[RP TownTalk] Does Riverdale Park have a bright future to look forward to?

[Jonathan W. Ebbeler]

In a very general sense any potential business owner would be asinine not to
engage with, and pay attention to, what a community communicates in terms of
wants and needs.  Additionally, land use and zoning laws exist for a reason
and must be understood and respected.  There are many ways we can drive
economic development in town; what will drive it out is not applying rules
and regulations clearly, consistently, and without prejudice.  

 

The town participated in a retail market study that with our neighboring
municipalities last year that covered the entire Route 1 Corridor from Mt.
Rainier to College Park.  The 2012 study suggested that mixed-use
development would be a good model along with "positive evidence of market
support for new housing and retail options."  It did caution that the market
momentum that we are experiencing "is still finite and highly sensitive to
specific development needs and cost effectiveness."  In layman's terms, it
cautions to proceed with care and judiciously consider each and every
development because they have a domino effect on each other.

 

Without getting into specificity towards uses, I think it is highly
instructive to look at EYA to evaluate what is there, what is not there, and
what would be a complimentary and congruent development along Route 1 and
ultimately at our Town Center.  Success in business often comes down to
timing to the extent that just because a business that was here a decade ago
did not succeed does not mean it would suffer the same fate today.  

 

To that end, there will be a booth at the farmer's market in the spring for
the community to provide input on the types of retail or other uses it would
like to see at the Town Center.  

 

Best,

JWE

 

Jonathan W. Ebbeler | Councilmember - Ward One

Chair, Economic Development Committee

Town of Riverdale Park
 <mailto:jebbeler at riverdaleparkmd.gov> jebbeler at riverdaleparkmd.gov



 

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