[RP TownTalk] New sign on Cafritz Property!

[Euniverz at aol.com]

Difficult for someone like me to understand all the implications, except to 
 know a lot seems to be changing, some for the better, some not. 
 
Are there Riverdale Park officials out there who can distill the realities  
for someone who is is not (yet) directly involved in the intricacies?
 
Thanks
Adrianne Lefkowitz
 
 
 


We  now have our new sign up on the Cafritz property!
It is located by the  entrance to WAMATA.
For those of you who are scratching their head  wondering what the big deal 
is about the sign is-

It is very much in  the intrest of Riverdale Park to establish the fact 
that the Town has a  presence on the RT. 1 side of the Cafritz Property.

first, both  University Park and College Park have organized groups that 
are monitoring the  development. When the building happens, they do not want 
the traffic to exit  out on to RT. 1, or through their neighborhoods.

That means it will  have to be filtered through Riverdale Park's ward 1. 
What are the greatest  possible paths?

The back side of the property abuts Rhoade Island Ave  and the rail road 
tracks by the old ERCO building. 

If Rhode Island  Avenue is opened again It will have to accommodate a 
sizable amount of  traffic.? that would be going through half of what is now Town 
Center parking  lot, and through the industrial area by Greg's Towing.

Then we will  have a real mess to deal with at the Queesburry Road and 
Rhode Island Avenue?  train crossing!

I know this Cafritz thing seems like a dream, because  the property has 
been vacant for 50 years or so, but the entire area is  currently in a state of 
transformation.


Any citizen concerned about  the town, and especially those in ward 1 who 
will be directly impacted, we  need to start taking this thing seriously, or 
we will wake up one day and find  something we never bargained for in our 
back yard.

With the advent of  the purple line, the character of the entire area is 
being redesigned by the  developers.?The type of development that ?happens in 
our neighboring towns  directly affects Riverdale Park.


For those who don't get the  Gazette delivered to your street-

Heare?is a shortened? article this  week written by David Hill. Read full 
article on page A-4?
Mixed Use  Proposal Irks residents

West Hyattsville complex could change area for  worse
?
"University Park residents are worried that a proposed housing  complex in 
West Hyattsville could bring pollution, noise and traffic to their  town.
The New Belcrest Plaza would replace the existing 50-year-old  low-rise 
apartment complex of the same name with 2,750 new housing units and  more than 
250,000 square feet of office and retail space.It would include a 4  story 
townhouse complex, 17-story high-rise apartments and a 33-story mixed  use 
tower across from the mall at Prince Georges Plaza."
"If I wanted to  live in Bethesda, I would live in Bethesda"said town 
council woman Anne  O'Connor (ward 6). "the idea of moving low income families to 
make room for  young, urban professionals doesn't feel right to me."
"Jonathan Glenn (  executive vice president of Silver Spring based 
Percontee Inc, which owns  Belcrest Plaza)
said he expects most current tenants to move out , and for  the existing 
complex to stop accepting new tenants in the coming year. Any  remaining 
tenants, he said, would be relocated at the developers'  expense."
?
The Proposed complex includes buildings that violate both  the areas 
minimum and maximum allowable height of?6 and 16 stories  tall.
the District Council would have to waive these zoning requirements  and 
Prince Georges County Planning Board would also have to approve the  project. 
Glenn said the approval process would likely take about  6-months"


?Melissa









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