Riverdale Council Unanimously Approves Cafritz Detailed Site Plan

After nearly three hours of review and discussion on Sunday, the Riverdale Park Town Council voted unanimously to send a letter to the Prince George's County Planning Board supporting approval with conditions of the Detailed Site Plan for the Cafritz property.

The DSP will got before the planning board on Thursday, just one week after it unanimously approved preliminary plans for the development over the objections of both University Park and College Park. 

"The Riverdale Park Mayor and Town Council felt confident that after an exhaustive review of the DSP, staff comments/referrals, expert and legal testimony, that the applicant has met the requirements necessary to receive our support," wrote Riverdale Park Councilman Jonathan Ebbeler (Ward 1) in an email. 

Ebbeler said he feels the Cafritz development will not only spur growth along the Route 1 corridor, but also in Riverdale Park's Town Center.

"We believe this project will be the catalyst that will allow the town to more fully realize the M-U-TC development vision and the region's Route 1 potential and is already paying dividends with the current build-out of our Historic Town Center," wrote Ebbeler.

The support of the Riverdale Park council came with a "lengthy matrix of conditions," according to Ebbeler. 

Among those conditions was one that stipulated public art would be installed in the greenspace entry way along Route 1 prior to the first occupancy permit, as proposed in the rezoning process.

Council members Ebbeler, Alan Thompson (Ward 2) and David Lingua (Ward 3) all voted to support the DSP on Sunday. Council Members Christopher Henry (Ward 4) Raymond Rivas (Ward 5) and Alejandro Silva (Ward 6) were not present at the meeting. 

College Park voted last week to disapprove the DSP for the Cafritz property when they voted to disapprove the preliminary plans. The University Park Town Council will discuss the DSP at its regular session on Monday. 

The county planning board will hear the Cafrtiz property DSP at Thursday's meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in Upper Marlboro.