History

Hyattsville examines racist history

By |

Hyattsville’s institutional role in racist policymaking is being brought into sharper focus. 

Last week, City officials received a report on the city’s history of Jim Crow-era segregationist policymaking and land-dealing. They also began debating a resolution that would lay out a process to explore renaming Magruder Park. The sponsors of the measure say the park’s namesake, William Pinkney Magruder, was a white supremacist, noting he donated the parkland to the city with conditions that only white residents be allowed to use it. 

Hyattsville’s history of white supremacy was detailed before City Council last week by Hyattsville Community Development Corp. Executive Director Stuart Eisenberg. It was part of a presentation reviewing his work on the Mapping Racism project, which seeks to document and map properties subject to racially-restrictive covenants in Hyattsville.

Development

Then & Now: Explore how Route 1 has changed since 1998

By |

Last week, we explored how massive engineering projects and car-centric post-war suburbanization transformed the Route 1 corridor over the past 70 years. Now, we’re going to focus on a more-recent phenomenon which has also fundamentally altered the built environment of the Route 1 corridor: urbanism. For decades between the end of World War II and the new millennium, the Route 1 corridor was shaped by the road, the car and by single-use zoning. You had your office parks, your shopping centers and your residential areas, and never the treble shall meet. But something has changed.

Development

Hyattsville Council reiterates Magruder Pointe opposition

By |

Hyattsville City Council voted to strongly oppose rezoning plans for Magruder Pointe, a proposed residential redevelopment of an abandoned office building and parking lot near Magruder Park. Despite their opposition, some Council members said they think County officials are likely to approve the rezoning request, which would clear the way for further redevelopment. The action took place at Hyattsville City Council’s March 4, 2019, meeting. It is the latest maneuver in a controversial development case that has stirred emotions in Hyattsville for more than a year. The proposed redevelopment, from builder Werrlein Properties, has been controversial in Hyattsville for two reasons: a desire by some to preserve the abandoned office building, which is the former headquarters of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, and opposition to plans to redevelop the abandoned office buildings’ former parking lot.

Hyattsville
Courtesy city of Hyattsville, Marvin R. Blumberg Co.

Landy annexation passes first vote

By |

At its March 5, 2019 meeting, Hyattsville City Council unanimously voted to give preliminary approval to a measure annexing parts of a planned townhouse development into the city’s borders. The measure must pass two additional votes before it is official. If Hyattsville City Council approves the annexation, the city would grow by nearly 15 acres in what is called the Landy Property. There, Developer Marvin R. Blumberg Co. plans to build 300 townhome units, pursuant to transit-oriented design specifications in place under the Prince George’s Plaza Transit District Development Plan.

Elections
A middle-aged African-American woman with gray hair and a white, short-sleeved shirt sits at a table during a meeting of some kind.

Alleged ‘racist’ records request rocks Mount Rainier

By |

A Mount Rainier City Council member is accusing a longtime political foe of racist intimidation for trying to use state open records laws to obtain a range of documentation about city officials, including citizenship status, background checks and security clearances. Documents obtained by Route 1 Reporter provide new details about the request, and the people behind it.

Development
The modernist facade of Prince George's County's Administration Building in Upper Marlboro.

Developers don’t like proposed Prince George’s Planning tweaks

By |

Editor’s note: Please see correction notice at bottom of article. Developers want the Prince George’s County Planning Board to tap the brakes on a proposed overhaul of the county’s procedures for reviewing new development plans. 

The most prominent changes include the establishment of a formal pre-application conference with county planning staff and new deadlines that prevent developers from making last-second changes to their plans. 

The formalized pre-application conference is designed to create an opportunity for planning staff to learn more about developers’ plans, in turn giving planning staff an opportunity to inform the developers of what types of reports and documentation will be necessary to move ahead with an application. Initially, it will be optional. But that could change if Prince George’s County Council overhauls the zoning map to reflect a new zoning code passed by the previous Council in 2018. The new zoning code requires a pre-application meeting between developers and planning staff.

Brentwood

In firehouse dispute, court sides with Mount Rainier volunteers on key issues

By |

A judge’s ruling clears the way for the Mount Rainier Volunteer Fire Department to return to active, independent service as the Bunker Hill Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company. Where that happens, however, could be another story. A ruling issued Feb. 21, 2019 by Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge John Davey settles a contentious lawsuit brought by former members of the Mount Rainier Volunteer Fire Department against Prince George’s County fire and rescue officials and the Brentwood Volunteer Fire Department. “The Bunker Hill Volunteer Fire And Rescue Co.