Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Several new ordinances were also introduced at Monday's meeting.
The Riverdale Park mayor and town council met Monday night for their regular March legislative session. The packed agenda included the introduction of new legislation, the passage of several resolutions, and detailed mayor, ward, and committee reports. Here's a summary of what you may have missed: Key vote delayed Legislative approvals Legislation introduced Mayor’s report Town administrator’s report Police department/code enforcement report Public works report Ward and committee reports
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Riverdale Park mayor and town council also discussed the appropriate use of emergency ordinances at Monday's worksession.
Monday's Riverdale Park Town Council worksession featured lively debates over a proposed finance charter amendment and the appropriate use of emergency ordinances. Below is a summary of key developments and discussion points from the meeting. Finance charter amendment Councilman Alan Thompson (Ward 2) introduced a charter amendment to eliminate certain contract appropriation requirements. The change would grant the mayor more spending authority in many instances with less council oversight. The debate became heated when Councilman Jonathan Ebbeler (Ward 1) raised concerns about the proposal and how it could minimize the council's role in spending decisions. Thompson and Mayor Vernon Archer disagreed. They both felt the amendment made ample…
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Members gave a conditional thumbs-up to the project even as the College Park City Council voted to oppose the plan.
The Riverdale Park Town Council voted 5-0 Tuesday night in support the the proposed rezoning of the Cafritz property. The recommendation—which will be delivered to the Prince George’s County Planning Board—is accompanied by a set of conditions and covenants agreed to between the town and the developers after months of negotiations. Councilman Jonathan Ebbeler said that he had assurances from County Executive Rushern Baker that the Cafritz development would support the revitalization of Riverdale Park’s town center. “This has never been just about Cafrtiz,” Ebbeler said. “This has always been tied into the redevelopment of the town center.” The decision followed Monday night's vote by the University Park Town Council to conditionally …
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The University Park Town Council held its regular legislative session Monday night.
The University Park Town Council held its regular legislative meeting Monday night. Members received updates on the Cafrtiz development negotiations and the STEP-UP program and voted on term limit and compensation measures.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
But the council declined to approve pay for its members or do away with its own term limits.
The office of mayor in University Park will no longer be an unpaid one as of the May 2012 election, but council members will continue serving their community without compensation. On Monday, the town council voted 6-1 to grant any mayor elected or appointed as of this spring a $15,000 annual salary, to be distributed on a monthly basis. The move represents a departure from the longstanding volunteer oversight of University Park but brings the town in line with its neighboring municipalities, all of whom pay their mayors. "We have a mayor who is mayor and town manager," said Councilman David Brosch (Ward 1). "We're getting a good deal." Struck from the same resolution was a measure to pay council members $2,500 per year for their service…
Monday, December 12, 2011
The town council continued revising its letter Friday to the county planning board, but members say they may vote against the project.
Although they've spent many long hours and late nights going over development plans and suggesting revisions, the Riverdale Park Town Council's support of the Cafritz development is still uncertain. At Friday night's worksession, Councilman Alan Thompson (Ward 2) hinted that they may not be submitting their recommendations to the planning board at all. "If there isn't movement on covenants, we'll be submitting a very different letter," said Thompson. "A much shorter letter," said Councilman Jonathan Ebbeler (Ward 1), indicating that the town may still decide not to support the Cafritz developer's request for rezoning at the Prince George's County Planning Board meeting later this week. Ward 1 residents Kate and Joe Kelly also raised …
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Leaf collection is ahead of schedule, and healthy trees aren't being cut down.
Riverdale Park’s Mayor and Town Council met Monday night for its regular monthly legislative session. The agenda was fairly short, and included monthly reports by town staff and councilmen along with several action items. • Mayor Vernon Archer reported that he’d met with local officials, including District 3 Councilman Eric Olson and District 22 Representative Justin Ross to discuss the town’s support of the Cafrtiz project and the importance of the CSX bridge being moved to the first phase of the development. • Town Administrator Sara Imhulse told the council that a new special permit would be required at the county level for all businesses wishing to hold dances, use DJs, or have other live entertainment. Business will be required to go …
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Members are set to hold an additional worksession Friday.
The Riverdale Park town council will wait another week to finalize its recommendations to the Prince George's County Planning Board on the Cafritz property rezoning proposal. The decision came Monday during the council's legislative session, where members agreed to postpone a decision to next Monday, Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. According to the council, the town is working with its attorney to lock in covenant language before bringing the issue to a final vote. These restrictions would carry with the land and are intended to protect the town in its future dealings with the current and/or future property owners. Monday marked the first time the council's letter to the planning board and supporting materials were introduced into the public record. …
Friday, December 2, 2011
The town planner presented a new site map Thursday reflecting the council's recommendations.
The town council of Riverdale Park has their own vision for the Cafritz property development, and it includes less surface parking and a traffic calming circle in the eastern side of the property. At last night's worksession, town planner Paul Mortensen, presented the council with a map of the Cafrtiz property development that reflected the conditions and recommendations that the body has been honing for the past several weeks. In the town's vision for the property, there would only be about 110 parking spaces to the west of the Whole Foods building to serve as "teaser" parking. This is a marked reduction from the minimum 175 spaces forsuch parking represented in the Cafritz developers' plan. The remainder of the parking for the grocery …
Friday, November 18, 2011
The town council suggests some possible recommendations to county planning board on the Cafritz development plan.
With Prince George's County’s planning board meeting less than a month away, the Riverdale Park Town Council has been reviewing the Caftriz development plans carefully to consolidate their recommendations to the county planning board. At last night’s worksession, the town council spent nearly three hours reviewing the Mixed-Use Town Center (M-UTC) design committee recommendations, considering possible covenant and side agreement items to the plan and reviewing their draft letter to the planning board. The town’s M-UTC committee recommended approval of the Cafritz development to the development board with dozens of conditions. One of their main conditions is the removal of tables and maps from the Cafritz plan, because the tables were too …
DAK4Blizzard
8:35 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
What a great, bold move by Riverdale Park. I'm glad at least one city chooses to look ahead towards growth, rather than sit on its hands and whine about traffic that would be in the middle of an empty corridor if it weren't for UMD. more ›