Cafritz Design Principles
August 1st, 2007 | by Chris Ellepola | Published in Cafritz Property | 3 Comments
Round three of Cafritz Property development public meetings took place last week where design principles were publicized. These principles will be used to draft concept plans. The completed concept plans will be presented in a fourth round of public meetings in September before the Cafritz’s apply for rezoning. Identical meetings for the concept plans will be SATURDAY, September 15th (10am-12pm), and TUESDAY, September 18th (7-9pm).
Here is a representative list of the design principles…
Transportation & Connections – No vehicle connection to Calvert Hills, but instead pedestrian and bike connection is possible. Connect to Riverdale Town Center with streets, paths and trails, and connect to the existing surrounding trail system overall. Buffer sidewalks with trees and lamp posts. Connect for cars, bikes, and/or pedestrians over the CSX tracks to River Road. Make a Rt.1 intersection with no University Park access to discourage cut-through traffic in UP.
Organize streets in a grid pattern with parallel parking. Implement “right-size” parking that at most meets but does not exceed zone requirements; get a variance for that if necessary.
Business & Retail – The retail broker on the development team reports that there are no negotiations between East Campus and Whole Foods. This further strengthens the possibility of the grocer being on the Cafritz Property. Images of short retail fronted by wide recreational and pedestrian areas were posted as representative of what the developer has in mind.
Placemaking – Locate tall buildings (4-8 stories) in the south-center of site, and stagger shorter buildings from there to the sides. Back parking garages against the post office buildings to the south to minimize their presence. Make a main public green on Rt. 1 that sets back about 156′ and retains natural topography and trees. Scatter other green areas throughout. Place public art throughout.
Livability – Make residential primarily home-owned rather than rented. Minimize single-story retail by building residential above ground-level retail.
Environment – A pilot LEED rating system called LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND) is being pursued. The pilot rating system integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building into the first national standard for neighborhood design. The Cafritz Property is not part of the pilot program but is pursuing LEED ND nonetheless with help from a consulting firm hired for that specific purpose.
The future of the WMATA site bordering the north of the property is still very up in the air. This is probably why the pedestrian/biker connection to Calvert Hills was only identified as a possibility at this point.
We are happy to report that the development team addressed their reasoning for mixed-use development over other possibilities. This was something that was not done in previous meetings, as discussed in a previous article. **Check back soon for a more in-depth discussion about this.**
August 1st, 2007 at 2:32 pm (#)
Thanks for this very useful summary. I appreciate the time and info, and I look forward to your follow-up post on the Cafritz Family’s discussion of why they wish to pursue mixed-use development over pure residential.
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August 4th, 2007 at 3:05 pm (#)
SCHOOL CROWDING in Regions 2 and 5 Comments: I spoke to Mrs. Jane Cafritz about the effect proposed development in our area poses for overcrowded schools. She seemed taken aback by my very specific figures about school crowding — elementary, middle, and high — in regions 5 and 2. She asked me a few questions and I indicated that she would be hearing soon from two school board about the figures (Iliff and Hathaway-Beck). Hathaway-Beck has requested a formal response from the Pupil Accounting Office at PGCPS for this region.
Ms. Cafritz said that developers always pay a school impact fee, etc. People behind me signaled to her very quickly that the region’s parents are prickly and quite active on the shifting of resources AND seats away from the inner Beltway toward Mitchellville and Bowie. Most of us in the inner Beltway do not believe that a development impact fee paid to the district will find its way back to the neighborhood in any meaningful or mitigating way. One perennial problem is the lack of space to acquire, let alone place a proposed school in the CIP, and finally, SEE a school actually built that serves the neighborhoods. A few folks may recall that in 2005, the Cafritz property was floated as a possible site for a nothern region high school. That “virtual” high school is now slated for the Bowie area. Interestingly, part of the case for that new high school is based on ANTICIPATED development. Those of us here with children ACTUALLY enrolled in significantly overcrowded schools are rather cynical about the back-room deal. We are now quite vigilant on school data and development. Furthermore, we are very active on what might be a shift toward Mid-county — Bowie and Mitchellville — power moves. I, for one, do not want the planning board or council to think that the luxury development principle dear to PG now, means that they should decide to develop parcels on Route One to fit their plans. Our needs must count.
I would ask others to mention the burgeoning student population in Hyattsville, Adelphi, and the three most at-risk and adjacent communities of College, Riverdale and University Parks. The many points of development — real and virtual — pose intractable problems for our overcrowded schools. EYA and University Town Center are filling; Landy and Cafritz are perculating through the planning process, now. East Campus will include housing also. (Someone else please take up the “parking lot” that is Route One!)
I understand that the new School Board is very concerned about pupil accounting/proposed development formulae. Please let the know your concerns. I ask others in the Route One corridor to hold all officials accountable on school seats in our communities. Paying attention to what development brings to us — halos AND SHADOWS — will mean the difference between sustainable growth or an overbuilt — and empty — string of mixed-use plazas on Baltimore Blvd.
Figures:
2006 from PGCPS Pupil Accounting figures available on line at:
http://www.pgcps.org/~pasb/webdocs/enrollmentsumma/default.htm
Catchment schools for the Riverdale Park/College Park neighborhoods bordering the Cafritz Property:
University Park 588/491 OVER CAPACITY
Riverdale 543/500 OVER CAPACITY
Note: the addition of Rosa Park Elementary school opened up seats in PGCPS Region five in 2005. Riverdale not likely effected but UP was.
Hyattsville Middle 831/612 OVER CAPACITY
Nicholas Orem Middle 768/825
William Wirt Middle 784/816
Northwestern High** 2,545/2,053 OVER CAPACITY
Parkdale High 2,138/1,896 OVER CAPACITY
Bladensburg High** 2,061/1,923 OVER CAPACITY
** NEW SCHOOLS, overcrowded.
The elementary schools face additional seat shortages for a planned move toward pre-kindergarten rooms slated for all PGCP Schools. Middle school plans toward inclusion of 6th graders is hampered by severe crowding.
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August 15th, 2007 at 8:47 am (#)
Thanks for the summary. My understanding from the Cafritz meeting was that there would be a central avenue through the property with storefronts with two to four stories of residential housing above (probably similar to the Hyattsville housing coming in on Route 1). I understood Matt Bell, the head architect, to say that they also wanted to build a residential tower of some type down by the tracks where it would not be visible from the surrounding neighborhoods. I think he said it would be up to eight stories high. One issue to consider is whether high density owner-occupied housing would be viable in the end–see today’s Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/14/AR2007081401991.html
The issues around access to the retail component were glossed over. The traffic consultant showed a map with a bridge over the tracks–going straight into the American Physics Society property– but then said that they weren’t planning to go into that property. They made a big deal about access to Riverdale Park, but again, didn’t seem to have anything specific except a hiker/biker trail. And they promised a new solution to the Route 410/Route 1 intersection–but did not say what that would be.
The issues with the WMATA property seemed to revolve around difficulties with acquiring the property from WMATA.
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