At the regular meeting on August 9, the Greenbelt City Council voted 5 to 1 in support of the revised Detailed Site Plan (DSP) for Phase One of the redevelopment of Beltway Plaza. The support of this iteration was contingent upon a set of recommendations and conditions, laid out by city staff, that are the result of years of feedback from council, staff, advisory committees (including the Advisory Planning Board, Park and Recreation Advisory Board and GreenACES) and city residents, all of which have been agreed to by the applicant. While there still exist concerns about issues such as affordable housing and school adequacy, the majority of council and residents at the meeting felt that the positives seen in this evolved plan outweighed the negatives, making this decision a crucial step for the survival of this property and the present and future well-being of the city.
Consistent with the previous DSP are the three residential buildings, with a total of 750 units, a 92-room hotel and a 27,000-square-foot indoor recreation facility, whose use has been offered to the city. The area covers roughly 20 acres, the majority of which is currently an impervious surface parking lot.
Some of the changes include: the masking of several of the parking garages with exposed facades, especially along Breezewood Drive; an increase in open space, now at 42 percent, or over eight acres of the site; and the return of the community garden in place of an orchard.
Three Construction Phases
For the first time, the applicant, in response to requests from staff and council, has laid out in detail the three construction phases for Phase One.
Phase One-A consists of residential building 1A, dog park, community garden, a tiered park, a 10-foot-wide hiker/biker trail along Breezewood and “permitting, financial assurances and timetable for Greenbelt Road frontage improvements,” according to Community Planner Holly Simmons.
Phase One-B includes residential building 1B, city recreation center, linear park, Street B, AMC Plaza, art walk and parking deck #4.
Phase One-C includes residential building 1C, triangle parking along Breezewood Drive, parking deck #3, hotel and Cherrywood Lane frontage improvements.
City Conditions
The staff conditions, numbering 31, covered wide-ranging issues, such as construction oversight, amenities, traffic safety features (crosswalks, sidewalks) and exterior aesthetics. Some of the most important of these conditions are city approval of plans for the recreation center prior to construction, adherence to the three-phased construction process detailed above and a conceptual plan submitted to the city on frontage improvement to Cherrywood Lane consistent with the city’s 2019 Green Streets program.
A county school facility surcharge of $10,180 per building permit for Fiscal Year 2022 is required of the applicant as the county does not require a finding of school adequacy.
Staff had several sustainability conditions as well: plentiful installation and infrastructure for electric vehicle chargers, exploration of use of solar panels, consultation with Pepco on possible incentives to provide for all-electric buildings, and recycling and composting capability. Resident and climate advocate Emily Freas pressed for stronger language on these conditions to make them come to pass.
Studies Requirement
Market studies for the hotel and housing types were a major part of the discussion. Concerning the hotel, the conditions require such a study done prior to construction to indicate its need in the community, with alternative uses for the site to be explored by both parties if found unneeded.
Council and staff are focused on housing diversity, most especially affordable and senior housing. Staff recommended a study be required at the submittal time of the DSP for residential building 1C, or prior to the application for its building permit.
Regarding this study, residents Bill Orleans, Michael Hartman and Lore Rosenthal all felt that this schedule was potentially too late to be effective, or needed at all, as affordable housing is an obvious necessity.
Feedback on the DSP
Councilmember Rodney Roberts, who voted against the DSP, expressed his “extreme disappointment” at the plan’s insufficient recreation space, advising that all the city’s indoor recreation facilities are augmented by outdoor facilities as well, which he sees absent from the DSP. He noted that Greenbelt West has been “ignored” and “cheated” for too long in this regard.
Resident feedback was mostly much in favor of approval of the DSP. Ric Gordon was keen to “start the ball rolling” on a plan that he extolled as “a smart development for the future.” Kristen Weaver reminded that current use of the property is an underused parking lot and of the trend toward mall closings, expressing excitement over this “forward thinking” approach.
Matthew Tedesco, from McNamee Hosea, spoke for the applicant. He cited the owner’s decades-long commitment to this property and to the city and of its dedication to work with and heed the concerns of all parties involved. He felt that every issue raised at the meeting was met in the applicant’s agreement to the entirety of staff’s conditions.
Prior to the vote, Mayor Colin Byrd praised staff for its “thorough and diligent” work on this matter and the applicant’s collaborative approach with the city. He cited the lingering concerns about housing affordability and school adequacy, but said in conclusion, while “you can’t get everything you want, if you get a good amount of what you want, you sometimes need to say thank you.”
The DSP will next be presented on Thursday, September 9 at a hearing of the Prince George’s County Planning Board.