Glenn Dale Citizens AssociationGlenn Dale Citizens Association
Meeting Minutes October 17, 2006
The Meeting began at 7:40 PM with the President presiding and all officers present. Aside from members, the audience included Ingrid Turner, District 4 County Council Candidate; District 23 State Delegate Candidate, Gerron Levi; and Doug Peters.
Secretary’s Report: The Vice President read the minutes from the September meeting because the Secretary had been away. Titus will post those minutes as well. The minutes were adopted.
Treasurer’s Report. We have $1561.12.
Announcements:
Kyle property preliminary plan. Adjacent property owners got a certified letter, which includes a copy of the site plan. Kyle property’s proposed development will not encroach on the golf course. There will be an exit only onto Old Prospect Hill Road. John will meet with Kaz Brothers, the currently planned developer. John is still not sure about how well the golf course will be laid out: “It looks like the condos were the priority, with the golf course getting the space that was left.”
GDCA elections: November meeting.
Polka Bands: Oct 29 1-5 Ascension Catholic Church on Lanham-Severn. St. Georges?
Notice from County Council: Evaluation Planning and Development Review Stakeholder meeting on how to reform the process. There will be a facilitator. It will be Monday Oct 30 at 6:30, and the following day
City of Bowie. City Council: Bowie Development Review Standards. They are seeking our comments. Document available from the Bowie City web site.
Parkside Preserve. 13-1/2 acres on North Side of Springfield. This will have 26 single family homes. S-06-005 if you want to be a party of record.
Willowbrook. The project will have 503 single-family lots. 49 carriage homes. 110 Condos. SDP-0613.
Staybridge Suites A motel is a different use than the plan calls for. In response to the last submission, the staff recommended denial. We sent a letter for the record as a result of last meeting. (Henry read the letter.) Main issue for us: poor design of the building. We like the new enlarged St. George’s Episcopal Church—proposed motel is barely more than an ugly box. Detailed site plan supposed to come up this week. Mary explained the plan: Height of 58 feet, with 122 units. She was unsure how many bedrooms, i.e., whether there will be some 2-bedroom units so that the capacity would be more than 122 units. There will be a large sign, swimming pool in the back, and a bit of a sports court. Access will be controlled. It has 115 parking spaces, the requirement is only 85 spaces.
Most recently, the planning staff had recommended a rejection of their most recent submission based on the inadequate traffic plan. Henry wrote a letter on behalf of GDCA recommending that the traffic plan be rejected. The following colloquy occurred between the President and the Secretary, who had missed the previous month’s discussion.
Jim: What’s the problem with the traffic?
Henry: All the cars driving onto Lanham-Severn Road
Jim: Why Lanham-Severn Road? They are mostly going to Goddard, so they should be going the other way through the shopping center to the traffic light on MD-193.
Henry: Staybridge proposes sending the traffic onto Lanham-Severn Road.
Jim: Well what kind of a plan is that? Why don’t they send the traffic to Md-193.
Henry: I don’t know.
Jim: Well what did the plan say?
Henry: I don’t know.
Jim: Wait a minute, how can you be opposing a plan if you don’t know what it said?
Henry: The planning staff sent me the staff summary of the plan.
Jim: Why didn’t they send you the plan?
Henry: You can go to Upper Marlboro if you want to see the plan?
Jim: I don’t want to go to Upper Malboro. Why can’t they just email it to you?
Henry: It’s a large document
Jim: You can email a document—or put it on an ftp site.
Henry: They say the traffic plan can’t be emailed. Maybe you should go to Upper Marlboro to find out why they don’t email traffic plans.
Jim: Can’t be emailed?! Did they type it on a manual typewriter?
Henry: Maybe you should go to Upper Marlboro to find out what kind of typewriter they use…
Jim: I don’t want to go to Upper Marlboro just to provide public input on what is happening in Glenn Dale. Is this just a way to keep people from participating?
Henry: Maybe you should go to Upper Marlboro to find out why Park and Planning doesn’t facilitate public review of traffic plans.
Annual Planning Board Budget Forum. GDCA commented on the need to pave Old Pond Drive; relocate and restore Old African American Schoolhouse; funding for ball fields on Hospital, as well as clearing vegetation; replacement of Lincoln-Vista park’s portable toilets, which have been vandalized.
The Bell Station Road Culvert (Artery Corporation). GDCA wrote a letter regarding the previously proposed triple-culvert under Bell Station. We have been trying to stop that unnecessary culvert, but the county keeps resurrecting that proposal anyway.
Comments from Doug Peters: As he prepares to leave the Council, presumably for the State Senate, Mr. Peters said he had enjoyed serving. He mentioned a few projects for this area that he has championed: There will be a police substation. He had moved planning money forward. He urged us to “bang on the table” to get the police substation.
He added that Good Luck Road should get a sidewalk, and that the old schoolhouse is on market again.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM for a presentation by Douglas Development.
This is a development that is long in the making. Active adult, single family, townhouses. A total of 952 units. 72 townhouses, 174 2-on-top-of-2 units. Along Northern Avenue, there\will be a tree buffer.
What is “active adult”? This means one person above 55, and one child below 45 can stay there 6 months a year. They want to make the unit pedestrian friendly to integrate with Eastgate. However, no planned pedestrian access from Northern Avenue to the development because the neighbors on Northern Avenue were adamantly opposed to pedestrian access—however there is some community property up to the border so that pedestrian access might be resurrected later if future generations decide that pedestrian access is desired.
Developers expect 1200-1400 residents. Apartments will tend to be single bedroom. The two buildings that will be torn down, will not be torn down until construction is ready to begin.