<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Hello Riverdalians,</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">As an update to the progress of the East Campus Steering Committee, please see the text and attachments below. To briefly recap the process to date, the developers of the East Campus project have made a number of presentations to the Committee and public during the Fall. These presentations focused on their schematic design and assumptions for various parts of the project: design, environmental impact, uses, parking, traffic impact, etc. The word schematic is the operative principle here; the developers have not presented much development in terms of the design of the site. This lack of development has posed problems for the Steering Committee since there has not been enough information to really give much feedback or approval of the total project. Douglas Duncan, the University's lead on the project, has altered the scope of the Committee's work to have the Committee provide a document of principles for the development to follow and then re-group and review the project once more design has occurred and the developer's ready to submit their plans to the MNCPPC for review. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">There has been some real glimmers of hope: the development is being designed to integrate the future Purple Line into the heart of the project, they have signed on a music venue, the Birchmere, to be a main cultural component, there is an agreement to not have big box retailing (though disagreement persists on what exactly constitutes big box retailers), there is an agreement to attain LEED silver sustainability rating for the entire project (this is the University's acknowledged baseline), there will be approx. 1000 beds of student housing created in the first phase of the project (the University will be subsidizing a percentage of those beds), there will be an adaptive re-use of the exist. Pocomoke building in some commercial way, and the developer's have spent much time describing how important it is for this project to make good connections with the University campus proper, downtown college park, and the park land surrounding the site.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">On the other hand: there are some real worries of the capabilities of the architectural team hired as the lead, the developer's voiced opposition to a LEED-certified project, and it has not been clear just how dedicated the developer's are (or what their skills are) to creating a really top-quality mix of uses that attempts to catalyze the making of a revitalized college town for college park. There is much concern that the level of accomplishment the developer's have in mind is closer to the new downtown Silver Spring than trying to create the beginnings of a vibrant college town analogous to Cambridge, MA; Charlottesville, VA; Burlington, VT; or Madison, WI. It is the stated goal of the University to act as a catalyst to create a physical environment that helps to attract the best students, faculty and staff and achieve its ambition of becoming a top-ranked university. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">One thing the Committee could really use input on is assembling a list of retailers/restaurants/ commercial outlets that the communities would like to see be present at the East Campus development. The University has asked for input on specific names of retailers that are desired so that they can provide that to the developer as specific tenants to land. Any help you all can offer on this is appreciated; either individually or as a community. Perhaps a list could be assembled that could be presented to the committee from Riverdale Park. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">The East Campus Steering Committee is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday February 27. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">The Principles document is attached below.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Feedback from townspeople would be helpful to the process of finalizing the Principles document. </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Please respond to <a href="mailto:rpeastcampus@yahoo.com">rpeastcampus@yahoo.com</a>.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Regards,</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; ">Riverdale Park's Steering Committee Representatives</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></span> </div><span></span></body></html>