Rethink College Park

Below are the responses for the three candidates for the vacant District 3 seat on the City Council that will be filled on January 16th.

Candidates:

Stephanie Stullich
cell: 301-461-5051, home: 301-864-6709
email: stullich at verizon.net

Robert Massey
“Concerns, questions, and comments are encouraged. Email me at robert_massey at verizon.net”

Jutta Hagner
Campaign website URL: www.saslce.com (available Jan. 8th)
email: cspjutta at aol.com

1. If elected, what will be your top priorities as a councilmember?

Stullich: “My top priorities would be neighborhood quality of life issues, student housing, public safety, downtown revitalization, rebuilding Route 1, and support for the Purple Line. Code enforcement is an important tool for ensuring that neighborhoods are clean and well-cared-for and provide a comfortable and attractive place for people of all ages to live in, and to ensure adequate living conditions in rental housing. Public safety has long been a focus for me, and I will continue to vigorously promote public safety by working with residents, businesses, students, the University, and the county police. We need to move forward with downtown revitalization, Route 1 improvements, and the Purple Line in order to attract businesses, residents, and visitors to strengthen our community as well as better serve those who currently live here.”

Massey: “To improve our public safety, traffic, and student housing problems; build stronger relationships with the university, county, and state; enhance educational and cultural opportunities in the community; and continue working toward the revitalization of College Park.”

Hagner: “a. To work with local residents on projects of their choice that will enhance College Park for seniors, students and families.
b. To have more visibility into Council decision making by having City Council members declare their positions on upcoming legislation in advance of votes
c. To return more of the funds collected from residents back to residents in the form of services of interest to them such noise abatment from highways; safety cameras for select parts of the city etc.
d. To create more dialog between College Park residents so that there is greater cohesion and cooperation among all residents.”

2. What does a “great college town” mean to you?

Stullich: “My undergraduate degree was at Berkeley, and my years spent in that very unique and exciting community definitely influence my thinking about what a college town could look like. Berkeley has an extremely diverse array of businesses and business districts, and a lively and interesting environment. Both students and non-students often spend their free time lingering in the various business districts and wandering between bookstores, cafes, clothing stores, specialty food stores, shops selling imported and hand-crafted items, and a wide range of restaurants from cheap ethnic eateries to the world-class Chez Panisse. A premier college town like a Berkeley, Ann Arbor, or Boston takes time to create, but I see no reason why College Park cannot make substantial progress towards that goal in the next 3-6 years (and then keep going!).”

Massey: “One that provides an exceptional quality of life to all residents in all neighborhoods.”

Hagner: “College towns are unique in that they hold the potential to be lively, vibrant communities that bring new ideas for projects from the university members . It provides the opportunity to be a model town from many different perspectives art, architecture, technology and more. A liberation of the imagination is required to bring this about. The annual awards for All American Cities go to towns that can liberate their imagination to solve problems and bring about a higher level of functioning.”

3. What would you like College Park to look like in 30 years?

Stullich: “College Park will have a vibrant downtown that provides a diverse mix of restaurants, retail, and entertainment options in a “walkable village” environment with attractive architecture, walkways, and lighting. There will also be smaller-scale business districts in Berwyn, Hollywood, and the northern section of Route 1. Integrating plazas, outdoor seating, and landscaping will make these areas gathering places and a real center of the community. Mixed-use developments that combine residential, retail, and office uses will create a vibrant “24-7” community that is alive during the weekday, evenings, and weekends and attract long-term residents, students, university faculty and staff, as well as visitors from neighboring communities and beyond.”

Massey: “A thriving community with safe and friendly residential neighborhoods, commercial areas that provide essential and desired services, set in a natural, walkable cityscape fitting of its world-class educational institution.”

Hagner: “I would like College Park to be a town of innovations. Innovations in transportation, communication, robotics, architecture, art, social issues and more. The University community can provide much of the leadership for such innovations.”

4. What do you think is the ideal mix of retail for the city? What would you do to achieve it?

Stullich: “Currently College Park is dominated by fast-food restaurants and auto-oriented business; we need to diversify! We need more restaurants that provide an enjoyable leisurely dining experience, perhaps some “white tablecloth” restaurants but also more varied ethnic and moderately-priced restaurants (e.g., Thai, Indian, bringing back the Mandalay). I think residents would like to have more locally-owned businesses that provide more interesting and unique shopping opportunities, but also including stores with a national reputation can help to anchor an expanding business district. We need to actively reach out to the kinds of businesses we want to attract, and support mixed-use developments that include residences and offices that will help to provide a “critical mass” of clientele to support the shops and restaurants.”

Massey: “I support the mix-use plan and would encourage more development that places retail on the ground level, commercial office space on the second, and residential units above that. We still lack essential services (grocery store one can walk to from downtown), not to mention highly desired ones (nice restaurants).”

Hagner: “An ever greater number of cities are moving toward self sufficiency within their own boundaries. Current retail, professional needs to be evaluated against community needs. I have previously announced my support for the mixed use construction that provides retail on the lowest levels , professional services on the next level and housing on the upper levels. Brian’s ideas for the Knox Boxes are interesting.”

5. How do you feel about high density construction (9 - 16 stories)?

Stullich: “Although I see the value in some high-rise structures, particularly to accommodate the need for additional student housing, I am concerned about too much high density exacerbating the traffic problems we have on Route 1. I’d like to see most new development along Route 1 be consistent with the height limits in the sector plan (3-5 stories), but would be open to a limited number of higher density projects, particularly near the University View where we already have some high-rise taking place, and perhaps in the Knox Boxes area. I would like to see community involvement and input on this issue.”

Massey: “With the student housing shortage we have, high density buildings would serve an important need, as long as construction was done with the surrounding environment in mind. In addition to blending with the physical cityscape, they need to be safe for both occupants and neighbors, and not have a negative impact on traffic (which can be done by moving building entrances off Route 1 to side-streets).”

Hagner: “A limited amount of high density construction is needed given the size of the student body. However, this needs to be one of many choices not the only choice for affordable student housing.”

6. What is your position on the Connector Road and why?

Stullich: “The Connector Road concept at first glance seemed appealing to me – after all, who doesn’t want to reduce traffic on Route 1 – but after learning more about the issue, I have concluded that it would do more harm than good. First, the road would not really have that much impact on reducing traffic, since studies have found that only a small fraction of Route 1 traffic is university-related. Second, it would cut through the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, harm the research being conducted at this premier institution, and open the door to further development of this important site. Perhaps most importantly, the Connector Road would divert scarce state transportation funds away from improving the safety and appearance of Route 1, which should be our first priority.”

Massey: “I am open to all discussion oriented at easing the community’s traffic problems. It shouldn’t take forty-five minutes to travel two miles down Route 1 on weekends. While I don’t oppose the concept of the Connector Road, I am concerned about its expense and impact on neighborhoods and the environment. There is still a lot of work to do and I think the community is better served by having the city and the university work together on this.”

Hagner: “The connector road is fraught with limitations. It is unlikely to get funded. It will present difficulties for residents of the affected District and it is not clear that it will yield the expected improvements in traffic congestion. More options need to be studied.”

7. Do you support the Purple Line?

Stullich: “I strongly support the Purple Line and look forward to working with the community to make it a reality. Increasing public transportation options is important for increasing access to our city and university while also reducing traffic congestion and air pollution. The current metro structure is focused on commuters to D.C. and does not meet the needs of people traveling to the east and west; the Purple Line will fill this important gap, and will also help revitalize College Park’s downtown. I believe the Purple Line should be developed as light rail.”

Massey: “Absolutely, it would be great to have an easy connection to our sister cities of Silver Spring and Bethesda. It would take a lot of traffic off Route 1, 410, and the Beltway, and bring much needed support to the city’s revitalization efforts.”

Hagner: “Yes”

8. How do you think the city council can work to alleviate the student housing crunch?

Stullich: “Insufficient and inadequate housing for students is a long-standing problem in College Park, and it would be one of my top priorities to seek ways to increase the supply of student housing. I would encourage the university to build more on-campus housing and also encourage developers to build more student housing along Route 1 and adjacent to the campus. We also need to address living conditions in student housing: too many students live in substandard housing conditions, yet often are afraid to complain for fear of retaliation. Code enforcement can help, and we need to crack down on unscrupulous landlords, as well as reach out to students to find out where problems exist and work together to address them.”

Massey: “Encourage the development of multi-unit residential units by letting the market work for us, rather than against. Adding ineffective and overburdening stipulations to building contracts drives developers away, leaving the problem to escalate.”

Hagner: “As you very excellent blog points out there are a number of construction projects planned for the greater College Park area. There is townhome construction underway in nearby Hyattsville.”

9. Do you support owner occupancy requirements for new residential developments? Where would you like to see students living in the city?

Stullich: “To create the vibrant college town that I believe we all want to see College Park become, I believe we need to support new residential developments for both students and non-students. Building housing for additional long-term residents in College Park will help to provide a more stable customer base including during the summer and winter breaks, which is needed to attract a more diverse mix of retail and restaurants. Owner occupancy requirements can help to make some developments attractive for non-student residents, but these developments need to be part of a comprehensive effort that also includes substantial new student housing, which should be located on or adjacent to the campus.”

Massey: “As mentioned above, no. With the housing situation we have, I see a scenario where parents of university students buy these condos for their children to live in while at school, and selling to the parents of incoming students upon graduation. It would end up being student housing, but housing for only the affluent. I would much rather see the city ease restrictions and encourage multi-unit residential development for student housing.”

Hagner: ” I don’t see how that can be enforced.
Where would you like to see students living in the city? One of the realities of living in a multi age community is that there is a different clock for each segment of the community.

Students often study late into the night and continue to be active until midnight as well as rise later in the morning. Working families rise early to go to work and bring children to school. Seniors often shut lights off early and expect to get a full nights sleep.

Much of the discord that arises in local housing situations arises from these different schedules and the noise associated with them. This is the essential issue that needs to be resolved . It can be done in many different ways. How we live where we live is more important than where we live.”

10. If elected, how will you engage the city and campus communities?

Stullich: “I plan to encourage both students and long-term residents to become more involved in the community though city boards and committees, civic associations, neighborhood watch, and other organizations. I also will encourage people to share their views about important issues facing the city council; elected officials don’t have all the answers, and community involvement is key to making the right decisions. I have strong relationships with many civic association leaders and have been reaching out to student leaders (such as in the SGA and GSG), and I will also reach out to university officials to seek ways to build a more positive and productive relationship between the city and university. I believe that we as a community will be much more effective in achieving our common goals if we work together and communicate often.”

Massey: “With such a long-serving city government, it’s natural that some relationships have become strained as individuals move away from dialogue and focus more on digging in their heels. Voters have an incredible opportunity in this special election to add a fresh perspective on the council, and I look forward to working with the undergraduate and graduate student body; faculty, staff, and administration; and board of regents as we renew a working dialogue between the university and the city.”

Hagner: “There is currently a representative from the university to the College Park Council. This is good but not enough. A student selected board of representatives who can meet regularly with the City Council is the key. I will work to create such a forum.”

11. What special ideas or plans would you like our readers to know about? (optional)

Stullich: “I pledge to be responsive to citizen concerns and needs and will continue Eric Olson’s record of strong constituent service. Please contact me with any questions or concerns – 301-461-5051 or stullich@verizon.net.”

Massey: “As councilmember, I will invite all residents to attend a monthly brunch (day and location to alternate) to discuss issues, raise concerns, and ask questions in an informal setting.”