[RP TownTalk] Town Center of Dreams

[marc stauffer]

Hi All,

Regarding the animated discussion about Town Center; I propose an  
immodest, but completely serious, proposal for the how we, the Town,  
takes control over what happens in Town Center and thus hopefully  
catalyzes momentum to revitalize the rest of our Town in the manner  
we want (ie.  Rt. 1 and Kenilworth Ave).  It seems to me that Town  
Center may be our focus, but if we focus solely on it we miss great  
opportunities to establish a vital Riverdale Park on the more heavily  
used and traveled pathways that bookend the town and have, in my  
view, far more economic development potential than our small and  
somewhat hidden Town Center.

An Immodest Proposal for Riverdale Park's Economic Development:

This is a rehashing of earlier conversations about the Town Center/  
Douglas Development properties that most people I have mentioned it  
to have laughed at as the stupidest idea they ever heard of:

If we are truly interested as a Town in making something happen  
there, then the Town should establish a bond issue, buy back the  
properties from Douglas Development, absorb an ungodly return that  
Douglas Development would get for the privilege of having done some  
rehabiltiation work and then land banked the sites, and go at  
redeveloping the area with a  "community focused" development  
strategy.  We have the zoning regulations established.  We have the  
keen interest of the Townspeople to make Town Center become a viable  
center, but we have no power to make it happen.  If the town can  
borrow $ 3 mil to put in vital new infrastructure that has a useful  
function, then it seems to me it is worth it to borrow to buy highly  
valuable land that also has an income generation component and create  
value for the town by jumpstarting the kind of development that the  
townspeople seem to really want.  if we can self-develop as a town  
and not need to produce substantial immediate returns on the  
investment (because it is a long term held asset for the town and not  
a investment vehicle for private entities), then we have created a  
possibility to develop the center of town in a fashion that is not  
solely driven by the demands of the real-estate market, but is able  
to establish a development strategy that is focused on the needs and  
desires of the townspeople itself.  I mean how else does the town do  
something beyond waiting for others to act:   we have great access to  
transportation, but the town center itself is an incredibly small  
site, with very limited potential to enlarge itself, it is somewhat  
hidden off the beaten track, and because of that is somewhat beholden  
to serving a fairly small population.  Especially with the larger  
scale development happening around us on Rt. 1 in Hyattsville, at PG  
Plaza, at the University, and now probably at the Caftritz property,  
it seems to me that Town Center either has to find a way to compete  
with these new developments on their terms by finding a niche that  
the others don't fill; or by focusing on not competing, but instead  
striving to create an intimate Town Center for the population of  
Riverdale residents that addresses small-scale commercial needs,  
engages the educational and vocational needs of our diverse  
population, that engages the cultural and community needs as our  
townspeople see to be important.  I mean if the Town (and thus all of  
us residents)  reclaim ownership of the Town Center area, then we  
have created our own investment trust that is focused on developing  
the area to suit the needs and wants of the town.  Like if Rob  
Oppenheim really wants a bed+breakfast to be in town, then he can  
advocate for it and if lots of people agree, then maybe that is  
something that gets incorporated into the mix.  Or if the new Ward 4  
Councilman really wants to open a storefront, then the town is more  
likely to be able to offer it to him, then a player like Douglas  
Development laughing at his unproven venture.  As much as  
democratically developing a town center might be a real massive  
headache, what could be a better way of creating a vibrant, close  
knit community than getting us, us residents, to create the very  
physical and social landscape we want.

I mean Town Center is a size that could really work.  Let's say it  
costs $ 9 million (just a very round large hypothetical number) to  
buy back the Town Center area.  The town lets out a bond issue, gets  
state and federal grants, gets private grants from philanthropies,  
etc.  The town sells its currently held empty properties and sells  
off the current town hall site.  The first big move is to establish  
Town Hall in Town Center, let public works stay where it is, or move  
to some more "industrial" area.  The town then sells the current Town  
Hall site to the County for the creation of a new School Center to  
serve the influx of people that are causing school overcrowding.   
Maybe the firehouse moves over to the Queensbury/ Taylor Rd corner.   
Then the current Firehouse building could be reused as an adjunct to  
the redeveloped Town Center.  So now the Town Administration is in  
Town Center, we got some government there, but they won't pay rent or  
taxes.  Then there could be the Library/Education piece that Mayor  
Archer has been vying for.  The town center becomes the center for  
engaging the community. It brings in people from the east side of  
town to and the other parts to gain access to the things they need to  
have.  The Town leases out a Cafe/Coffee shop and maybe has it  
managed by the local Md Multicultural Youth Center Program, like they  
do in DC where they LAYC runs a program that manages the Ben+Jerry's  
ice cream stores.  We continue to lease S+J's to Ziggy, and by being  
a more benevolent landlord help her stay in their building and make  
it better.  Maybe the Town gives S+J a sales agreement so that they  
can eventually own the building.  We can add some chosen local  
businesses as office space and services,  offer some incentives (tax  
incentives, MARC train dollars, Farmer's Market dollars, S+J meal  
tickets, ?) to entice them to set up here.  Offer more incentives to  
get local people (like the pet shop guy) to open their desirable  
businesses in Town Center.  The incentives are viable because they  
are intended to seed the site (that the Town itself owns) and  
cultivate the kind of Town Center the Town wants.

For instance, we could have a home for a permanent "local producer  
food market" that builds off the farmer's market (and we keep the  
weekly outside farmers's market).  Maybe the town center simply  
becomes a Riverdale Park/ PG county version of Eastern Market.  A  
place that serves many needs of the community thoughout the week,  
both immediately RP and also the larger community around us (like MD  
Secretary of Transportation John Porcari kept drilling into people's  
head,  the University is the 3rd largest city in MD).  Like Eastern  
market in DC, the town owns the facility and gains income on it from  
the rents of vendors.   So instead of borrowing the few millions as  
solely a long-term asset, but a drain on cash resources, the Town  
Center could be an income generating device for the Town, pay off its  
loan, and then provide income and amenities to the townspeople who  
ultimately control its use and the trajectory of how it develops/ 
alters over time.  Hell, maybe it becomes so damn popular and  
lucrative, that the Town will have to send out "Town Center checks"  
every year to residents, much like they send out the "Oil" checks in  
Alaska.

Or, instead of a Food related program there is a Science focused  
program, as Roland Walker has ben advocating.  Perhaps that is an  
even better notion, what with a large Bio / Science Research Park  
currently being developed in our town and a major Research University  
(UMd) about a mile away.  Instead of jumping on the "Arts District"  
bandwagon, we should cultivate facilities and services for the  
science focused institutions that are already here and more of them  
to come.  Roland's notion seems pretty damn well thought out.  But,  
how does the town cultivate this (or some other plan) if the Town  
doesn't control the land and the leasing of it.

Finally, I don't see how we can get anything much going in Town  
Center that we, the Townspeople, supposedly want if we, the Town,  
don't reclaim control over it.  We have the Zoning and Architectural  
regulations that the Town (townspeople) has created and established  
and clearly believes in.  But those very guidelines are not helping  
to garner the kind of development it calls for due to the economic  
realties of the site and the lack of a business plan for the site. We  
have heard repeatedly from officials that the MUTC plan did not  
consider economics when formalizing the MUTC plan. If we, the Town of  
Riverdale Park, don't take control over the land and thus its use, we  
will not have the ability to mold the Town (not just Town Center, but  
the economic and social vitality of all of Town) in the fashion that  
we desire.  As others have mentioned, the tools that we currently  
have (zoning, mostly) are not substantial enough to gain from the  
current landowners the kind of revitalization we are desiring.  The  
MUTC plan is a great plan and diagram for the future built  
environment, but it doesn't have the legal teeth to demand that only  
MUTC- specified projects are created.  For instance, the Rt. 1 / 410  
corner site is an example of the MUTC plan's diminished power over  
the outcome of the process.  Further, in Town Center itself we, the  
Town, don't have sufficient power to demand the changes we are  
seeking.  Legally speaking, this is a good thing.  Property owners,  
including me owning my on house, have the right to largely do what  
they want with their properties.  The town should not be able to tell  
any property owner what to do with one's property.  But, if we  
actually regain control over the land and become the property owner,  
then the Town can create the kind of Town it really wants.

So, it seems to me that the only way to make something happen in  
little Town Center that the Town, via a majority of Townspeople,   
seems to want and within our lifetimes, is to do it ourselves and use  
the financial and authoritative resources we do have to make the  
project of revivifying Town Center a Town-wide Community Project.  We  
do have the financial means and resources at our disposal, we do have  
the pentup needs and demands of the population, and we do have an  
abundance of talent, expertise, interest, and energy in our  
Townspeople who will help make it happen. We could start by  
commissioning a task force to begin the process: hire a staff person  
to focus some time on the effort, engage a financier to assess the  
situation, start drawing up the legal frameworks, hire the NDC to  
help define the next steps of a master plan for Town Center that  
builds off the MUTC plan, host a series Town-wide events that flesh  
out the possiblities, then keep moving forward till we, the Town,  
create the kind of Town we want.

Best,

Marc

Marc Stauffer
4913 Ravenswood Rd.


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