Representatives of RF Greenbelt RE, LLC, came before the Greenbelt City Council on Wednesday, September 2 to present their Detailed Site Plan (DSP) of a proposed Royal Farms to be constructed on the east end of the intersection of Capitol Drive and Greenbelt Road. This proposal will be coming before the Prince George’s County Planning Board on Thursday, September 24, demanding action from the council at their Monday, September 14 meeting. Attorneys Tom Haller (for the project) and Richard Alter (for the ownership of the property) were present. Previously, the project came before council and the Advisory Planning Board (APB) on April 11 and August 1 of 2018. A Preliminary Plan of Subdivision (PPS) was approved on the condition that, as part of the Golden Triangle site, a traffic cap – resulting from a maximum of 912,000 square feet of office space or other uses – be established.
The plan is for a 4,649-square-foot food and beverage store, with a total of 16 pumps on eight gas bays, as well as a separate 4,368-square-foot commercial building, whose use has yet to be determined. A decorative wall and vegetated buffer 10 feet wide, containing 150 shrubs, five shade trees and 20 ornamental trees, is also proposed. The architecture will follow along the lines of other Royal Farm locations, using stone veneer, brick veneer and cementitious siding.
The commercial building site has raised four concerns among planning staff. First, the zone only permits the following uses: eating or drinking establishments (excluding drive-through service), a bank or savings and loan association and the office of a medical practitioner. Second, the DSP would end up clearing existing trees, impinging woodland conservation. Third, the development could impact the historic Toaping Castle site. Last, there are concerns about the internal vehicular circulation pattern leading to conflict points that would result from the double driveway proposed to access the second site.
Council was keen to get more information on the use of this additional site in order to make a better final decision on the project. Alter said that it is still being explored and that the applicant would be amenable to coming again before council with a separate DSP. A medical use was generally seen as the best outcome, if developed at all, as there was council interest in keeping it forested.
Council was concerned about effective stormwater management at the site in general and its impact on the existing system. The applicant presented a system in line with state and county requirements, able to handle a 100-year storm event. They understand that they will be required to deal with all water coming through the area and believe that their final system will be an improvement. The cutting of trees will be needed to build their system, yet they expressed that they would reforest the north end of the property as a compromise.
Other related concerns from staff were: the lack of electric vehicle charging stations, a need for lighting that would preclude spillover lighting effects, a desire for Green Building Practices, an exploration of bicycle lanes or sharrows on Capitol Drive connecting to bike lanes on Greenbelt Road, a need for the applicant to work with the State Highway Administration (SHA) to have only right in/right out movements at the unsignalized intersection of Capitol Drive and Greenbelt Road to avoid dangerous left turns and, lastly, the applicant providing an analysis of the unsignalized intersection of Walker Drive and Capitol Cadillac to establish an “acceptable level of service.”
As reported by Community Planner Molly Porter, the applicant expressed a willingness to address these concerns, including installing electric vehicle charging stations at a future date and providing the basic infrastructure, protecting the historic site with fencing and providing an additional interpretive panel, exploring having only one driveway, using dark-sky lighting, using only an 18-foot sign as requested, using aggressive and sustainable Green building standards and offering $3,500 to be used at the city’s discretion for bike lanes/amenities.
Haller said that the site has been subdivided and planned for development since 1975, having been bought by Royal Farms several years ago, and there are no environmental impediments to construction like wetlands or specimen trees. The current trees are second growth, planted after a prior development phase.
Haller expressed that the applicant is open to working with the city and pertinent agencies like the SHA, county and state to move this project forward and that Greenbelt is “a great market” for a development that will be a “unique” addition to the community.