[RP TownTalk] Town Center of Dreams

Wed Sep 12 00:34:40 UTC 2007

 It looks like someone has a plan beyond vague references to mythic stores that haven't been and may not be. I have my own view that doesn't involve waiting or buying the buildings. I suggest that we target through the designation of a main street coordinator the type of stores we want, find someone to track them down in their other successful locations, meet them face to face, deluge them with facts and figures about our changing demographics, convert our most dilapidated apartments to condo's through incentives, and keep hammering away at it until all the stores are filled, then continue on to other parts of our crumbling town that rarely get mentioned. (This sounds kind of similar to Jay Wright's plan, as I remember and that's why I'm giving him credit for it now.)

Thanks, 

Jim Coleman

-----Original Message-----
From: marc stauffer <marc.stauffer at verizon.net>
To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org
Sent: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:58 am
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Town Center of Dreams

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 t
 he 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 un
 proven 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 Librar
 y/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 revitalizati
 on 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 Tow
 n, create the kind of Town we want.

Best,

Marc

Marc Stauffer

4913 Ravenswood Rd.

=

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