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.

Brentwood

Mount Rainier, Brentwood, Riverdale Park, University Park voters hit the polls

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Consider this Route 1 Reporter’s paean to the elections of the Prince George’s County Route 1 corridor’s smaller towns. Amid an historically-large field of candidates in Hyattsville this year, I was unable to provide the type of coverage I’d like for the other races in the corridor. Still, voters in Mount Rainier, Brentwood, Riverdale Park all have elections that are coming to a close today, May 3, 2021, while University Park will vote the next day. Below, a rundown of the races:

Brentwood

In Brentwood, a rhetorically contentious election pits two slates of candidates against each other. The Fair Leadership slate sees incumbent Mayor Rocio Treminio-Lopez court votes alongside council hopefuls Stefan Leggin, Quianna Taylor and Mary Vechery.

Development

292-home Preserve at Westphalia preliminary plans approved by P.G. Planning Board

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The Prince George’s County Planning Board took action on a preliminary site plan for 292 new homes and a bunch of commercial space at the Preserve at Westphalia. Also before the Planning Board at its May 29, 2020, meeting: A detailed site plan to rebuild a McDonalds in Riverdale Park, conceptual site plans for an ironworks near Fort Washington, and detailed plans for a large storage facility. You can find agenda details from the meeting here. More details below: 

Preserve at Westphalia

With some minor conditions, the Prince George’s County Planning Board unanimously approved preliminary plans for the Preserve at Westphalia which would bring 184 townhomes, 108 detached homes, and 12,500 square feet of commercial space to a 64-acre plot of land at the intersection of Westphalia Road and Richie Marlboro Road. The project comes from Green Revolution Realty LLC. Riverdale Park McDonalds

The Planning Board unanimously approved with conditions a special permit to rehab the existing McDonalds restaurant at the intersection of East-West Highway and Baltimore Avenue in Riverdale Park. The application asked for a departure from development design standards to update the facade and make two additions to the existing building.

Coronavirus

Riverdale Park opens wallet to aid businesses, residents impacted by pandemic disruptions

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Under the banner of the Riverdale Park “Partners in Economic Recovery Program,” the small Baltimore Avenue municipality’s City Council approved a suite of economic and food-assistance measures March 25, 2020 designed to address the coronavirus pandemic, its disruptions, and the recovery needs expected to follow. The measures are notable for the level of direct assistance offered to both businesses and residents, and could be a model for other small towns looking to provide direct assistance to their constituents during the pandemic. Riverdale Park, population 7,200-ish, has an annual operating budget of $6.7 million. Under the program, Riverdale Park… Established a “Resident-Restaurant-Town Partnership Program” designed to provide government-subsidized coupons for town restaurants and restaurant promotional support.

College Park

College Park Metro Marriott would have 165 rooms, 8,000 sq. ft. of retail

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New details of a planned Marriott Hotel near College Park’s Metro station have come into light as the project seeks county approval for its preliminary plan of subdivision, a procedural step where property lines are redrawn to accommodate  new development. 

Prior documents have revealed the broad size of the project – 126,000 square-feet – planned for a triangular-shaped 2.1-acre parcel bound by Campus Drive, Corporal Frank Scott Drive and Lehigh Road practically across the street from the College Park-University of Maryland Metro Station. The latest filings, to be discussed by College Park City Council at its Nov. 6, 2019, worksession, reveal the hotelier, through Republic Properties Corp. and its holding company New Hotel LLC, plans to build a 165-unit hotel with 8,000 square feet of retail space. 

College Park City Staff recommend City Council issue a letter of support to the Prince George’s Planning Board with some conditions, including improvements to area sidewalks, and the installation of a bus shelter at 50th Avenue and Campus Drive. 

Additional documents on file with county planning officials reveal the footprint of the planned hotel, which will form a kind of boomerang shape with most of the building massed along Campus Drive, north of River Road. The documents also show the developer plans to build a new road through the property, extending River Road across Campus Drive to Lehigh Road. 

A (very pixelated, apologies) diagram showing the proposed footprint of a planned Marriott Hotel developers hope to build near the College Park Metro Station.

College Park

Hotel planned near College Park Metro

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A public parking lot near College Park’s Metro station could become a Marriott Hotel, if developer plans pan out. Details are limited at the moment. However, according to documents filed with Prince Georges’s County planning authorities, development firm Soltesz LLC has partnered with the hotel chain to develop a hotel with ground floor retail elements at the northwest corner of Campus Drive and Corporal Frank S. Scott Drive in College Park. The northwest corner of that intersection is currently occupied by a drab, lightly-used, public parking lot. The property is currently owned by Prince George’s County, according to state land records.