WORK SESSION OF THE GREENBELT CITY COUNCIL held Tuesday, March 27, 2007, for the purpose of receiving a presentation from representatives of Petrie Ross Ventures on their plans for the development of the north core of Greenbelt Station.

 Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 8:25 p.m. It was held in the Council Room of the Municipal Building.

 PRESENT WERE: Councilmembers Konrad E. Herling, Leta M. Mach, Edward V. J. Putens, Rodney M. Roberts, and Mayor Judith F. Davis.

 STAFF PRESENT WERE: Michael McLaughlin, City Manager; Celia W. Craze, Terri Hruby, and Tarek Bolden, Planning and Community Development; Robert Manzi, City Solicitor; David Moran, Assistant City Manager, and Kathleen Gallagher, City Clerk.

 ALSO PRESENT WERE: Walter Petrie, chairman, Terry Richardson, vice president for development, Matt Latin, development manager, Robert DiPietro, consultant, and Norman Rivera, attorney, Petrie Ross Ventures; Kap Kapastin, Quantum Companies and Beltway Plaza; Tiffany Anderson representing André Gingles; James Giese, Greenbelt News Review.

 Following introductions, Mayor Davis said that she wanted to be clear in advance that the City had serious concerns about some of the aspects of the development for the north core.

 Mr. DiPietrie and Mr. Petrie gave some background on the company and on their experience.

 Mr. Petrie said that one problem they were dealing with was the number of municipalities and jurisdictions with interests in the development of this property. He presented a slide show with a series of overlays representing various aspects of the property. Mayor Davis asked Ms. Craze to clarify the relationship of what was being presented with the City’s existing development agreement. She replied that everything was in compliance with the agreement except that they had omitted to show the roundabout.

 Mr. Petrie said although he could not identify names at this point, Council would be impressed with the retailers they are talking with. He said they have very high expectations of the level of retail that can be supported by the demographics here. He also said they are designing the project not to be dependent upon everything being completed at the same time; that is, the various part of the project will be largely self-sufficient as they are completed.

Mr. Latin continued the presentation, pointing out that the project was being designed to qualify at the LEEDS silver standard, as discussed in the conditions for the Conceptual Site Plan.

 Mr. Petrie said they had been working with WMATA and were getting close to agreement. He said they had been surprised to discover that “this soil is not really soil” and would require deep-pile foundations throughout. He said the reason for the increase in building height was that they had learned they could not put parking underground, as they had expected to, since this is a “fill area.” He said this is a much bigger problem than they had anticipated.

 There was discussion of how many parking spaces were really needed. Mr. Petrie said they were not exceeding the minimum required by the County Code. The Mayor said she thought that not as many were required for transit-oriented development. Mr. Petrie said he would be very happy if that were true and asked for Council’s help in pursuing the issue. He noted that there is redundancy with WMATA because, as a requirement for purchase of the property, they require one 3,500-space parking deck to replace their existing parking spaces, even though most of the spaces will not be used at night. Ms. Craze agreed that WMATA’s insistence on this dedicated facility creates a great deal of inefficiency in the design. She also noted that the City has been excluded from any conversation with WMATA.

The Mayor pointed out that the design of the parking deck would be of great importance to North College Park, which will have to look at it. Mr. Richardson replied that there are ways to build a parking deck that does not look like a parking deck. He cited several of their other projects, including the “towne centre” they are putting up in Annapolis.

 In response to questions about recreation and playgrounds, Mr. Latin pointed out the hiker-biker trail and other paths, and Mr. Petrie said there would probably be a health club, but there did not appear to be plans beyond that. Mr. Petrie said the residential part of the north core was not being designed to be attractive to people with young children.

 Mr. Roberts raised the issue of the failed wetlands mitigation area. They said this was not yet resolved. Ms. Hruby said the City’s environmental analysts were reviewing the matter with Petrie’s environmental consultants. Mr. Roberts said in his opinion it would be better to use the existing site rather than replacing it since the hydraulics are still there to support a wetland.

 Mr. Putens asked about public safety. Mr. Petrie said they will have their own security force. Council encouraged them to work closely with the Police Department, noting the very successful working relationship between the City’s force and the Beltway Plaza security staff. Mr. Petrie said they would and that he envisioned having a substation at the north core like Beltway Plaza.

 Ms. Mach stressed the need for an upscale department store as an anchor and attempted to get them to define their notion of that. The Mayor said Council had heard Wegmans wanted a separate box but that the City was opposed to separate box stores on the site. Mr. Petrie was noncommittal, saying it was too far away to know whether integrating them into another structure would be feasible, but he stressed their desirability as a tenant.

 Mayor Davis encouraged them to consider deco architecture and design as a way of tying in the development to the rest of the City, rather than using Colonial, which was not relevant to the area.

Ms. Mach raised the schools issue, with which Mr. Petrie was not familiar. Councilmembers gave a brief explanation of the problem and the need for all the developers to cooperate in finding space for one or more schools.

 Mr. Herling spoke about integrating the community through transportation. Mr. Petrie said they were supportive of that and already planning to run transportation to the University of Maryland. He said the wider the transportation system, the better.

 Mr. Herling also raised the question of affordability. Mr. Petrie said they had never been required to incorporate affordable units and that he had never thought about it before. He said they could consider it.

 The Mayor said the City did not want 18-story structures. Mr. Petrie said it was a necessity. The Mayor said if that were true, perhaps the location could be improved upon. Mr. Petrie said they could certainly look at that issue.

 Mr. Roberts said he thought it was essential that adequate recreation and play areas be provided, since no one could predict who would live there and if the resources were not available it would be a burden on the City later.

Ms. Mach said she wanted to raise two related issues, the first of which was a “pet peeve”: namely, the spelling of “towne centre.” The other was the designation of this area as a town center at all. She said the City had objected to Beltway Plaza’s suggestion of using the term “town center” and the same objection would hold here. Other Councilmembers agreed, and the Mayor said that Greenbelt’s town center is Roosevelt Center. Mr. Petrie said they were glad to know this.

 The Mayor raised the question of office space versus retail space. Ms. Craze asked them to address why they were increasing the office space. Mr. Petrie said it is all about trip generation and that it is a market-driven issue. He said this location is a “bull’s eye” for office space, regardless of what is going on nearby, because of the metro location. Ms. Craze said it is on the question of the office vs. retail space within the total of 2.3 million square feet that the City’s agreement diverges from the District Council’s requirement. She said Mr. Manzi has said the City is entitled to enforce the agreement, though staff would recommend being flexible within limits. Mr. Petrie said he thought the trip cap should govern since any other number is arbitrary. Ms. Craze replied that the District Council changed the numbers outside of the agreement and that the trip cap had previously been higher. She said in the agreement, the cap is on floor space, not trips. Mr. Richardson said they intended to honor the development agreement and that he did not think they and the City were that far apart.

 Mayor Davis asked about public art. Mr. Petrie said they will do that, and Ms. Craze said there have been conversations with Nicole DeWald about not just public art but art spaces or studios.

 Ms. Craze said she thought Council should meet with WMATA. Mr. Petrie said they would like to facilitate a meeting but that dealing with WMATA would require having another idea, not just to oppose theirs. Mr. DiPetro added that WMATA has many regulations and standards and that discussing this with them is “grueling.” He said WMATA is planning to hold a group meeting with all the involved municipalities.

 

Other Business

 Council asked Mr. Manzi to look into the question of filing an amicus brief on the ICC lawsuit. He said there is only a short window of opportunity for doing so after the primary brief is filed and that he is not sure whether Greenbelt would have standing. The Mayor said she would like to explore it, given the City’s long opposition to the ICC, and she asked him to look into the issues he had raised, as well as cost. She reminded Council that because of COG’s status as a defendant in the case, she would have to abstain from voting on the matter if it came to that.

 Mr. McLaughlin provided an update on Springhill Lake. The Mayor said Delegate Anne Healey had called her this morning to ask that she be notified if the state could be of any assistance.

 The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 p.m.

 Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Gallagher
City Clerk

 

 

 

 

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