The Prince George’s County Planning Department (PGCPD) cannot comment on a project that has not been formally proposed to them, Chad Williams of PGCPD told about 40 audience members in the Library’s meeting room on June 20. “There are no applications for a 25-story development on file,” he said. His colleague confirmed that she had checked that afternoon before coming to the meeting. Audience members asked questions about the high-rise apartments proposed for part of the Lakeside North property abutting Kenilworth Avenue. Williams said several times he could not comment on a specific project, but did answer hypothetical questions about what a new development would need in terms of zoning. “The District Council makes the final decision on any rezoning,” Williams said. Which is to say, the County Council in their role as the district zoning board is the final authority, though city councils do have input in the process. The changes in zoning necessary for a high-rise apartment are not part of the county’s overall zoning rewrite, but variances are possible. Williams told the crowd that if an application is received, neighbors will automatically receive notice that the application is under review. For most of the evening, Williams gave a prepared talk about the Zoning Rewrite, a process of updating and clarifying the county’s zoning regulations. This process has been underway since before 2014. The current zoning codes have been in place for 51 years, Williams said. “There is a lot that our current zoning doesn’t do well.” Working with the consulting group Clarion Associates, the county is now getting to the stage of identifying how most of the current code will transfer to the new code. For example, developments that are currently classified as R-30 multi-family low density residential, which includes Greenbelt Homes, Inc., are likely to transfer to MFR12, which is multi-family units 12 per acre. “About 92 percent, almost all of the residential property, will have a one-to-one transfer from the old code to the new proposed one,” he said.
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