Resident Pitches Energy-Independent Development Idea for Cafritz Property

Living in the same home on Tuckerman Street since 1985, Joe Kelly has seen his share of developers come into the area and build new retail, homes and apartment complexes.

So when he heard about the were pitching to community leaders and residents, Kelly got informed about the project and attended the presentation at University Park Elementary School.

But Kelly hopes instead of building another , the Cafritz family might listen to him and build an energy-independent housing development, as well as sending the letter to Riverdale Park’s mayor and council and other community leaders in neighboring towns.

“Let’s do something everyone can agree on,” Kelly said. “Why aren’t we developing in a way that’s completely differently than everyone else? We don’t need another set of townhouses or a shopping center. We have plenty of them.”

As an alternative, he’d like to see developers keep the current residential zoning of the property and develop homes that use geothermal, solar or other means of environmentally friendly techniques to sustain their owners’ daily needs.

According to Kelly, there are locals who have built these homes and used them.

A group of students and faculty from the University of Maryland have built energy-independent homes for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. In the 2007 competition, they won second place.

This year the group has entered the competition again, but they are building a home inspired by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem – and they are managing the home’s stormwater on site.

“It’s much easier to produce energy-efficient houses in bulk,” Kelly said. “Build this type of spectacular community that no one else has built, and (the Cafritz) name will be on the map.”

He said although a would put Riverdale Park on the map in the metro area, this type of development would put the town on the world map.

He believes this idea would easily meld into the community, rather than a retail-centric property, surrounded by single-family homes.

Across Baltimore Avenue, the town of University Park is currently trying to get 25 percent of its residents to make their homes more energy-efficient. The STEP-UP Program began in the summer of 2010, after the town received a

“This idea has enough merit,” he added. “If there were a financially-stable individual or corporation that wanted to make an offer for Cafritz’ land, they could even sell it, if they didn’t want to develop this themselves.”

Kelly is waiting for his recipients to respond to his letter, and will continue to share his idea with neighbors and others.

A copy of Kelly's letter is attached to this post.

What do you think of Kelly's idea? Would you support a project like this for the Cafritz Property?