FOUR CITIES MEETING held Wednesday, July 23, 2003, for the purpose of discussing municipal planning and zoning authority.

Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m. It was held in the Multipurpose Room of the Greenbelt Community Center.

PRESENT WERE: Mayor Judith F. Davis, Council members Edward Putens, Rodney Roberts, Alan Turnbull, and Thomas X. White.

ALSO PRESENT WERE: Mayor Stephen Brayman and Council members Jack Perry, Bob Catlin, Mark Schroder, and Karen Hampton, College Park; Mayor Patricia Dennison and Town Administrator Edward Murphy, Berwyn Heights; Councilmember Jim Wildoner and City Administrator Jeff Klem, New Carrollton; Michael McLaughlin, City Manager, Celia Craze, Director, Planning and Community Development, and David Moran, Assistant to the City Manager, Greenbelt; Sheldon Goldberg, Greenbelt Advisory Planning Board; and Maniko Barthelemy, Gazette.

Mayor Davis began by noting that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the issue of planning and zoning for municipalities and to share information with the intent of building support for the concept prior to the General Assembly session. She said a presentation had been prepared to help facilitate discussion and introduced Mr. Moran who made the presentation.

The presentation touched on the history of planning and zoning in Prince George's County, the fact that site plan review authority was being sought in this proposal, and why that is the case. Throughout, there were questions seeking clarification on issues including how a community would obtain existing authority to review departures and variances. It was also noted numerous times that the authority being sought would only enable municipal governments to enforce based on the existing rules and regulations of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC). Questions were raised about whether this proposal went far enough. The sense of the majority was the proposal was the most that could be expected to be passed given concerns and past opposition.

Both College Park and Greenbelt provided examples of where site plan decisions would have been handled differently had they been made at the local level. In College Park, there was mention of a redevelopment project that was being allowed to proceed even though it made no provisions for parking. In Greenbelt, it was noted that MNCPPC had made a liberal interpretation on how much woodland ought to be conserved on a recent site plan approval.

Representatives from New Carrollton and Berwyn Heights indicated they could support the proposal and thought their respective Councils would as well. It was stressed that the support of the smaller communities was key to the proposal's passage. Greenbelt and College Park agreed to finalize the proposal and send it to Berwyn Heights and New Carrollton.

New Carrollton offered to host the next 4 Cities meeting in the fall.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael McLaughlin
City Manager

City of Greenbelt, Maryland
City Offices, 25 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770
Phone: 301-474-8000 FAX: 301-441-8248