Hyattsville
Hyattsville City Council balks at Clay Property rezoning proposal
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cil voted to withhold support of a rezoning needed for a controversial housing development near the city’s University Hills neighborhood.
College Park
Mystery: College Park, new city manager part ways after less than one day
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In an announcement notable for its lack of details as much as the news it contained, College Park city officials announced they had parted ways with recently-hired city manager Natasha Hampton.
Hyattsville
Hyattsville approves housing plan calling for rent control, tenant rights
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Editor’s note: Route 1 Reporter is a subscriber-supported local news website. In the interest of the public discourse, articles about government policy are available for free. If you like the reporting, please support Route 1 Reporter on Patreon. Hyattsville City Council unanimously approved an ambitious “Housing Action Plan” whose policies, if fully fleshed out, they hope will preserve and produce affordably-priced housing in the growing suburb. The vote came during the city’s May 17, 2021, Council meeting without much comment, perhaps because City Council has been deliberating over the document for more than a year.
Hyattsville
SoHy Co-op plans pop-up art park in downtown Hyattsville
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Hyattsville City Council approved a request from the SoHy Co-op to create a temporary park space on Hamilton Street in the heart of the city’s Baltimore Avenue corridor.
Mount Rainier
Benitez says Mount Rainier can’t create small apartment tax bracket
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The announcement is a sudden about-face on a high-profile policy Benitez promised she would develop.
Brentwood
Elections reshape Route 1 corridor councils
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Hyattsville voters chose incumbent interim Mayor and Ward 1 City Councilor Kevin Ward as their next mayor, along with five other City Council members, concluding the spring 2021 municipal election season along the Route 1 corridor, with elections in Mount Rainier, Brentwood, Riverdale Park and University Park taking place the week before.
The elections brought some firsts, as well. In Hyattsville Ward becomes the first African American man elected to the Mayor’s office. Ward is also the first African American man to serve as Mayor, though he earned that distinction in January when he succeeded former Mayor Candace Hollingsworth, who resigned her seat early to focus on other political ambitions.
Ward handily beat campaign rivals in Ward Five City Councilor Joseph Solomon and political newcomer Austin Martinez. Ward received 1,606 votes to Solomon’s 823 and Martinez’s 247. With only 500 same-day votes uncounted, Ward’s 783-vote lead over Solomon is more than enough to secure the win.
Affordable Housing
Hyattsville eyes rent control, tenant rights, public land for affordable housing strategy
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After more than a year spent hammering out its approach, Hyattsville elected officials are weighing a four-pronged approach to its long-term affordable housing policy strategy.
College Park
College Park’s new city manager is first woman, person of color to fill role
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College Park has a new city manager in Natasha Hampton, the first woman and the first person of color to serve in the role.
Bicycling
Hyattsville Trolley Trail extension work could begin this fall
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Construction of a planned extension of the Trolley Trail in Hyattsville could begin soon, according to Hyattsville city officials.
Hyattsville
Hyattsville renames Magruder Park after David Driskell
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Hyattsville’s Magruder Park will be officially renamed David C. Driskell Park. The change in namesake replaces a prominent white, early 20th-Century Hyattsville politician and landowner, William Pinkney Magruder, with a prominent African American, late-20th Century Hyattsville artist and scholar in Driskell.