Rethink College Park

Welcome to Collecting College Park, a new weekly feature here at Rethink College Park. On Friday mornings, you can expect to see this weekly news roundup of stories relevant to development, planning, transportation, and quality of life around the city and the campus.

The View by rethink college park on Flickr.

• Down in polls, Ehrlich tries to focus on January (Post): “Upon taking office, Ehrlich said he also would order government contractors to halt work on the proposed Purple Line rail project that would connect points in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. “The dollars aren’t there,” Ehrlich said, restating his preference for rapid bus service along the route instead. Ehrlich aides said stopping the Purple Line and a proposed rail project in Baltimore could save the state $300 million in engineering costs that could be spent instead on local road projects.” More at Action Committee for Transit and Streetsblog DC, but in short: It’s still going to cost $300 million in engineering costs to get the Purple Line going, but Ehrlich would like to reappropriate those funds to roads. The Diamondback also notes that O’Malley is currying more favor than Ehrlich with repeated visits to campus.
• Prince George’s council rejects zoning change, new stormwater rules (Post): “In its final legislative session, the Prince George’s County Council killed a bill Tuesday that would have allowed a developer to change the zoning on property in Fort Washington and rejected new storm water management regulations for the county…Supporters of the measure, including numerous municipal leaders, said the bill would improve the environment. Developers argued that it would stymie redevelopment.”
• County liquor board to consider Thirsty Turtle license (Patch): “The Nov. 3 hearing will deal with alleged underage drinking at the bar. At the Nov. 10 hearing, commissioners will hear from police and others who are expected to claim that the three-year-old establishment is a detriment to the College Park and university communities.” More at the Diamondback (and, the UMD SGA will be testifying against the establishment).

That’s it for this Friday! If you’ve got tips, suggestions, or pointers for next week’s edition of Collecting College Park, leave them in the comments or email Alex at lxdlnbc@gmail.com.

Don’t forget to add to our Flickr pool! If you’ve got pictures in and around College Park, tag them with “rethink college park” on Flickr, and they’ll show up here (maybe you’ll even see one featured in Collecting College Park post…).