[RP TownTalk] EYA in Hyattsville

[Sue Collins]

At my age, I more than realize things don't stay the same. Unlike many residents in town and probably unlike 3/4 of the people commenting on this issue, I can remember when the Riverdale Plaza site was a working farm, I remember the town before Rte. 410 cut through.  So I've certainly seen lots of change.  But no matter who owns the Cafritz property now and whoever owned it in the past, or whatever they did with it, to my way of thinking "this was the way it was done in the past" isn't necessarily a good reason for doing something now.  The trees are there, they've taken a long time to grow, and not only do they add a nice touch of green to the area, they add to our oxygen supply.  Our town was supposedly renamed Riverdale "Park" a few years back in large part to reflect its park-like nature.  The way it's going, if we're going back to the past, we might as well go back to calling the town Riverdale because we won't have any 'park'
 left.    

From: Jonathan W. Ebbeler <jebbeler at efusionconsulting.com>
To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org 
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2012 1:14 PM
Subject: [RP TownTalk] EYA in Hyattsville


Keep in mind that historically the land itself was previously developed and had a mix of uses over the last 150 years:  private mansion for the Calvert family, farm, school for boys, multi-family housing for 1000+ etc.  The subject property is greyfield not greenfield land.  Additionally, approval or disapproval of the rezoning did not rest upon Whole Foods.  
 
The Cafritz Property is privately held, not owned by the town, county, or state.  As a matter of law the owners always had the right to cut down the trees, grade the property etc. (assuming compliance with stormwater management, canopy preservation requirements etc. that they will also be subject to under the new zoning) regardless of the rezoning request.  The land was always going to be cleared regardless of what type of development was pursued [R-55 (residential) or M-U-TC (mixed use)zoning].  
 
The land owner has had every legal right for decades to fence off their property precluding pedestrians from trespassing.  If this had been done the trolley trail would dead-end around Tuckerman Street.
 
 
 
 
 
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RE Big Bad Woof and Yes Market; aside from the fact that these stores don't take up as much physical space as the Whole Foods, one of the big differences as far as I'm concerned is that these and the other stores in that area were built on property that had businesses in the past, a lovely wooded area wasn't decimated to build those stores.  Just my humble opinion, but I find it more than a bit ironic that Whole Foods, which supposedly prides itself on caring for the environment, being "natural," and all that, will be built after yet another of our green areas is torn down.  I mean, if people want a Whole Foods so badly, that's fine; however, I can't believe that there's NO other property available anywhere on Route 1 or the general area which has already been cleared and where the store could be built.
 
 
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