Route 1 Growth:
>
>     "My overall impressions were positive and I felt that the
> development team was interested in engaging the public in this
> discussion. County Council member Eric Olson termed the outreach
> unique and important. Although no development plans have yet been
> filed, one must keep in mind that the development group does have a
> vision for the property. Certainly the selected team members, the
> stated values and the workstation topics lead me to believe that this
> project will tend towards high-density development. The very point of
> having the community input meetings is to modify the original single
> family zoning."
>
> http://route1growth.wordpress.com/2007/06/04/summary-of-june-2nd-
> cafritz-community-input-meeting/
>
> from a new local blog, Life in Riverdale Park:
> http://lifeinriverdalepark.blogspot.com/2007/06/cafritz-property.html
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-- 
Riverdale Park Coffee House (blog only-BYOC)
http://rpcoffeehouse.blogspot.com/
~~
Map of Riverdale Park MD Trolley Hiker-Biker Trail and Cafritz Property
http://tinyurl.com/2wsfql
~~
Tracking the Washington Nationals' 2007 season (will they catch the '62 Mets?):
http://tinyurl.com/2m6f43

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