Though nearly all the votes were unanimous, the room was filled with tension and raised voices at the July 9 regular meeting of the Greenbelt City Council. Mayor Emmett Jordan gaveled down Councilmember Rodney Roberts for comments he made about a potential development project and was chided in turn by Councilmember Colin Byrd who objected to the way Jordan was running the meeting, especially for silencing Roberts.
The main topics under discussion were a proposed development on the old Greenbelt nursing home site and the Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI) request that council support its request to the county to retain the current zoning until a Neighborhood Conservation Overlay Zone is established to replace the protections in the existing zoning system.
Council also heard from a marijuana distributor hoping to set up shop in Greenbelt.
Read more of this story in the July 26 News Review.