Cafritz Detailed Site Plan Appeal Set for Sept. 9

Sept. 9 is D-Day for Calvert Tract LLC.

It’s the day the Prince George’s County Council, sitting as the District Council, will hear three different appeals filed against the Cafritz Development Detailed Site Plan.

University Park and College Park have all filed appeals of the Prince George’s County Planning Boards unanimous approval of the development’s detailed site plan from earlier this year. A group of University Park, College Park and Riverdale Park residents have also filed a Pro Se appeal of the plan. 

The detailed site plan includes 126 townhomes, 855 multi-family units and just over 187,000 square feet of commercial space. The commercial space is slated to include the first Whole Foods grocery store in Prince George's County.

In its appeal, University Park lists three outstanding concerns with the development:

1. Traffic management through the provision of a shuttle, a circulator bus, effective traffic management Plan (“TMP”) and TDPD

2. A required “buffer” or gateway feature along Route 1 frontage facing University Park with a width of 90 to 120 feet.

3. Timely construction of the CSX crossing.

The town also asserts there were legal errors with both the detailed site plan and the secondary amendments and suggests some additional conditions to the detailed site plan.

College Park, in its appeal, requests a “dedication of Parcel H to the City of College Park and the submission of detailed design plans of the Trolley Trail including landscaping and signage elements for review and approval by the City of College Park.”

The city also argues that the condition dealing with the development’s LEED certification is not in compliance with the zoning ordinance. As interpreted by the city, the current condition “stops short of requiring the applicant to obtain certification under the LEED program or any other equivalent standards” and therefore fails to meet the condition of the zoning ordinance. College Park proposes language to remedy this.

College Park also requests that a condition be added to insure the bikeshare station reflected on the detailed site plan is built.

The Pro Se appeal outlines ten ways the appellants believe the planning board committed errors during and prior to the detailed site plan hearing, including inadequate public notice of a continued hearing, granting approval without requiring actual funding for the proposed CSX crossing, and its finding that the woodland conservation threshold had been met. 

The town of Riverdale Park, where the development is located, is not appealing the detailed site plan. Council members say they are undaunted by the numerous appeals and remain confident that the planning board will rule in favor of the developers.

“Riverdale Park is happy to see that the every measure of due process available is being extended to those that oppose the development to ensure that that end result is Prince George’s County’s prime real estate project,” Riverdale Park Councilman Jonathan Ebbeler (Ward 1) said.

“We are confident that the District Council will exhibit its support with another super-majority vote in favor of moving the project to fruition and look forward to breaking ground this fall,” he added.

The appeal hearing will take place on Sept. 9 at 1:30 p.m. in the County Administration Building in Upper Marlboro. Each side—the appellants and the developers—will have 30 minutes to state its case.

Read the full College Park appeal here.